Working towards Project Excellence Award

Today was beautiful & just wonderful working weather. We didn't have as many crews on site as we did last week due to the forecast calling for rain. The crew we can count on to work regardless of the weather is the plumbing crew.....And they were here bright & early. So early in fact the sun wasn't shining so bright yet. They are hoping to have a city inspection day after tomorrow. Next crew that came in was the HVAC crew. I call them HVAC, Mr Gibson calls them the mechanical crew. Either way, they were here and continued the flex line work. We got a surprise visit from the one and only Mr. Jason Byrd. Mr. Byrd is known for having the longest lasting erections. I have to admit their steel erection work is great. Good enough that he's a great team player when you are counting on making PROJECT EXCELLENCE. He later sent his crew out to come finish working on a window beam. Today we received the delivery of the roofing materials. That means the roofing crew will be here maybe as early as tomorrow. Our utility contractor came by with a semi & picked up their equipment. Woody treated me to a girlie girl afternoon at a great salon/spa while he went to the Parkway offices in Lewisville. So did it rain? No, it never rained at the job site. We did get a few sprinklings, but nothing that would delay work. The pictures from here on out get a little tricky because they are from inside and sometimes the work isn't at all visible. Take today for example, we had crews on site working, but the work they did is not the type of work that is visible for the most part. But their work is the type of work that if not done properly, per plan, and per Parkway quality expectations could cause big problems with the overall building. So that means Woody has to be look at all the progress before it gets covered up with plywood, sheetrock, concrete, etc. I'm happy to report that there is GREAT work going on here. (Pics: 1. Facing out the north corner window, 2. front counter progress, 3. SE entrance facing out the south east entrance.) We're another day closer to achieving PROJECT EXCELLENCE!

More Visuals...

Top Left: Materials delivered a couple days ago already heavily cut into. Bottom Left: Same pile of materials dwindled down considerable since yesterday.

Top Right: Today is the 29th & the area where thismaterial is sitting is the same area shown here on the 24th. Bottom Right: Shows what this area looked like one week ago today.

McDonald's Front Counter

Left pic: Yesterday the counter was laid out / Right pic: Today counter was framed

It's really great that the framers came in to do interior framing today. Picture is a great visual for the progress in just 24 hours!

Friday & McDonald's site is into second phase

The fire hydrant has been completely installed!!! The utility crew that did all the utility work at this site didn't mess around with any of their projects. Excellent crew & quality work is still one of the reasons Parwkway Construction continues to produce PROJECT EXCELLENCE buildings for their clients. As soon as Woody can get the electricians and concrete company back on site we will knock out another portion of the project that fell a bit behind during the rain, snow and mud days. All other crews are running on or ahead of schedule. Rain is expected tomorrow. We're hoping we can still get a crew or two out to work this weekend so that we can start to get further along.

McDonald's View of the rear

McDonald's Front View

McDonald's: HALF WAY THERE

We've reached the half way mark on our turnover schedule. The days are flying by, but we've had a good week and are working on schedule. We have started the fire hydrant installation. The plumbers are running water lines. An electrican stopped by to coer the exterior lot lighting lines on the south side. Today the drywall crew started putting up metal studs. And the mechanical crew is running the hvac flex lines. The City inspector came by and passed us on the water tap inspection. Rick Mathews came by for his weekly site inspection. He also notified Woody that they've decided not to have the water feature installed. In the pictures, one shot shows the approach and north parking lot poured yesterday. The far right picture shows the metal studs beginning to be installed & the flex lines for HVAC. The center photo is the utility crew installing the fire hydrant.

McDonald's is taking shape

Looks like Friday is the day the concrete crew will be pouring the trash enclosure and the west parking lot. Today they tied steel and prepared the area. It was a busy day with many crews on site working. The plumbers continued to work on roof drains. Electricians came in to work on the south side conduit. Mechanical crew started the HVAC trunk lines. Surveyors finished the south and west side curb forms. Woody also brought the excavator back to grade the south and west parking lot area again. I've been homebound most of the week due to allergy concerns. Looks like so much is happening and I'm missing it. Woody is working on double checking all the framing and has scheduled the Simpson tie representative to come on Friday to go over the frame work. It's been a windy week here in the Dallas area, but at least there's been no rain. Miles of Cross Development poured the transformer pad for our lot. Woody was able to call for a gas line and set up an account. Work is progressing on schedule.

North Parking Lot & Framing Complete!

Framers finished up tonight and will return after the inspection to Tyvek. Meanwhile, the concrete crew came in today and poured the north parking lot. The plumbers continued their work on the roof drains. The surveyors were here to start laying out the south and west side curbs. The mechanical crew came in to do some preliminary work and will begin the hvac trunk line tomorrow.

Framers & Plumbers continue...

The framers worked on roof decking while the plumbers worked on the gas lines. It has been a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. The City Electrical Inspector came to inspect the underground electric on the north side. Electrical inspection passed. We went to the city to pick up the trash enclosure permit. While we were there we also met with site inspector. Earlier in the day Rick Mathews stopped in to drop off some revisions for the fire hydrant which are under review at the city. We'd planned to go to the Parkway offices, but had a change in plan. Tomorrow they should be pouring concrete. So we're going to plan on a trip to the office for Wednesday. The pictures show Rick & Woody in the first frame, a couple of framers in the middle frame, and the plumbers in the final frame.

New Week, New Challenges...

Woody & I believe we are a strong team. We have to be careful not to overwhelm people when we are together. But we both try to impact and motivate those that work with us and around us. So today was especially rewarding when we found Miles out doing some W-O-R-K in the D-I-R-T!!!!

Trash Enclosure

In the forefront of this picture the surveryors markings are visible for the trash enclosure area. The trash enclosure is scheduled to be poured early next week. After delays waiting for city to approve plans and after all the McDonald's changes, the permit is now ready for us to proceed with the trash enclosure construction. In the background, the frame work is visible.

McDonald's Frame Work

Day before Easter and believe it or not....framing crew is working!!! Wonderful. Again, it's a matter of making up some rain and mud days. The work looks great and the work is quality. We're having to wait until Monday for the city inspector to inspect the electrical trenches. Until then we can't go forward with pouring any more parking lot. Depending on how far the framers go Woody will be abel to get the sheet metal crews out on Monday or Tuesday. Check back daily the project will progress quickly.

BIG VISUAL.....FRAMING Begins....

The framers arrived and made a big visual difference on the site. Woody has been bragging from here to California about how good and how fast this framing crew works. It'll be interesting to see how fast it happens. Judging from the work today, they will be finished in a very short time. It's Good Friday and just amazing that the crews that worked today were willing to come out. Despite the holiday, we have rain days to make up.

Miles Domagalski, Cross Building Group

Miles is the Superintendent for the development where we are building our McDonald's. This means coordinating certain tasks and jobs with the developers before proceeding. Miles has been great to work with. We just have to be careful not to scare him off with those four letter words Woody throws around...you know like....W-O-R-K or D-I-R-T. Just another great part of the support we have through this project.

Sunny & Clear...Most crews back to work.

We are waiting for the ground to dry so electricians will return back to work. Aside from that the steel continued to be set today. The framers have been delayed out of town and won't be able to get a good start until early tomorrow morning. The surveyors marked the trash enclosure area. Rick Mathews stopped in for the weekly site meeting and inspection. We are ready to roll.....Let's build a McDonald's!

MUD BLOGGING

Too much mud to even think of getting the framing started. Steel setting and electrical work will also have to wait. Hopefully the sun and wind will dry the site out enough to restart tomorrow.

One good thing to report is that our silt fence has held up well. The SWPPP inspection we had a couple of days ago returned us a great report.

Let's keep hoping for DRY weather.

McDucky

Somehow we managed to get a slab poured before the next big rain. Today the rainfall is accumulating quickly. At this rate we are going to have a duck pond to add to the landscaping. Woody planned for the rain though and has an agressive schedule for the remainder of the week. We're probably looking at a day or two down time waiting for the mud to dry. We'll just have to see how tomorrow goes. Check back though because Woody is still planning to have the building framed by the weekend.

Plumbers GREEN TAGGED again

Plumbers received a green tag for the sewer clean out today. EXCELLENT CREW!!! We received a visit from Rick Mathews first thing this morning. Forecast still calling for rain later today and tomorrow morning. Steel crew has been here today setting steel. Concrete crew is here removing forms and making some cuts for the steel. Good start for the week.

Quality Work ....

Our Project Manager, Michael Sawyers, provides quality support when he contracts crews that are willing to work days that most others won't consider. With forecast of rain for two days this week, we managed to set steel and get the concrete cut on Sunday. This job is progressing and the quality of work is excellent. Maybe the rain will hold off!

McDonald's .... We HAVE A SLAB!

Thanks to the SUNSHINE & CONCRETE CREWS, we now have a slab! Working the weekend is a breeze when so much is going on and everyone is working together. Even the plumbers worked today. Terracon was also onsite to do the necessary testing and inspecting. It turned out to be a great day!

It's Saturday, but work continues.....

Crews worked on the pad and finally had it all ready for the concrete. Terracon was onsite to inspect. Finally, the concrete arrived and they poured the slab. The concrete crew worked a long day to make sure we would have a slab before the forecast rain came in on Monday.

FRIDAY....always good!

Termite treatment on Friday! That means we are pouring a slab tomorrow. Talk about positive thinking and proactive scheduling. Woody don't want the word rain even spoken on the job this week. Michael Sawyers came by to see how much time we'd made up on the schedule after the rain and mud days got us behind. I, myself, took a day off. The concrete guys tied steel and worked late on getting the slab ready for the pour. The plumbers worked on lateral sewer lines. BEST OF ALL NEWS: ELECTRICIANS AND THE PLUMBERS PASSED THE CITY INSPECTIONS!!! No problem.

Concrete Crew....

What a day yesterday with the concrete coming in and the east lot finally down. As promised here is a picture of the finished product. Today the concrete crew is working on preparing steel for the slab that is scheduled to be poured on Saturday morning. We are proceeding regardless of rain in the forecast. EXCELLENT WORK....!

Utility Contractors...

Here is a crew that we've featured in several pictures, yet don't comment on much. They've been working on the south west corner of the job site and stay out there diligently completing their task. They are nearly finished installing the storm water lines. This crew has been dependable and dedicated to doing the job right from start to finish.

Electricians >>>>>>>>

FAST...QUICK....LIGHTENING SPEED.....What more can we say? It took them a lot longer to get out here...waiting for dry weather, mud to dry....and a break in their schedule. But when they arrived this morning, they just got down and did their underground electrical work and were finished by the end of the day. Excellent...tomorrow is the inspection.

Plumbers come through again!!!

It's great to be working with a plumbing crew that is dedicated to doing the job RIGHT! They are here on time and as we've shown they even work on our MUD days. They are all ready for their next inspection tomorrow. Today they finished grease trap and started lateral sewer lines. GOOD JOB!

Toys and Joys of Construction

Three BIG BOY TOYS in picture one, another one in the middle picture, and the newest addition in the third picture. Add to these those pictured in the posts below! It's now more clear to understand why all the crews onsite had smiles on their faces today. I've come to notice that getting a new piece of equipment on the job is sometimes all it takes to get the guys going. Unless, the guy is the job Project Manager and his name is Michael Sawyers. Michael who is known for being a top PROJECT EXCELLENCE producer and always having his eye on the bottom line, did stop in today. His smile was more like a look of HOW MUCH IS THIS COSTING, WOODY? Check the pictures tomorrow for the finished parking lot work.

East Parking Lot ..... DONE!

They brought in seven loads and a pump truck and a short while later we had an east parking lot. They are still working on it now doing the curbs, smoothing, dressing, etc. It's good to get this started. It's only the beginning of the concrete work. The crews were all excited as we anticipated the arrival of the concrete! Another task complete...today has been great!