Outdoor Contracting

This week we are ripping out over $10,000.00 worth of drainage work installed by another contractor. The contractor apparently cleaned-out the local Home Depot from all their 4” drain pipe and installed over a 1,000’ of single wall pipe which crushed and failed in less than 3 months. They also overloaded several drain pipes with water because they did not perform the calculations to size the pipes appropriately for the capacity needed.

There is a difference between a brick layer and a brick mason.

There is a difference between a welder and a fabricator.

And there is definitely a difference between a grading contractor who installs drain pipe from the hardware store and a Hydro Engineer supported by a team of skilled tradesmen that uses commercial grade pipe from a commercial supplier.

There is a big difference between a professional and an expert. These differences are important, and understanding that could save you tens of thousands of dollars.

Starting a new project today: Converting a standard wood burning fire pit into a custom fire & water feature.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and happy new year. I finally got some downtime to get some much needed rest. Unfortunately, I did have to spend quite a bit of my holiday time sitting in front of a computer obtaining some last-minute continuing education credits virtually for a few of my trade licenses so I could renew them before the December 31st deadline.

This afternoon I received a board brief from the North Carolina General Contractors Licensure board with some surprising statistics regarding license renewals that I thought was worth sharing:

The license board only renewed about 22,000 general contractors licenses for 2022.

The license board also reported that they investigated over 800 complaints against licensed and unlicensed contractors in 2021 which set an all-time record.

Considering that the population of the state is estimated to be around 10.5 million, that seems like a low number of qualified and licensed contractors to support that population.

I also find it interesting that nearly 1/25 of those contractors were investigated after a complaint was filed against them.

If you have plans to hire a general contractor for a project that you would like done in 2022, you better contact them now to stand a chance of getting it done before 2023. We are seeing record backlogs of clients wanting projects done and there are less skilled tradesmen than anytime in history which makes the situation even more dire since we can’t ramp-up our workforce to meet the demand. It’s becoming a bottleneck just like the shipping container crisis (which by the way has us waiting over 8 months on some products right now).

23 year old, multi- award winning, full service contracting/landscaping company looking for someone that’s skilled in various facets of construction and landscaping such as operating a skidsteer (with foot pedals), operating an excavator, concrete finishing, installing drainage systems, landscaping, and hardscaping.

We use a pay scale that determines each person’s pay rate based on their skills and abilities. Each employee has control over their pay rate.

Candidates will be required to have their own transportation to work and have a valid state drivers license with a good driving record. They will also be required to demonstrate their skills and abilities during the interview process to determine if they qualify for the position and to determine their pay rate.

Last week I received a letter that was so unexpected, honoring, and humbling. It’s timing with my last post is too extraordinary to be coincidental.

Over 10 years ago we completed a backyard renovation for a delightful couple. The project was as I referred to it “The Trifecta” (it has a pond and waterfall, a stone fireplace, and a pergola). It was one of our first, large backyard living area projects. They were so excited about the project that they even created a video timeline for us. We posted it on the home page of our website: outdoorcontracting.com

My last post commented on how myself and many of our clients did not suffer as much by being quarantined at home during the pandemic because we vacation in our backyards every day. It was truly humbling to receive a letter from a client from so long ago confirming that. It is an honor to know that our work makes such an impact on our client’s lives (especially enough for them to take the time amd effort to write a letter after a decade).

During the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a trend of people posting photos from vacation destinations. The thought was to reminisce of beautiful scenery they’ve experienced while they were trapped at home.

I learned long ago that the best investment that I could ever make was in my property. I’ve never heard of someone entertaining friends and family with their 401-K. I’ve also never heard of someone getting a return on investment from their vacation. I’ve enjoyed countless hours in my yard. Many of our clients have experienced that as well (especially last year).

I experience so many beautiful things on a daily basis on my property and I also have the added benefit of enjoying our client’s yards while making service calls. When I have time, I try to take a quick second to snap a photo of something that catches my eye. I’ve decided to start posting those photos on a routine basis to share with you all.

Today’s photos are compliments of Nikki Eason’s back yard. They are of a bed of perennial Begonias and Autum Ferns that we planted years ago that caught my eye while walking through her gate into her backyard sanctuary. The sun rays were gleaming through the foliage highlighting the red veins in the leaves of the Begonias and the yellow tint and dark stems of the Autum Ferns:

Approximately 27 years ago I stood atop an overlook of the TransAmerica Insurance Square construction project in uptown Charlotte. It was a pretty big project. The footing excavation was one city block in each direction and approximately 3 stories deep. I was the on-site Geotechnical Engineer overseeing the pile driving operations. I was with one of my firm’s technicians who was handling the compaction testing for the grading contractor.

There I was in my Italian leather dress shoes, dress slacks, starched white Ralph Lauren dress shirt and tie. I had been with a national engineering firm for 2 years out of college. Man I thought I was hot stuff standing there overlooking all those contractors and overseeing their work......until the technician asked me a question: “ who do you think is the highest paid person on this project?”. I immediately started scanning the job site for a clean, well-dressed person. I pointed-out a few suspects and he smiled and said “no” to all of them.

The technician then pointed to a grungy old guy with a gnarly beard and old dirty clothes walking around. I replied “the guy that looks like he’s homeless??” The technician replied “yup! 😊”. “Who is that??” I inquired. “He’s the General Superintendent” the technician replied. I couldn’t believe it. Then I was floored when the technician followed it up by stating that he only had a high school diploma. “How can that be??” I exclaimed. “I’ve got a degree in Engineering!”. The technician asked me “can you build this huge building??”. “No” I replied. “He can” said the technician.

It was then that I realized that my degree didn’t mean squat unless I could apply it to build something. It was an epiphany for me.

One year later I left the Engineering firm and went to work for a large site development and highway construction company. It was there that I realized that I loved being in the field with the grading, paving, and concrete crews helping them with field engineering and learning skilled trades. Many of the foreman that I worked with were masters of their trade and a wealth of knowledge. I learned so much from them.

Three years later, I took the wealth of knowledge that I gained from them and combined it with my engineering education and founded my own construction and consulting company. That was exactly 23 years ago.

I stopped by a project that we completed 2 years ago to perform a service call this evening.

Seeing the results of our work again reminded me how much I enjoyed this project.

When you tell people that you offer custom a la carte services to high-end clientele, it’s amazing the requests that we sometimes get.

Today’s request: pet sit a pair of exotic Bengal cats and help get a Ferrari dislodged from a collapsed car ramp.

We go far above and beyond any other contractor for our clients. To us it’s not just about the job, it’s about the relationship as well.

This recent project was a great example of why choosing a qualified contractor is so important. There’s a huge difference between a professional and an expert. Most clients don’t know how to discern the difference.

It was pretty straight forward in my mind: Remove an old railroad tie retaining wall that was supporting a concrete driveway and replace it with a concrete modular block wall utilizing geotextile engineering fabric to ensure the driveway subgrade would not erode and undermine the driveway and all the voids would be properly backfilled with washed stone which does not require compaction and also is permeable to prevent hydraulic pressure.

I called my sales rep for the distributor who sells the concrete retaining wall blocks to find out what style and colors they have available since I knew that there had been several major changes in that market due to retaining wall manufacturers being bought out by competitors as well as changes in the brands they are now carrying.

My sales rep asked if he could invite a new co-worker who was a former owner of a landscape company who had experience with building retaining walls and other hardscaping to lend a second opinion. I replied “that’s fine, it couldn’t hurt.”..... I was wrong.

When we met at the project, the client saw us outside and came out to see what we were discussing. At that point the former contractor began advising her that I was under-estimating the work and that he was concerned that the retaining wall would fail from the driveway water runoff if we didn’t implement a trench drain behind it to direct the water away.

I stood there in horror while he ran his mouth recklessly and ignorantly. All that I could keep thinking was “shut up, you’re freaking her out and your speaking as an expert about things for which you don’t understand!” As expected, I received a phone call when her husband came home that evening and they wanted to have a conference to discuss her concerns.

After talking through her concerns and trying to dismiss the other contractor as unqualified to voice their opinions, fortunately, the husband concluded that only one of us had a degree in Civil Engineering, multiple contractor licenses, and over 30 years of field experience. They agreed to let us move forward as planned. The retaining wall has now held up through multiple thunderstorms and flash floods and is holding up perfectly.

It was a stark example of a client determining the difference between a professional and an expert. Please educate yourself as to the difference when consulting contractors for your projects. Typically, the only way a client can discern the difference is by listening to the contractors discuss the technicalities of their work and reviewing their trade licenses and board certifications. Trade licenses and board certifications (not to be confused with trade organization memberships) are overlooked by most clients as a valuable tool in determining the qualifications and expertise of a contractor. Trade licenses and board certifications are proof that the contractor has agreed to abide by all national trade standards and their experience and qualifications have been reviewed buy an expert board of their peers and found to be acceptable.