Austin Construction News July 2020

Covering the Industry’s News

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New days every day

Here’s to 80 years!

The CutCo team enjoys each new day the construction industry brings.

This year, Hoar Construction celebrates 80 rich years of company history.

oey Loranc had been his own boss in the construction industry for more than 20 years when he realized working for himself was great, but his daily work routine wasn’t.

“I was a general contractor here in Austin; we were doing national chains,” Loranc says. “Then, I got tired and burned out seeing the same thing every day; there was no change.”

At the same time, Loranc noticed there was a need for good demolition contractors. Two years ago, he started a small demolition/concrete company on the side of being a GC and found that it was doing a lot more business than his GC company. It wasn’t long before he gave all of his time and attention to his new business, CutCo.

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OLT CAT has much to be excited about. The family-owned Caterpillar dealership opened its newest location in Georgetown, TX in November of 2019. The new location is located by the Georgetown Airport, right off I-35 and Airport Road in Georgetown.

The facility itself is about 80,000sf, which makes it one of the largest facilities in the HOLT family. Of that, about 16,000sf make up their parts warehouse. “We have roughly about 8,000 individual part numbers in Georgetown and we carry about $1.6 million dollars in parts inventory. The real gem of this facility is the 45,000sf state-ofthe-art contamination and climate-controlled service center. We have 16 individual bays with the capability to do repairs on all types and sizes of equipment, from Wheel Tractor Scrapers to Skid Steer Loaders.” says HOLT CAT Regional Sales Manager, James Court.

“We do all types of demolition, and commercial concrete from interior to full demolition. With the concrete we do everything from demo to curb and gutter to new cast in place concrete from 1000sf to 20,000sf. Three people work for me, five guys are on payroll for demo, and then most of my labor is subbed out. We keep them busy.”

Cutco has worked on notable projects throughout Austin and Loranc says one of his best and most challenging projects was the Hard Rock Café on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Loranc hopes to do about $2 million in business this year and then increase it each year.

COVID-19 has challenged the new company just as it was gaining traction, continued on Page 14

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riend Reed Hoar set out to specialize in church building when he established his Birmingham AL general construction firm, F.R. Hoar, in 1940. He didn’t know that over the next 80 years, the firm would navigate trends such as mall construction, undergo a merger, undergo name and leadership changes and open new locations.

Today, Hoar Construction boasts a portfolio of civic/government, cultural/ entertainment, education, healthcare, hospitality, industrial/manufacturing, office/commercial, residential, retail and mixed-use projects. Helping accomplish this feat are 578 employees officed in Austin, Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, Nashville, Orlando and Washington, D.C. Over the years, the company has

been steered by people dedicated to its success, beginning with F.R.’s son, Richard Nichols Hoar, who assumed leadership upon his father’s passing. Currently leading the company at the corporate level are CEO Rob Burton, President Turner Burton, Executive Vice President/ COOs Steve McCord and Randall Curtis, Executive Vice President Business Operations Doug Eckert and Executive Vice President Vice President/CFO Jeremy DiPiazza. The Austin location, which opened in 2011 with four employees to work central and northwest Texas projects, now staffs 82 employees. Austin operations are overseen by Managing Director Brian Cook, VP of Division Operations Jeff Light, Preconstruction continued on Page 14

Big as Texas

HOLT CAT Georgetown, Airport Road and I-35

The new facility was built to meet the growing needs of one of Texas’ fastest growing areas. “I think if you look at the state in general, Williamson County is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas.

There’s a lot of commercial and residential activity in Cedar Park, Leander and Liberty Hill over to Hutto and Taylor, Georgetown and Round Rock. This location is ideal to serve all of our customers who are helping Texas grow,” adds Court.

This new location makes it possible for HOLT CAT to service a wider area. “We partner with our Waco branch and we have a store in South Austin. Being in Williamson County, we can get over to Lee, Burnet, up to Milam and Bell Counties and down to Travis to serve north Austin. Our field service teams collaborate and dispatch out of any of three store locations depending on customer location and technician availability,” explains Court. continued on Page 14

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

New name, new look

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Still the ONE

Conquest Industries Inc.’s Collins Johnson

istening to customers in any business is important, and what Collins Johnson often heard his customers say was, “I didn’t realize you offered more than demolition!” That’s why last year, Johnson changed his company name from Conquest Demolition Inc. to Conquest Industries Inc. “When it was originally formed, the company offered demolition services and concrete, cutting and coring. In that, we also offered the technology side, which is the ground penetrating radar scans of concrete,” he explains. “One of the most interesting things about a young business is the evolutionary path that it takes. We started doing so much more than demolition. As we’ve evolved and grown, we’ve added services and we’ve found the need to create one central name and brand that houses three different divisions.”

Conquest Industries Inc.’s new site services division offers heavy equipment work with excavators, backhoes, loaders, compacters, dozers, skid steers, and dump trucks and primarily focuses on offering trenching and excavation services for wet

and dry underground utility companies.

Its demolition division offers total and selec-tive building demolition, civil demolition and debris cleanup. its concrete cutting and coring division provides concrete flat sawing, diesel and electric, concrete wall sawing, concrete core drilling, concrete chain sawing, hand sawing and concrete break and removal services. That division also houses the technology sector.

Collins, who is also CEO of operating firm Pinpoint Strategies knows how important a name can be to a company and is pleased the name change was so well received by customers.

“I had great feedback. Like any other company, customers have the name in their mind, and sometimes they need more than one reminder of the name change. We really spent time retraining the market as to our new name,” he says.

With the name settled, Johnson has introduced two other changes as well.

“I’ve changed the company logo and we’re rolling out a new website that better showcases who we are.”

Conquest Industries Inc. is in Austin. –mjm

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The Burt Group President Tommy Burt, CFO Heather Merz and Vice President Business Development Zach Cannon

ustin-based commercial general contractor The Burt Group is positioned for growth in core market niches, complex corporate interiors and ground up builds that leverage cost control capabilities as they consider themselves “One Team” with their project partners.

“At The Burt Group, the building blocks to our success are emphasized by our One Team approach to construction which we believe sets us apart,” Director of Marketing Brooke Wood says. “When you choose The Burt Group, you become an integral part of our Team. This cohesive One Team mentality ensures that we are all working together towards the same common goal.”

Helmed by President Tommy Burt and CFO Heather Merz, the general contractor was founded in 2002 and relies on more than 17 years of experience delivering more than 1,200 commercial projects, representing over 30 million square feet in Central Texas.

“We take tremendous pride in our repeat clientele and this will always help to determine our future job locations and market entries,” Vice President of Preconstruction Zach Cannon says. “We are only as good as our people, so a continued emphasis on internal team makeup will be at the forefront of all that we do.

“Growth is our mantra, but ensuring it is smart, healthy, calculated, and balanced growth is key as we will not sacrifice quality,” Cannon continues.

“There is so much to be excited for the future; we simply want to ensure we

approach it with diligence.”

TBG is dedicated to providing innovative problem solving and an unwavering commitment to excellence in construction, with teams prepared to handle any size project, from renovations to complete office buildouts and buildings.

Capabilities include project planning, additions to existing facilities, renovations, ground up developments, sustainable retrofits, preconstruction consulting, value engineering, and joint venture design/build projects.

Notable TBG projects include corporate office interiors of CoreLogic, General Motors IT Center and GoDaddy. TBG has also completed ground up construction on impressive projects including University of Texas Dan Brown Player Development Center and Ascension Seton Buda Health Center.

Defining that team mentality internally, TBG leadership has worked purposely to develop a culture that people want to be a part of. With a strategic focus on the people, you will find TBG employees bonding throughout the year at yearly fishing and spa trips for all employees, company happy hours, and company volunteer efforts.

The Burt Group has built a culture to stay and a business model to work together as ONE Team for years to come.

Commercial general contractor The Burt Group specializes in ground-up construction and new, adaptive reuse and remodel construction in healthcare, restaurant, hospitality, corporate, manufacturing, industrial and technology environments. –mjm

Camel cam

Every job is a little different for Sola-lite/Solar-Tex Installer Mark Stevens, but even he couldn’t believe his eyes when a client had not one, but two pet/guard/attack camels on the property! With safety on the job always on Stevens’ mind, he practiced a little social distancing getting this pic. –mjm

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

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Keeping Texas strong

L-R: Texas Strengthening Technologies’ Omar Martinez and Jose Ochoa

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exas Strengthening Technologies’ Bobby Irvin wants the construction industry to know that when it comes to post tension repair, there are options.

“We strengthen existing concrete structures,” Irvin explains. “That’s everything from post-tension repairs to carbon fiber installation, barrier cable engineering and installation, epoxy injection and concrete repairs. There’s not a post tension repair that we don’t do; we do unbonded PT, including elevated structures and slab on grade. It’s a very unique niche that not many people in this world can do. Right now, we work for a lot of post tensioning manufacturers, meaning they sell the cable; when they have repair needs, they give us a call and we do the repairs for them.”

Irvin says choosing Texas Strengthening Technologies can save general contractors and homebuilders time and effort.

“We can provide the in-house engineering, so you’re not having to go out and do a third-party stamp or anything of that nature. Many times, companies that do what we do are backlogged, but we have excess of about 35 employees now; we’re really fast and we travel across the entire United States. There’s nowhere we won’t go. Right now, we have work from New York down to Florida. We even have a project coming up next month in the Grand Cayman Islands.”

Irvin is one-third of the leadership at the company, sharing an equal partnership with Jose Ochoa and Omar Martinez.

“The uniqueness about our partner-

Austin

ship is that I run the business development, marketing, sales, and estimating and Omar and Jose are in complete control of the build and day-to-day operations,” Irvin says. “What makes it so unique and such a good thing for our customers is that they have field representation out there that has stake in what we do.”

Irvin, Ochoa and Martinez have witnessed the industry discovering their niche.

“We’re growing fairly rapidly. We’re trying to get to $150 million in sales a year, so we’re a little bit away from that, and that’s where we want to plane off,” Irvin says. “Our plans are to continue to grow in innovation and stay up to date in technologies. We’re always on the lookout for any of the newest materials and features out there that can make us more competitive. Most of all, it’s our customer service that we’ll continue to provide. That’s going to be the biggest commitment of our future: how fast we can respond and the quality of job that you’re going to get – period.”

Irvin says his favorite part of his work is repairing and making existing structures stronger, and he plans to continue getting the word out how his company can help customers.

“If a homebuilder, general contractor, enginner or anybody is searching for strengthening of a concrete structure and need post-tensioning repairs, there are other options. Give us the call and give us the opportunity.”

Texas Strengthening Technologies is based in Cleburne. –mjm

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Relocating to better serve

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H&E Equipment Services’ new location, 597 Northpoint Drive in Temple, TX.

o better serve a fast-growing market, H&E Equipment Services (H&E) announced the relocation of their Georgetown branch to an expanded facility at 597 Northpoint Drive in Temple, TX. The announcement came on Jun. 8.

The state-of-the-art 20,000sf facility sits on six acres with a fully fenced yard area, offices, parts warehouse and a sixbay shop. The service department is capable of handling repairs for a variety of general, industrial, construction, and earthmoving equipment.

The Temple branch specializes in earthmoving equipment, aerial lifts, telescopic forklifts, and general construction machinery from the following manufacturers: Allmand, Atlas Copco, Blue Diamond, Bomag, Doosan, Gehl, Generac, Genie , Hamm, JCB, JLG, John Deere, LBX, LayMor, MEC, Multiquip, Okada, Polaris, Skyjack, SkyTrak, Sullair, Takeuchi, Wacker Neuson, Yanmar and others.

“Our new Temple facility is more strategically located to serve contractors now that we are on Northpoint Drive, just off of I-35. This allows us to react more quickly and provide faster response time to Temple, Belton, Killeen, Waco, and the

surrounding areas,” says H&E Regional Vice President Shaun Bergeson. “Our highly skilled employees, large and growing equipment inventory, new shop, and increased investment in this area demonstrate our full commitment to the Central Texas region, allowing us to better meet customers’ rental, sales, parts and equipment service needs.”

In addition to a large equipment rental fleet, the facility provides expanded new and used equipment sales, parts availability within 24 hours for most items, in-shop and mobile service repairs, training and other value-added services.

Founded in 1961, H&E Equipment Services is one of the largest integrated equipment companies in the nation, providing the higher standard in equipment rentals, sales, parts and service. Including the Temple branch, there are 20 locations in Texas and additional locations nationwide throughout the Pacific Northwest, West Coast, Intermountain, Southwest, Gulf Coast, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

H&E Equipment Services is a full-service equipment rental company. -cmw

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Jim “Jimmy” Odom President/Owner

Jim Schallon

Vice-President Archadeck of Austin Round Rock, TX

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ailing from a tech background, Jim Odom bought Archadeck ten years ago. As he successfully navigated the new-to-him territory of patio and deck design and execution, he brought on Jim Schallon as Vice President. Together, they are growing the business even during a the challenges of a pandemic.

Share about your background.

Jim Odom: I’m a native Texan. I was born and raised in Houston. I got my degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston. I worked for NASA for three years when I got out of college; it wasn’t a great job for me right out of school because I wasn’t learning anything so I moved to Austin in 1979 to work with Motorola.

I was with Motorola for 20 years, then left to do a high-tech startup and in the process I ran into another company that was beginning so I took a job there and ended up being an executive there for 10 years. They moved the company from Austin to Dallas, and I ended up commuting from Austin to Dallas every week. I had committed to move, but I would come home every weekend and nothing was packed, so I kind of knew how my wife Julie felt about it, and we did not move to Dallas. After 10 years, they found a way to exit me, but that’s okay, they treated me well, but it was 2008 and there were no jobs. I invested in buying this business.

Tell me about Archadeck.

Jim Odom: It was started in Austin in 1999. I bought it at the end of 2009 so I’ve owned it 10 years. Archadeck is a national

franchise, so there are about 70 Archadecks around the country. It is part of the franchise called Outdoor Living Brands. We shrunk and then we grew.

When I purchased it, it was about a $2 million business with a small staff. I come from a tech background and am an engineer by trade, and it was a lot of old school thinking in the company, and I was constantly looking to make changes and to improve our processes. I trained my son and he was active in the business for a while but he decided his passion is painting things and he has his own business in east Austin. My wife, Julie, works in the office and does the intake when clients call us to get work done.

In 2016, Jim Schallon wanted to move to Austin from St. Louis and an associate of his had talked to me about opening an Archadeck franchise in Florida, so indirectly Jim got connected with me. He came to Austin, interviewed similar companies in Austin, and he felt like I was the only guy who really had it together. That’s why he came to Austin. He and I work great together; we see things the same way. He’s not an official partner in the business, but as far as having a like mindset, and being able to work well together, it’s proven very successful.

How has the business evolved?

Jim Schallon: When I started, our five-year plan was to double our sales volume. Now we’re doing close to $3 million in sales, which is pretty good for a family-owned business in the remodeling industry. I came from a company where we had 19 sales designers and we were doing $20 million a year doing decks and fences and rooms. I actually downsized a little bit to come here, but I saw the opportunity moving from St. Louis to Austin and I was in a position there where I wasn’t going to grow much more. I wanted to grow the business and teach. We’ve expanded the sales staff. We’re adding new production people. The company has definitely grown by leaps and bounds, and I’m proud to have been able to help Jimmy do that. He is really intelligent and very knowledgeable, being an electrical engineer by trade.

One thing that has changed is that we all work remotely now. Jimmy had a showroom and a big house and before I even started, I said, “If I were you, I would get rid of this place. How many people actually come out to Leander? It seems like you’re spending a lot of money.”

Right before I came on, he sold the building, and everyone was working remotely.

L-R: Archadeck of Austin's President/CEO Jim "Jimmy" Odom and VP Jim Schallon

That’s great, especially with more people working remotely due to COVID.

Jim Odom: It was scary, but fortunately we have work all over Central Texas within a 60-mile service area. A lot of that is not in Austin proper, so we were able to continue building. I established on our website a way for people to collect information, have a video call, etc. so that we could actually do a quote and continue the process remotely. We communicated with our customers two or three times a week. We were very proactive about educating our customers about what we could and could not do.

Jim has changed his sales process so that once he has the information that he needs he’s able to go though and make the video presentation. The silver lining is that you do have people’s attention in a different way when you’re doing a video call. Jim has been very successful at this; he is looked at as the example of how to do that.

Fortunately, we are in one of those businesses in which there is an extreme demand for what we do. Normally, I get 20 leads a week; lately I’ve been getting 50 to 60 leads a week for the last two months.

What is a project of which you are particularly proud?

Jim Odom: Some projects that you do have so much appeal and value they’re kind of statement pieces. I designed a job four years ago in Davenport Ranch. It’s probably the best project the company has done and most reflective of all of the benefits of what we have to offer. It’s probably 900sf and it’s a free-standing pavilion. It’s gorgeous. It sits up on the hill and has an uninterrupted view of the city, from the Capital to the river. When you do a project like that, it’s just amazing.

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What do you enjoy about your work?

Jim Odom: The thing that I like most about what I do is that I’m able to design something that is beautiful and going to add to people’s homes. It has lasting value and is a permanent thing, and I can see it come to fruition over a matter of months. In the high-tech world, you can work on something for your whole life and never see it come together.

I do most of the computer work myself and I enjoy that design environment, I enjoy the relationship with customers that develop through this. I have a dozen clients that will call us back, and we’ve had some clients that we’ve done four different projects for. There’s just a pretty strong relationship and it’s very much a partnership.

What are your future plans for the company?

Jim Odom: I think there is still room to grow in Austin. It is a competitive place; there are a lot of people that compete for business but there is not a great number of competitors in this space because we’re the best at the thing that we do. All of the things you would view in terms of metrics would reflect that.

We are a design/build firm, so while we get a lot of requests, we’re not a carpentry company. We do a lot of mixed projects where there is a lot of masonry and carpentry and electric and plumbing, where you bring all of these trades together in one place to be able to accomplish the whole thing.

Archadeck of Austin provides porch covers, patio covers, screen walls, screen rooms, sunrooms, patios, hardscapes, fire features, electrical services for outdoor living spaces. –mjm

Texas Style

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

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Locating a new branch

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Charles Hamm expanded his company, Lonestar Locating, to Austin last month.

harles Hamm’s fascination with what lies beneath started years ago.

“I started off my adult life in Uncle Sam’s Marine Corps and the first thing that I ever found buried in the ground that was of any consequence to me was a landmine.

You talk about a chilling experience!” he says with a laugh. “I became fascinated by being able to find something that you couldn’t see that was of consequence. So, I started locating about 30 years ago, and started my underground utility locating company, Lonestar Locating, in Houston in 2008.”

Last month, Hamm opened the second branch of his business in Austin. Lonestar Locating has completed projects small and large all over Texas, including all of the locating work for the 20-mile long 288 road-widening project.

“We locate anything buried in the ground,” he says. “We have instruments to locate metallic lines, like electric, phone, cable TV, and gas lines with tracer wires.

There are things buried in the ground that are unlocatable, such as PVC pipe, water lines, and fiberglass pipelines. We use our

equipment to expose lines so that people know exactly what’s there and what’s not there.”

For his business’ second act, he set his sights on the state’s capital for strategic reasons.

“I wanted to expand the business, and I know there is a lot of work going on in Austin. I expect the business to grow up there and expand. It also gives us a quicker response time for people in San Antonio who call us, and it’s the closest big city to our Houston location; we can send reinforcements up to Austin if we need it.

Some of our Houston clients have offices in Austin, and we just want to make sure everyone knows we’re there. We’re in the process of getting the word out, but we’ve already had a nice job.”

Hamm trained both of his sons-in-law in locating, and they join him in the business. Ed Kurek covers the Houston market, and Scott Norris established the Austin location for his father-in-law. With their help, Hamm is excited to bring his services to Austin and unearth more satisfied customers. –mjm

Working like dogs

Bulldog Construction’s Peter Kuehn with the inspo for his company name, Jellybean and Klaus

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hen Peter Kuehn was choosing a name for his full-service general contracting company, he found inspiration practically sitting at his feet: his French Bulldogs Jellybean and Klaus.

“Since the dogs go with me to a lot of places and job sites, I thought calling it Bulldog Construction would be fair warning that there will be Frenchies with me,” Kuehn says. “Plus, who doesn’t like a French Bulldog?”

Not many people, it seems. While Kuehn performs seal coating, parking lot striping, pressure washing, roof repairs, or any number of services, Jellybean and Klaus assist as site inspectors and company ambassadors, meeting and greeting on most projects.

Job site visits are old hat for Kuehn, who is actually the third “Peter” in his family to work in construction. Kuehn’s grandfather was in the industry in California, and Kuehn’s dad owned a Texas construction company.

“I worked for my father right out of high school,” Kuehn says. “He had me at the bottom of the totem pole doing the most

Jellybean and Klaus are the company’s site inspectors and ambassadors on job sites.

absolute miserable labor there is! But you learn more, you do more, your position changes within the company and industry.

I worked with my father until he closed his business six years ago.”

With a friend, Kuehn then started an anti-terrorist vehicle barriers company that quickly achieved international success. Not wanting to travel for work and leave his dogs for long periods of time, Kuehn stepped away from the venture and returned to construction, founding Bulldog Construction in 2018. The company primarily services Austin, but has completed projects in Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Laredo and San Antonio. Kuehn looks forward to performing more work throughout Texas and growing his business with Jellybean and Klaus by his side.

“They’re useless as dogs but they’re the best friends you could ever ask for,” he says. “They’re entirely companion dogs; your best friends all day, every day.”

Austin general contractor Bulldog Construction services all facets of commercial, residential and multifamily construction. – mjm

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Summer school

lass was recently in session for local science teachers!

In 2020, the Texas Aggregates & Concrete Association (TACA) began partnering with Texas Mining and Reclamation Association (TMRA) on its Industrial Minerals workshop, which was offered from June 15-19 in Round Rock Texas. TACA augmented the industrial minerals workshops by updating and expanding A teacher learns how karst topography forms from the the curriculum to provide dissolution of soluble rocks at the workshop. information on the work of TACA members. During the week-long real-world, problem solving activities session, teachers participated in hands- that encourage students to use critical on labs, toured local mining facilities and thinking skills. heard from industry speakers. They also Both TACA Producer companies and learned about future employment Allied members participated in the opportunities in the mining industry for workshop, including Capitol Aggregates their students. Teachers returned to their Inc., Tex-Mix Concrete, Vibra-Tech Engiclassrooms with earth science facts and neers Inc., Ash Grove Cement Company, Arcosa Inc. and Easy Mix Concrete Services LLC. Since 1991, more 1,500 teachers have participated in the program, with each teacher reaching approximately 130-150 students annually. The program is recognized by the Governor’s Conference on Math, Science and Technology, certified by the Environmental Education Advisory Council. –mjm

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Fame from foam

oes Instagram influencer @justaconstructionguy look familiar? The rising star is Austin general contractor Omar Madani, who suddenly found fame after he was approached to be part of a marketing campaign for Austinbased Cuvée Coffee. The lighthearted Instagram page (with a 450,000-strong following) shows Madani in a blend of scenarios, including drinking java pinky up, cycling through the city, cuddling a pup and, you guessed it, posing on job sites. On his company blog, Cuvée Coffee owner Mike McKim says the campaign was inspired by the city’s construction boom, resulting in an uptick of construction worker visits to his East Austin flagship store. –mjm

Texas science Teachers participate in a bus tour of Capitol Aggregates’ Solms Quarry in New Braunfels.

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List your Company for Reference For Info, Contact: Buddy Doebbler Buddy@ConstructionNews.net 210-308-5800

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Page 7

The Benefits of Arbitration in the Era of COVID-19

Think Twice before Negotiating an Insurance Claim

R. Carson Fisk, Shareholder Andrews Myers P.C. Austin, TX

J. Andrew Scott, Attorney Cantey Hanger, LLP Austin/San Antonio/Fort Worth, TX

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itigation has never been a model of efficiency. It is a long and expensive process, with the time between case filing and initiation taking, in many cases, years.

And that does not even take into account the multitiered—and expensive—appellate process. Now, due to previous and ongoing closures and limited access to courts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, litigants have been largely unable to proceed with many aspects critical to the litigation process, including many types of hearings and trials. When some form of normalcy returns, courts will inevitably be grappling with a significant backlog of hearings, trials, and related matters, not to mention the challenges likely stemming from requirements or recommendations to continue to implement health and safety measures such as limited attendance in confined spaces and social distancing. The likely outcome is delay and increased costs.

Overlaying all of this is the fact that many industry trade groups have major criticisms of the Texas civil justice system as it relates to businesses. For example, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform notes in its 2019 Lawsuit Climate Survey that Texas was ranked 38th out of 50 states when exploring how fair and reasonable the states’ liability systems are perceived to be by U.S. businesses. Texas was consistently ranked in the bottom half of all states across a variety of subjects (e.g., Enforcing Meaningful Venue Requirements, Overall Treatment of Tort and Contract Litigation, Damages, Proportional Discovery, Scientific and Technical Evidence, Juries’ Fairness, and Quality of Appellate Review) and, disturbingly, in the bottom ten for “Trial Judges’ Impartiality” and “Trial Judges’ Competence.” Jefferson County, Texas even earned the unenviable distinction of being one of “the five worst jurisdictions” across the entire United States “with reputations for being problematic when it comes to litigation.”

On a positive note, Texas has improved greatly from 2002 and 2003 when it was ranked a dismal overall 46th out of 50 states.

Arbitration is poised to offer a very different story. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, aspects of the arbitration process were already conducted remotely.

Most communications with the arbitrator and any case manager, in the case of an administered arbitration, were and are handled via email. The critical preliminary hearing, where various procedural matters are addressed and a final hearing date may be identified, was and remains generally conducted by telephone conference. Hearings on interim matters were generally conducted by telephone conference as well. While the final hearing is typically conducted inperson, arbitral rules often permitted and encouraged flexibility. For example, Rule R-33 of the American Arbitration Association’s Construction Industry Arbitration Rules provides that “[w]hen deemed appropriate, the arbitrator may also allow for the presentation of evidence by alternative means including video conferencing, internet communication, telephonic conferences and means other than an in-person presentation,” provided that “[s]uch alternative means must still afford a full opportunity for all parties to present any evidence that the arbitrator deems material and relevant to the resolution of the dispute and when involving witnesses, provide an opportunity for cross-examination.”

The parties themselves are empowered to dispense with either an in-person or remote hearing as “[t]he parties may agree to waive oral hearings in any case.”

While the economic upheaval that has been experienced no doubt will impact the future pipeline of construction

projects, development marches forward and contract terms continue to be negotiated. For those parties, the advantages of arbitration over litigation have been highlighted in this era of pandemic-driven shutdowns and closures and should seriously be considered when deciding what dispute resolution provisions should be included in the contract. And, of course, such provisions can be tailored to fit the specific needs of the project or the parties. In fact, the American Arbitration Association even offers a free “ClauseBuilder” tool (www.clausebuilder.org) where parties can input answers to a variety of questions and generate a customized arbitration provision to include in contracts.

But for those who find themselves in the midst of stagnant, drawn out, and expensive litigation or evaluating options in the face of pursuing a claim where the applicable contract does not contain an arbitration clause, there are options. Specifically, parties can agree to submit a claim to arbitration at any time, with administering bodies providing specifically for such a process. For example, Rule R-5 of the American Arbitration Association’s Construction Industry Arbitration Rules provides that “[p]arties to any existing dispute, who have not previously agreed to use these Rules, may commence arbitration under these Rules by either filing online through AAA WebFile or by filing at any office of the AAA a written submission to arbitrate under these Rules, signed by the parties,” with the submission including specific information accompanied by the appropriate filing fee.

The AAA submission form is available at https://www.adr.org/sites/default/files/ Commercial_Form_Arbitration%20Submission%20Form-Commercial_2010_10_19.pdf.

While courts will likely struggle to adjust schedules once they are fully open, arbitration may continue to move forward at a faster pace. Ultimately, arbitration—being nimble and flexible—will offer benefits, including the prospect of more timely resolution, that cannot be matched by litigation. And parties should consider such matters both in the contract negotiations and when deciding whether and how to pursue or defend against a claim.

R. Carson Fisk is board certified in Construction Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and may be reached at cfisk@ andrewsmyers.com.

C

onsider this scenario: You are a contractor who is hired by a customer to perform repairs to a building.

For whatever reason, some or all of the repair costs are covered under insurance. So you offer to negotiate with the insurance company on behalf of the customer. The insurance company subsequently pays you or the customer the negotiated amount. You perform the work. The customer is happy because they received the repairs and didn’t have to hassle with the insurance company. All is seemingly well.

The problem with the above scenario is that Texas law requires a person acting on behalf of an insured who negotiates a claim under any policy of insurance to be a licensed public insurance adjuster.

Before 2019, Texas law also specifically prohibited roofing contractors from negotiating claims with insurance companies on behalf of an insured owner. So even a roofing contractor who was a licensed public insurance adjuster was barred from handling claims on behalf of an insured owner.

In the most recent Texas Legislative Session, the Legislature expanded this broad prohibition to all contractors. Now, no contractor—roofing or otherwise— may act as a public adjuster for any property in which the contractor is also providing contracting services, regardless of whether the contractor is a licensed adjuster or if the insured owner authorizes the contractor to act on their behalf. The damages for violating this law are severe.

Under Chapter 4102 of the Texas Insurance Code, a contractor found in violation of this chapter may face a criminal penalty equal to a Class B misdemeanor and/or an administrative penalty by the Texas Department of Insurance. While those penalties are obviously concerning, the contractor may also face civil liability. Namely, the insured owner may void the contract with the contractor, and will not be liable for the payment of any past services rendered. The issues may tie-in to claims arising under the Deceptive Trade Practices – Consumer Protection Act, as well.

Since 2013, multiple Texas courts have upheld this prohibition against roofing contractors handling owners’ roofing claims with insurance companies.

More recently, the Texas Department of Insurance has issued cease and desist orders to a few roofing contractors engaging in this type of activity. The following are examples of the unlawful conduct cited by the Commissioner for the Texas Department of Insurance:

a.

Marketing brochure stated: “Need help with an Insurance Claim? We will document your roof damage and contact your insurance company for you.”

b. Damage report document ad

vertised that roofing contractor,

“hereby agrees to act as the In

sured’s advocate with the insur

ance company to help deter

mine fair market replacement

value for all losses incurred in claim.”

c. Insurance work authorization

form included a statement au-

thorizing the roofing contractor

“to negotiate directly with my

insurance company for repairs

at the above address and nego

tiate property damage claim settlement.”

d. Business card stated: “We work

with your insurance company to

get you every dime you are owed.”

e. Company website advertised

that, “Texas licensed adjuster

working with you on your insur ance claims.”

Furthermore, if the transaction was already completed, the insured owner may seek to disgorge any monies already paid to the roofing contractor. To be sure, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals, in Lon Smith Associates, Inc. v. Key, recently recognized the right of insured owners to obtain a complete refund of all monies paid to a roofing contractor, without any offset for the value of roofing work performed. For example, a contractor who received $12,000 in payment on a project, but is found to be in violation of Ch. 4102, will have to refund the $12,000 paid while the customer gets to keep the work performed.

Considering the above, all contractors should be wary of negotiating insurance claims on behalf of an insured.

Some specialty contractors, such as those in the restoration and roofing industries, should be particularly cautious in their dealings with insurance companies. Not acting now may spell grave consequences in the future.

What should contractors do now?

Contractors should seek to minimize their exposure to these claims moving forward. The first step is to avoid conduct that would lead customers to believe you will negotiate with their insurance company on their behalf or to actually engage in such conduct. This may include revising contracts, marketing brochures, websites, damage report documents, and insurance work authorization forms.

Also, consider whether arbitration may be a preferred forum for dispute resolution. Some of the arguments may resonate with a jury, but an arbitrator may be more suspect as to the calculation of alleged damages, particularly where an insured owner contends that it has suffered “mental anguish” or is entitled to multiplied damages due to intentional acts.

Andrew Scott is a construction lawyer with the law firm of Cantey Hanger, LLP. He may be reached at (817) 877-2802 or by email at ascott@canteyhanger.com.

Page 8

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

How does my Surety analyze my Financial Statement?

Eric Schmalz, Principal Schmalz & Associates Austin, TX

Preventing Struck By Incidents Involving Heavy Equipment Joann Natarajan Compliance Assistance Specialist OSHA Austin, TX

Y

S

our surety company is going to evaluate creditworthiness based on three broad areas: character, capacity, and capital. Capital represents your financial strength as a contractor and is documented by providing ongoing financial information to your underwriter.

potters are a proven method of protecting employees on foot behind vehicles with an obstructed view, but spotters themselves can be at risk for injury or even death. Employers can implement the following actions to help keep spotters safe:

As if preparing accurate financial statements wasn’t hard enough given all it takes to run your business, it’s important we understand that these financial statements are ‘analyzed’ by your surety.

The surety works to evaluate what assets can be viewed with a high degree of confidence and weed out those that have some degree of risk or uncertainty.

The goal is to base your surety credit on viable assets and balance conservatism with trying to understand the makeup and risk attributes of the assets and liabilities.

at full value unless they are reflective of unresolved contract claims or change orders.

Your financial statement as provided is described by “as-stated” and upon completion of analysis it is described by “as-allowed”. The analysis process looks at each asset entry and scrutinizes whether it should be discounted by some percentage of stated value, counted but viewed as a non-current asset (allowed in equity but not working capital) or disallowed entirely. Taking a conservative approach in underwriting typically means that all liabilities are allowed “as-stated”. This will often include an added entry for anticipated tax distributions due on profits for entities reporting tax as a pass-through.

Account or note receivable due from Affiliated company.

• Ensure that spotters and drivers agree on hand signals before backing up.

Instruct spotters to always maintain visual contact with the driver while the vehicle is backing.

• Instruct drivers to stop backing immediately if they lose sight of the spotter.

Not give spotters additional duties while they are acting as spotters.

• Instruct spotters not to use personal mobile phones, personal headphones, or other items which could pose a distraction during spotting activities.

• Provide spotters with high-visibility clothing, especially during night operations.

Below I will list some common assets entries found on a contractor’s balance sheet and how they’re typically treated by a surety. Keep in mind each surety company has their own unique methods of analysis and treatment of assets.

Cash

Cash is fully allowed as a current asset unless it is described as restricted or pledged as collateral.

Marketable Securities

If securities such as stocks are publicly traded and at risk of market volatility, some percentage of stated value will be disallowed entirely. Often 20% or more.

Accounts Receivables aged 90 days or more.

Generally, receivables over 90 days are not allowed. If you feel there are reasons that provide for more confidence in collection, I recommend providing that information to your underwriter. Retention receivable is allowed at full value.

Claims receivable This asset is typically excluded entirely given the uncertain nature of the negotiation and legal process involved.

If there are agreements or resolutions in place, I would recommend providing that information to your underwriter to make a case for allowing at least some portion of the receivable. A case can also be made to disallow related payables, so communication is key here.

Underbillings Underbillings (cost and estimated earnings in excess of billing) are allowed

Officer/employee account or note receivable Unless there is collateral or security in place held by the company, these transactions are excluded. It is fairly customary that this type of transaction is not paid by outside funds rather they are often resolved by reclassifying the entry as salary.

Unless security or collateral is in place and a financial statement is reviewed to support the ability to repay, these items are fully disallowed.

Inventory. Often inventory will be analyzed by discounting 50% from current assets but allowing in equity. If a case can be made that the inventory will be used or turn over quickly, I recommend providing additional detail to your underwriter as this can have a significant impact on your working capital calculation.

Investment in other/outside companies

By default, a conservative approach will be taken when analyzing these investments so it is important to provide additional supporting information as to why an investment should be allowed in analysis. Often, we see investments like this noted on the balance sheet as equity or cost basis in the investment which fails to take into account any off-balance sheet liabilities for which the principal contractor may be responsible.

Most vehicles (and some types of mobile equipment) can accommodate a camera that provides operators with a view to the rear. Some vehicles come equipped with cameras, offered as optional equipment, or purchased as aftermarket equipment for vehicles. Viewing screens may be dash-mounted but must not block the driver’s view out the windshield. Harsh environments, such as some construction sites or mines, may require more rugged cameras. Determining where to mount a camera for maximum effectiveness may be difficult, especially on large vehicles. For example, dump trucks may require two or three cameras to monitor the blind spots on the front, rear, and side of the vehicle.

Radar and ultrasonic technology are also used in backing safety systems. A radar system transmits a signal, which is bounced off an object. The signal is then received by a receiver. These systems

alert the driver with a visual and/or audio warning. These systems must be positioned so that they won’t detect harmless objects, which can interfere with the detection of an object or person behind the vehicle. Also, the composition of an object can affect detection, with some materials being virtually invisible to radar. Like cameras, this equipment can be mounted on most vehicles and may be an option from some manufacturers.

Ultrasonic systems, such as sonar, emit bursts of ultrasonic waves in a frequency above the hearing threshold of humans. When the waves strike an object, they generate echoes used to determine the distance to the object. These systems alert the driver with a visual and/ or audio warning.

Another type of proximity detection system is an electromagnetic field-based system, which is a type of tag-based system. This system consists of electromagnetic field generators and field detecting devices. One electromagnetic field-based system uses electromagnetic field generators installed on a vehicle and electronic sensing devices (a tag) worn by persons working near the vehicle. Another electromagnetic field-based system uses field generators worn by persons working near the vehicle, with the sensing devices installed on the vehicle. These electromagnetic field-based systems can be programmed to warn affected workers, stop the vehicle, or both, when workers get within the predefined danger zone of the vehicle. natarajan.joann@dol.gov 512-374-0271 x232

Renovating for success

Keep in mind these are just a few common balance sheet asset entries we see in the construction industry but there are plenty more and each individual case is unique. It’s important to maintain transparency and communication with your bond agent and underwriter on the details of these transactions. If a case can be made to allow all or some of an asset in analysis of working capital and/or equity, it means more total bonding capacity can be supported!

Schmalz & Associates is an agency exclusively supporting contractors bonding needs. Eric Schmalz was an underwriter and manager for over 15 years working for Top 10 surety companies and now helps his contractor clients establish and maximize their bonding. Please call 512-640-6444, email eric@schmalzsurety.com or visit the website at www.schmalzsurety.com We’d love to help!

Schmalz SU R E T Y B O N D S

& ASSOCIATES

Associated General Contractors Austin Chapter will be closing their offices for interior renovations that are expected to last about four months. The office staff will not be in the office during the construction process but will continue to serve and will be available by phone. -cmw

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Page 9

prepare snacks and lunch, and rig their favorite rod and reel. This is wasting the most valuable fishing time of the day. By the time you get the boat launched and to your favorite fishing hole, most likely someone has fished that area or has run through it. One must have some sort of plan before you even leave the dock.

Always have a secondary location planned out in case someone has beat you to your first spot. Early morning areas to start out include the King Ranch Shoreline from the CPL Power Plant to Compuerta Pass heading into Baffin Bay. If you get a real early start and want to fish further south, try fishing the South Shore of Baffin Bay from Los Corrallos to White Bluff. This area offers a vast amount of shoreline, which can be fished shallow over sand and grass, or deeper later in the day over rock structures. It is a great shoreline to wade fish if the winds get up later in the day. Another area, which is holding fish lately is the spoil islands south of Bird Island. This stretch of small chains of submerged and exposed islands are excellent habitat for both specks and reds. Continuous miles of grass beds and scattered sand pockets help keep this water filtered and clear even when the winds reach peak gusts.

Trout Fishing Still Hotter Than Ever!

by Capt. Steve Schultz Sponsored by: Waypoint Marine, Shoalwater Boats, Fishing Tackle Unlimited, Shimano Reels, E-Z Bel Construction, Costa Sunglasses, Simms Fishing, ForEverlast Fishing Products, PowerPro, Interstate Batteries, MirrOlure, JL Marines Power-Pole, AFW and AFTCO Clothing

O

ne of the most anticipated holidays of the summer is upon us, and no doubt the bays and beaches will be packed with families in search of making memories of a lifetime. The 4th of July is probably my favorite holiday of the year, marking our Independence. It is also one of the hottest times to be on the water.

This year things just might be a bit busier than the previous years due to the Covid-19 virus and lack of people traveling by air. Be prepared for long lines at the marinas, restaurants and on the beaches.

Trout fishing remains hotter than ever and limits of specks are not uncommon at most all of the cleaning tables.

Redfish are stating to make an appearance with the majority of them being oversized. It shouldn’t be long, and we will start seeing more keeper reds in the coolers.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday and enjoys the remainder of the summer.

Distance yourselves from all the violence, riots and looting that is trashing our country and get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Clients and great friends Bart and Debra Johnson of Brownwood caught some nice trout (23-inch) and reds (28-inch) on their three days fishing with Steve Schultz Outdoors.

One thing you must remember about this time of the year is that it’s going to be crowded on the water so you best get an early start. With water temperatures starting out in the lower eighties and reaching the mid to upper eighties by mid afternoon, one must adjust to these changing conditions. I’d concentrate on

fishing quiet shallow areas at first light and move deeper as the day progresses.

Many areas along the King Ranch shoreline can be reached very early in the morning by prepared anglers who have planned their trip the night before. Most anglers wait until the morning of their fishing trips to gas and oil the boat,

Angling to beat a record

D

arby Wright, owner of Servpro San Marcos-New Braunfels, recently hauled this not-so-common Common Carp out of Canyon Lake.

At 15.78 lbs. and 30 in. long, it just might be a record setter: Wright is awaiting word from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that his catch beats a 14.5 pounder caught in the lake in 2006.

Wright, who makes his own dough bait concoction with cornmeal and other ingredients, had already had luck catching blue catfish, channel catfish and carp during his winter and early spring fishing.

“Once it had gotten later in the spring, we started catching more and bigger carp,” Wright says. “One morning recently while fishing in deeper water, I hooked and fought a particularly larger carp. If you’ve never caught a big carp in cooler water, it’s a blast! They are very strong fighters and fight like the soughtafter redfish at the coast.”

Once he pulled this monster from the water, it was clear that this was not a common catch.

“I had this carp officially weighed and measured at the State Fish Hatchery in

San Marcos,” Wright says. “The biologist told me it should easily beat the existing Canyon Lake record set back in 2006.”

Wright hopes others will seek out their own uncommon fishing experiences this summer.

“If you get a chance, take a kid carp fishing; it’s a blast,” he says. “Carp are very common in all rivers and lakes in central Texas and you can find all sorts of homemade carp recipes on YouTube.” –mjm

Here are some dates open in the next few months. July 30,31 August 3,10,14,19, 20,21,27,28,31. Fall dates are also available.

To schedule your next bay fishing trip or hunting trip give Capt. Steve Schultz a call at 361-813-3716 or e-mail him at SteveSchultzOutdoors@gmail.com. Follow me of Facebook and Instagram at Steve Schultz Outdoors.

Good Luck and Good Fishing.

Page 10

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Ken Milam’s Fishing Line

the back door and heard one of them holler,” Are you ready ski cat?,” and then another voice on the other end of the rope yelled Since 1981, Ken Milam has been guiding fishing trips for striped bass on Lake back, “Let’er go daddy-o!” They were up to Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country, You can hear Ken on the radio as follows: something.

The Great Outdoors: 5-8 am Saturday on 1300, The Zone, Austin and

They put on water ski shows for customThe Great Outdoors: 5-7 am Saturday on 1200 WOAI San Antonio ers for the next several years until they grew The Sunday Sportsman: 6-8 am Sunday on 1300, The Zone, Austin up and moved on.

All on iHeart Radio Recently, a car pulled up at the fishing camp and a couple of sweet little blue haired grannies got out and started walking around holding hands and pointing at stuff. When we talked to them, it turned out that they had sually when we are on the water we are just wanted to come back to where they used enjoying our fast new boats and up-toto go fishing with their families as girls. They date electronics. We tend to forget that peowere sisters and told us about how they had ple have been enjoying the lakes for generacrushes on the water skiing boys back in the tions and thankfully passing that love of the day. After they grew up and raised their own water on to us. This little story is from my wife’s families, they were just out visiting their old family and the day her uncles met water skis. stomping grounds.

In 1942, less than a decade after Lake Bu It’s kind of cool to remember that even chanan filled up, my wife’s Grandpa Alexander, our man-made lakes have a history of sorts with his wife and four sons, bought a little fishand to be reminded that our grandpas were ing camp and made it a fisherman’s paradise. daredevils and grannies had crushes!

It was hard work to build the place up and run it, but those boys were able to have fun too.

One day, a friend of theirs from a wealthy family came to the lake in his new car pulling his new ski boat. A couple of pretty young ladies bailed out of the car and the boat was launched and then they pulled out some of those new-fangled water skis and a rope. Now you have to remember these little river rats had only seen water skiing on the Technicolor newsreels about the fabulous Florida Everglades that were shown before the movies at the picture show.

Pretty soon is was clear that the young playboy and his bathing beauties didn’t know a thing about skiing. We never knew what happened exactly, but they loaded back up in the car in a huff and drove off leaving the boat run up on the beach with the ski rope strung out behind it and the abandoned skis bobbing around and floating away.

The story goes that the fancy car didn’t even make it back to the highway before my wife’s dad and his little brothers had the ski rope tied to the back of their boat and were cramming their feet in those skis. Those boys took to waterskiing like ducks to water. Within a week or two, they had already built themselves a makeshift ski jump out of wood scraps and tin and slicked it down with oil. More than once Grandma had to scold them for trying to go over the jump with baby brother on their shoulders or for putting a chair on the skis to try tricks like in the movies. If she stepped out

Are ya ready ski cat?

U

Meet Maple

Construction News’ Melissa Jones-Meyer recently added a new addition to her family: 8-week-old hedgehog Maple. Named her after a type of wood her son uses in his woodworking business, Maple settled right in and has burrowed her way into her humans’ hearts. When she isn’t snacking on mealworms or taking 16-hour marathon naps, the sweet-natured hedgie is scoping out spots to snuggle with her new fam. –mjm

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

I

n May 2019, Skelly Home Renovations CEO/Founder Diana Skellenger shared with Construction News a pet project she completed with husband and COO/ CFO Sean Skellenger: a 1999 Mirada Coachmen named “Birdie.” With CBiStudio, Diana and Sean spruced up the RV, road tripped to Dallas and Houston and then nested Birdie as an Austin Airbnb; she became the first in a fleet of glammed up RVs offered for rent by their second company, Tinkins.

When Diana and Sean bought the RV in 2017, they discovered Birdie’s life in the wild had been rough.

“Birdie was very dated when we bought her,” Diana says. “Sean and I completely gutted her and started over with a fresh, clean slate. Quite a bit of repurposing and renovating was done inside and out to make it the ultimate RV/ getaway. Birdie’s renovation took a little

Page 11

Bye, bye, Birdie!

Skelly Home Renovations’ Diana Skellenger is releasing her pet project, “Birdie” and selling the RV to someone ready to fly to new adventures.

Wood, leaf-green finishes, bird and tree wallpapers make Birdie live up to her name.

Flamingos in high heels kick off this fun bathroom.

over a year because my business, Skelly Home Renovations, kept us busy, but Birdie was definitely a labor of love.”

In addition to upgraded plumbing and electrical systems, Birdie was stuffed with new … everything: two A/C units, a standup shower, roof, patio awning, exterior paint, bird-themed wallpaper, lighting, flooring, custom cabinetry, furnishings, captain chairs, and a flat screen TV. The full kitchen boasts a gas stove, conventional microwave/oven and a refrigerator. Thanks to a bigger-than-a-king bed in the back and two smaller beds up front, Birdie sleeps two adults and three kids and seats seven.

“Her interior is unlike what most people have seen in an RV and that is surprising to them. No one pictures an RV this glamorous and functional,” she says.

“Everything about Birdie is unique, from her green color to her high-heeled flamingo wallpaper in her bathroom! My favorite part of Birdie is that she is a luxurious hotel on wheels. Birdie is a reflection of Austin’s eclectic and resourceful style with a twist of glamour and femininity.”

The time has come, however, to free Birdie. With COVID-19 making people cagey, the couple is selling Birdie to help others fly to new adventures. Whomever catches Birdie will get her for a song: she’s being sold with less than 30,000 miles and stocked with board games, blankets, heaters and kitchen items for $49,000. They’ll also be buying themselves a lot of attention.

“Birdie is a sight to be seen, especially on the road!” Diana says. “Nobody will miss Birdie fly by!” –mjm

Page 12

T

he influential network of countertop fabrication professionals known as the Artisan Group announced that its members are now manufacturing intubation shields to protect ER medical professionals from COVID-19 when intubating patients.

They are providing these shields to hospitals at no cost and have established a GoFundMe page with the hopes to offset the cost to manufacture these shields.

To-date, 12 intubation shields have been provided to hospitals and emergency rooms. According to Artisan Group President, Jon Lancto, “Orders will be coordinated and provided by the Artisan Group member that is closest to the facility needing the shields.

“Emergency doctors expect use of these boxes to become a standard practice going forward for any intubation. The intubation shields can be shipped flat in a box and are easily assembled onsite. We’re so proud of our members’ willingness to jump in and help with this cause. They are putting their manufacturing skills to work, and we are grateful to be part of such a wonderful group of professionals.” -cmw

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Countertop to shields

Intubation shield provided by Artisan Group members.

Three hundred helped

Organizations collaborated to protect Latino construction workers during the pandemic.

W

ith many in the construction industry working during the pandemic, their frontline position makes them vulnerable to COVID-19 infection.

Fortunately, 300 construction workers received free COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks and supplies, and financial support thanks to the generosity of organizations concerned about their wellbeing.

The need for Latino construction workers to be tested and supported during the pandemic is urgent: During the pandemic’s 17th week, Latinos represented 65% of hospitalizations, 60% of COVID-19 cases and 39% of deaths.

The Latino positivity rate is nearly six times greater than the nonLatino average.

The Jun. 20 event was hosted at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Austin, by the U.S. Hispanic Contractor’s Association (USHCA), Financial Literacy Coalition of Central Texas (FLCCT) and the Austin Latino Coalition (ALC). –mjm

Three hundred construction workers received free COVID-19 testing, PPE and financial support.

Sacred Heart Church’s Father Mark Hamlet welcomes construction workers and volunteers participating in the event.

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Page 13

What do you wish someone would invent?

There is something I would like to personally have, and it may be invented, and I just don’t know about it yet. There are these winged suits where you can jump off of a cliff and sail through the air. I would like something that allows me to soar without a suit, some sort of antigravity invention where I could ride above it all.

Kim Casper, Caspro Builders LLC

user can understand what they are really eating. It could also identify potential contaminants or genetic abnormalities of fresh produce. There is so much misleading and hard to interpret data regarding what we eat. Also, this could be used when eating foods prepared by others. Any time we eat by others, we never really know what we are putting into our body.

Collins Johnson, Conquest Industries

It would have to be something to do with hunting or fishing. I have a place in Corpus Christi where I do a lot of that.

Joey Loranc, CutCo

I think it would be cool to invent something that would read the minds of what someone is intending something to look like before we build it. Many times, we have to figure that out from pictures, drawings, sketches and conversations. It can be very difficult, especially with color.

Most of the time, I’m pretty successful, but every now and then … We could save a lot of time and give clients exactly what they want.

David Benitez, B -Squared Woodworking

I have so many ideas, but this is my most recent one – and it may have already been invented. I was trying to beat the rain on a job, and I had a huge pallet of Quikrete bags. I covered everything up to protect the bags, but it would be cool if someone invented paper for the bags that has pigment that changes color when it gets wet so you will know when the bag and Quikrete inside has gotten wet.

Colten Perry, Goodtimes Backyard Construction Living in Texas, it would definitely be something that is a personal, portable air conditioning device or suit just to keep people from the heat, not just myself.

Peter Kuehn, Bulldog Construction I would invent a machine that makes all humans equal, including Black lives. I would make a machine that we all walk through and we’re completely equal all across the board.

Bobby Irvin Texas Strengthening Technologies It would be a handheld scanner that could be used to scan foods to immediately and truly identify the ingredients and nutritional info contained within. It could then offer basic analysis data to inform the user of the ingredients and the associated health data of each so that the

A no-stress system or something to teach you how to manage employees and keep a good work atmosphere. Something to immediately get everyone on the same page and to make it more streamlined for employees. If they had a way to do that, that would really help out a lot. I’m sure they have it out there.

Raif Castello, Running C Construction Jim Odom: It would probably be a device that can get all of the leaves from your backyard and get them into bags so that you don’t have to rake them and empty bags into another bag. I have a bunch of trees in my yard that dump all of their leaves. It takes 35 trash bags to get all of the leaves. It would be great if I had a device that sort of worked like a lawn mower with a hose coming out where leaves could go into some kind of receptacle without me having to dump them.

Jim Schallon: I would invent a clone of me to do everything I would do so I can just go home and relax.

Jim Odom and Jim Schallon, Archadeck of Austin

Association Calendar

Content submitted by Associations to Construction News ACEA

Greater Austin Contractors & Engineers Assn.

May 27-Jul. 31: Mainsprings Schools Christmas in July. For more info, contact Silvia Pendleton at 512-893-7067 or visit www.aceatx.com ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers

Jul. 17-19: Leadership Development Week. For more info, go to https://www. texasce.org/our-programs/leadershipdevelopment-weekend/ CenTeX IEC Independent Electrical Contractors

Jul. 21: IEC Electrical Contractors Tradeshow & Wire-off Competition – CANCELED. For info, contact David Johnson at 512-8321333 or email djohnson@centexiec.com CLC

no’s The Domain, 11410 Century Oaks Terrace, 11am. For more info, email eddie@dacaaustin.org ECAT Earthmoving Contractors Assn. of Texas Jul.: Annual Meeting - CANCELLED. For more info, visit www.earthmovingcontractors.com or call 325-340-8370 or 325977-8372.

MCA Mechanical Contractors Assn.

Jul. 15-19: Annual Meeting & Products Show, La Cantera Resort – RESCHEDULED July 2022. For info, call 281-440-4380 NAWIC National Assn. of Women in Construction

Jul. 23: 3rd Annual Clay Shoot, Reunion Ranch, 850 CR 255, Georgetown, TX. For more info, email austinnawic@gmail.com

Construction Leadership Council

Jul. 15: Happy Hour, TBD, 5:30-7:30pm.

Jul. 18: River Float & Cleanup, Don’s Fish Camp, 105 Nelle Ln., Martindale, TX. For info, contact Toni Osberry at 512-442-7887

SEAot Structural Engineers Assn. of Texas

Jul. 25: Chapter Meeting, Maggiano’s Little Italy, 10910 Domain Dr., #100. For more info, call 512-301-2744

CTSA Central Texas Subcontractors Assn.

Jul. 1-31: Events POSTPONED until further notice. For info, contact Wendy Lambert at 512-255-6373 or email wendy@ctsaonline.org or visit www.ctsaonline.org DACA Drywall & Acoustical Contractors Assn.

TSPE Texas Society of Professional Engineers

Jul. 1: Travis Online Meeting – City of Austin Street Impact Fee Study, 12-1pm.

Jul. 27-30: TSPE Virtual Conference, Online registration available. For more info, call 512-472-9286 email TSPE.Travis@ gmail.com or claire@tspe.org

Jul. 29: Membership Meeting, Maggia-

JOB SIGHT

Marcario Hernandez, Trinity Masonry Company LLC, is laying brick on the Modera Domain project. Millcreek Residential is the project’s general contractor. -cmw

Blowout birthday

ACEA board announced

Osburn Contractors LLC founder Dave Osburn had a cake and a smile at his birthday celebration in June. –mjm

Greater Austin Contractors & Engineers Association (ACEA) announced its newly elected board members, who will start their term July 1. Pictured are Pape-Dawson Engineers’ Dustin Goss, CC Carlton’s Ryan Houdek, Doucet & Associates’ Jenn Paisley, MLA Geotechnical’s Tim Weston, Peloton Land Solutions’ Justin Lange, Austin White Lime’s Aimee Busby, Fuquay Construction’s Garrett Shepperd, Haegelin Construction’s Darrell Seeds. Not pictured are Capital Excavation’s Scott Budd, The Nitsche Group’s Frank Castro, Liberty Civil Construction’s Michael Ehrhardt and Bleyl Engineering’s Steve Ihnen. –mjm

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

HomeAid help

continued from Page 1 — CutCo but Loranc’s decades in the industry keep him focused on the bigger picture.

“I’m still moving forward toward what my goals are, but on the other hand I’ve realized that we need to be a little bit smarter about things, because in the blink of an eye, things can go sideways, and you’d better be prepared.

The past six months have been crazy.

We were slammed with a bunch of doctors’ offices and had schools lined up and then

that all just got shut down, so we’re just now getting back to work as of two months ago.

“To succeed in this industry, you need a strong back bone and willingness to keep going, even when you’re knocked down,” Loranc continues. “I’ve been knocked down a lot, and you just put your boots on, and you keep going. Today’s a new day.”

Demolition concrete company CutCo is in Jonestown. –mjm

continued from Page 1 — Hoar Construction Director Jake Snyder, Project Executive Matt Allen and Preconstruction Manager Justin Brodnax.

To celebrate 80 years of accomplishments, Hoar Construction created an interactive timeline of the company’s history on its website and is also planning 80 different acts of kindness in which employees can participate. Hoar Construction also recently underwent a rebrand, which Hoar’s Senior Marketing Manager Emily Brown” with “Vice-President of Marketing Anna Powell” says resulted in a “new logo, new look and feel for our design and imagery, and a better vocabulary for how to say what we mean.”

“We’ve always had a good sense of who we are, internally, but we haven’t always been able to talk about how we deliver a construction project or what it’s like to work with us in the same way to our clients and potential partners,” Brown explains. “Rebranding was really about presenting ourselves more authentically and discovering if who we are now still aligns with the values our founders set in place 80 years ago. Through this branding exercise, we found that across all offices and divisions, the common denominator between employees is that they not only know what our core values

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OVID-19 has not only affected Central Texas businesses, but also the area’s homeless population. The pandemic has impacted these individuals, who are among society’s most vulnerable even when times are normal.

The good news is that the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin (HBA) 2020 Benefit Home will soon be available to ease that burden. Construction of this 2500sf, four-bedroom, three bath, two-car garage home is led by Lennar Homes under its luxury brand, Village Builders. Proceeds from this home’s sale will be donated to the HBA, who will donate a generous portion to HomeAid Austin, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing housing and community outreach for Austin’s homeless individuals and families.

Construction of this home, located at The Retreat at Steiner Ranch, is made possible by a sponsoring builder/developer and donations of construction management services, labor, materials, supplies, and funds from HBA members. Several vendors have already contributed to the cause, including Blanco Concrete, Casa Mechanical, Creative Custom Cabinets, Denbow Company, Dig Dug, In Charge Electrical Services, Lennox,

are – the Golden Rule, family-oriented, stewardship, and the relentless pursuit of improvement – but they also believe in them and live by them.

“We settled on the brand promise, ‘Always in Process,’ because it explains how we’re committed to improving the construction experience for clients and this industry as a whole as well as how, throughout our company’s 80-year history, we’ve never been satisfied with the status quo,” she adds. “We finish when we complete projects, but we’re never finished looking for ways to improve. To us, it’s about never being complacent.”

Looking forward, the company plans to streamline and continue to build a solid foundation for success.

“We’ve always been focused on building a broad portfolio of business to create stability to support our employees,” Brown says. “Now, we’re spending our energy continuing to work on our processes to eliminate waste of time, money and materials in the industry and to lead our partners toward a more enjoyable and valuable customer experience.”

General contractor Hoar Construction offices out of seven locations, including Austin. –mjm

continued from Page 1 — HOLT CAT

Monreal Framing, SEC Planning, Summit Stoneworks, Victory Plumbing and Wilson Roofing. Completion of the home is slated for the fall. –mjm

HOLT CAT Regional Sales Manager, James Court

HOLT CAT Georgetown Parts Manager, Gregory Brown

The offers technical and product support, prime product sales, power systems, Cat support services, and even human resources. They have representation from HOLT Manufacturing, a HOLT company located in Waco that provides custom engineering, engine and generator packaging, and water trucks and tanks. “Additionally, we have the ability to complete track repairs, weld and fabricate, dyno test and rebuild major components and complete hydraulic cylinder repairs in order to serve multiple industries.”

HOLT CAT Georgetown Service Manager, Craig Johnson

“Come in and see us. We love to show off the new facility. We are a full-line dealership. We’ve got everything from compact construction equipment to large earthmoving and mining machines. We’re incredibly excited about the new location and just as excited to be able to partner with our customers and experience this wonderful growth here in Texas, especially here in Central Texas,” says Court.

HOLT CAT is a family-owned dealership of heavy construction equipment. -cmw

Strong start

Thinking responsibly

CBS Rentals’ Austin team has a good reason to smile: the group was named “Branch of the Quarter” for the company’s first quarter of 2020. –mjm

The George D. Alan Company employees responsibly received training on aerial scissor lifts in late June. With face masks at the ready and ever mindful of social distancing, employees in both the Austin and Dallas offices learned on the lifts. –mjm

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

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Plan C: 20 years later

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wo decades after Kim Casper established Caspro Builders LLC, he can hardly recall a time when he and his employees weren’t busy on a project.

“I think there have been two days in the entire 20 years where I have had to find something to do,” Kim says. “We’ve almost stayed too busy. Right now, we have four different projects we’re bouncing between. It’s good, I’m not complaining, but it gets a little hectic!”

Fortunately, he has a great team to help him tackle everything from remodeling bathrooms to building manufacturing warehouses and custom homes. In addition to a few full-time team members, each of Kim’s five children has helped Dad out at some point, and it’s been a great family bonding experience.

“When my kids were young, we just had a single income so Mom could stay home and raise them,” Kim says. “I worked a lot and did not spend as much time with them as I would have liked. I was just trying to pay the bills. For the most part, it was just me, and then my children started getting old enough to where they had free time during the summers and could help.”

With his family’s support, he has enjoyed building his business. Kim initially

Kim Casper with his family

had plans to be a mechanic like his dad, and even worked as a mechanic in the Army. But when back pain sidelined his plans and an idea for lawn care power tools didn’t pan out as he had hoped, it didn’t take long for him to move on to Plan C. “I tried construction, and also had a lawn business and tried the high-tech thing for a while at Motorola, but I just always seemed to prefer working with

my hands. I enjoyed building things.

Around the house, I always do my own building, repairing and remodeling.”

Kim says founding Caspro Builders LLC was a natural next step, and one that has been a good fit.

“I enjoy being my own boss. I very much enjoy interaction with my customers and being able to make somebody’s dream come true. I like that every day is not the same routine. At the

end of the day, I can look at the building and see that something significant has been accomplished with my time.”

Kim is now looking ahead to how he wants the business run in the future.

These days, his sons Philip Casper and Jonathan Casper are on the job and helping him out with the business.

“We’re trying to branch out into custom spec building,” he says. “I’m in my 60s and am going to continue at it until I’m 70. That could change at any moment; I’m starting to feel each day a little bit more. At some point, I intend to turn this over to Philip, and I’m trying to turn more responsibility over to him. I’m a bit of a micro manger so it’s not the easiest thing to do! I’m trying to stay away from the jobs that he’s working on and give him more autonomy. He’ll do a fine job when the time comes.”

He also plans to prioritize family in the way he couldn’t in his early days.

“Time flies by fast,” Kim says. “One lesson I learned is that I should have tried to make do a little more and spent a little more time with them. That’s the opportunity I’m hoping to have with my six grandchildren.”

Caspro Builders LLC is in Cedar Creek.

–mjm

How many can you identify?

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hile enjoying a walk through the Texas Hill Country near Canyon Lake, Construction News’ Carol Wiatrek was in ahh at all the beautiful colors kissing the Texas hillsides and roads, amazed by God’s artistic ability. As she walked along, she decided how fun it would be to see how many of God’s beautiful streaks of color she could identify, noting of course, that it was too late for the Texas bluebonnet. How many can you identify? -cmw

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Photos and answers: 1 Indian blanket, 2 Texas thistle, 3 Tickseed or Large buttercup, 4 Plox drummondi, 5 Pink evening primrose, 6 Lantana urticoides, 7 Black-eyed Susan, 8 Asiatic dayflower, 9 Field bindweed, 10 Hairy seed bahia, 11 Prairie verbena, 12 Antelope horns, 13 Wincup, 14 Texas yellowstar, 15 Mexican hat, 16 Spotted beebalm, 17 Mountain pink (Zeltnera beyrichii), 18 Blackfoot daisy, 19 Indian paintbrush, 20 Giant spiderwort, 21 Coreopsis and 22 Texas Dandelion.

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

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EMS Station #33 Exterior Canopy and Drainage Project

construction documents.” he City of Austin Public Works and Thanks to the team’s work, EMS Station Travis County Emergency Medical #33 will no longer have to deal with Services used to often have a flooding emergencies in its own facility. recurring emergency of their own. EMS “Our team was pleased with the end Station #33, located at 4514 James result and both the City and EMS workers Wheat in Austin, was prone to flooding. were very happy for the improvement to Fortunately, Method Architecture PLLC their facility!” Williams says. “There was a has been working with the City’s Public comment on a photo that Travis County Works department for 25 years and was Emergency Medical Services posted to ready for the call. their Facebook page which read, ‘Man,

Method Architecture’s role was to do I remember walking in at 2am after a investigate the cause of water flooding call to be greeted by mid-calf water the into the building and design a canopy first time it flooded. Glad to see it fixed!’ with modifications to the rear patio Although this project was simpler than area to avoid future flooding issues. others, it’s always great to heat or see Under Project Manager Abel Sedillo’s comments from everyone who utilizes supervision, a new canopy of approxithe facility and sees the improvements.” mately 17ft. x 73ft. was constructed for Method Architecture offers architecture the 1250sf facility and drainage imservices for brewery and distillery, workplace provement was made. This included a interiors, education, healthcare, industrial, new canopy over the back entrance public, and retail projects through its Austin, and patio and extension of the current Method Architecture designed a 17ft. x 73ft. canopy to protect EMS Station #33’s Dallas and Houston locations. –mjm drainage trench. Method’s team also rear patio area from rainwater contributing to the flooding. produced the construction documents and specifications, coordinated bidding and per- The project began in December 2017 and was EMS Station #33 Exterior Canopy and Drainage Project mits as well as construction administration through completed in May 2020. During this time, the team Method Architecture project closeout. overcame challenges unique to this project.

Austin, TX “Three years for a project of this size was much longer than usual; however, there were changes in management with the City which created a lot of stop and go as the new project managers became familiar with the project,” explains Method Architecture’s Corryn Williams. “The project budget was tight, so we had to work with the City to provide value engineering options that met their vision and solved the building issues. The CAD drawings and record drawings were either missing or incomplete for the facility, so our team spent a good amount of time doing field measurements and site verifications. The key to overcoming each of these challenges was just constant communication with the client and end users as well as consistency in documenting our process so that no matter who was managing the project from the client side, they had An extension of the drainage trench was made.

EMS station #33 no longer must address flooding well-documented processes, meeting notes, and emergencies in the facility, thanks to Method Architecture.

Alexander Marchant Showroom

B-Squared Woodworks Ltd. built custom cabinetry, displays, and workstations for the Alexander Marchant Showroom.

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avid Benitez of B-Squared Woodworks Ltd. usually works on residential projects due to the unique and personal nature of what the space needs. A recent commercial project, however, intrigued him: the new Alexander Marchant Showroom on 1617 Koenig Ln. in North Austin.

“It was a fun project; pretty much every square inch of the space was to be used for display or a showcase of some sort. We were brought in to do millwork, mainly cabinetry; the scope grew, of course, as the project progressed,” Benitez says. “The project used a combination of stained walnut, oak and painted finishes.

We did all of the wood counters for the workstations, custom built display units to showcase the hardware, plumbing fixtures and specialty tile that they sell. We did a sample kitchen where the client can display more of their hardware and sinks and faucets. We also did several mobile display units. Even the breakroom we did, they used to showcase how a customer could use their products, so they wanted them to see it.”

The project encompassed two floors. The first floor consisted of mostly millwork for Benitez. The second story contained employee workstations that Benitez’s team built and display cases vendors had designed and shipped specifically for their products.

Benitez and his team overcame a few challenges to

The built display units showcase the hardware, plumbing and fixtures.

“Stained walnut, oak and painted finishes were” used throughout the project.

produce their stunning results.

“On any project, along the way there are challenges in the process. We had some design issues where some of the things were reverse engineered from what they wanted out of it, but I think it worked out well in spite of all of that,” he says. “Communication is always tricky because there are so many parties involved. On that project, we were building displays to showcase vendors’ products, and they wanted their product to be displayed in the proper way; I think we were successful in that. We also faced a labor shortage because we are a fully custom shop. We can’t just hire anybody to do what we do. We have to make sure they are talented, skilled and qualified with an attention to detail.

They also must be willing to occasionally take on challenges because people ask us to do things that we or they have never done before.”

Benitez’ favorite part was the people he worked with to bring the project to life and the chance to put a residential touch on a commercial space “I really enjoyed working with the owners of the building; this is the first time we had worked with them or the designer,” he says. “What was also neat about the project is that we normally do more residential-type things, but, as a retail showroom, this was a mix of that and really cozy residential flair. Many of the products they’re selling there are for use in homes. It was in a commercial space,

and it definitely had commercial elements in terms of how it had to be staged and fabricated, but we were able to put a little more personality into it. I think the personality of the designer and the owner of the business blended with that really well.”

The client, in turn, was pleased with Benitez and his team’s work.

“They were excited when the employees were able to come back into the space. We got a lot of compliments and they were very happy everything turned out the way they wanted and pretty much the way they had requested,” he says.

At the end of the project, everyone involved took a moment to celebrate a job well done.

“They had an open house and cocktail party, which we went to, and it was nice to see the reactions of some of their clients and employees,” he says.

B-Squared Woodworks Ltd. In Austin offers custom woodwork, kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and nonresidential woodwork. –mjm

Alexander Marchant Showroom B-Squared Woodworks Ltd. Austin, TX

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Private vintage car collector’s garage

“We specialize in resinous epoxy flooring, polished concrete, urethane mortars, stained and dyed concrete, moisture remediation and ESO/clean room flooring,” says Paul Marriott, who owns Resfloor with his wife, Helena Marriott. “Before this project, we had probably done a couple of dozen similar floors. It’s a steep learning curve but it’s a lot of fun. You’re not exactly sure what you’re going to get.

“You kind of have to have an artistic flair,” Paul continues. “It’s really our favorite kind of floor to install. You can have a lot of fun with them. You can never predict exactly how it’s going to tun out. You just do what you think is going to work and it kind of settles out and changes. I would call it a reaction, but it’s more of a process. As it settles out and cures, the pigments level and it kind of gives the floor a cool 3-D look.”

Before applying the artistry side to this project, the slab, which had a high moisture vapor drive since there was moisture coming through, had to be addressed.

“We had to install a moisture mitigation epoxy

primer so that the warranty and guarantee of this floor would stay and there would be no more moisture issues down the road,” Paul says. “Then it’s sort of a multi-step, multi-coat system. It starts with a pigmented primer and then the metallic pigments are mixed into a clear coating. There are a ton of pigments in Dur-a-Flex “Reflexions” line; this color was custom made. We blended our own; I think we did close to 30 samples. This one is pretty contrast-y; I like it, it looks a bit stormy.

“You pour the two different colors on the floor. You kind of design it and mix it around and you do what comes naturally. Once you leave it, it kind of does what it wants,” Paul continues. “Up until the final two coats, you apply most of it with a notched squeegee to make sure the floor gets down to a specified thickness, so it performs, especially with the moisture vapor primer. Then, you freehand the design work on top.”

Not only was the result beautiful, but Paul made sure that the floor could withstand heavy use for years to come.

“We increased the durability on this floor by installing an Armor-top urethane with high traffic additive that incorporates very fine granules of aluminum oxide,” Paul says. “That gives us a slightly slip-resistant floor, but it’s designed for lots of traffic, and the urethane is also chemical resistant.”

The entire process took about five days and Paul says the client was elated with the transformed garage floor. Paul and Helena were pleased to use their years of experience to help the client’s vision come to life. The couple established Resfloor, a HUB-certified company, in June 2014; Paul had previously worked for nearly every aspect of the concrete coatings industry.

“Apart from resinous flooring, polished concrete is by far a lot of what we do, along with moisture mitigation, electrostatic dissipated flooring.” Paul says. “We have a very skilled crew, and we take on any fluid applied floor project.”

Resfloor is located in Austin. –mjm

The process of metallic epoxy flooring can be unpredictable, but the result is often stunning, as it was in this project.

Resfloor transformed a moisture compromised garage floor into a beautiful, durable surface on which his client could park vintage Italian race cars.

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hen a vintage Italian racecar collector wants to park rare Porsches in their custom garage, the floor should not only be durable but equally matched in beauty as well. One collector’s 2500sf polished concrete floor was neither durable nor beautiful, as automobile fluids were soaking through. The floor needed to be both sealed and attractive. Fortunately for the client, Resfloor knew just the solution – Dur-a-flex “Reflexions” metallic epoxy flooring – and Resfloor was one of only a handful of certified installers in Austin.

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Private vintage car collector’s garage Resfloor Austin, TX

Bridge Demolition at IH-10/Graytown Rd

Jordan Foster Construction. t’s not every day you are required to With their highly specialized pieces of detour off the interstate due to a demolition equipment and proven, stratebridge being wiped from existence. gic approach, the demolition crew turned Typically, this type of detour would be the entire bridge to rubble within the first a traffic nightmare with thousands of six hours of work. The next 12 hours were vehicles slowed to a passive crawl as they spent clearing the debris from the roadway are forced to exit the main lanes. and removing the bridge abutments along TXDOT did their best to mitigate the the frontage roads. traffic impact with strategic timing of ma “We work hard to eliminate any unnecjor thoroughfare or interstate closures by essary road closures to our community. allowing a complete closure only after We understand how aggravating it is to be 8pm Friday night and demanding the held up in traffic. This is our community, roadway be opened by 5am the following too, and we want to lessen the inconveMonday. The project specifications allow nience as much as possible, so we brought only a total of 55 hours to completely close out extra pieces of equipment to speed up the roadway, demolish a bridge, remove all the process,” explained Timothy Ramon, the debris, clean the road surface, and President of JR RAMON Demolition. restore traffic onto its normal path.

The Graytown overpass bridge demo Although this sounds like a daunting lition is part of a 2.5 mile Interstate 10 task, it’s a job JR RAMON Demolition widening project. The overall widening JR RAMON Demolition begins demolition of the Graytown Road bridge at IH-10. takes on regularly, demolishing dozens project is scheduled to be completed in of bridges throughout central and south May 2023.

Texas every year. Their latest project was a 200ft long hours ahead of schedule, but that’s exactly what the

JR RAMON Demolition is a full-service demolition overpass on Interstate 10 at Graytown Road in eastern highly experienced team of demolition operatives from contractor.

-cmw Bexar County. When Jordan Foster Construction hired JR RAMON was able to accomplish.

Bridge Demolition at IH-10/Graytown Rd JR RAMON to perform the demolition, the highway gen- “This is our first full highway closure on the project, JR RAMON Demolition eral contractor was not sure what to expect. They surely and we were able to turn it over to TXDOT a day and a San Antonio, TX didn’t expect JR RAMON to complete the project 36 half earlier than planned,” stated Alexis Marshall of

Clean-up begins.

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

Let the Goodtimes roll

Goodtimes Backyard Construction co-owner Colten Perry just wants to keep the good times rolling, even during COVID-19.

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20-year veteran of the skateboarding world, Colten Perry’s college side hustle was hosting skateboarding camps for local organizations.

But combining his skateboarding passion with his other side hustle – construction – wasn’t something he considered until the campers’ parents asked him to.

“I was doing side jobs building decks and other things, while my older brother Flint was doing interior and exterior remodeling,” Colten says. “It developed into building ramps – half-pipes, mini ramps, launch ramps, and quarter pipes – in people’s backyards.”

When the brothers saw their clients’ excitement for their ramp creations, they knew they had the makings of a business.

Colten and Flint founded Goodtimes Backyard Construction, specializing in custom skateboard and BMX ramps, patios, decks, and pergolas.

While Flint oversees the crew, Colten educates customers on how the ramps are built to last, why certain materials are used the importance of waterproofing.

Colten knows his skateboarding knowledge is key to ramp construction, whether Goodtimes is building a ramp

for a movie set or for a client just getting into skateboarding.

“There are different factors that go into it. When we cut transitions and templates for the ramps’ curved part, you need to be a skateboarder and know how to cut that and what measurements to do,” Colten says. “If the client doesn’t know exactly what they want, I can base it off of their skill level and skateboarding or BMX goals.”

Colten, who still skateboards, is usually the guinea pig for the ramps.

“I usually test it if I’m not hurt,” he says with a laugh. “The best part of building the ramp is testing it!”

Ramp business is booming, but the plan is to expand; they are researching material for tiki bars and huts.

“We want to make everyone happy and to have fun. Everyone is inside their homes now. Why not have a reason to go outside and hang out with friends and family?” Colten says. “That’s why I found a niche in outdoor construction structures.

I want to keep that going.”

Goodtimes Backyard Construction is in Austin. –mjm

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A Running start

ast year, brothers Raif Castello and Colton Castello were working in the golf course and oil field industry, respectively. Now, they are running their own company, Running C Construction.

“Residentially, we’re a general contractor. We do any-thing from landscaping to irrigation to complete home remodels to new builds, concrete work. On the commercial side, we act as a subcontractor, doing initial site prep and erosion control; we purchased some skid steers and trenchers and plan to do as much of that in house as we can. Recently, we have been able to get additional funding and lowinterest loans, we hired some people to run the residential side to keep that going how we have it and my brother and I going to venture more into the commercial side. Our cousin Brandon Vacek is working Running Construction’s Raif Castello and his wife with us as an intern during the summer.”

The brother’s dad is also involved in a month off of the due date, even with COVID-19. They like the way it’s turning the company, but in a different way.

“We had 25 acres in Elgin where I out.” grew up, and my dad created the Running The company primarily services C logo – the “C” with the three lines – and Central Texas but, depending on the we had it registered in our county as a project, the brothers will travel for cattle brand and a sort of family crest. projects in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio.

“I enjoy accomplishing something Colton and I used it for the company.”

Despite being a new company at the and figuring out a solution to a problem, mercy of a pandemic, Running C seeing everything come together and putting our stamp on it,” Raif says. “I Construction is off to a good start.

“We got lucky in January with a really enjoy being able to say we constructed big remodel contract in Tarrytown with a that or we did this for this client. I hope client who put a lot of faith in us and took we’ll be able to be successful and a chance on us,” Raif says. “We’re almost continue to grow.”

Running C Construction is in Elgin, TX. completely finished with it; it was a five- month project and we ended up cutting –mjm

Austin Construction News • JULY 2020

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Witness the fitness

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Kristin Schieffer and Marvin Bonilla play to win!

ith the health of many in our industry taking a backseat (or a couch seat) during COVID-19, employees at Cornerstone Architects are making sure to prioritize their fitness.

Five teams – “The Bada$$ Bonita Beach Body B!tche$,” “Hans, Franz, and Fitz,” “The Golden Girls,” “Manbros,” and “The Three Perros” – are facing off in the firm’s “Summer Fitness Challenge Series.”

The groups started Jun. 1 with two-week fitness challenges in teams of three to four members.

Burpees was the challenge for the first two-week series, with the winning team completing a total of 3,540 burpees during that time. Project manager Brian McLaury, who has 1,735 Burpees to his credit, was crowned the ultimate Burpee champ of the series.

The team will next be tackling the Run, Bike, Walk challenge, and logging their miles to see which team averages the most. The contest will run through the end of August.

“We thought it would be a great way

to keep everyone healthy and active as well as incorporate a little bit of safe team building within our social distancing protocol,” says Cornerstone Architects’ Marketing Coordinator Annalee Martino.

Cornerstone Architects is in Austin. –mjm

Brian McLaury was hailed as the ultimate Burpee champ for the first challenge, with a total of 3,540 Burpees

Glad to be here!

Amanda Wheeless joined Asakura Robinson’s Austin studio in March as its new Marketing Manager! The native Austinite is excited to be a part of this national planning, landscape architecture and urban design firm. –mjm

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Austin Construction News • JULY 2020