2017 Total Solar Eclipse

By:  Ashley Hollifield

We have all heard about, if not watched, the Great American Solar Eclipse that happened recently. This eclipse traveled from Oregon through South Carolina in a 70 mile wide band spread exclusively across the United States for the first time in 99 years. This is a super cool thing to watch now because we know what is happening. However, historically people have been really superstitious about this natural phenomenon, and have come up with some very interesting ways to describe what they thought was happening.

In Vietnam, people believed that a solar eclipse was caused by a giant frog devouring the sun, while Norse cultures blamed wolves for eating the sun.

In ancient China, a celestial dragon was thought to lunch on the sun, causing a solar eclipse. In fact the Chinese word for eclipse, chih or shih, means to eat.

According to Hindu mythology, the deity Rahu is beheaded by the gods for capturing and drinking Amrita, the gods’ nectar. Rahu’s head flies off into the sky and swallows the sun causing an eclipse.

Traditionally, people in many cultures get together and bang pots and pans together to scare away the demons that are causing the eclipse.

Many people believe that solar eclipses are unsafe for pregnant women and their unborn children and are asked to stay indoors during the event. (There is no scientific evidence behind this theory!!)

In many parts of India it is believed that people must fast during an eclipse because any food cooked or prepared during one, will be unclean or impure.

On a more positive note…

The Batammaliba, who live in Benin and Togo, used a solar eclipse as a teaching moment. According to their legends, an eclipse of the sun meant that the sun and moon were fighting and the only way to stop them from hurting each other was for people on earth to resolve all conflict with each other.

And Finally, People in India believe that flowers planted during a solar eclipse are brighter and more colorful than flowers planted at any other time of the year.

If you had no knowledge of what was happening, what would be your best description to someone else of what was actually going on?

Whatever you believe, I hope that everyone enjoyed The Great American Solar Eclipse.. I know I sure did!

Herbert Construction Wins an Honorable Mention in National Contest for Two Atlanta Area Projects.

For the last six years running we have submitted some of our most challenging projects to the Concrete Foundations Association (CFA) and we have won an award for “Project of the Year” for each of those years. This year we submitted two projects and were awarded an Honorable Mention for both projects.

The first project was in the competition category of single family “Greater than 5,000 square feet.”  This was an impressive entry because it was a really large basement with equally large retaining walls. We completed this project in seven phases for Rick Fierer at Bildon Construction and Development.

The second project was highly technical and was completed for Brian and Randy Shiltz at t-Olive Properties. It was submitted to the competition category of “Non- wall structural element” because one of the main focuses of this job was the elevated structural concrete slab that we constructed. There were 6 phases of construction for this job, including poured walls for the pool house, an addition to the garage,

and a stairway wall ascending to the elevated slab.

While these were both fantastic projects that were certainly worthy of a “Project of the Year” Award, the competition this year was really tough to beat. We are very proud of these jobs and will continue to battle the competition in future years.

This elevated structural concrete slab was built for Brian And Randy Schiltz.

We Constructed the massive basement and retaining walls for Rick Fierer.

America's Dumbest Criminals

RIDGECREST, CA — An alleged burglar in California whose luck ran out when he got stuck inside a home’s chimney has been arrested.

Officers from the Ridgecrest Police Department were initially dispatched to a home Sunday after reports of a triggered burglary alarm.

A few minutes later, police got another call — this time from a woman who claimed that her friend was trapped in a chimney at the same address.

When officers arrived, they discovered Keith Schultz, 28, wedged in the chimney. 

Schultz, who was covered in soot in his mug shot, was eventually rescued from the chimney by firefighters. He was taken to Bakersfield jail and charged with burglary.

MESA, AZ — In Mesa, Arizona, a home break-in was foiled when the burglar jumped through the bedroom window—and got trapped in a clothes hamper. Cops took it from there. (That definitely wasn't the kind of clean getaway he had planned.)

ANCHORAGE, AK — Police in Anchorage, Alaska, spent at least some of August searching for a man in a “fairly realistic” bear costume who was caught harassing several actual bears in the Chilkoot River. “This is not the first time we’ve encountered a man in a bear suit,” Fish and Game spokeswoman Megan Peters told the Associated Press, though the experience apparently did not help them make an arrest.

FRESNO, CA — Recently, a woman in Fresno, California, was stopped at a DUI checkpoint for being soused. Ever helpful, she offered up this info: “My husband’s right behind me, and he’s even drunker than I am.”

VERO BEACH, FL — Rempe, 24, drove his 2002 Toyota through the front door of Indian River County Jail’s Building C. That didn’t work, so he backed out and then tried to go through the fence. That also didn’t work, so he tried to climb the fence, where he got stuck on the razor wire. What was Rempe trying to accomplish? He told police he wanted to visit friends who were currently incarcerated, a decision he’d reached after getting high on “flakka,” a synthetic stimulant.

KISSIMMEE, FL — A man suspected of stealing a car was arrested Monday after he pulled over to view the solar eclipse, investigators said.  Orange County deputy sheriffs from the auto-theft unit were following Rosado, 22, when he parked the car at Harbor Freight Tools on Osceola Parkway near Kissimmee, they said.  After buying a welder’s mask to view the eclipse, Rosado walked back to the car, put the mask on and started looking up at the sky, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jane Watrel said.  While Rosado was wearing the mask, deputies moved in and arrested him, Watrel said.

Message from Doug...

15 Ways Builders Can Solve Their Trade Shortage

In the May 2017 issue of Professional Builder magazine, Contributing Editor Scott Sedam wrote a captivating article showing how builders are doing an inferior job of managing their trades – at a time when trade shortages are a limiting factor virtually everywhere across the country.

According to the TradeComm survey that he conducted, strong local builders consistently do better than nationals or multi-divisional regionals at working with their suppliers and trades. Here are 15 ways in which they do that.

1. Communicate to suppliers and trades. What are your plans? How much business is in the pipeline? What does the economy look like for the next year?

2. Ditch bid price as your sole criterion and resolve to buy only on total cost, which is the one thing that really matters.

3. Know that to get the best trades, you must earn them.

4. Understand the issue is not merely the best trades, it’s best crews, and that can make the difference between profit and loss.

5. Kill the paperwork load. Assemble all documents that a trade must use to build our home, and then work towards cutting that in half.

6. Simplify wherever possible. If there are shortfalls in your systems (like last-minute changes), then both you and your trades will pay the price many times over.

7. Bid packages 100% complete, with final plans and specs fully detailed and accurate.

8. Start packages 100% complete, detailed and accurate with job-specific plans and working drawings.

9. Negotiate firm dates with sales and the design center for all options and selections and hold sales accountable to manage customers to those dates.

10. Manage VPOs down to the minimum. Every VPO is a loss – for builder, supplier and trade alike.

11. Reduce charge-backs to an absolute minimum, with a goal of zero. Like VPOs, each charge-back is a loss for all.

12. Have the best-trained field construction managers in town.

13. Maintain an intelligent, proactive schedule that reflects the true capacity of your systems, processes, and people working within the current capacity of your suppliers and trades.

14. Offer nonmonetary rewards.

15. Accept your responsibility to become involved and show leadership on the local level in the development of the trade base and demand the same of your colleagues, competitors, school officials, and politicians.

Sedam also states that the strong local builders by and large are substantially more profitable than the true giants of the industry. He believes that the supplier/trade element is an essential driving factor for that. I agree.

My paternal grandfather invented the “spraying implement” that we all know as the bug sprayer. The vehicle in the above photo is a super-sized version of that bug sprayer and was built by the folks at Northwest Exterminating. Since their headquarters is just down the street from our office, I brought my Dad and my kids there to get a photo in front of the vehicle. I wanted my kids to see what my father’s father invented – as a way of honoring him on Father’s Day.

To Your Success,

Recent Referrals, Thank You!

Wow! Here we are towards the end of June and boy is it HOT HOT HOT!! There are many fun things to do this time of year including swimming, hiking, biking, kayaking, or just grilling hamburgers on the back deck. Whatever your summer looks like we are glad we are a part of it. Special thanks to a few people who have referred our company to others. We really appreciate you for thinking of us!

Mike Loudermilk, MJL Grading Co. – Grading Contractor  770-992-1612

Greg Keenan, SDI Engineering – Engineer  www.SDIEngineering.net

Shannon Bechtold, FrontDoor Communities – Home Builder  www.FrontDoorCommunities.com

Welcome New Client: Liz Davies, ESD Homes

Liz Davies of ESD Homes found her calling 15 years ago while pregnant and renovating her own personal home. Understanding that renovations can be stressful and sometimes complicated, she reached out to a contractor to assist her with some projects.

Her experience using this contractor left more to be desired and she discovered very quickly that she was very capable of completing these jobs herself. She was very pleased with the work she was able to accomplish and she dove head first into remodeling and renovating homes for speculative sale.

Up until 2008 Liz was renovating and remodeling homes in Buckhead and midtown. After the speculative market crashed, she found herself working with homeowners directly.  Liz’s growing small company shared office space with one particular architect and learned the importance of good architectural design and execution.

Today most of ESD Homes’ clients are people who want to improve their current usable space. Many of these clients come to Liz from architects and designers who have given the clients a relative idea of what they want done. Liz and her team then come in and make each plan a reality.

Liz heard about our company from a friend and decided to use us for an addition she was working on in Atlanta. This project required adding a crawl space to the right side of an existing home, a garage to the front and retaining walls that extended from the home to create a driveway.

We asked Liz Davies about her experience working with Herbert Construction, to which she replied, “You guys were super professional from beginning to end. You asked questions and details about the project that weren’t clear on the plans. This helped me to think about what problems could arise so that I could plan accordingly.”

We really enjoyed working with Liz on this project and since the completion she has referred us to several others. We appreciate Liz and hope to work on many more projects for ESD Homes.

Welcome New Client: Brian and Randy Shiltz, t-Olive Properties

Brian and Randy Schiltz of t-Olive Properties have always been in the construction arena. Their father was a custom home builder in Big Canoe, GA until he retired in 2008.

The t-Olive brand was started by the Schiltz brothers in 2008 after they both left Hedgewood Properties and they decided to work together and finish houses that banks owned or other builders had started but couldn't finish during the downturn. Eventually their focus shifted to high-end remodels, custom homes, and basement finishes. Most of their projects now involve new home construction.

 Their typical customers come from production type homes and look to  t-Olive for their second or third homebuilding experience. They want a 10 year home and not a two year home. These homeowners are now at a point in their lives where they know exactly what they want and are able to afford it.

Brian and Randy pride themselves on being a small boutique custom construction company that builds homes from Atlanta to Ball Ground. They are also part of the Southern Living Custom Builder Program and represent the Atlanta territory.

Recently, they were working on a big addition located in Atlanta. They were referred to us by another builder who builds the same type of houses and thought we would be a good fit. This project called for tall garage walls with an elevated structural concrete slab, several site retaining walls, and the construction of a pool house that included basement walls.

“We needed someone who could ask the right questions about a project like this. You guys were so easy to work with in the field and in the office. It’s obvious that your team can easily handle technical and unusual jobs such as this and do it on schedule,” said Brian.

We love doing projects like these and hope to complete many more for Brian and Randy Schiltz at t-Olive Properties.