

This job was a remodel in Westminster California. Upon initial inspection when the building was intact there was no significant evidence of problem with the concrete floor. However after the demo crew came through the concrete floor showed some serious problems.
This building was at one time was a restaurant and over the years there had been several reworks of the underground plumbing. For reasons unknown, probably cost and convenience, the waste drain pipes were very close to the surface. Also several floor drains had been deleted and the really consistent theme was shoddy concrete replacement. Some area had paper thin concrete only an inch thick. There was no rebar reinforcement in any of the patches.
To start we started outlining the problem areas. Although the surface concrete could be broken out we decided to saw-cut the edges to ensure we found our way back to a concrete slab minimum 4" thick. After breaking out the loose concrete we added some fill because the lack of compaction had left some rather large voids.
We added water to get a good moisture content. When judging moisture content you can take a soil and try to make a ball like a snowball. You should just barely be able to form the material into a ball. It shouldn't be wet but it shouldn't be dry and crumbly either.
After hand tamping and watering we drilled, doweled and set 1/2" rebar at 18"o.c. with epoxy. We poured a 2,500 psi medium slump concrete with pea gravel. When finishing trenching I screed the trench with a wood bull float for convenience. Then after 30 minutes to an hour again with the magnesium bull float just to make sure that the concrete is flush with edges and flat. I then hand finish with a 14" square trowel, a 14" pool trowel and a 6" midget trowel.
In this case I let some of the day laborers practice finishing because the entire floor needs a floor leveling compound at a later date so it was a good chance for people to practice.
This job was located in Long Beach California. It was performed for an out of state contractor in a bug hurry.
Although I am a general contractor I frequently am hired by other general contractors to do entire jobs. Especially retail from property managers back east. This was one of those jobs.
I was called in to give a bid on a project that was a last minute and needed to get done fast. It had a little bit of everything from framing a new partition wall. To installing underground electrical and low voltage and lots of odds and ends. They sent a superintendent from another state who was a great guy to work with. However the plans and lights were shipped from out of state so you know there is a good chance of title 24 issues.
Also the primary contractor had a liquidated damages agreement. I sympathized but didn't agree to a completion date because I don't promise unless I can for sure deliver. We still made the date but I and worked hard to do it. But I won't take on someone else's stress at this point in my life. I have enough of my own!
This is always a good job for me because of my broad experience and great set up I can quickly work through multiple trades without downtime.
Right away we framed the walls. The wall was built under the suspended eiling with our overhead kickers at 4' o.c. Screwing , drywall and taping no problem. This was a great example of using the taping banjo. Sorry I didn't get pics!
We saw-cut and dug out our underground power supply chase as neatly as possible because there was ceramic tile down already. Installed and re poured very quickly.
There was a vanilla shell existing so we only reworked lighting an controls. We were working long hours and very closely with the out of state superintendent who was doing the painting and millwork.
All together we built this retail out in two weeks flat. The key to success was being prepared and not having to wait around for different tradespeople and there schedules. Even now I see electrical companies dividing into two parts. The wire and fixture installers and the programmers. Luckily, being a computer programmer I can make quick work of the title 24 controls being used so I don't have the burden of calling in a different team every single day.
Some jobs just can't afford to be a day late!
This job was a commercial door and window installation in Westminster. Having installed these doors and windows countless times I can assure you there is a right and wrong way to do the installation.
Firstly on any big job there will be countless pieces of frames and hardware. There is a significant chance that supplier will send you a wrong frame, that they will be labeled wrong or that a field installer may mistake one part of a frame for another and mix up multiple pieces from separate openings.
When installing these I always start by organizing the frames and pieces in front of each opening. If I am managing other installers I tell them to abandon an opening if the pieces don't work. On jobs with 10+ doors when someone abandons an opening because the parts are wrong we usually find the parts on another opening farther down the line.
On this job however there was already a carpenter attempting to assemble the door frames for the owner and he had mistakenly assembled the pieces from different opening together.
I removed everything and started from scratch. I can teach a group of laymen how to install 100 doors faster than a team of carpenters any day. Moving at production speed is about getting every team member to do just one task fast and consistently accurate.
When installing the doors myself I always do frames and door leafs 100% with bare minimum of frame screwing. Then I come back double check my work and add casing, hardware etc.