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CONSTRUCTION
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The Industry’s Newspaper Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital
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(210) 308-5800
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Volume 13
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Number 2
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FEBRUARY 2016
Smooth sailing
Road to success
L-R: Kimo and Rob Isbill have worked together for 25 years.
L-R: Mike Hernandez, Meriam Taylor and Leno Rios
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tarting out doing boat carpentry in the Friendswood area 25 years ago, Rob Isbill and Kimo, West Bay Marine Service, expanded along the way to provide commercial cabinetry services. Isbill began doing carpentry work 41 years ago in high school and hasn’t stopped since. “I did carpentry work as a teenager because it paid more than a department store,” he said. “I paid my way through college. I eventually realized I had an ability to do the work.” Isbill says his favorite part of the job is working with his friend Kimo and having the opportunity to work in the field on beautiful days. “I am able to be creative every day,”
he said. “We do a lot of the design work. We can take a design from paper and put it into reality.” West Bay Marine Service has had several commercial cabinetry jobs outside of Friendswood lately. “Houston is booming right now,” he said. “We recently did the carpentry work at a restaurant project in Houston. We still go back to our roots and do boat carpentry, too.” If a young person wants to make a living as a carpenter, Isbill says his advice is to go for it and follow your dreams. “I raised three kids who are now out of the house and I have two more kids in continued on Page 18
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ucas Construction has been family owned and operated for 25 years. Owner Willis Lucas began the civil construction business in his hometown of Galveston. Lucas Construction continues to serve not only the island, but the mainland as well. The company has operated at the League City location for 15 years. Mike Hernandez, safety manager and coordinator, oversees the mechanics and Meriam Taylor, accounting manager, takes care of the accounts payable and receivables and contract administration. Leno Rios, controller, handles the administration work and financial reporting. “We enjoy having company events
throughout the year,” Rios said. “We recently held our Christmas party at the back of our shop.” Employees ate a meal together, received bonuses and exchanged gifts at the party. “We also have a Cinco de Mayo party in May and anytime we have a couple of jobs go really well, we will have a party for the employees at the shop.” In the past six months, Lucas Construction has stayed very busy, especially with four high-profile projects near the Galveston Seawall. “Since Mr. Lucas is originally from Galveston, he has made several contacts continued on Page 18
Careful coordination
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oger-O’Brien Construction has built several Oceans Behavioral Hospitals for SRP Medical, but the recently completed hospital in Katy was the first tiltwall project. “We were able to mainstream a new process to build their hospitals with a lower budget and shorter schedule,” said Nicholas Flannery, project manager. “In addition, we were able to coordinate, with the use of SketchUp, how to cast all of the tiltwall panels by using the slab as opposed to mud slabs. We were able to pour 60 of the 66 panels with this process.” Located south of Interstate 10 and east of South Mason Road on Park Grove Drive, the Oceans Behavioral Hospital is a new construction, 48-bed specialty hospital focused on behavioral healthcare for senior patients (ages 55 and over). The 34,000-sf specialty hospital is a licensed acute care hospital by the Texas
Department of State Health Services. The primary exterior construction materials used were concrete tiltwall, cast stone, sticky stone brick and EIFs, structural steel framing, TPO membrane roofing, metal roof panels and high performance paint coating. The interior materials used were gypsum board, cold formed framing, wood door, glass storefront, carpet, tile, wood and vinyl flooring. According to Flannery, during the course of the project, the team experienced more than 20 days of rain. “We were committed to completing the project on time, so the project team made up the time by working evenings and weekends,” he said. At the start of the project, the electricity provider told Rogers-O’Brien Construction they would be on the site in 6-8 weeks. The company did not come on site until nine months into the project. Oceans Behavioral Hospital in Katy
continued on Page 18