A few projects I have done recently

So the concrete guy / screeding guy that wrote out the flatness numbers expects how much repeat business? I think the GC's around here while they are competitors would spread the word and the concrete guy might as well find a new trade.
I had a new one this week. As you know I'm an engineer for the county highway department. One of the guys who works for me reviews the new driveways for new commercial developments. So he brings me one to look at for a new retirement home. It's drawn by a 2 person engineering company about 100 miles north of us. Note we have a dozen firms locally that can do the same thing and know our specifications. So the drawing shows just an asphalt drive no curbs, looks like a residential drive. My guy talks to her and says it needs curb and gutter w/ gutter pan, has to be so wide etc etc. So she proceeds to send a one page single spaced email telling us basically, they don't need to build what we want and get this - she has no intention of complying with our standards.
I laughed. I told him you can tell her I'm not impressed and no problem, she doesn't comply, they don't get a permit and if their contractor shows up and starts work, the sheriff gets called and they can pack up and leave or get a trespassing ticket.
So he calls her. She apologizes for her email. When he said his boss just laughed, she wanted to know my qualifications and experience. So he proceeds to tell her I've been an engineer with the road commission 47 years LOL.
The sad thing is just looking at her existing and proposed contour lines her walk grades and the ditch grades are not going to work. The township wants a 10 foot sidewalk, so she just drew it in, as in over the ditch in places. If we let it go, the site grading contractor is going to have a real problem and some serious re-engineering will have to occur. The proposed building is set into a hillside. By the time we get done having her revise the drive and ditch in the ROW I'll be surprised if the building doesn't get moved back into the hill and the finished floor elevation lowered.
How about it CM1995, want to give a price on the plan as currently drawn?

So the concrete guy / screeding guy that wrote out the flatness numbers expects how much repeat business? I think the GC's around here while they are competitors would spread the word and the concrete guy might as well find a new trade.

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You got me RDD. The best I can tell is the concrete sub landed the contract, excluded the flatness numbers and sub'd out the entire job. Supply and demand economics which I fully believe in does come with a caveat emptor clause.

Honestly I can't believe the PM let the exclusion slide and gave them the contract. GC is from out of the state and the concrete sub is local. Lesson learned is always read your contract kids.

How about it CM1995, want to give a price on the plan as currently drawn?

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If this is a national chain store - absolutely. If this project is for a local yokel then no way in hades.

On a recent project of ours the engineers field layout crew (civil engineer + surveying company) had the top of curb grades off 3+' in the parking lot - not just once but several times. Luckily they had the storm structures correct horizontally so my crew was able to determine flow line and invert from the FFE and set the structures. I think the only reason why they had the structures correct horizontally is they had coordinates from the CAD file.

I have civil engineer +survey company that I always suggest for all projects that I work on. As it goes on most national chain type jobs the civil engineering has been completed before I get the plans however the GC is free to use whomever they want for surveying and layout. If I can get my $.02 I always recommend my guys. It just makes the job so much easier and cheaper due to no redundant staking.

I got involved on a small building slab for a local contractor built on 6' tall sub walls on the side of a hill. During this past rainy winter. After fighting the rain, cold and compaction issues, pouring concrete at 10 am and it not getting hard enough to get on until 3 am later that night. With it raining again at 6 am. Finished the slab with knee boards and no machine during the night. Customer calls back at 7 pm the following night after he got off of work wanting the concrete perfectly smooth for his rolling table saws. He was not happy with a hand finish. I told him that I do not do "polished" concrete and that was another process. If he had let me know early maybe by 10 am I could have brought a machine but as fate would have it, the call came to late. The hand finish was as good as the last 30 building slabs we have done so it was normal to me.

Ended up not getting paid what i was supposed to receive and now all my contracts and jobs include the finish paid for, every few jobs another paragraph must be added to my 12 page contract. It is a constant PIA dealing with issues that some customers can come up with and job issues. I wonder how many guys have had to pay a customer to work for them. A simple pine tree can be worth up to 6K if you go to court. If I ever hear some one tell me they always get there contractors paid, my ears and eyes perk up.. Watch out. Normal that job gets paid in advance.

I still have not figured out how to hold a perfect square on these jobs that are built off of hill sides. We get real close but some times a 30' wide building slab turns out 29'11". Contract covers that too.

Ended up not getting paid what i was supposed to receive and now all my contracts and jobs include the finish paid for, every few jobs another paragraph must be added to my 12 page contract.

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I know what you mean GI. When I was in homebuilding we had clauses in the sales contract named after prior customers. Now that I'm in the commercial market I have all sorts of exclusions that I add to the GC's subcontract.

The biggest issue I have ran into in my commercial career is believe it or not - topsoil. Here's why - Most of the smaller retail jobs we do are brownfield sites meaning it's the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th use of the site so the natural topsoil has long been gone. On one auto parts store early in my new career I let the estimator talk me into supplying the topsoil for the landscape areas. Being green at the time I didn't think anything about it. Well the landscaper shows up from out of state with a pickup truck, hand tools and a wheel barrow and expects to start laying sod on our prep'd topsoil. After a lengthy conference call I agreed to fine grade it as good as we could with our CTL and go from there. Now I exclude importing topsoil and specifically quantify backfilling curbs with onsite material to within +/- .10th FT. Live and learn business style.


The floor we took out was bad, real bad. You could not only feel the floor out of level 1/2" or more as you walked across but you could see it as well. Owner refused polishing to level it out.

The concrete sub used troweling machines and had a laser screed! Just goes to show one can have the best equipment and without a competent operator behind the controls you get a crappy result. Garbage in = garbage out.

From time to time I'll clear for drill rigs or dig test pits for our local geotechnical firms. Today I went back to a site we cleared and dug test pits a few months ago with the 325. The dirt doc needed to get a small tracked drill rig back in order to compile a rock profile for the site.

One crew finished up the in city demo and we've had a 305E on rent for 3 weeks so now we've got a free week. 3 weeks rent = a months rent.

Cutting a bench in for two bore holes.


This is the one of the reasons why we dig test pits and what not for the geotech. Shotcreet wall failure. We were recommended to the GC doing the soil nail remediation to clean the old shotcreet and rip-rap down to the segmented wall and haul off the debris.

This project is part of an insurance claim. I put enough in it to make it worth our while if it comes to fruition. Our Cat Rental has a 320 long reach which we'll rent to scale the bank and load out with one of our hoes.

The segmental block wall will be a challenge but it can be worked around with patience.



Keeping it interesting - anybody can push and load dirt.

City demo wrapped up today until the concrete guy gets the new footing and wall poured. We'll have to come back and backfill with stone and grade the off street parking.

The new 279D which has been labeled "02" in the background.


Steel erectors removing some existing bar joists in order to install the new bearing columns and I-beam for the addition.

We have excavated for the new retaining wall separating the upper and lower parking areas and a set of stairs connecting the two.


This has been an interesting project no doubt.

Live for the challenge cm it's the only way to go in my opinion that said that shot crere wall looks like it will stretch a. Operator into a new comfort zone

For what a laser screed costs you would think only the best operator would get to run them but it takes all kinds in this world

AzIron said:

Live for the challenge cm it's the only way to go in my opinion that said that shot crere wall looks like it will stretch a. Operator into a new comfort zone

For what a laser screed costs you would think only the best operator would get to run them but it takes all kinds in this world

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I've always lived dangerously by some folks standard AZ, no need to quit now - Nobody likes a quitter.

The laser screed deal baffles me to this day - I don't see how he's going to stay in business producing garbage like that. I wasn't there during the pour so I don't know who it was.

CM, glad to see that you're keeping busy and still finding time to post. Love the pictures.

The 305 is a great size of a machine. With the right combination of buckets, it's a great tool.

joispoi said:

CM, glad to see that you're keeping busy and still finding time to post. Love the pictures.

The 305 is a great size of a machine. With the right combination of buckets, it's a great tool.

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Thanks Joispoi! It's been a while good to hear from you.

A 305 or 305.5 is a very versatile small machine. If I had enough work for one it would be nice to have one in the stable but for now renting when needed is the better financial choice.

Looking good!

CM1995 said:

The new 279D which has been labeled "02"

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So do we call it "oh two", "the second" or the "the duece"?

"O" - 2

An oil water separator install at a new tire store. Plumber stubbed 6" SCH 40 out of the building, we tie on there and run to the existing lateral.
Going under the existing 6" DIP fire line. 279D "0" 2 with a bucket of #57's. Rental hammer in the background for the rock.



The first crossing of the 2" copper domestic line and the 6" DIP fire line. We cut a Y in on the original lateral which can be seen in the background, the red fitting. The new 6" line was spec'd as SDR35.

It never ceases to amaze me the stupidity and overall lack of giving a #$%^ by some on the job. This is a hooded curb grate inlet we set and grouted to grade, then the curb guys poured to it. Obviously some jack wagon in a lull paid it no attention.

It takes talent and some horsepower to move a curb and the grate over 6"..



Oh well, we get paid to install it and get paid even more to fix it..

Looks like they busted the concrete curb as well. Brilliant!

willie59 said:

Looks like they busted the concrete curb as well. Brilliant!

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Yeah they busted around 20' of curb on that section, it was a radius. In all there has been around 50' of newly poured curb that has been ran over, busted and broken. I guess it's a sign of the times with the lack of skilled labor and folks that give damn.

I've said for years that operators are like peanut butter, they come in smooth, crunchy, or extra crunchy. Just the way it is and has been for years.

I feel you cm I did a job last year and every single sewer, storm riser for di and clean out riser and water can riser was broke 3 or more times and I even flag poled them to began with and they still run them over even after I set the di boxes so we just charged all the trades to fix them every time since no one would fess up to it nice work looks good

willie59 said:

I've said for years that operators are like peanut butter, they come in smooth, crunchy, or extra crunchy. Just the way it is and has been for years.

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Not to get too far OT but that reminded me of an operator at a sister quarry. I forget the exact problem with the 988 87A loader, I know it was a transmission problem, well they had me go there to help the dealer mechanic work on it.

It was one of those with batteries under operators seat we had the batteries out an tied down on the platform so we could operate and still have access to top of transmission to hook up pressure gauges. Dealer mechanic asked the "normal operator" to run machine moving some stone while we road along and watched gauges.

Well after a few minutes of that he had operator park the machine and after operator was out of ear shot he said to me "What is wrong with that guy?" He said he had never seen an operator attack a machine like that in all the years he'd been working on equipment.