Last Thursday I spent the day attending a class on construction building codes. The class fulfilled my continuing education requirement for re-certification of my Minnesota residential building contractor’s license.

We met in Montgomery at the American Legion hall. There were about 100 contractors in attendance. The class was sponsored by H E Westerman Lumber company. They have yards in Belle Plaine, Montgomery and Lonsdale and do a great job providing lumber materials to our sites from time to time. Through my legislative work I’ve met many of the contractors in the area, so it was a good time to chat with some old friends and meet some new folks.

The class was conducted by Pete Kulczyk and Greg Carel with the State of Minnesota. Building Codes and Standards has been moved into the Department of Labor and Industry. Greg said he thought things were operating well with that move, which I was glad to hear.

The focus of the class was a thorough review of portions of the International Residential Code. We went over things such as what data is required to be included on all blueprint submissions, wind and snow load design changes, some impacts of zoning regulations on the building codes, etc.

Then we moved into presentations on foundations, wall bracing, load distribution, etc. I thought the presentation on calculating required wall bracing was very useful. With many homes having large numbers and sizes of windows, proper bracing can be a very tricky issue.

Lunch was provided for us at the American Legion and was prepared by a very able group of women….shown here being thanked by Greg Carel and all those in attendance.

I was very active many years ago when Minnesota was first contemplating requiring licensure of residential building contractors. I think licensure has helped bring a level of professionalism to the building industry and is a real help for consumers. The information that is necessary to obtain a license….knowledge of building codes and administration, proper insurances, etc. ….is good for every consumer in Minnesota.

Posted by Ray Cox at 2:50 PM | Link

 
A couple of weeks ago we started work on a new home in Dundas, MN.

This is a fun home as it has a great design and is in the existing 'old town' of Dundas, not in one of the new subdivisions. We are taking advantage of the wonderful January weather and moving along well on it. Once again having good equipment makes it easier for the workers to do their jobs safely and efficiently.

The home has a walk-out lower level and two floors above that...stay tuned for more photos.

Posted by Ray Cox at 2:49 PM | Link

 
About a month ago we started work on a new home near Circle Lake for a client. Unfortunately we caught some of the very cold weather we had in early December which set the foundation work back a bit. But we completed that work and are now working on the carpentry work. Long time employee Cliff is supervising work on the site and doing an excellent job.

With the recent winds the workers have really appreciated the strength of Tyvek house wrap. That material is incredibly strong. When they run it through the window openings it can blow gale force winds and it doesn't seem to let go or be damaged.

Like all out homes, this one will have lots of engineered lumber in it....composite laminated veneer lumber for large header beams, composite I-joists for floor systems, oriented strand board for wall sheathing, etc. Using that type of material not only creates a very straight, strong home, it makes the best use of our timber resources.

There is a second floor to go on this home which will elevate the workers high into the winter winds. We will have to carefully pick the right days to work and make sure everyone is dressed properly.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:25 AM | Link

 
Work is progressing along well with the Faith Resident Apartments in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. The work is being done for The Lutheran Home Association.

The mild weather this January has been a real gift for everyone in the construction industry. Workers are much more comfortable and productive when not fighting extreme cold. In the case of this project the ground soils, dry granular material, have not really frozen at all.

The crews have the exterior walls erected, sheathed and braced in place. We do get some winds in this area, so it is essential to have good wall braces in place.

Today the roof trusses were delivered to the site. The crew is starting to scatter the trusses in the areas where they belong, but isn’t setting any due to the wind.

A few more mild days like this and we should have the roof installed and be ready for roofing materials.

Posted by Ray Cox at 11:25 AM | Link

 
Today The Lutheran Home Association in Belle Plaine held a ground breaking ceremony for their new Faith Apartments. It was a beautiful, balmy January 3rd….the ‘golden’ shovels pushed right through the sod without any sign of frost.

The Lutheran Home Association President, Mike Klatt, told the assembled crowd how proud he was to be starting construction on this fine new facility.

Faith Apartments will have eight separate residential living units for mentally or developmentally handicapped individuals. I told the crowd how proud Northfield Construction Company is to be the general contractor for this project….our first major building project in Belle Plaine.

After the ground breaking those of us involved in the construction of the building headed next door for a pre-construction meeting. Jim Braucher and Aaron Evenson with Professional Design Group in Northfield are the architects/engineers for the project. We met with all the major sub-contractors to go over project guidelines, safety issues, etc.

Later in the day Chard Excavating from Belle Plaine moved their track-hoe onto the site to start excavating for the foundation.

Stay tuned for progress reports.

Posted by Ray Cox at 1:56 PM | Link