Commercial Craftsman
Commercial Drywall. Inc. Volume I, No. 4
February 1980
In downtown area
ODD starting During the month of February, Commercial Drywall will begin construction on two major downtown projects—First City and Texas Commerce towers. These, added to existing operations, make downtown one of CDI's busiest areas of work. First City Tower, scheduled to start-up in early February, is a 49-story office building in the First
At 997 feet, Texas Commerce Tower will be Houston's tallest building.
major projects
City Financial Center developed by Urban Investment and Development Company and First City National Bank of Flouston, a joint venture. With general contracting by W.S. Bellows Construction Co. the building when completed will house First City National Bank, Superior Oil Co. and the law firm of Vinson & Elkins as major tenants. Designed by the Flouston architectural firm of S.l. Morris Associates, the $100 million-plus building will be in the shape of a parallelogram positioned at an angle to the city block on which it stands. In addition to its shape and positioning on the site, First City will have another architecturally distinctive aspect—four 11 story-high notches, or vision strips rising in staggered formation the height of the building on two sides. These vision strips are designed to provide a dramatic view from the elevator lobbies of the building. For CDI, First City Tower will be 14-16 month undertaking to include both core and tenant work. Job supervisor for the project will be Chuck Grogan who prior to First City has headed up part of the Floustonian project and Marshall Fields department store. Just a few blocks to the north and west of First City will be the Texas Commerce Tower, a 75-story office building which when completed, will be the tallest structure in Flouston. At 997 feet, it will also be the tallest building outside of New York and Chicago, and will pass Flouston’s next tallest building by 20 stories. A project of Gerald D. Ffines Interests, Texas Commerce Tower will be under the general contracting
of Turner Construction. The building will serve as the worldwide headquarters of Texas Commerce Bancshares, its major tenant. It is designed by I.M. Pei & Partners Architects and will contain a fivestory atrium area rising from the ground floor. Drywall operations in Texas Commerce Tower are expected to begin in late February or early March. Under the CDI supervision of Jay Richards, the building has a production schedule of three days per floor, a pace nearly twice as fast as normal production time. Core work in the building will be 12-14 month process, with tenant work to start this summer giving the total project a duration of 18-20 months. CDI’s vice president and general manager, Mike Grogan, believes that downtown Flouston will harbor substantial construction activity for several years to come. “What we are seeing in these two projects is the confidence of the Flouston economy and the strength in the downtown sector of the city,’’ says Mike. “Flouston, in most respects, has just recently began to grow in that area. We expect to see a good balance of downtown construction along with that in the outlying parts of Flouston for the next several years," contends Mike. CDI, in the last three years, completed such downtown projects as Flouston Center One and Two, FHarris County Administration building and Two Allen Center. Currently, Three Allen Center, The FHotel Meridien and First International Plaza are major CDI projects in the downtown area.
Fmm the top
Letters to Larry This month there were no Letters to Larry, so I’m taking it upon myself to fill this space. If you want to save me from this fate again next month, your questions and comments are welcome here. Several months ago, each of you was asked to submit a name for the Commercial newsletter. Recently I ran across the list of those names and went back through them, not knowing who submitted what. For some reason many of them began sounding like good titles for movies, television shows and other things. A few reminded me of some recent movies like The Drywall Syndrome, Drywall Encounters, Commercial Graffitti or Commercial Fever, perhaps starring John Travolta as a dancing journeyman carpenter. Yet others could have clearly been television shows such as a new TV game show Commercial Wheel of Fortune, a Saturday morning cartoon, Commercial World of Super Adventure, or one that actually made it, Heart to Heart. Then, there are the ones with which you obviously had something in mind to say such as A Letter to the Leaders, Word From Inside, or In, From, and In Back of a Rocker. But most seemed to say something about our jobs—Great Performances, Sheetrock is Where It's At, Smoking Screw Guns and Hangin ’ Till Finished. These are just a few of the names submitted. Everyone of them had class in their way, and, as editor of your newsletter, I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in the contest. —Larry Williams, Editor
Dealing with inflation
By Dick Phillips
In one way or another, we all are in trouble and turmoil because of inflation. Whether we are talking from a personal or a professional point of view makes little difference. It is the nation’s number one problem, consequently, it is our number one problem. The cause behind this problem is history. Double digit inflation was and is being caused by our federal government—the villain, because it is spending more than it earns and then printing whatever money is needed to make up the difference. Impact this dilemma with our energy problems which have resulted in $1.25 a gallon gasoline, and we start to see a hopeless situation for you and me. It is true that you and I can do very little to eliminate the cause of inflation, but we can, to some degree, alter its effect on our personal, company and industry positions. Let me quickly run through some of the major and most obvious weapons we have to fight the adverse effects of inflation as individuals and familys: 1. Home ownership. Owning your home is one of the best hedges against inflation. 2. Conserve energy on all fronts. In the home, follow the energy guidelines of being hotter in the summer and colder in winter. In our cars, buy smaller more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. 3. Shop wisely for better quality merchandise that will last longer and therefore in the long run be less expensive. OUR COWIRANY AMD INDUSTRY The cities of Houston, Austin and San Antonio are only going to build a certain number of office buildings, schools, hospitals, warehouses, etc. this year. A great number of companies in the partition, ceiling and paint business will be trying hard to get a share of this construction business along with CDI. But trying hard is only part of getting the work. The biggest factor is who can sell the products and services at the least price.
This ability to control our costs and thus offer a lower selling price for our products and services is a major step in helping to control inflation, and lessen its effects on all of us. How can we accomplish this? How do we control our costs which controls our selling price and gets us more work? Well, first let’s talk about the direct costs—the prices for materials and labor. The costs relating to the materials we use on our work can be handled to a point. Currently, we negotiate daily for the best prices from our suppliers, and we feel that we come out better than most of our competitors. But, material costs reflect only approximately 30 percent of the direct costs. Seventy percent of CDI's direct costs goes toward labor. As a result, the problem of holding down costs could be easily accomplished if everyone of us decided to forego a raise. But, this is not practical. With today's rate of inflation, no one will ask any of us to do without a pay raise. Is there an answer then? The answer is yes. There is definitely a means to control inflation and its effects. We will look at these costs and the possible solutions in my message next month.
£®mirini©reD@i[l Craftsman Editor: Larry Williams The Commercial Craftsman is published monthly by Commercial Drywall, Inc. for its employees and their families. Employees should send their news contributions to Larry Williams, Commercial Drywall, Inc., P.O. Box 10686, Houston, Texas 77018.
4
Work progressing for CDI-Austin
yp The 49-story First City Tower is one of two major CDI projects starting up in downtown Houston.
CDI-Austin reports that crews have Other projects underway in Austin recently completed work on two include the E.O. Thompson building projects including remodeling in the where work is being done on the 21-story American Bank Tower and eighth floor of the 10-story office the one-story manufacturing facility building. And, just recently started is for IBM. installation of demountable wall Austin vice president and general partitions in the Data General manager Larry Hanvey says that the Building. American Bank Tower was finished in CDI-Austin also announced the excellent shape under the addition of Ron Parker to its interior supervision of Jerry Wilhelm, and systems sales activities Ron comes the IBM building was just completed to CDI from a similar position in by foreman David Kovar and his Calgary, Canada. He and his family crew. recently moved to Austin from there. Meanwhile, the three-story Ron will handle sales for various engineering building for IBM is interior partition systems and progressing well and is currently components for San Antonio as well approximately 20 percent completed, as Austin.
TBir@e jobs win in first budget [bsaftsir ©©enfestis The first budget beater winners under the revised format have been ^^named and fed. The jobs that moved step closer to the evening banquet while enjoying a good meal were Northwind Plaza and Heights House in Group One, and Greenway Condominium I in Group Two. The Group One winners were the result of finishing with the same average rank. Northwind Plaza finished first the first week of the competition and sixth the second. Meanwhile, Heights House came in third the first week and fourth the second. Thus, both jobs finished with the same average score of 3.5 for the two-week period. Under normal circumstances, such a situation is resolved based on the job that beats its budget by the largest percentage during the period. But since this represented the first week of competition under the new rules, the jobs were selected as co winners. Northwind Plaza is an eight-story office building near Pinemont and the Northwest Freeway. A project of Miner-Dederick Construction Co., Northwind is under the supervision of _DI’s Ken Hyatt. This win marked the first time that the job has won the budget beater contest, although it has consistently ranked high over the past several weeks.
Heights House, on the other hand chalked up its fifth budget win overall, and its first under the new format. The 10-story project for Harvey Construction off Heights Boulevard and 20th Street is under the supervision of Nick Nunez whose crew seems to have developed a taste for barbeque lunches. In Group Two, Greenway Condominium I emerged as the
winner for the January 23rd lunch. Led by job supervisor, Jay Richards, the project wins for the second time since the budget beater contest began in July. Their first win came back in August. The Greenway Condominium is a 30-story high rise in the Greenway Plaza project developed by Century Development Corporation. General contractor on the job is MinerDederick Construction Co.
This well-fed group of guys is the crew on the Heights House, which stands under construction in the background. The Heights House crew has won the budget beater lunch five times in the last several weeks.
employee NEWS
Vaughan group t® attend conference Employees of Commercial Interior Systems, CDI’s sales division for various interior partitions including movable and demountable walls, door frames and other extrusions, will attend a business conference in Indianapolis February 18-20 conducted by Vaughan Walls, Inc.
Bernie's abilities around the office are a tremendous asset to everyone in CD I s
biey persm
The three-day conference, entitled “Partners in Profits,” will include discussions and workshops designed to help Vaughan Wall distributors such as CDI increase sales and profits during the coming year. Attending the conference for Commercial will be Carlos Ramsey, Lincoln Mitchell and Dick Johnson of our Houston sales group and Ron Parker from our Austin interior sales office. According to Carlos Ramsey, Commercial Interiors Systems manager, the meeting is held annually to allow contractors to update their sales programs in their own market areas. Such topics as market opportunities, job control and job costing will be discussed in the conference. Also on the agenda will be the introduction and demonstration of new product lines of Vaughan Walls. n i ,. , Vaughan WaUs, Inc. is a national dealer in movable and demountable wall systems with a complete line ot aluminum components and an open plan landscape system composed of acoustical screens, wall panels and accessory items.
February’s key person is the wife of a police detective. She is secretary and receptionist for our sales and estimating group. She is the hysterical laughter heard in the CDI office at 3705 Piney Woods. Her name is Bernadine Thomas, better known as Bernie. In her 16 months with Commercial, Bernie has earned the respect of all of her associates. Her happy disposition and industrious work nature has made her an integral part of CDI’s sales and estimating operation, Among her many duties are typing letters, proposals and forms for the estimating group. In addition, she takes all incoming calls for the department, orders supplies and in general k things VHorder Besides her cler| , duties which she handles s0 „ B . nlcn takan nn rPQnnnoihi iti^o u- 7,u he bedfreTSSn L®h'Ch have Sccaslonf ThP.aIn,? H ^ many fiaumTon tlkSfL ' ^ CtheC?9 ■
graae. ta is a detective in me bur9larV and theft division of the H°USt°n Police DePartment' ■ As 3 famil.y' the Thomases ^
During the past year, Vaughan or
the past was primarily handled by the
tS^i^nu^foTSjmrar
teen'instaled by ^Sc^Cak
sales ©fffeiril
d
Bank building, Transco Tower, Hedwig Park and Hi-Port industries, WuX„asy0s,ee:sPa;eebeingUr,en,,y'
by the manaaement anri r UtSe<^ teams to determine the amoimf "r9 UndT C0",ra"'“e
proposed on several projects to be constructed in ,980,
is CD^presiS^ick^h'IP "h Bem'e '•Berni^SS^Stb”
says Dick. “She stays on top of things, is well organized, and has great initiative.” Dick also adds that Bernie is extremely valuable in the communications end of the sales effort. “Communications is critical in this part of the business, and Bernie is multi-talented. Not only does she take shorthand and operate the dictaphone, but she prepares all of our formal correspondence, keeps up with the phones and organizes files. She’s a real pro when it comes to these things.” Bernie is as much of an achiever at home as at the office. She and her husband of 13 years, Ed, have two children—Terri, 13, who is a seventh grader at Ruby Clifton Middle School and Trent, 9, who attends St. Ambrose Catholic School in the third
their boa, and camper. Around the house, lnteres,s include redecorating and S ceramics. Bernie’s ceramic talent has resulted more than 200 pots for hanging plants. Congratulations Bernie on your honor and keep up the good work!
Supervisor of the month
January award presented t© Luis Seliz
A / January’s honor for supervisor of 'the month has gone to Luis Soliz, rn| supervisor over our Greenway ^modeling activities. Luis, who has Len a valuable asset to Commercial
for the past nine years, has always distinguished himself as a good supervisor. In recognition of his many contributions to the company, as well as his capabilities, Luis was resented with the supervisors’ plaque at the January breakfast. P In noting the recognition that has come his way, Luis credits his crew with his success as a supervisor. "I’m only as good as the men who do the work,” claims Luis. ‘‘Because they are the ones who go out and net the job done.” Besides a good crew, Luis gives credit to the various foremen at Greenway, which include Bill Patrick and Lemar Haas, who head up the lease work. Others actively involved in Greenway’s operation are labor foreman Wilson Chambers, finishing foreman James Owens, and timekeeper Percy Townsend. In discussing the January award, Luis says very little for himself, preferring to recognize the people with whom he works. “Take one of our laborers, _ Chester Locks, for example. He s
Part of Luis' success at Greenway comes from his close involvement in the duties of his men. Such a relationship helps to build a spirit of teamwork on the job.
61 years old, but he works like a youngster. I would hate to have seen him when he was young, because he has so much energy now.” And, in addition to the normal operations of Greenway remodeling, Luis shares credit with the cabinet shop headed by foreman Bill Slayton. Bill, who is also a nine-year veteran with Commercial, runs the shop which serves as a construction
S.A.
©©‘Sow® group
Commercial Drywall in San Antonio is gearing up for some new projects while those in progress and those in the estimating stage are keeping everyone busy. “In the past two weeks, we’ve done take-offs on three or four multi story projects,” claims Jerry Bonds, CDI-San Antonio manager. “Ray Buck, who handles estimating for our Quincy Lee projects, is really getting a workout. And, Dave Demel has had his hands full estimating several multi-story projects coming
The 29 story Marriott Hotel recently completed by CDI-San Antonio.
facility for cabinets, tables and file cabinets for not only Greenway, But Allen Center as well. However, one item Luis will talk about is his motorcycle. Because when he is not concentrating on his job, he and his wife, Rosie, enjoy cruising around on their Harley Davidson. Weekends find them out riding or spending time with their children—Luis, 6, and Laura, 12.
up. In other goings on, Jerry reports that as expected, CDI-San Antonio received the contract on the San Antonio Savings Association building, and should begin work there sometime in March. The other major
project slated to get underway soon is the Holiday Inn North. The Incarnate Word College project which began in December is approximately one-half completed. Work there involves a drama teaching theater and is under the supervision of foreman Grady Atnip. Grady and his crew have done outstanding on the job which has been unusual in design and has demanded special sound treatment in the walls and ceilings. The Craftsman wishes to acknowledge the Riverwalk Marriott, a job finished in December by CDISan Antonio. Because of its size and accomplishments, work on the 29-story hotel facility deserves special recognition as CDI’s largest project in San Antonio thus far.
I
Proiecf of the momih COMPANY NEWS
CDI begins absenteeisms safety programs Commercial Drywall, in Phase I of Operation 3P, has established absentee and safety policies effective January 25, 1980. The absentee policy states that after an employee misses two days of work in any calendar month, he or she must report to the CDI office to director of personnel, Hoagy Cannon or director of construction Bruce Marek. The employee will then be given a slip from either Bruce or Hoagy, allowing that individual to return to work. The purpose of the new policy, says Hoagy, is not necessarily to find out who is needlessly missing work, but rather to discuss with that individual the importance of good work attendance. Under the same policy, an employee who arrives late for work three times in the same calendar month must follow the same procedures before returning to work. "Figures indicate that excessive absenteeism costs CDI approximately $20,000 a week. We feel that an employee who is aware of his or her importance will make a better effort to be on the job. "Reducing absenteeism to an acceptable level will play an important role in accomplishing the 10 percent reduction in labor costs set in Operation 3P. And 3P, if successful, will benefit employees as well as the entire company,” says Hoagy. Additionally, a safety program has begun to record information on all on-the-job injuries by CDI employees. This information will be used to identify problem areas and abuses in safety regulations. Both of these policies, according to Hoagy, will lead to an awards program for safety and attendance during Phase II of Operation 3P.
H©yst®raaim another challenging effort “I try to do whatever it takes to get the job done properly and efficiently,” says Pete Camarillo, one of Commercial Drywall’s dedicated supervisors. Pete, over the past 10 months, has headed up CDI’s Houstonian project, a job selected as this month's project of the month. The Houstonian is a four-building complex on 18 wooded acres just off Woodway and the West Loop. The "retreat” for individual and corporate members houses the Houstonian Inn and Conference Center—a 300-room private luxury hotel with 30,000 square feet of meeting and conference rooms; a 126,000 square feet preventive medicine and fitness center; social and dining facilities; and recreational facilities that include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, indoor and outdoor jogging trails, tennis courts, and more. The uniqueness of the $39 million project and its imaginative design and physical facilities have made the Houstonian in some respects, one of CDI’s most challenging projects. While it lacks the immenseness of a First International Bank lobby or the kinds and variety of wall coverings of a Marshall Fields department store, the Houstonian’s intricate radius walls, skylights, unusual design, and numerous high ceilings represent a CDI effort which required every carpenter, finisher and laborer to use all of "the tricks of the trade” to bring the project to its near completion. "This job has definitely been a challenge," says Pete, “and it could not have been accomplished without a lot of hard work and cooperation from everyone here.” Up to 44 carpenters were utilized on the project at its peak, while another 25-30 finishers were there during the busiest times. Key people on the various jobs included Louis Klovenski who, according to Pete, “did a super job putting up the outside walls.” Additionally, foreman Dwayne Kinney, Carl Carson and Eugene Foster each supervised work on the various buildings in the project.
The indoor jogging track and weight room are part of the recreation facilities at The Houstonian.
The finishing effort on most of the project was headed up by foreman Billy Wright. ^ Building D, which contains the last^ of our work there, is under the supervision of carpenter Gary Hall and finisher David Morgan. Some particularly challenging areas of the project, according to Pete, included the framing and sheetrocking of large planters, the construction of 10' by 35' projection screen windows, and the completion of a 36' ceiling which connected to a complex balcony atrium. Special scaffolding was used throughout much of the project to handle the numerous skylights in the buildings. The Houstonian, designed by the Houston architectural firm of CRS (Caudill, Rowlett, Scott), is under the general contracting of W.S. Bellows Construction Co. The project stands as an example of current trends in architecture to project building design as a contemporary art form. In doing so, it has created new problems and new methods of interior layout, framing, hanging and finishing. But, with the £ skills and experience of CDI people like those involved in The Houstonian, it is fast becoming everyday work for our Commercial “Craftsmen”.
CDI Pamt @rouP growing f@r(g@ in marketplace An impressive track record is giving CDI's painting group a good reputation and a good future in the Houston painting market. Commercial Painting Group, which was formed as a division of CDI approximately four years ago, is quickly emerging with the industry respect similar to that CDI now enjoys. Under the direction of its manager, Al Jones, Commerical Painting in the past two years has acquired the talents of several of Houston’s top paint men and has put together a string of successful projects. Jerry Featherston and Ben Boatright came aboard about 18 months ago and has done a tremendous job in Commercial's painting endeavors and have greatly enhanced its total abilities. With the capabilities for both interior and exterior finishes, the painting group provides painting and decorating services with wall coverings, fabrics, wood veneers, simulated acoustical ceilings, and Aven light industrial work including ^and blasting and coatings. Other key personnel such as Cecil Bevill and Donnie Harrison allow the group to pursue projects of virtually any scope and our experience includes such projects as the American Indemity building in Galveston, Fondren building, Baybrook Mall, Grand Hotel, Marshall
^-----------
Superintendent Jerry Featherston, left, and Commercial Paint Group manager, Al Jones inspect work at the recently completed Brookhollow Marriott.
Fields department store, Brookhollow Mariott, Southwest Freeway Hilton and the Coca Cola headquarters building, among others. ‘‘With these kinds of projects behind us, we anticipate to grow substantially this year,” says Al. He says that the paint group hopes to double their production volume this year. "From our projects, you can see that we do a variety of types of work, and we are looking to expand to others in the future. Right now, our estimating people are really busy, meaning there’s a lot of work out in front of
Providing the administrative and budgeting backup to the production team is Dorie Wieder who does take-offs and budgeting. And in the sales end, Robin Cravey, well-known in the Houston painting industry, gives Commercial a great deal of experience which includes several years in the field as a painter. In addition, he has been involved in almost every part of the painting business, having owned a company for a number of years. "We feel that we have demonstrated our value to the company while establishing ourselves in the Houston marketplace,” concludes Al.
SafioUy reminder Commercial's most recurring injuries are muscle pulls and strains due to improper lifting procedures.
mm (}
:
♦
Following a few basic guidelines for lifting heavy objects can help you avoid such problems.
*
First, don’t try to manhandle the object. Know how you’re going to lift it before you start. And know where you’re going with it once you have it. Observe these basic principles of lifting: ° Keep your back straight and lift with your legs. ° Squat rather than bend over to lift. ° Know when a load is to heavy, and ask for help.
__
iB -
Houstonian.
February birthdays
Who® o
Winners Winning the budget beaters lunch contest requires a number of things, and two not to exclude are teamwork and a steady output. Shown above are members of the Greenway Condominium “team" who recently won their second contest. And to the right, Northwind Plaza's, Ken Hyatt, is just part of a crew that has recently won a lunch, and has placed high in the ranks the last several weeks.
Commercial Craftsman Commercial Drywall, Inc. 3705 Piney Woods P.O. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018
JL w
John Albertin .. . Charles Barbour . . . Isabel Barreiro . .. Lee Benton . . . Ben Boatright III . . . Eugene Box . . . Robert Browning David Carvalho . . . Ronnie Case . .. Michael Cation . .. James Cephus .. . Jesse Copeland, Jr.. . . Roland Dube . . . Gary Flores . . . John Gayton . . . Carlos Gonzales . . . Joseph Haughley . . . Bruce Krenek . .. Jon Lang . . . Dave McGuire . . . Bruce McKinley . . . Abraham Ortega . . . Scott Reddehase . . . William Riggins . . . Ruben Rios . . . William Sams .. . Frank Satcherwhite .. . Roy Schaffer . . . Gary Schultze .. . Jerry Senesac . . . Raymond Smoot . . . Calvin Tutson, Jr. . . . Pat Frierson . . . Willie Villalobos .. . Billy Gilliland . . . Ben Catalon, Jr. . .. Nelson Sanders . . . Jim LaCaze . . .
New ©employees Randall Terry . . . John Blanchard . . . Dennis Flores . . . Dewey Rose III . . . Bruce Brady . . . Jacob Hegman . . . Wayne Ackerman . . . Joe Gilbreath . .. Irme Manuel. . . Mike Miller. . . Scott Aldrich . . . Melvin Dade . . . Mike Logenbaugh . . . Dale Crage . . . Ezra Newsome . . . Robert Leach . . . Walter Field . . . Perry Burdeaux . . . Robert McGrath . . . Don Owens . . . Greg Jecker. . . Richard Hammrick . . . Robin Cravey . . . Dick Johnson . . . Ron Parker. . . Terry Roberts . . .
BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE
PAID HOUSTON, TEXAS PERMIT NO. 2840