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Commercial Drywall, Inc.
Commercial Craftsman
Volume 1, No. 12
October, 1980
CDS in the thick ©f things
Warwick, Three City Post Oak, a 250- acre urban center which combines business, entertainment and shopping, and includes the area surrounding the Galleria, continues to be a center of major construction activity for CDI. Within a radius of just a few blocks, several projects are currently on the rise, with even more presently in their planning stages. Two recent structures announced and already underway include the Warwick Post Oak Hotel and the Three Post Oak Central office building, both of which will have interior construction by CDI. The Warwick is a project of John W. Mecom Company, Mrs. R. E. Smith and Gerald D. Hines. The hotel will occupy part of the Smith Office Park Development, a 30-acre tract of land originally acquired by Houston oilman R. E. Smith which is being leased and developed by Gerald D.
Oak gj©Dog up Bo Gallsria arsa Hines Interests. The 460-room hotel will be located on South Post Oak Road across from the Post Oak Central complex and within walking distance of the Galleria. Designed by the architectural firm of I. M. Pei and Partners, New York, in association with Richard Fitzgerald and Association of Houston, the triangular shaped building, will contain 490,000 square feet of space, and will be constructed at a 45 degree angle to South Post Oak. The 14-story building will be clad in a light rose colored cast stone with an exterior texture similar in appearance to the granite used on the Texas State Capitol building in Austin. Silver tinted reflective glass, curved into a design creating the illusion of a “shimmering cascade,” will be the focus of the main entrance. This grand lobby entrance will be highlighted by a six-level glass
The 460-room, 14-story Warwick Post Oak Hotel, with its shimmering cascade, "is currently underway in City Post Oak, and will have interior construction by CDI.
enclosed court. The interiors will feature a blending of 20th and 18th Century designs including antiques from the famous Mecom collection. The Warwick Post Oak will offer three dining areas, a private luncheon club, bar, a ballroom with seating for 1,000 persons, and' covered parking for 350 cars. For CDI, work will involve all partitions and drywall ceilings on the building and is expected to begin sometime next summer with completion in the spring of 1982. CDI will be working with Harvey Construction Company who will be serving as the General Contractor on the hotel project. Beginning just a few months in advance of the Warwick will be CDI’s activity on the 26-story Three Post Oak Central office building, another Gerald Hines development with general contracting by Harvey Construction. There, CDI will begin sometime in the spring of next year with completion expected in early 1982. Work will include drywall partitions plus all painting and wallcoverings. Three Post Oak Central is the third of three office towers that constitute a 17-acre Post Oak Central complex located on South Post Oak Road directly across from the Warwick. Designed by Architects Phillip Johnson and John Burgee of New York, and Richard Fitzgerald and Associates of Houston, the building features the familiar Post Oak Central curved exterior corners and setbacks on levels 12 and 22. (See CDI, page 8)
From the top
The vtSus of 3F by Dick Phillips Over this past year in the pages of our Commercial Craftsman, we have seen a lot written and a lot of photos expressing and describing the 3P program that was instituted over a year ago. But until recently, I have never really thought much about the real benefits that CDI has gained from this program Obviously, we have had awards for deserving employees. We have had many lunches and some banquets, and all of these have been a lot of fun and have served their purpose. But the program has had a much more profound effect. It has encouraged all of us to develop a more positive attitude about our work. But not only about our work, I hope it also has encouraged us to extend this better attitude into all aspects of our life. It has shown that we are achievers. We can set goals and accomplish them. We can do almost anything we believe we can. Also, it has made everyone in the company much more aware of the real power of our human resources. It has been said that a company is only as strong as its employees. It can be well financed. It can be in a good market. And it can have
demand for its products. But it is only going to grow and prosper to the extent that its employees are solidly behind the company. 3P has made this obvious to me and I hope to you. The program, through its mechanics, style and form has obviously given us a vehicle to award achievement whether it be in the form of a banquet or a lunch, or to individuals such as our foreman of the month, key person, featured sales people, or anyone else that has made an outstanding contribution to the overall progress of the company. An outstanding feature of our 3P program has been the fact that it has given publicity and authenticity to our budgets. It has made us much more aware of our costs, and it has given us a way to not only know our costs but in many cases, to control them — to know when a job is going good or bad. It has far-reaching effects to the overall health of CDI because it shows us where we are weak and where we are strong, and oftentimes gives us the means to deliver a high quality product on time to our customers at extremely competitive prices.
If this can be increased and improved on, it indeed will translate into more successful jobs and happier customers. And that is what the whole game is about. We know we have got to be doing something right if we all are winners. Our customers are winners. As I have said, our customers win because we deliver them very competitive prices and projects built on time. Employees win because we continue to build a professional organization where our chosen careers can grow and prosper, where we have job security, and where we have an opportunity to truly express our talents. And of course, if these two groups, the customers and the employees win, then obviously the company wins. Because unless the comany wins, there is no money to put back into the business to buy new and better equipment to continue to gro'^p financially so that we can handle the major work that CDI will continue to have. 3P has shown all of us that we are winners. And, that whether or not we continue to be winners is entirely within ourselves and our willingness to always give our best effort.
Belt buckles awarded CDI awarded two belt buckles at its most recent supervisors’ breakfast. Those receiving the prestigious awards were Louis Klovenski and Gary Hall, both CDI carpenters. Louis received the buckle in honor of his dedication as a CDI employee. In his seven years with the company, he has displayed unusual consistency in giving his best. Louis, who is now 61, is a remodeler at our Houston Center project in downtown
Houston. Gary earned his bronzed belt buckle for his leadership on the difficult Eastman-Whipstock, a job recently named project of the month. The Eastman-Whipstock project, despite its size, was one of complex wall conditions that included radius walls, curved stairway walls, planter boxes, and numerous skylights. Gary did an outstanding job coordinating CDI efforts and providing a quality job despite the rough conditions. -2-
Commercial 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.
0 J
No magic
‘L.S. 5 stud Just
result of pursuing odea
^ When Archimedes discovered a ^method for determining the purity of gold, he exclaimed “Eureka.” Thus Eureka became the Greek work for “I have found.” Few know what Luis Soliz said
supervisors' breakfast, Luis received recognition for his new stud system as it was named the “L.S.” stud in his honor. Commemorating this was k P'aqUf Wit,h arepiica °f the Stud'
TSZSZSSnT
wall panels. Nevertheless' whalTuls
l^Kud" 'he developmen’ of
hprnmp has become known as the Eureka process-the series of mental thoughts and physical actions that lead to a discovery Luis developed the new stud system for the Century panels panels using steel studs and weighing much less than the previous core board studs. With these new studs, the panels were much easier handled, and saved on both labor and material cost. The result of Luis' idea was that CDI was able to save a client a considerable amount of money in a time when building costs are getting out of sight. This savings, and our ^fesire to pass it along to the ■customer, obviously strengthens the
ln addition. CDI presented him with an extra hnmis a trin tn Zl , / a P , pCalpU'Ch° f°r thim and dlS W,fe’ Rosie- The entire award Pr°9ram was a total surPrise t0 Lcjis’ and thus he was at a loss for words otder than t0 express thankfulness to CDI and his fellow workers, Later, though, he reflected his feeling in words of encouragement to the other CDI craftsmen. Says Luis, "Every CDI employee is just as capable of coming up with an idea. I was just lucky with mine.” l_ujs believes that employees come up with jdeas every day, because as he puts it, "They have —tbey are always finding better tQ do their job. Many 0f these
relationship between CDI and Century Development Corporation , Whi!o mfcuSomer OW.elf e!rtremelyhproud oHhe “notion.
ideas go unrecognized, sometimes 9 they appear to be small, but “a valuable in their applications to their specific area o,
and especially of Luis. In a recent
work.
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** ^ SE KM
. . IHe£ t %
CDI honored Luis Soliz with a plaque "L.S." Stud.
commemo -3-
Luis says that a big part of his discovery was due to the fact that CDI listened and helped him pursue it. “And that’s the only way to find out if an idea works—to pursue it,” claims Luis. What Luis is saying is that this Eureka process is not common to only a few, but to everyone. And, that there are certain steps to be taken in the process. These include learning to recognize a problem or undesirable area of work as an indication that there is room for improvement. Once this is done, then identify the exact problem, visualize it, then look for better alternatives. CDI encourages all of its employees to take such a look at their jobs. They are the ones closest to the work situation and are the ones most likely to find a better means to accomplish their tasks. CDI will strive to cooperate in every way possible in helping any employee pursue his idea.
Doing it better There is joy in work well done, whatever its nature, and the person that finds his job shallow and unsatisfactory usually carries the solution within himself — Simply Do It Better! The pleasure in work comes from challenge, concentration and satisfactory results, three intangibles that are highly dependent on the worker’s own attitude. Whatever the job is — pushing a vacuum cleaner, riveting steel or directing a corporation, the dividends of work are in direct proportion to the effort that is invested. If you feel your investment of late falls short of your abilities reapply these five standards to your work: ° PLANNING o TAKE ACTION ° USE INGENUITY ° SEEK IMPROVEMENT ° ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY
COMPANY NEWS
BBG winners vary in contests Once again, variety best describes budget beater winners over the past four weeks. In Group I, Stephens Office Products and the Park Springs Office Building projects took wins, while Group II winners included First International Plaza and the Three Allen Center. Stephens Office Products, with work by Randy Robinson and Casey Huff, included some 7,000 square feet of sheetrock in a lease area for Hines Industrial. Involved were ceiling grid and tile, drywall, doors and door jambs. The other Group I winner was the two-story Park Springs office building also for Hines Industrial led by Dwayne Kenney. While beating the budget, Dwayne and his crew were involved in exterior framing, gyplap and mechanical rooms. While newcomers to the job list were taking the Group I contest, Group II winners included two projects that have been around a while. First International Plaza, now well over a year in progress, won its first barbeque in over a year with its recent win. Led during its duration by supervisor Fred Lay, finishing foreman, Mike Hannah and labor foreman John Ester, a team of approximately 50 carpenters, laborers, and finishers moved closer to complete the core while lease work is still going strong. Meanwhile, 115 carpenters, laborers, and finishers led by Tommy Underwood, Henry Freeman and Buster Baimbridge, respectively, were busy taking the next two-week budget beater period. The 50-story project for Miner-Dederick contains core work which is nearing completion and an abundance of tenant lease work.
SASA foreman Detton Sturgis discusses progress on the nine-story project with superintendent Grady Atmp. SASA currently is running approximately 40 craftsmen on the project for the Henry C. Beck Company.
GDfl-Sao Antonio lands 14-story ¥aSeir® Building The CDI-San Antonio office reports that they have received a letter of intent for the core work on the Valero Office Building going up in the downtown area. The 14-story structure is expected to see CDI involvement as early as November for general contractor Linbeck Construction Company of Dallas. The project currently includes core work in the building plus an adjacent three-story connecting building joining the new building to the original Valero Office Building, an 11-story structure previously done by CDI. For CDI, work will include exterior framing and sheathing plus all interior drywall partitions. Currently, CDI is furnishing bids for the tenant work on the building which will begin soon, as the Valero Corporation is expected to take occupancy on eight floors next fall. In other construction activity, the SASA project is up to 40 craftsmen under foremen Delton Strugis and David Garcia, Jr. SASA floors 1-4 and the 9th floor are expected to be occupied by the first of the year with -4-
lease plans for floors 5-8 now being drawn up for tenants. The Holiday Inn job has been completed with the final acoustical ceilings and small amount of drywall having been installed. Other finished jobs include the Joseph's store in McCreeless Mall by Wayne Schultze. Wayne is now working on the Valero Transmission project, a Vaughan demountable partition job. Also completed are Judy’s, the San Pedro Bowling Alley, and George’s Folly, all handled by Pete Williams. Richard Lopez has returned to work following his recent leg injury that kept him out of work for several weeks. Richard heads up San Antonio’s warehouse operation where he does an outstanding job for CDI. Roy Van Cleave is settling into his position as general manager of the San Antonio office and is doing an excellent job. Roy, with his expertise in the interior construction industry and in management will be very valuable part of the CDI San . Antonio operation.
Austin craftsmen ©am awards
Larry Hanvey and Johnny Kovar (far left and right) present belt buckles to hard working Pete Volkert and Herbierto Esquivel. Pete and Herbierto set outstanding pace in setting wall panels on the IBM 045 protect.
CDI-Austin ©mpylng plenty of activity CDI activity in Austin remains steady as new projects come aboard replacing those being completed, while those in progress continue to move at a good pace. IBM continues fcjo be a major center of activity ▼although Building 045, the half-million square foot office facility, is virtually complete with only a small crew catching changes and providing final touches. Nearby, Building 060 in the IBM complex is maintaining its progress under foreman Bob Fritz. Now approximately 40% complete, CDI activity on the project is expected to continue until late this year. Foreman Ronnie Roberts with help from carpenter Bobby Hicks is rapidly bringing the First Texas State Bank lease work to its late October finish. Now in excess of 75 % complete, the job has included intricate exterior soffit framing and siding, plus interior vinyl partitions. The job, which has been in progress for just over two months, is a project for Long Construction Company. The Brackingridge Hospital job which includes framing and hanging on floors 8 and 9 is well underway I /ith nearly all of the framing 'completed and about a third of the
sheetrock in place. The job, headed by Davia Kovar, includes about a dozen CDI carpenters. A major project that has just recently begun is the Tracor twostory office building for Monarch Construction. Under the direction of foreman Terry LaRoche, the job is approximately 25% complete, and the small crew there is doing an outstanding job in its initial work. The Tracor project is in exceptionally fine shape at this point, says Austin vice president and general manager Larry Hanvey. Less than a mile from the Tracor job is a three-story manufacturing facility for Motorola which is expected to see CDI involvement within a few short weeks. The project will be led by Johnny Kovar, and should last well into the first quarter of next year. Larry Hanvey also reports that several other smaller projects are underway at various locations in the city, and that some new projects are coming up inculding a complex for the Austin Police Department and the Montgomery Wards store in the Barton Creek Shopping Center, This has an unexpected start up date of late October. -5-
CDI Austin recently recognized three of its employees with awards — two in recognition of their efforts on the IBM Building 045, while the other honored David Kovar for 10 years continuous service with the company. Pete Volkert and Herbierto Esquivel, carpenters on the IBM project, received belt buckles for their work on that job. Pete and Herbierto were involved with the interior vinyl-wrapped panels and achieved a remarkable installation pace. Working as a team, the two craftsmen hung as many as 280 panels a day and easily averaged in excess of 200 per day. This represented a tremendous effort and exceeded normal output by approximately 100 panels per day. Meanwhile, David Kovar chalked up his 10th consecutive year as a CDI employee and thus was awarded a personally engraved quartz wristwatch. David began his career with CDI in Houston, and moved to our Austin operation in 1976. Throughout his tenure, he has proven himself a valuable asset having run several CDI projects, including his present job at the Brackingridge Hospital.
Bruce Marek, left, presents David Kovar with an engraved watch honoring 10 years service with CDI.
mmm EMPLOYEE NEWS
CDS Systems eyeing several projeets
M
ES
CDI Systems, Commercial’s branch operations in Dallas, is busy increasing its exposure to potential customers in that area. Mike Grogan, vice president and general manager, says that his office is diligently submitting bids on a
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number Of major projects coming up in the near future.
cors Bob Bullock keeps papers close at hand in heading company s i mg, cost accounting, and reading over contracts.
Among these are no less than a half dozen office buildings in both Dallas and Fort Worth, most of which will be in the 50-story range. Other projects which CDI Systems is taking a look at include two high rises—a 37- and a 43-story in the Tandy Corporation complex. The project will be for general contractor, Linbeck Construction Company and developer Bass Enterprises.
Bob Bullock
Key person occupies vital roles
October’s key person is a man who likes to read. Besides serving as a favorite pastime, it is also an important part of his job. Bob Bullock is the person who enjoys the latest best sellers. And, for CDI, he is an individual responsible for reading Still other projects on the horizon our contracts. include a high-rise by Cadillac Bob, who has been with the Fairview planned between Dallas and company for the past three years, Fort Worth. And, a substantial serves as manager of billing and number of hotels are expected to begin construction within the coming contract administration. Flis jobs cover three main areas—billing, months. reading contracts, and cost While CDI Systems is looking to accounting. bid several major projects in the near We have all heard about reading future, Mike says that his office was the fine print before signing anything. notified that they will receive the Well, Bob does just that. According core and tenant work on a 40-story project in Fort Worth for the Flenry to Bob, he looks primarily for what C. Beck Company, a job which will he terms the “hold harmless” ofnexfyear' S°melime 'he SPri"9 Clauses' which ofte" out extremely important parts of the CDI’s first project, the tenant work contract. On the surface it may on the 15-story Lincoln Centre office sound easy, but the wording in the building, continues to progress with contract itself can be very difficult, stocking completed and actual and some of our contracts are 10 construction slated to begin very pages long, says Bob. soon. In addition to the contract administration, he heads up the The Craftsman wishes Mike and his entire staff which includes Sam billing department which includes Beard, Chuck Grogan, Alan Smith, Melva Weggemann, Joyce and Donna Deaver tremendous kamenski, Cherryl Newton, and success in all their undertakings. Louise Davenport. Billing is an -6 -
important and often complex operation since CDI makes draws based on the percentage that each job is completed. In addition, billing covers a number of general contractors. The most important part, however, is making sure that the correct amount is billed to the contractor by the billing date established each month. A third major area of duties for Bob is cost accounting, a job which he has considerable knowledge and expertise in. In this work, Bob has done cost accounting for several major companies including Volkswagen in his years in the field. For CDI, his cost accounting includes tracking labor and material costs to determine the true cost of doing certain work. Currently, Bob is heavily involved in cost accounting of CDI’s new line of door frames and our vinyl board. Such information is critical in the bidding process, as well as helping to examine jobs in progress to determine how well we are doing. Away from work, Bob says that he and his wife, Pauline, are “stay at homes.” There, they enjoy gardenir^P' and as previously mentioned, Bob is an avid reader.
First City Tower »
CDI craftsmen meeting dtemaoudls off 4©-storf
The next time you are heading to downtown Houston, make it a point to drive by the corner of Fannin and McKinney. There you will find another addition to CDI’s already impressive list of major projects , our project of the month — First City Tower. The impressive 49-story building will soon be a permanent fixture in the rapidly changing Houston skyli ne, filling an ever growing need for downtown office space. When completed, it will house such major tenants as the law firm of Vincent & Elkins and First City Bank. The 1,400,000 square-foot building, which is the second largest ever done for general contractor W. S. Bellows, will be in the shape of a parallelogram placed on the site at an angle so that it will not encumber views from existing buildings. Another architecturally distinctive feature of First City Tower will be its fcpur 11-story high vision strips rising Wi staggered formation the height of the tower on both the Lamar and McKinney sides. While the project is impressive, First City Tower has not been an easy job. As with all construction projects, there are the everyday obstacles that must be dealt with and overcome. Yet no matter how difficult times have been, the CDI team under the direction of
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Pedro Cerda is shown contending with a tight work space, one of the complex conditions encountered on major projects like the 49-story First City Tower.
supervisor Dudley Chisholm has heads up the laborers, while the continued to produce with an foreman in charge of the tenant work outstanding amount of effort. is Mitch Bailey. Of course the "I’ve got a great bunch of men tenant spaces have to be stocked, and couldn't ask for a better attitude and Gene Hurd heads up that than they have,” says Dudley when nighttime operation. asked about the positive aspects of As of now, the core work is about his job. He also states that the 55 percent complete with foremen foremen on the job have really Greg Sorge and Bill Schafer contributed 110 percent, making his handling that difficult task. According to CDI director of construction job easier. Hoagy Cannon, the layout on this The project has about 60 men on job was very difficult; in fact, one of it now and they are led by Mike the toughest layouts he has seen. Woodruff who is in charge of the However, that problem was well finishers, Glaucas Jefferson who taken care of by Pete Cerda who so far has handled about 75 percent of Saying what yon mean the layout and according to Dudley is The following are actual statements found on insuranee to.rme where one of the best in the business. drivers attempted to summarize the details of accidents. There messag Dudley, who has been with the here . . . company for about six years, took the First City job over when Chuck struck my vehicle and vanished, ‘An invisible car came out of nowhere Grogan left the project to head up in front, I struck the pedestrian.’ To avoid hitting the bumper of the car , nnip ■ our construction operation in Dallas ‘I'puiled away'from the 7Z road* glnced at my mother-in-law and the early part of this summer. And, despite the complex conditions headed over the embankment. as he bounced off the hood of surrounding First City and virtually all ‘I saw a slow-moving, sad-faced old gen em major projects of this size, Dudley my car.’ a number of times before I hit and his crew are making First City Tower another fine example of CDI The guy was all over the road; I had to swer craftsmanship. | <im.’ car.’ 'A pedestrian hit me and went under my -7-
GDI aeti¥© dbd Galleria area construction for CDI, the City Post Oak area is the scene of additional activity already in progress. Just a few blocks north of the area is the twin 40-story Four Leaf Towers which have recently included CDI activity under the supervision of Daryl Hammons. In addition, the Oxford condominiums are located in the City Post Oak area near the Natural Gas Pipeline building, a previous project of CDI. The Oxford is a 20-story condominium project for Harvey Construction under the CDI
supervision of Nick Nunez. Work o* that project has been underway for several months with a completion expected in early 1981. Besides these new projects going up and already in progress, CDI currently handles a tremendous volume of remodeling work for several Galleria area office buildings. The remodeling crew, working out of the Transco Tower, is led by Richard Perales and has been involved in over half a dozen major office buildings in that area.
August Attendance
Three Post Oak Central with its familiar curved corners and set backs on levels 12 and 22 is going up in the Post Oak Central complex near the Galleria.
(From page 1) Additionally, the exterior will feature alternating rings of charcoal anodized aluminum and silver-gray dual plain glass, typical of the previous two Post Oak Central office buildings. Inside, the building will contain some 429,000 square feet of net rentable area. In addition to these two structures which represent 40 floors of
Commercial Craftsman Commercial Drywall, Inc. 3705 Piney Woods P.O. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018
Ranking
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Project Marne
1
100% 98%
I & II Allen Center Houston Center Greenway 1st City Tower Yard Laborers Ted's Group Transco 1st International Plaza Jerry's Painters Jesse's Group Jim's Group Finishers on Small Jobs III Allen Center
2 3
4
5 6 7
8
9 10
96%
96% 96% 96% 95% 95% 95% 94% 94% 93% 92% 92% 91% 89% 88%
Condo I & II Oxford Condo Texas Commerce Plaza Shell Woodcreek
Supervisor ©r Foreman Steve Mayo Cliff Welsh
Luis Soliz Dudley Chisholm Dennis Yanowski Ted Hajdik Richard Perales Fred Lay; Mike Hannah Jerry Featherston Jesse Hajdik Jim Lacaze Bobby Smith Daryl Hammons; Buster Baimbridge Glen Brabham; Mike O'Brien Nick Nunez Jay Richards Roger Warman