Residential

Lapaz Garden Court under Contract

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Lapaz Garden Court Site Plan

Yesterday was a long day, but a good day.  I went to Indianapolis for the closing on the Lapaz Garden Court.  This project is a 14 unit assisted living facility in Lapaz, IN.  The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  This will be the 6th Garden Court facility built by Easterday Construction Co., Inc.  We’re pleased to have the opportunity to work with Garden Court, Inc. once again.

The closings are interesting as there is a flurry of HUD personnel in and out making sure that their different criteria are met.  As always, paperwork is a big part of any government project.  Fortunately the Garden Court team (Hughes & Associates, Real Estate Management and B.A. Martin Architects)  has been through this multiple times in the past.  I think the HUD personnel appreciate what they do and try to make things as painless as possible.  This closing went smoothly and only took a little more than two hours, but in the past we have been phoning, faxing, emailing and otherwise chasing the necessary paperwork.  It seems there is always one more thing required.

Thanks to the work of Garden Court and the HUD, Lapaz will have a new Garden Court facility ready to occupy by this time next year.

Safety Inspection

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Last week we were working on a reroof project on the east shore of Lake Maxinkuckee for one of our good clients.  Superintendent Bob Cooper noticed a car parked in front of the site, observing our work.  He went out to check on it and found one of our competitors in the car with a Safety Consultant he had hired.  Apparently our competitor had just had a visit from OSHA resulting in fines.  He had hired the consultant to assist with the OSHA compliance on the current issues as well as to prevent future problems.

Upon some further discussion it was determined that the consultant was a former OSHA inspector.  They were touring around looking at projects and discussing the safety violations they saw.  Why were they spending so much time in front our our site?  Because he was using us as an example of how to do it right!  Our fall protection was in place.  Our housekeeping was good.  When he heard about our safety program, tool box talks, etc. he suggested that our competitor talk to us.  “Sounds like this company does it right!”

We strive to do the right thing on our projects.  We don’t want to see anyone get hurt.  I cringe when I go by some job sites and see poor safety measures employed.  I am pleased when our efforts are recognized by our clients and our peers.  Earlier this year we achieved Silver Status in the ABC S.T.E.P. program.  <certificate>  We will strive to maintain that level or move up next year.

Sand Hill Farm – Front Porch

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The New Urbanism movement has mourned the loss of the front porch for some time.  Part of the premise of this is that the rise of the car, caused the demise of the porch.  Older homes in older neighborhoods were close to the sidewalk and a front porch was a place to sit and talk to your neighbors as they walked by.   Subdivisions of the seventies began moving the home away from the street, added a long driveway where cars could park and the porch shrank to be nothing but a stoop where guests stood waiting to be allowed entrance to the home.  Large wrap around porches were replaced with double garage doors as a main feature on the front of the home.  The car as your way out of the neighborhood became more important than the porch as a connection to the neighborhood.

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Pippenger Porch

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We were recently called back to complete some remodeling on a home that we had been to several times in the past.  One of the projects we completed for the previous owner was the addition of a screened porch and new rear entrance.    Before the addition, there had been a small landing in front of the lower level doors.  The door on the upper lever was disconnected from the lower level with a steep slope between the two.

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