Cookies Crumble, Concrete Cracks | Epoxy Injection as a Structural Repair

Art Dodge points out a panel crack.

Talking to Rick, one of our superintendents about this post, he said, “I have a great title for you.” One of his mentors used to say, “Cookies crumble, concrete cracks.”

Are those cracks in your building’s tilt-up walls simply cosmetic? Is it just chipped paint? Chances are, it’s not the case.

Often times, because both concrete and the earth tend to move, tilt-up panels will develop cracks. These cracks are not merely at the surface; rather, they crack through the entire thickness of the wall panel. Thus the mnemonic: “cookies crumble, concrete cracks.”

I interviewed Art Dodge of Dodge Concrete Waterproofing Surfaces about the steps involved to structurally repair these cracks with epoxy injection.

Five Reasons Why You Should Blog

Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.

~ Mark Twain

I am passionate about social media. That’s my one and only disclaimer.  If, during conversation, I sense an opening, a teachable moment if you will, then I will attempt to convince you to set up a Twitter account.  Depending on your business, I may steer you in the direction of a Facebook Page.  So, yes, I have been known to get on my soap box.

Not often, however, do I try to make blogging converts.  Why?  It does take quite a bit more energy and dedication to blog that to converse in 140 characters or upload a cute photo for a caption contest.

But do I believe in blogging any less?  No.  Blogging is a very important to your business toolbelt.  In all likelihood, you should be doing it.

Why?  Here are five reasons right off the top of my head.

1.  Blogging Gives You Street Cred as an Expert

Blogging allows you to position yourself as an expert.  People tend to trust written information just because it is printed/published.  Don’t believe me?   Think of all the emails that people forward to you that should have been checked at snopes.com first.

My caveat with regard to being an “expert” is that you can become a trusted advisor “among your circle of influence.”  Everyone has one.  Humans are social; we belong in groups.  There are varying degrees of influence, of course.  Do people in your social group look to you for advice on parenting, which movie to see next week, or how to fix their leaky faucet?

You may never reach the heights of popularity of Zig Ziglar or Guy Kawasaki, but you do have influence.  Find out what it is and start building up your street cred.

Project Profile: 349 Old Newport

If you’ve ever got the fly-on-the-wall view of a busy restaurant kitchen you may be overwhelmed by the noise and movement. You may gain an appreciation for the amount of coordination it takes to prepare a deceptively simple meal.

Were this busy kitchen filmed in slow motion it would be a glorious ballet. Can you imagine two chefs in the same kitchen?

Sometimes we perform jobs on behalf of an owner to fulfill his part of the lease requirements. This is the case with our newly completed project. We worked alongside and in concert with the tenant’s general contractor.

Career Opportunity: Superintendent

Riggins Construction & Management, Inc. is searching for an experienced Field Superintendent to join our growing, 35-year-old company.  Currently, 80% of our business comes from repeat clients.  As a Superintendent, we’ll look to you to further this trend by continuing to develop client relationships and by ensuring that our name remains synonymous with quality, trust, and value.

What we need from a Superintendent:

• Full charge in the field for various commercial/industrial projects.
• Complete knowledge in all phases of commercial construction (i.e. tenant, improvements, block wall, tilt-up construction, site work, etc.).
• Minimum 4 years experience required.

What we can offer

• Excellent benefits.  Because we value our employees and their contribution to our success, we reward them with exceptional benefits including 100% payment of group health insurance premiums and a 100% employer-funded Profit Sharing Plan.

If you are interested, please email us your resume or fax it to (714) 543-7601. Please include a salary history.

Congratulations to Mike for Seven Years of Excellent Service

We would like to congratulate Mike Schnabel for completing seven years of service here at Riggins Construction & Management, Inc.

We understand that our value as a company is based upon quality of our team.  People who work with integrity of heart and mind and consistently meet high standards make our continual success a reality.

We asked Mike a little bit about himself so you can get to know him better.

Mike Schnabel 2012

1. What is the most important invention or innovation that has happened during your life-time?

I need to really list two inventions to properly answer this question. The computer and the internet, wouldn’t you say?

2. How would you spend your ideal “free” day?

Gambling at a casino with my honey; not a local casino, I mean a couple of days in Vegas.  And winning would be nice!

The Office Ninja’s Sword: Proofreading

Yes, proofreading is important even for office ninjas like me.  Case in point,  in my rush to email an announcement, I neglected to properly proofread the text. Unfortunately, unlike blog posts and web pages, once you send an email with Constant Contact, there’s no going back.

If you noticed the error and didn’t mention it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  If you didn’t notice the error, then move along-there’s nothing to see here, folks.

I do strive for Excellence.  Riggins Construction & Management, Inc. has a long-standing reputation for excellence both in the field and out and it’s important to me to continue to reinforce that through our social media efforts.  So you can imagine that I was disappointed to discover I had made the error.

How to recover from a proofreading disaster:

1. Correct the mistake if you can.
2. Breathe.
3. Apologize.
4. Breathe.
5. Cry.
6. Call your mom.
7. Get advice from your peers.
8. Realize you are human and, therefore, fallible.
9. Recognize your weaknesses (repeated mistakes like homophones) and put them on a sticky note next to your computer (in eyeshot) in an attempt to avoid future errors.
10. Write a blog post about it.

Just like Soylent Green, Social Media is People

Switchboard Operator 1916
Photographer: Rosenfeld and Sons

As our hero discovers, much to his dismay and disgust, the food being sold and rationed  is made from people.

“Listen to me! You’ve got to tell them, Soylent Green is people!”

Well, so is social media.

Yes, Soylent Green may be science fiction, but I want to echo his desperate cry.

“Listen to me! You’ve got to tell them, social media is people!”

Pressing a few buttons a couple times a day doesn’t necessarily mean that you have connected with people.  The connection usually results in a conversation. We call that engagement.

We’re not stupid. Our followers are not stupid, either.  We know that you’ve scheduled all of your tweets and we know you “don’t have time.”  But how do you think that makes us feel?

Pink Magnolia | A #LetsBlogOff Post

“Die when I may, I want it said of me that I plucked a weed and planted a flower where ever I thought a flower would grow.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

Flowers have an amazing effect on people. Granted, that is their purpose: to attract.  Their plant depends on attracting birds, bees, and other insects to pollinate and continue the growth and survival of their species.

This particular flower I saw for the first time during a trip to The Huntington Library in March of 2008.  The entire tree was barren with the exception of a few magnolia-looking flowers.   I had no idea there was such a thing – the whole Chinese Garden is beautiful.

Even though it began to rain, I just stood there in awe.  I took a few snaps of this tree and its magnificent flower before we walked over to another exhibit.

This photo reminds me of a really fabulous day with my husband and stepson and it brings me peace.

Funny how flowers, and photos, can do that.

This week’s topic — Flowers

Featured Tweeter @Toyota Equipment

Everyone starts somewhere in Social Media.  Tips and tricks we’ve all learned along the way can be especially helpful to those still navigating uncharted waters.

This interview series features twitter accounts in and around the construction industry, a growing population within the Twittersphere.  My only disclaimer is that I do not always agree with the advice.

Stats:

Twitter Name: @ToyotaEquipment

Twitter Bio: Toyota Forklift Dealership, MHEDA member: Talk to us, we are always happy to interact and do answer.

Company Name: Toyota Lift of Minnesota

City/State: Minneapolis, MN

Main Website: ToyotaEquipment.com

Blog: toyotaequipment.com/blog/

Facebook Page:  http://on.fb.me/h7DCCU

Admin Name:  Kyle Thill

LinkedIN Profile:  http://linkd.in/GMHBji 

Followers: 18,494

Following:Follower Ratio: 0.68

Questions:

1. When did you start your twitter account?

Aug 27, 2009

2. What was your biggest obstacle in twitter?

Initially it was just determining how to apply order to what looked like chaos, then determining which tools would be needed to do so.

3. How often do you tweet? Do you have a schedule?

Often, and while there are optimum times which are focused on, we will generally post regularly between 6am CDT to 11pm CDT.

As Per But Rather | A #LetsBlogOff Post

Grammar police Fixing bad grammar, one street sign at a time.

“Grammar is the grave of letters” ~ Elbert Hubbard

Now, I’m no “Grammar Girl,” but I have been known to correct a tweet or dozen in my day before retweeting.  Poor grammar does bother me, which correctly classifies it as a “pet peeve.”

There are the classic homophones (two, to, too + your, you’re + its, it’s) which are more frequently typos that are not caught during proofreading (you do proofread, right?), but I expect that these days.

No, there are two phrases that drive me batty:  ”as per” and “but rather.” Why?  They are redundant.

Featured Tweeter @Multivista

Everyone starts somewhere in Social Media.  Tips and tricks we’ve all learned along the way can be especially helpful to those still navigating uncharted waters.

This interview series features twitter accounts in and around the construction industry, a growing population within the Twittersphere.  My only disclaimer is that I do not always agree with the advice.

Stats:

Twitter Name: @Multivista

Twitter Bio:  Multivista creates a comprehensive record of your entire construction project, from ground-breaking through completion. Every wall. Every ceiling. Every system.

Company Name: Multivista

City/State:  US Headquarters – Phoenix, AZ; Canada Headquarters – Vancouver, BC

Main Website: multivista.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/Multivista

Company LinkedIN Page:  linkedin.com/company/multivista

Google Plus:  plus.google.com/u/0/b/102347663399308776672/

YouTube Channel:  youtube.com/multivistaco

Admin Name:  Stephanie Riel

LinkedIN Profile:  linkedin.com/in/stephanieriel

Klout Score: 40

Followers: 456

Following:Follower Ratio: 1.46

Questions:

1. When did you start your twitter account?

The account was created by someone within the company on January 29, 2010, but I took over in April 2010.

2. What was your biggest obstacle in twitter?

When our Twitter account was first created it was being used as a way to push out information on our recently awarded jobs. Unfortunately, conversations with other tweeps were not taking place. I really had to wrap my head around how to establish a “voice” for Multivista so that we could converse with other construction industry stakeholders in a meaningful way.

3. How often do you tweet? Do you have a schedule?

I tweet daily, but I do not have a set schedule. My goal each day is to check Twitter a minimum of once in the morning, in the afternoon, and before end-of-day. Some days I tweet hourly; other times I tweet once a day! I am also responsible for Multivista’s other marketing activities, so our social activity is dictated by what is going on in Multivista’s world and what is on my calendar for the day. It is a fun balance!

Smells of Childhood | A #LetsBlogOff Post

“Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains…”

~ Diane Ackerman

This week’s Lets Blog Off topic asks about scent memory.  It’s a coincidence because a couple of us in the office were just talking about scent memory last week.

I mentioned the smell of cherry pipe tobacco.  That smell always reminds me of my Uncle Jon and brings back memories of tailgate breakfasts at Lovers Point Beach in my hometown of Pacific Grove, CA.

Then I saw the tweet this morning mentioning the smell of campfires:

Nothing beats that campfire smell! A @letsblogoff post. ow.ly/93iin #letsblogoff #campfire #camping—
Raun Lauterbach (@Backyard_Life) February 14, 2012

Although I am very allergic to the smoke, the smell of campfires does bring back several fond memories of childhood camping in Big Sur, California.  When I smell a campfire it’s as if I can also smell (and hear) the coffee brewing and the bacon frying.  What a great memory.  That perfume of scent is mixed in with a hint of pine and the lingering fragrance of the sea air, not so far away.

If I didn’t think of the tents, random insects on the ground, and how hard it is to sleep on an air mattress, I’d pack up my things and head out this weekend.

Scent memory isn’t quite that strong.

This week’s topic — What Smell Takes You Back?