Yesterday there were a couple of threads about how bad the housing market was. I didn’t want to mess with those threads, so I figured I’d start my own.
Is anyone else swamped with work? We sure are.
The plant is working two 10 hour shifts, plus 6 hours on Saturday. We’re building stuff now that’s supposed to ship today, and loading it on the trucks as it comes off the presses.
A “normal” workload for me is 10-12 jobs at any one time. This morning I had 13 orders and 7 quotes to do. I’m working 6 days a week, like the plant.
I’m supoposed to have jobs done a week ahead of the delivery date. But I’ll shortly be starting on an order that’s scheduled to ship Monday.
.
Yesterday I talked to a realtor. She said her phone has been ringing off the hook, and she’s been working 12 hour days.
All the contractors appear to be busy. I’ve been trying to get an estimate on a pole barn, but hardly anyone will even talk about doing it.
The lumberyard doesn’t know when they can get a material bid done, as they have a lot of bids in front of it.
.
Just curious how others are doing, and where it’s busy…
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. [Aristotle]
Replies
More houses still going up here as fast as developers can buy property to tear down some other houses.
Personally, too busy for anything except 'wasting' a few minutes on BT while waiting for a teleconference to start. Same as you?? <G>
Probably will have flown 50,000 miles this year before the month is over. Have not been home a full 2 weeks straight since January.
<Probably will have flown 50,000 miles this year before the month is over. Have not been home a full 2 weeks straight since January. >
Sure hated that. It's why I quit my prof. career.
Forrest - home for lunch most days
curious what was your professional career?It is about right here, not insane and not anybody wanting for work.Personally, I am trying to take a break, but things keep rolling along sucking me in.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
You asked! -
I got on board with Mead Containerboard for this project (from Georgia-Pacific), and built the division with a chum I grew up with.
Supplier news: International agreements
Published in Packaging World Magazine, September 1996 , p. 84
View Image View Image View Image
View Image Mead Corp. (Atlanta, GA) has agreed to sell OTOR's (Paris, France) corrugated case forming system in North and South America under the name of Meta(TM).
I came up with the name "Meta" - the "M" for Mead, and the "eta" from an old BMW 528e marketing campaign (stressing efficiency). Fun to build a group, but absolutely no fun to deal with the French.
We finally reverse-engineered the machinery and set up US manufacturing.
The case-forming machinery made these cases with chamfered corners (marketing erroneously called it "chamfered"!
Tradewinds 12-pack
Published in Packaging World Magazine, May 2000 , p. 2
View Image View Image View Image
View Image Customers at a major national retailer will soon have the option of buying 16-oz bottles of Tradewinds kettle-brewed teas multipacked in an unusual 12-bottle case.
The Meta style box, with beveled corners that give it extra strength, has been used by Cincinnati-based Tradewinds for the past two years, especially for retailers selling individual bottles from the case with a perforated tear-out display panel. The box is assembled and packed with bottles by a contract packager using a patented Meta Systems (Atlanta, GA) fixed-mandrel machine. Until now, Tradewinds boxes had been postprinted flexographically in a single color. The new 32-ECT case will employ a preprinted liner featuring five-color process printing done offset by Mead Packaging (Atlanta, GA).
“The new case is specifically designed for case unit sales,” says Christy Lichtendahl, Tradewinds marketing manager. “When we originally switched from a 24- to a 12-pack, our customers loved it because it’s lighter and easier to handle. Now, there is so much more appeal with the new graphics.”
In a hurry? Request more info via Web-based reader service by clicking on the reader service number.
View Image
CLICK TO ENLARGE
I lived for these case formers for several years - I even set up the photo shoot for the machine below! did a lot of the PLC controller development. The French would have nothing to do with PLCs; just wanted rotary encoders - no more sophisticated than an old dishwasher.
Case former
Published in Packaging World Magazine, October 2000 , p. 58View Image View Image View Image
View Image High-speed MCF case former with PLC, available from Meta Systems (Atlanta, GA), forms cases around a stationary mandrel, minimizing case variability and improving case integration with automated production lines.
With speeds to 65 cases/min, unit is flexible enough to run various-size cases with a minimal changeover time of 15 min. The 8-sided design is said to increase case performance and compression strength from 20% to 30%.
View Image
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Forrest - pro-engineer no more - <snif>
Interesting stuff.My Dad used to work maintenance at a dairy. He often took my Brother and I to work with him when he got called back to work in the evenings or weekends. I helped work on several different machines over the years. Stuff like Gallon jug making machines, the ones that make the half pints for schools, and the Thermo King units on the front of refridgerated trailers. A lot of the machines we messed with looked like something out of "Willie wonka's Chocolate Factory". Of course - You'd never get away with that today. There are keypad locks on all the doors that go into the dairy, etc. Visitors , tours, and kids are no longer allowed.
I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." [Ronald Regan, during a 1984 presidential debate with Walter Mondale]
Eh, Junkhound,
Wonderful quote. Who's the philosopher?
"when simplicity throws off her cloak, the elegance revealed embarrasses our entangled reasoning"
"when simplicity throws off her cloak, the elegance revealed embarrasses our entangled reasoning"
Beleive it, in the late 80's, figured out how to do a job for $23 Mil where the same job 2 years earlier cost $87. The cost reduction worked out to be so embarrasingly simple that DW and I sat at a card table and made it up, circa 1988. One of the precedents was when I bought DW a fur coat, she obliged by wearing it alone once upon a time.
Thanks for the compliment.
Knowing what I know about you, I can believe you would come up with ways to simplify things. I think I cuold have doen the same kind of things, had I realize the kinds of talents I have early on. I'm hoping that Carl recognizes HIS talents and triesd to work with them. He's definitely smarter than I was at his age. He's talking about going to college to become an engineer, so I have high hopes.
Can atheists get insurance for acts of God?
"she obliged by wearing it alone once upon a time."Too bad she was alone and you missed it...LOLooooops, you mean that was all she wore?;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
"when simplicity throws off her cloak, the elegance revealed embarrasses our entangled reasoning"
I chose carpentry as my part of my spiritual path after realizing how significant it can be, when approaching Grace in daily life, to put the mind and body to work at something simple which serves a basic human need.
Your profound appreciation of simplicity strikes a chord in me, one which clearly indicates the powerful universal truth expressed in your words.
Thanks for sharing the story behind the creation of this pure poetry.
It's dead here. Residential permits are down 75%. Commercial is still busy. The suppliers and yards are laying off. Subs are laying off. My plumber let loose 50 of his 90 employees. Several large contractors have gone out of business and have dragged down their subs with them. It's pretty scary. We expect to see the trend get bigger as the year continues. Next year is not expected to be any easier.
Houses are not selling as fast. Prices are still increasing. Foreclosure rates are up, but not as much as in other parts of the country.
>>it's dead here. Residential permits are down 75%. Commercial is still busy. The suppliers and yards are laying off. Subs are laying off. My plumber let loose 50 of his 90 employees. Several large contractors have gone out of business and have dragged down their subs with them...Stacey, in what part of Alaska are you? And I assume you're talking about new construction?...How about the remodeling market there?
local area is as it usually is - not much happening - and that's OK with me -
I did run across this chart a couple of days ago, and was trying to think how to interject it here - maybe this is as good a place as any - http://www.housingbubblebust.com/HsgData/CB/Existing/USHsgVacant.html it charts vacant housing in the US -
don't know the significance, exactly - so there ya go -
im working 24/7 and thats just my wifes honey do list;)
hey knock that off and back to the farming...
hope yur not salery...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I pulled my ad. (Actually just didn't renew it.) I'm booked out until well into the fall. Only one new client this year, everything else is repeat or referral. I do remodeling, but nothing major. Decks, bathrooms, etc.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
Boss,
I'm steady right now with two jobs waiting for me. But then, I'm a small contractor.
I have talked to several other residential trades and suppliers recently and the concensus is the market is a little soft in our area. People are busy today, but there isn't a huge backlog.
Dead up here in N Il Boss.
"Anybody Else Swamped"
Always. NJ and Bucks Co Pa have a lot of people with a lot of $$, and they love their houses.
Boss,
Edited to add location: Oregon, near Portland.
Housing right here locally is slow, not enough buildable lots available, coupled with nervousness about the market.
So far we have been fair in terms of value and sales holding up etc. but you can feel it in the air when talking to builders/realtor's.
Local truss plant is slow, commercial here is going fast , sudden growth spurt after years of mostly residential growth. Mostly small strip type developments.
This area is unusual in that it has become sought after wine country in the last 10 yrs. or so. Along with that comes big dollar places, stores ans deep pockets.
Great if you are part of that food chain , sucks if you are not because you can't afford to stay here.
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Edited 6/22/2007 1:06 am by dovetail97128
New housing is dead here. Really flatlined over night. One lumber yard shut down and another is scheduled by the end of the year if it doesn't change. They both sucked anyway. (84 Lumber and soon to be Carters)
I have been swamped with remodeling though. 6 days a week for a while now. But that isn't what I want, I want to make saw dust framing. I framed close to 50 customs in the last few years and have had 3 calls this year.
I had high hopes this year, back in January I had more prints on my desk than I was going to be able to frame in time, I was weeding out the ones I didn't want. As of today none of them have gone up. They were mostly specs.
But I have got two serious calls on frames this week. I hope they go through. I gotta get back framing.
Matt
not enough buildable lots available...........
That does not slow it down here.
My boss related Tuesday that a house a block away from him just sold (for $980K) and is already being torn down for a newer McMansion.
Location/location/location...... Newport Shores subdivision, lake Washington lakefront, they could not sell those lots for even $25K in the mid 1970's.
Boise's new home construction is quite slow compared to last year. Remodeling is going as strong as ever.
Like most years, the local carps that are slow are probably the ones you don't want to hire.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Were swamped! Busier then I have ever seen.
If you guys would hurry up and get me some walls, I could get on to the next one.
Just kidding, your company is right on schedule as usual, but we are busier then one armed paper hangers.
jeremyThe bad news is you've done exactly the right things to be exactly where you are today.
"IdahoDon 1/31/07"
I'm curious what you think of our wall panels - Both the quality and level of service.If ya don't wanna post about it here email me, would ya?
What are we in life if we don't give ourselves room to kid, as adults? [Adam Rifkin]
Like Jer, I'm real busy. The area between NYC and Philly has a lot of people still willing to spend. But I don't do new homes, so its a different market for me.
People are always going to need repairs/improvements to their homes. That's what I do.
Yesterday I got a call from a customer that I did a little job for a month ago, for which they were very happy. Now they want to do a complete kitchen.
I've got about 3-4 months of work right now. And I'm past the point of trying to kill myself getting the work done. If they don't want to wait for me, I don't care. I need a life, too.
Your product is second only to landmark's. The way they ship makes allthe difference in the world.
Worked with luxery homes for years, hands down your quality and service is much better.
I think the current project is top plated this when it comes out this time. I sy think because as of yesterday I am not going to be on that project, which is a whole different thread that need to exist so I can vent.
Kevin provides wonderful service and admits when he is wrong he also helps me when I get stuck looking at your plans.
If your company just had open top box trailors you would be the berries, I know nothing of price though.
Hope I have helped you with what you wanted to know. If you want to know more feel free to ask, I know there is somethign I forgot.
jeremyThe bad news is you've done exactly the right things to be exactly where you are today.
"IdahoDon 1/31/07"
So you actually get GOOD qualiy and service from us on wall panels? Are you serious, or yanking my chain?When I first started with them 6 years ago, I tried selling wall panels. But the sevice and quality I got was awful. (They won't let me design them myself)So I quit selling them ~4 years ago. You're the first person who told me they were happy with the quality and service.
On The Journey Of Life I Chose The Psycho Path
About three or four years ago the quality wasn't there, and I made it known to all I encountered in your business.
Things have changed, maybe not for all but at least for their interaction with us.
Maybe you should look back into selling them. Kevin doesnt design as far as I know, he just sells.
jeremyThe bad news is you've done exactly the right things to be exactly where you are today.
"IdahoDon 1/31/07"
Thanks fer the input. You're right that Kevin doesn't do design work - He just does sales. But he seems like a decent guy.I may have to give wall panels a try again one of these days....
Who could be serious with men? What I really wanna do is to date a lot of pigs. Tell 'em to line up outside... and bring lots of emeralds. [Judy Tenuta]
Don,
Thank You for posting your location in your post. Made me realize I should go back and put mine is as well, makes the information easier to digest."Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Custom homes are still popping up like mushrooms here in the Southern Oregon Coast.
The spec home builders are holding a lot of inventory.
I left the custom building and went back to doing remodels and renovations on a nearby lake (where I started in the early 90's)....I'm staying with the boat access stuff and being selective about my customers.
I'll probably end my working years on the lake. I'm booked out about 9 mos.
NW Washington. I'm very busy, but I hear some guys are having a hard time staying that way. Maybe we're going to get a slowdown... after years of steady, heavy volumes... and frankly I could use less work, at least for a while. I've gotten some calls soliciting work from large subs that probably normally do tract work, which is telling.
Notch, curious how you guys get around there? There is a lot of water access work here and a number of landing barges that are able to move lumber, mix trucks, etc.
There is a lot of water access work here and a number of landing barges that are able to move lumber, mix trucks, etc.
During a fall vacation I visited the San Juans via ferry and noticed a load of dimensional lumber waiting in line at Anacortes. I wondered too about redi-mix deliveries, then additional costs for such services. What does it add to building costs, living on an island and being served by tradespeople who commute every day?
Another time I was in Homer, Alaska, at the float plane base and watched as several guys loaded lumber, plywood and sheet rock into a turbine single engine Otter. It was a very heavy load for such a plane, on it's way to remote lake to be used on an island cabin, homesteaded several generations earlier.
The Alaska cabin delivery didn't compute very well, considering the abundant resources available on site. Made me think about moving a small saw mill operation by plane instead. I'd seen that method used in western Ontario, dating back to the 1930's and it made a lot more sense. Of course, when big bucks are involved, the home owners can get what they want, even if it's absurdly impractical for others, like me.
Any other experiences along this line?
The lumber yards bring flatbed loads of materials every day via ferry. The batch plant brings dump trucks over every day with sand, gravel, etc. Quite a few specialty suppliers on the mainland bring materials over also, on their own trucks. There is a local freight line that will bring loads from the Seattle area, and I have done that quite a few times. A lot of the tradesmen that work here live here, and some commute, but it's really too far for most. One outfit brings in guys by plane a lot, which explains their high prices.
Ah, now I see that you're at Friday Harbor. So it all makes sense on an island that size. A batch plant with a couple of redimix trucks and a pump or two.
I'm a little surprised that they don't allow a small sand and gravel pit operation too, considering the limited amount of construction which will ever be permitted. It also surprises me that any tradesmen can afford to live out there, at least the wage earners anyway.
There's a quarry that produces crushed rock but you can't get washed aggregate here. There's a huge defunct quarry that used to be LaFarge and is now just an ugly empty hole. All of the gravel there was exported, for over 50 years. Now we import it back. There's one small private sand pit. Cost of living is a problem and finding help is a problem too.
There's a huge defunct quarry that used to be LaFarge and is now just an ugly empty hole.
LaFarge huh? Wasn't he the guy that was tracking Butch and Sundance? So he ended up "just an ugly empty hole", eh? Serves him right.
Edited 6/23/2007 3:54 pm ET by Hudson Valley Carpenter
Wasn't he the guy that was tracking Butch and Sundance? So he ended up "just an ugly empty hole", eh? Serves him right.
Uh...don't let the Hollywood spin fool ya - Butch and Sundance were the bad guys. Stole stuff that didn't belong to them, killed innocent people, that kind of thing."...an open mind is a powerful thing. The ability to listen to others is invaluable."
Jim Blodgett
Uh...don't let the Hollywood spin fool ya - Butch and Sundance were the bad guys. Stole stuff that didn't belong to them, killed innocent people, that kind of thing.
Is that you Woodcock?
They're now looked upon as Robin Hood types, from a time in American history when "the good guys" were exploiting everyone and everything is sight. Come to think of it, that interpretation of their lives is another example of exploitation. An irony which brings a chuckle.
"Badges, we don't need no stinkin' badges."
FWIW LaFarge os a large French based company that products cement, ready mix, aggrate, asphalt, gypson, and DW."World leader in building materials
N°1 worldwide in Cement
N°1 worldwide in Aggregates
N°3 worldwide in Concrete
N°3 worldwide in GypsumLocated in 70 countries
A workforce of 71,000 people
207,000 shareholders
Lafarge was founded in 1833
Listed on the stock exchange in Paris and New York.
Legal form: SA with capital of 706,500,568 euros
Paris Trade Register: 542 105 572Sales: 17 billion euros
Current operating income: 2,772 million euros".
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
A fellow contractor and I own 4 barges of various sizes which we use to haul building materials, trash, etc., (and we donate them every 4th of July for fireworks platforms....the City of Lakeside does a pretty good show out on the lake; you can anchor within a couple hundred feet of the fireworks barges or watch from shore. there's usually about 400 boats in attendance).
I've got a 19' NorthRiver sled with a 60 hp outboard and I can haul quite a bit of day to day stuff in it (I've had over a ton of tile in it, although it didn't plane very well)
One individual has a big barge on which he can haul a 10 yard concrete truck or dump truck, but he's such a jerk, he's fallen out of favor with a lot of the clientele.
I've enterained the idea of buying one of the oyster harvester boats...they're typically about 60' long, shallow draft, enclosed wheelhouse and a decent handling crane.....but they're a little pricey and my working years are more limited....sigh.
Last summer, I did some major repairs to a log home which had been built in the mid 80's. When the original building was built, everything was helicoptered in, including about 20 yds of concrete, several pallets of concrete block and some shale rock (the real stuff) for facing on the lower story block walls.
We're pretty small potatoes compared to the San Juans and most of the lakes nearby are undeveloped. Ten Mile Lake (which is actually two lakes joined by a manmade channel) has a lot of vacations cabins, floating cabins and some year-round residences....the ownership ranges from local blue collar to a few multi-millionaires, a few celebrities....great bass and trout fishing and some water skiing, although the latest rage seems to be wake-boarding which is probably going to get reeled in pretty soon because of the behavior of some of the boat drivers and resultant damage to docks, piers and other boats.
I tend to work for a higher end clientele who want "nice rustic" which is kind of my specialty and what I enjoy doing.
I used to work out on the lake a lot and I'm happy to be back. It's low stress, lots of wildlife (including some of the sunbathers in the Summer) and has always been pretty inflation proof if one is selective with customers.
Booked to January 2008 and hope to sign a 6000 sf house in two weeks that will bring us through 2009. It is crazy busy here. Everyone I know is buried. My dumpster guy has been sold out of boxes for the past three weeks.
Bruce
We're busy. I've been working overtime, 50 or 60 hours a week, for a couple of months to try to finish this house on time and start the next one. 6 to 8 months out on potential/probable work, three or four months on contracted work, for 15 carpenters and two architects. Guess we're lucky?
Boss,
I remember a while back you were talking about the local lumberyard which was starting its own truss plant, & a bunch of interesting twists. How'd that turn out? Seems like you were a bit worried at the time.
Don
You're right - Our biggest customer started their own truss plant. It's caused a lot of problems. But they aren't geared up to handle this kind of volume. They can't keep up, and are rushing + making a lot of mistakes. .I was also concerned a while back when our company decided to outsource truss design to Costa Rica. (At the moment they have 7 truss designers down there) I was worried that if it worked out well, I might get squeezed out or something. Right now I just wish those guys would get their asses in gear and help out with some of my work. They don't seem to be accomplishing much. Management is pretty tight lipped about why they aren't cranking out a bunch of work for us. Guess ya never know how things will work out...
What does an actor know about politics?" [Ronald Reagan, criticizing Ed Asner for opposing American foreign policy]
I'm goin crazy. I've even broken my own rule about not working weekends. The guys at the lumber yards are saying that the house lots have dropped off but you know it.
Dave
Location:- Akron,Ohio
specifically----firestone park.
ground zero for a hailstorm featuring TENNIS BALL sized hail on 6-8-07 at 3:00 pm
I am primarily a roofing contractor----primarily working in this exact neighborhood for 20 years.
How Busy am I??????????????
well-I refuse to charge anyone a nickle to look at their roof. Pretty much every customer i have ever had here needs me to inspect their roof for hail damage. these are MY people-- i HAVE to take care of them-- these are the people who bought my house for me, paid my sons tuition, funded my retirement accounts etc.--- I HAVE to take care of them
well over 90% of their roofs are just fine---but must be inspected anyway.
I was scheduling work 3 months away BEFORE the storm----- believe me I did not need this
( phrasing things carefully here)----------you would simply not believe the absolute vermin that have appeared to prey on folks here( my sympathies to Florida--- you must be infested with this rif-raf every year)----professional weasels scamming old people and the gullible----inducing panic---for profit---just really vile,loathesome slime----------------------------------
past 2 weeks have been a real lesson in human nature---- how individuals' true character is revealed.-- seriously---you would not believe the stuff going on here-----good and bad.
BTW----this has had some impact on my bicycling
Stephen
Stephen, thrown any balls out lately?
Here at the other side of the state I had the worst Jan/Feb in a long long time. Absolutely nothing. Even called those on that ficticious list I have. The ones "when you're not busy, give me a call".
March picked up a tad, April became promising. And in the blink of an eye-maxed out. Good to see as there's some catching up to do.
Stilletto mentioned one impact that's pretty telling. Framers/new home bldrs that move over to remodeling as new starts dwindle. I've noticed that here and indirectly it has impacted my business leads. Referral only still gets bumped when there's an overload of available refer-ee's.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
>>>>>>>>>past 2 weeks have been a real lesson in human nature---- how individuals' true character is revealed.-- seriously---you would not believe the stuff going on here-----good and bad.Yeah, we're suddenly overwhelmed with company trucks (companies I've never heard of) with local phone numbers on them but they've got Alabama, Georgia, and Texas license plates. They come in after a hail storm and buy up a small company that has a yellow page listing. Then when the storm work is all done they disappear as fast as they arrived.http://grantlogan.net/
Sometimes, when I lie in bed at night and look up at the stars, I think to myself, "Man! I really need to fix that roof."
Glad that you have more business than you can keep up with. Interesting to hear how building is booming in some parts of the country, and not in others.
I'm pretty swamped with my little business...customers keep referring me to their friends...I might actually have to get organized and get a scheduling program for my 'puter.
Putting in doors and windows at half the price the Big Boxes charge...
they charge $600 to install a slab exterior door that takes 2-3 hours...
Good to find a comfortable niche market.
Hey Jenni...long as I have you here...know anything about Carmel Valley in Monterey? I've been exploring the possibity for the very near future if the sale of my house goes well...looking to do it all over again but it needs to be in a semi upscale hood to continue the way I have...only problem is that these upscale hoods border on the fringes of what I can afford...all I need is one though : )
PS...Howz Brad doing? any new CD's out?
"What people will notice and remember is the broad brush of how how we act.We can aspire to reach our high ideals, or we can slide down the slippery slope towards the despicable." rjw
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Hey Andy...He's working on a new CD, just takes him a loooong time to finish a project. He's been teaching at 2 music schools in the LA area, and playing gigs 4 or 5 nights a week.
Have you ever lived on the Left Coast? California would love you guys! We'd love to have you here, too. Don't know anything about Carmel Valley except it's close to the ocean, probably beautiful and maybe not too expensive because it's a ways from San Fransisco. Ojai has a lot of tipis and it's sacred to the Indians; but it gets really hot in the Summer and it's expensive. Rumours are flying that The Governator is looking to buy a house there.
Jen...I think thats a different Carmel Valley. Apprently there's two. The one I'm talking about is in Monterey...Clint Eastwoodland...2 hours to SF. I'll be going there around the 2nd week of August to look into it during my stay with my daughter and her husband in S.F (she's having a baby then).
Glad to hear that Brads so busy doing what he loves...what could be better?
Oh...and this was only a semi-hijack...lol...cuz I was wondering how busy I might be if I moved to C.V. (nice segue, huh...lol?)
Talk soon
andy
"What people will notice and remember is the broad brush of how how we act.We can aspire to reach our high ideals, or we can slide down the slippery slope towards the despicable." rjw
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I keep hearing that it has been slow here in SE MN...I have been fortunate to stay busy. Now I have been too busy for about two months (working 6 days a week). I look forward to things slowing down some.
I hate being behind schedule, having to call five customers and tell them all they have to wait another week. I just lost a job with a customer that refused to wait, but I was relieved really.
The funny thing for me is that with all the talk of things slowing down here over the past couple of years, I hesitate to turn work away. This has resulted in a calendar with little cushion for jobs running long or add ons. Being busy and behind can be stressful, but so is not having another job lined up after the one you are doing or worse being idle.
So I can't complain. I'll work like crazy for a few more weeks and take a vacation in August.
Mid-Michigan (just south of Lansing) is slower then I have ever seen it in the last 25 years. The closing of our local GM plant started it two years ago and isn't letting up.
The winter was grim, but work trickled in. This spring started out promising, but has turned sour. I normally do mostly additions and large remodels, but lately the only calls are for roofing - the jobs that the customers don't feel comfortable putting off.
I don't feel like the Lone Ranger around here - virtually every contractor is feeling the pinch, with more than a few leaving the area.
If it wasn't for the referals I get from past customers, I might start panicing. I have a good reputation and referal rate, and it is keeping me going.
Just holding in there.
Terry
How's Tim doing? Still got all his fingers and toes?
I'm Huge in Japan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4
Tim still has all his fingers - but you can sure make him flinch by just mentioning "Gunner" or "Potatoe wedges"
Edited 6/25/2007 7:19 pm ET by TLE
That's the way I like it.:)