Learn construction skills while helping others

Summer is the perfect time to work on your house - or somebody else's house. Volunteer construction and remodeling is a great way to help needy people while learning valuable construction skills. My wife and I spent several months outside New Orleans helping rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Every home in St. Bernard Parish, where we worked, was inundated with several feet of polluted floodwater after the levees broke. After the water eventually subsided, every building needed to be stripped to the studs, and many were rebuilt with volunteer labor. I learned the whole interior...

Read more »

Shrinkage Compensating Concrete

There are significant developments in concrete technology for a number of different and unique applications. Shrinkage compensating concrete is a concrete made with an expansive cement which, when properly restrained by reinforcement or other means, will expand by an amount equal to or slightly greater than the anticipated drying shrinkage. Ideally a residual compression will remain in the concrete reducing the risk of shrinkage cracking. In the USA and Russia, expansive cements are produced as an enity, whereas in Japan they are produced by adding expansive admixtures to ordinary porland cement (OPC). A number of types of expansive...

Read more »

Construction Loan Insurance

You’ve decided to build your own dream home. You’ve picked out a plot of land, found a house design that you like, and have secured your bank loans. Did you know that you also need three types of insurance in order to get started? Never fear, your bank requires two of those types before the building process begins! The three types of insurance you will need are: • Course of Construction • General Liability • Workers’ Compensation The first two types of insurance are required by the bank, while the third type, workers’ compensation, is required only if the builder has employees. Let’s go over the first two types of insurance in a little...

Read more »

Time Managing Tips for Construction Project Managers

Good time management is very important to a successful project manager. The best project managers ensure they are productive for most of their time and avoid time-wasters at all costs. Here are some tips for project managers that can help you manage your time more effectively. Create the Plan What does this have to do with time management I hear you ask? Well, if everyone knows what they are doing and have a plan with regular milestones to focus on, you as project manager will spend a lot less time dealing with issues brought about through a lack of clarity. Remember the 80/20 Rule The 80/20 rule (or the Pareto Principle) is the idea...

Read more »

Free Construction Software

When searching for construction software to help run your business cost should not be your ultimate concern because the old adage is true – you really do get what you pay for. Just as you wouldn’t hire a high school kid to do your accounting because you could get him cheap, you also shouldn’t pick a software package based solely on price. After all, this is your business you’re dealing with. That said, there are many affordable (and even free) construction software packages out there. A business software application that is totally free, however, may raise a few red flags. How good can it be if they are giving it away? Can I get by ...

Read more »

Waterproofing Coating to Concrete Water Tank

Basically, internal surface coating in potable water tank shall be smooth, easy-to-clean and has high mechanical resistance to accommodate the erosion of movement of water. Most important thing is that this coating shall not adversely influence the quality of water. Sika has been supplying SikaTop Seal 107 or Icosit TW 450 to large numbers of water projects. This product has been tested in local and international laboratory and meets the requirement for waterproofing and protective coating in contact with potable water. In waste water treatment, besides providing waterproofing properties, internal surface coating shall be able to...

Read more »