Message from Doug...

Setting Goals Helps You Achieve What You Really Want

Last month my Dad and I attended the annual concrete convention in Las Vegas. The general mood of our contractor friends across the country matched that of what we see in Atlanta: Optimism.

There seems to be a lot of momentum and a strong tailwind for Metro Atlanta in general, and in its construction sector in particular.

Of course, growth in construction activity always seems to be accompanied by higher costs in labor and materials. We are already hearing about hefty redi-mix concrete increases coming in the first quarter.

While at the concrete convention, I spoke to almost 200 contractors about implementing systems within their companies. This was the fourth time I’ve been hired by the convention organizers to speak at the event, which is attended by concrete contractors from around the world.

Your Goals for 2017

As I’ve mentioned here before, I set personal and professional goals at the first of each year. A year goes by so quickly that without goal setting, I’m not as likely to accomplish what I really want. Goals help keep me on track.

Here are a few goals that I’ve set for 2017:

Create More Systems.

We’ll continue to document how we do things, find ways to be more efficient, and create formal processes for the tasks we do every day. By establishing more systems in our company, we’ll be able to do more work, promote people from within, and increase profits.

Do More Work.

We are adding crews and purchasing equipment. We will be taking on more work and adding new clients. If you haven’t used our company yet, give me a call. We can chat to see if our two companies are a good fit.

Increase Employee Training. Over the last five years our labor costs have increased dramatically. Each year we devote more time and effort towards finding, hiring, training and keeping laborers. While we’ve made a lot of improvements, we will invest additional time and money in each of those areas, with an emphasis on training.

Complete an Ironman 70.3. This fall I’ll do my first half-Ironman race. The Augusta Ironman 70.3 triathlon is comprised of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a half-marathon (13.1 miles) run. I’ll do the event – and try my best to keep up – with my friend Carl Hire and his daughters.

What have you committed to accomplishing in 2017? It’s already February…decide what you really want and keep moving forward!

To Your Success,

Recent Referrals - Thank You!

A big part of being successful in business is what others say about your company. Word of mouth is a huge part of what makes others try your services. We work hard at what we do and we are so thankful that our customers and associates notice. It means a lot that you share your experiences with our company to others. Also, we want you to know that a referral to our company is a sure bet. We will treat those that are referred with the gold standard of service, reliability and quality that made you refer them in the first place. A special thanks to the following people for doing just that! We appreciate you!

Brad Tasker, Concrete Management Services – Flatwork Contractor  678-910-7912

David Goldschmidt, DiG Architects – Architect www.DiGArchitects. com

Wes Buchanan, Bonner Buchanan Custom Homes – Homebuilder www.BonnerCustomHomes.com

Technical Bulletin – Drop Down at Retaining Wall

There is a potential for water leaks and water-related damage to homes that have concrete retaining walls attached to their foundations.

The problem arises when the retaining wall is constructed at the same height as the foundation wall that it connects to.  When rain water lands on top of the retaining wall, it can travel laterally onto the foundation wall.  Once on top of the foundation wall, it can cascade down the wall into the basement and cause water problems inside the basement.  If the water stays on top of the foundation wall, it can weaken the structure through the eventual rotting of the sill plate and floor trusses.

Without a drop between the retaining wall and basement wall, rain water can get into the basement. 

The simple but effective way to eliminate this is to drop the top of the retaining wall below the foundation wall height.  By lowering the top of the retaining wall 4” to 6” below the top of the basement foundation wall, you create a step in the concrete.  This prevents the water from travelling onto the foundation wall.

This step in the concrete should be right at the exterior framing line, regardless of whether siding, brick or stone is applied to the framing.  The step should still be constructed if the retaining wall gets faced with brick or stone because water will find its way down through the brick to the top of the concrete wall.

A drop between the retaining wall and basement wall prevents rain water from getting into the basement. 

This drop down at the retaining wall is one example of the many different issues that can cause structural and water-related problems in house foundations.  The key is to identify these problem areas and make the required changes to your foundation design.  At Herbert Construction Company, we continually review our clients’ plans and suggest beneficial changes before and during the construction process.

As these changes are incorporated into the way your foundations are designed and built, you will begin to eliminate the problems that cause warranty issues and annoying or expensive call-backs.  You’ll also improve your company’s reputation and increase your client referrals.

Plan view of the trouble spot between the basement wall and the retaining wall. 

Now That's Funny...

Sleepless Saving Time

Twice a year, we change the clocks for daylight-savings time. And twice a year, my normally punctual assistant arrives late to work the Monday after we do so. I finally had to find out why. “Do you have a problem remembering to spring forward or fall back?” I asked. “Oh, no,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “What gets to me is staying up until 2 a.m. to change my clock.”

Strong Man on the Job

The strong young man at the construction site was bragging that he could out do anyone in a feat of strength. He made a special case of making fun of one of the older workmen. After several minutes, the older worker had had enough.

“Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is,” he said.

“I will bet a week’s wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won’t be able to wheel back.”

“You’re on, old man,” the braggart replied. “Let’s see what you got.”

The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles.

Then, nodding to the young man, he said, “All right, get in.”

Too many cooks

A wife is scrambling eggs when her husband bursts into the kitchen.

"Careful," he cries. "Careful! You’re cooking too many at once. Too many! Scramble them! Now! We need more butter. They’re going to stick! Careful! Now scramble them again! Hurry up! Are you crazy? Don’t forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. Use the salt! The salt!"

The wife turns and asks, "What is wrong with you?" Her husband calmly replies, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I’m driving."

Herbert Construction Is at it Again…

Each year the Concrete Foundations Association of North America hosts a competition to highlight the most challenging and technical projects completed throughout the country. Herbert Construction has won awards in this national competition for the last 6 years in a row.

For 2017, it is no surprise that we have submitted two more projects into this contest for “Project of the Year”.

Bildon Construction and Development

The first project we entered was a very large basement and multiple retaining walls for Rick Fierer at Bildon Construction and Development.

This project was so large that the bidding process took almost two years to finalize due to the complexity and plan changes that needed to be made. There were drastic elevation changes (50’ change from the street to the first floor) that required 11 different footing sizes. In addition, there were multiple radius walls in the project totaling 773 vertical feet of angled corners.

t-Olive Properties

Our second entry was very technical and consisted of 6 phases of construction for Brian and Randy Schiltz of t-Olive Properties. There were several things going on with this project, including concrete walls for a pool house with a slab on grade, a garage addition to the existing house and a stairway wall.  The most interesting part of this project is the elevated concrete structural slab that we constructed. This concrete slab is suspended above the garage to provide a lanai and open deck space as part of the renovation.  To add to the complexity of this project, the site was located in Midtown Atlanta and the property lines were so close that it was difficult to access the job using traditional equipment.

We love doing projects like these and would like to thank Rick Fierer, Brain Schiltz and Randy Schiltz for trusting our expertise and including us on these challenging projects.

We are Hiring

Herbert Construction is growing! We are currently hiring for the following positions:

Construction Estimator

CAD and Estimating

experience is preferred.

Boom Truck Operator

Class B CDL Required

If you know someone that would fit either of these positions, please have them contact Ashley Hollifield

AshleyH@HerbertConstruction.com

Life Hacks

Everyone could use a few shortcuts in life. Just making some things a bit easier could make a big difference. Here are a few life hacks that are sure to bring a smile.