Work is moving along well at the Millstream Commons assisted living project. We are fortunate to have a stretch of good winter weather. Everyone is hoping that the rest of Minnesota's winter will be mild.

We are installing the final area of foundation work and backfilling against the cured foundation. American Excavating is doing our earthwork on the site. They have the necessary equipment to compact the imported granular soils properly. It is important that the soils be compacted well as settlement would cause problems for later phases of our work.

The building has a fair amount of structural steel beams and columns. These all have to be lifted into place, bolted together and fastened securely to the foundation. There is a lot of behind the scenes work done to make sure the steel parts are all fabricated properly so they fit together on the site.

The wood wall framing has started and is well underway. The framing is rather complex in that it involves hundreds of steel hold downs, tie straps, beam pockets, etc. Project Site Superintendent Jim Vold is doing a great job overseeing the work.

Posted by Ray Cox at 9:26 AM | Link

 
We recently finished up a nice remodeling project for a client on Spruce Court. The home was constructed in the late 1970's or early 1980's. The home is a good, solid home but needed some updating and decorating changes. We did not expand the home at all, confining our work to the existing spaces.

The owners wanted to brighten and open up the kitchen to the rest of the home. We accomplished this by partially removing a wall and creating an opening in the wall to the kitchen. We also installed new cabinets and countertops. The work dramatically changed the feel of the kitchen while creating an eating area and making the whole kitchen brighter.

New hardwood flooring was installed in the kitchen, dining room and living room as part of our work. The project moved along very quickly. We made electrical and mechanical changes, but Project Manger Phil Olson did a great job coordinating the work and seeing that there were no hold-ups or delays.

A project like this dramatically changes a home. It is a very cost effective way to update a home and make it suit current family lifestyle uses. Give us a call if you would like to discuss any renovations at your home.

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:39 AM | Link

 
Yesterday as part of my legislative work I had a meeting at the St. Paul Technical College. After the meeting was over a couple legislators and I took a short tour of the college. We wanted to see the physical condition of the college in relation to some facility improvement requests they have made to the legislature.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. St. Paul Tech trains many of Minnesota's plumbers, steam fitters, welders, sheet metal fabricators, carpenters, painters, and other construction trade workers. They have full enrollment in their programs with excellent student retention and graduation rates.

I was impressed with all areas. The plumbing instructional area has full size walls, piping to assemble, etc. If you want to see how water closets work and are connected, this is the place to visit.

The college has good sized lab spaces to handle the large equipment necessary for some training. The sheet metal lab allows the students to learn about and make just about any type of fabricated metal assembly.

I was impressed with the ironworkers lab. They had good examples of required safety components, including the protector caps for reinforcing rods.

The ironworkers lab has all they beams, columns, bar joists, etc. that we typically see in use on our commercial projects, all waiting for assembly by the students. Students also learn all the knots to tie off loads properly

It was good for me to see this school and observe the training that our future construction workers receive. Minnesota needs to keep a steady supply of qualified, safe, knowledgeable construction trades workers….this school will fill much of that need.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:14 AM | Link

 

Posted by Ray Cox at 3:45 AM | Link

 
I stopped over last week at the Cannon Falls City Hall remodeling job. Work is just about finished up there and the city is moving into the space.

The city council chambers looks great. There is a nice desk area for the council people to use with audio and video connections.

There is also a moveable podium for people to use that are addressing the council. Site Superintendent Mike and the other workers did a great job creating the curved desk and the curved ceiling bulkhead....never easy to do.

The license bureau area has been in use for a few weeks. It seems to be working out well and people I've run into in Cannon Falls like the arrangement.

There are new public toilets in the building, as well as new police headquarters. Mike had some challenges creating new aluminum handrailings at the stairs, but he just about has everything figured out now.

The front of the building had some new concrete walkways installed as well as some new lighting bollards, creating an enviting enty area. I know the people of Cannon Falls will enjoy using this new city facility.

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:38 PM | Link

 
We have had very good weather for building projects lately....a real gift. Temperatures have been rather mild, snow falls have been light and days have been sunny.

Our work at the Millstream Commons project has been moving along nicely. As noted in an earlier posting, we have been thawing the ground with large boiler devices. Excavation has gone well and the foundation is well underway.

Oil Can Henry walls are being framed.

We will probably hit a lull on this job as the supplier of the large wood beams has not been able to supply the beams on schedule. That is probably the most frustrating part of this job....dealing with people that fail to deliver their product as promised. I know that can happen for a variety of reasons....personnel changes, material deliveries, etc. ....but in the end we, and our customers, are the ones that have to deal with it.

Posted by Ray Cox at 8:00 AM | Link

 
We recently completed kitchen remodeling work for Rich DuRocher and Karen Cherewatuk. Rich and Karen have a home constructed in the mid-1960's. It has a very open floor plan with wonderful views to a lovely backyard. The original kitchen cabinets and counters needed replacing so Rich and Karen decided to go ahead and do a full kitchen remodel.

The architectural design work was handled by Peter Schmelzer from Vivus Architecture. With an open floor plan and exposed ceiling structure, the home presented some challenges to remodeling. Walls do not extend to the ceiling in many areas. With an exposed ceiling structure there is no attic to run new wires and mechanical systems. Peter did a fine job working out the details for the kitchen.

The custom made cabinets fit both the style of the home and the needs of the owners. We worked with an existing microwave oven, which turned out to be a challenge, but it ended up tucking into the cabinets nicely.

I really like the hand made clay tiles used in back of the stove. The tiles are a challenge to install as there are slight size variations to them but they look great. It is hard to see in a photo, but the patterns have relief to them, standing slightly proud of the field color.

There is a very useable pass through that connects to the dining area of the home. This effectively keeps the open floor plan in place but creates some separation between kitchen duties and the rest of the home.

Like most remodeling projects, there were some 'hitches' to over come in the work process. Things are not always level or true and must be dealt with on a case by case basis. Sometimes the color of a product in place can look different than it did in a sample. And of course, taking a kitchen out of commission for many weeks is never fun. Rich and Karen endured our work very well and ended with a beautiful new kitchen.

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:16 AM | Link

 
Last Saturday I was up north and picked up the Duluth News Tribune. There was a section in the paper on homes. In that section there was a good article titled "Protect Yourselves from Unlicensed Contractors".

Residential contractors working in more than one trade area must be licensed by the State of Minnesota. Trade areas are considered to be actions such as carpentry, drywall, insulation, etc. Most contractors work in multiple trade areas and as such, should be licensed.

It is important for people to understand that a license gives homeowners some specific rights and remedies, but that having a license doesn't mean there cannot be problems. If you hire an unlicensed contractor to perform work that requires a license you give up some legal remedies should something go wrong with the work. I certainly can't speak for all contractors, but if a building contractor doesn't have a license today I would urge customers to find a contractor that does hold a license.

A contractor's license means that when the state issued it to the contractor the contractor had in force the required insurances, has passed a qualification test, and if it is a renewal, has taken the required continuing education courses. A contractor's license is an investment by a company.

I still say that one of the best ways to find a contractor is to visit with your friends and neighbors. If you see trucks at a neighbors house, stop by and ask them how the work has gone. Do this even if you don't have an upcoming project as you never know when you will have a need for a contractor.

When you do have a project that needs a contractor, interview a couple of firms. Get a feel for how they operate.....what is important to the firm....what types of projects do they like to work on...how long have they been in business under the same name, etc. Find out if employees are involved in the community in volunteer or civic jobs. These questions will help you gauge how they view their customers. Your building project should be something you enjoy....starting out with a licensed contractor should get you off to a good start.

Posted by Ray Cox at 12:04 PM | Link

 
We have started work on a large project in Northfield…..Millstream Commons. Millstream is a project being developed by Three Links Care Center, also in Northfield. It is a 45 bed assisted living facility. We have worked with Three Links for the past 10 months planning the project which is set to open late this year.

The project is located on the former Petricka's County Market site in downtown Northfield, immediately adjacent to Wells Fargo bank. This is a great location for such a project in that it overlooks the Cannon River, is handy to other downtown commerce, and is convenient for people to see and get to.

Last week we set up ground thawing equipment. This consists of a large, diesel fired boiler mounted in a trailer.

We lay rubber hoses on the ground about 12" apart, cover the hoses with plastic sheeting, then cover the sheeting with two layers of insulating blankets, topped off with a blue polyethylene tarp. Once this set-up is in place, we connect the hoses to the boilers and let a hot water solution circulate. This thaws out the soil over a period of 2-3 days, allowing us to excavate and install the foundation walls.

The unseasonably warm weather has been a real gift for our workers. We are busy installing the cast concrete foundation. The thawed soils will allow us to backfill and compact the material as needed. Once that is done we will immediately move on to the carpentry work….I hope the balance of the winter is as nice as today!

Posted by Ray Cox at 11:20 AM | Link

 
Wednesday evening after supper I headed out to Northfield High School for a computer class.

My computer helper guru, Griff Wigley, put together a class to learn more about weblogs. The goal is to teach people in the area that are using weblogs how to become more effective at posting things. We are going to learn how to grab images from websites, reduce and crop photos, etc.

Griff organized the class through the Community Education Department. It is held at the media center in the High School. I had not really been in the new media center much. I visited the NHS website and found the media center mission:

"The mission of the High School Media Center program is to support the High School curriculum and to ensure that students are effective users of ideas and information."

The work in the media center was just being completed when I resigned from the school board in 2002 to run for the State Legislature. The computer lab is really great. It has stadium style

seat tiers with computers at each seat....greatly improved over the long tables with shared machines from years ago!

This blog entry is the result of the first evening class....I managed images and links! If I can remember how to do this I can enhance my blogs with some images rather than just having photos and text.

Posted by Ray Cox at 5:08 PM | Link

 
Several years ago I worked with a client on a large remodeling project. We did the interior renovations and remodeling and also tackled an exterior deck. Because the building was adjacent to other commercial structures the local building offical required the use of "slow burn" materials. About the only thing allowed was large cedar timbers. The problem of course is that unprotected cedar does not last long.

Yesterday he sent me the following e-mail message with attached photos of the deck.

Hi, Ray - I thought I would share some photos with you. My son Peter and I rebuilt our deck this last summer. Although you weren't involved personally in the original deck project, you may recall that the City Building Inspector required that we "overbuild" the deck to slow the "burn rate," should it catch on fire and threaten adjoining buildings. Your foreman (Steve, I think) argued with the city to no avail, and we constructed the deck of solid cedar: the joists were 6" x 10" and the deck board were 2 1/2" x 6". I don't know why we didn't use treated material, but I suspect I wanted to avoid the toxins, which have by now, I understand, been eliminated.

It is amazing to see how quickly these large timbers deteriorated. We have seen similar problems on other projects. One thing that has been tried is to add some flexible flashing on top of the timber to protect the flat surface from water penetration. Such a membrane flashing does not prevent the deck surface from rotting, but it does help preserve the heavy timbers.

This highlights the problems inherent to the building code. In my mind it would be much better for a Building Offical to waive the "slow burn" issue and allow the use of materials that will last longer than a few years. Everyone is better served by such a ruling...the owner has a lasting project and the fire codes are not really compromised. I don't think the deteriorated deck materials provide any level of "slow burn" in fact, one could argue that they actually provide duff and kindling to fuel a fire.

As you can see from the client email, my site foreman went to bat with the city on behalf of the owner. I know he put forth all the reasons not to require the timber frame construction of the deck...now all the reasons have appeared and the owner has had to rebuild, a waste of time, materials and money.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:18 AM | Link