Controlling Moving Materials
Buildings
move, always have and always will. They expand and contract so control joints
must be employed. Wood expands when it gets wet and contracts when it dries.
Wood is always accepting or getting rid of moisture and no amount of nailing,
gluing, or screwing will keep wood from moving.
Masonry
swells when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries.
Concrete
is the most universal of all structural materials employed. Concrete cracks,
moves, shrinks, and sometimes “curls”. Concrete always has and always will
crack. Doesn’t matter if it’s reinforced or not. The use of control joints via
saw cutting or mechanical design can direct the cracks into a straight line and
make them more aesthetic. Cracks do not necessarily mean the concrete is weak.
Control
joints should be designed in concert with your water management system because
your building, in practical terms, cannot be penetration free.
Normally
water will follow the path of least resistance. Provide an easy path for water
to travel and let it follow that path away from your building envelope.
Concrete Repair: Taking the First Steps
Concrete repair is much more than "Let's jump in and do a patch." Interesting article here:
-Mark
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-Mark
Preconstruction Budget Risks for Local Government Projects (2 of 3)
Part Two: Single Source Specifications
The second way Shireman Construction sometimes serves as the
“bad guy” in the preconstruction design meetings on local government projects to
save your project budget is fighting single-source specifications. Your
architect will put together (with our help and advice) a list of every product
in the building, usually the size of two to three large phone books. This is
called the “Spec Book” and is part of the bidding documents.
ART: Single Source Specifications
– Pictures of Shireman spec books
Usually the architect will specify materials with multiple
manufacturers and suppliers. But occasionally the design team or the local
government staff in love with a certain product will list a product with only
one supplier.
Unfortunately, the supplier can also read that they are the
only source allowed for that product and will sometimes take advantage and double
or triple their price. On large components, like detention equipment for jails,
major heating and cooling system components, generators, controls, etc., this
could blow up your entire budget.
So we read every word in those books with our team of
specialty subcontractors before they go out to public bid. We work to find ways
to list multiple suppliers and alternative products to keep everyone honest.
Also, if there is a product later that the Owner’s team or
architect must have, we can use alternates to keep all the pricing honest. By
fighting single-source specifications with alternates we can get it substituted
at a lot lower price level later than just listing it alone.
Let us help you avoid
scope creep and other budget pitfalls. For more tips and tricks on local
government construction and real life examples – see our website at
Check back next week (August 26) for part three of this series.
More Thoughts on HVAC...
What heat sources are available
-Natural Gas
-LP Gas
-Electricity
-Geothermal
-Solar
-Natural Gas
-LP Gas
-Electricity
-Geothermal
-Solar
Next is how do you ventilate?
-The introduction of outside air
-The number of air changes
-The circulation
-The exhausting
The interior equipment and appliances
must be considered. Watch out for air spillage or backdrafting.
HVAC must be properly signed
depending upon clients orientation N.S.E.W, building occupants, building design
and flexibility.
Keep cooling coils and drain pipes
clean. Periodically clean the duct interior and replace the filters. If using a
HEPA filter system. The furnace has to be designed to pull the air through that
specific filter to avoid pressure drop.
HVAC is greatly affected by the
exhaust system. Too much exhaust causes too low pressurization. Too little
causes over pressurization. One can over ventilate or under ventilate. A
controlled ventilation system can balance your interior air and account for
season changes, orientations, and occupant changes.
-Mark
-Mark
Insulation: Going Green
Many gurus believe that building efficiency can be boiled down to proper use of efficient insulation. This article talks more about proper energy-efficient insulation.
- Mark
Preconstruction Budget Risks for Local Government Projects (1 of 3)
Part One: Scope
Creep
There are a few common problems we often encounter and
battle during the preconstruction process performing construction management in
the Louisville, KY and the Southern Indiana region.
Let’s talk about a major problem that has busted probably the most budgets across the country for school boards, county governments and all local leadership. The biggest challenge of keeping any construction project on budget is managing “Scope Creep.” Scope creep occurs when well-meaning architects and designers and the local government staff get carried away in the “visionary” stages and design process. Quickly the building begins to increase in square footage and cost as everyone’s wish list is fulfilled after years of working in what was oftentimes an older, small, inadequate space.
Let’s talk about a major problem that has busted probably the most budgets across the country for school boards, county governments and all local leadership. The biggest challenge of keeping any construction project on budget is managing “Scope Creep.” Scope creep occurs when well-meaning architects and designers and the local government staff get carried away in the “visionary” stages and design process. Quickly the building begins to increase in square footage and cost as everyone’s wish list is fulfilled after years of working in what was oftentimes an older, small, inadequate space.
But local government projects like schools, jails and
courthouses have a budget for a reason – usually it is all the community can
afford or all the tax revenue stream available.
It’s pretty understandable as architects have been taught
and trained to give the client exactly what they want from about the first day
in architecture school. Unfortunately in the architecture profession often the designer
that came up with the preliminary budget is different than the designer drawing
the plans. Often times Shireman will have to be the “bad guy” in
meetings with the architect or even save the local government staffers with big
dreams - from themselves.
Shireman will help control scope creep by being the
government’s voice in all design meetings, reminding the design team about cost
issues and using our latest in house real construction costs to keep the budget
on track. Value engineering of the design is also critical. We
constantly review and update the project budget and propose alternative ways to
achieve everyone’s goals. Managing scope creep keeps everyone on the right track and
leads a project to a financial success.
For more tips and tricks
on local government construction and real life examples – see our website at
ShiremanConstruction.com
Check back next Tuesday (August 19th) for part two of the series.
