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Commercial Craftsman
Commercial Brywal!, Inc. Vol. 1 No. 5
March 1980
Boast variety of skills
gow® COB extra advantages Because remodeling requires special talents, the drywall contractor who has remodeling capabilities in addition to core and tenant work has an edge in the market. Commercial Drywall, with just such capabilities has this Important advantage—the ability to not only handle the rugged core and tenant work, but also the work immediately after or during tenant occupancy. CDI currently has four major remodeling projects underway in Houston. These are based in Greenway Plaza, Allen Center, Transco Tower, and the Houston Center. The latter of which, headed by Cliff Welsh, recently was honored as the remodeling group of the month. In recognizing our remodeling activities it should be pointed out that remodeling requires a variety of skills. Remodelers must work in and around office areas that are often crowded with people and property. This demands that they take extra measures to protect office items, interfere as little as possible with the office’s business, while at the same time do their job. And since the work is done under these circumstances, it is not practical to bring in several people to do the different types of work. Instead, a remodeler must be able to have adequate skills in a variety of jobs, and also be knowledgable in several wall systems. "The key to being efficient in this, remarks Cliff, “is to keep the same nucleus of people doing remodel work. But this is not always practical because of changes in work load we experience.”
Cliff’s crew has fluctuated greatly in the five years he has been with CDI, all of which have been spent at Houston Center. "I've had as few as five and as many as 35, but an average would be from 15 to 20 men”, says Cliff. Approximately 90 percent of the Houston Center remodeling is done in occupied tenant areas. So the need to be neat in the job and cleanup is really magnified. In addition, Cliff says that his men do a variety of jobs including doors and the hardware, wall coverings, ceilings, even glass framing, besides the regular drywall work. The Houston Center crew is led by carpenter foreman Joe Campise and leadmen Bill Murphy and Earnest Miller. Tom Satcherwhite is labor foreman while the finishing is under the direction of foreman Victor Inge. On the other end of Houston Center activity in sales and estimating is its project manager, Nelson Sanders. In his function, Nelson is well aware of the significance remodeling lends to a drywall company. "When you can tell a client that, sure, we can do your remodeling as well as your new work, it gives us an advantage all the way down the line,” says Nelson. "I’m sure that owners are happy to know that they can have a drywall company do the core and tenant work and remain in the building to handle all of the remodeling," he concludes. Nelson, who has been with CDI since 1974 works with Property Management Systems, the property management company for Houston Center. In his role, he provides
Since approximately 90 percent of Houston Center's remodeling is done in occupied tenant areas, a scene such as the one above is not uncommon.
guaranteed maximum prices for some jobs so that the client will have an idea of the costs involved. And in other cases, Nelson establishes a firm price for doing the work.
Inside... e A look at CDI's president, Dick Phillips • The story behind a carpenter team who do almost everything together ° CDI pays tribute to an "old-timer”