Ellis Craft

name change/ business model

2009-12-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

So when I first got my General Contractor's license, I knew nothing about how a business works. I was an educated tradesman, which is just one branch of the many branches needed, to create a healthy, blooming business tree, if you will. I fit perfectly into the description that Michael E. Gerber speaks about in the beginning of his book 'The E-myth'. The Entrepreneur Myth is the belief that: since you are an excellent mechanic, cook, carpenter or whatever it is, you can start your own business and live your dream. Then you start to realize the need for so many different skills and services to join together, (the roots of your tree)enabling the branches to grow. Such as is my case and so many others, The need for- marketing, Human Relations, administrative, people skills, and all the behind the scenes aspects of running a business- was , and always will be, vital.
My first few years of being self-employed, starting May '04 with 'Ellis Construction', new jobs and customers arrived with minimal effort. Deciding not to resemble most other contractors with -' 'last name' Contruction' -as the name of their business, I changed mine to- ' 'last name' Craft' thinking I could market my services as more custom art work type jobs, when really it just confused people as to what My business actually is. On top of that, my lackluster marketing skills and minimal effort, did not help much. The economy has changed. Rules have changed. We must change.
Now, is time for change: (drum roll) A Carpentry Entrepreneur is what I am, The Carpentreneurs are born! (symbols crash/guitar whales). I plan to cultivate a team of Carpentreneurs carrying the same vision I do, to create a Home Improvement business focussing on Carpentry as the main service, both locally and across the states one day (Who knows. Think Big right?) .
This change is still in its infancy. Implementation of the things you have learned, and trying new things is where the struggling business evolves into a success. Any comments from personal experience reguarding this is much appreciated.

Crunch time

2009-12-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

Here it is, the start of what may be a very long winter. It is time to gather essentials and hunker down. It is not a time for excuses about the condition of the economy. It is time to dig down inside of yourself and find your strengths and develope a new plan for success. Pull together your resources and make something happen. Opportunity is abundant for those prepared for it.
On Tues. a.m. I was sitting at my computer frustrated by the fact that I have no job lined up for this week as of yet and the past few clients I have submitted a bid for, either hired another Contractor or are just holding onto my numbers while they shop around for a cheaper deal. I decided to get out of the house and search. I took a note pad and pen, and walked my neighborhood writing down all of the realtors signs on houses for sale that I saw. By the time I returned home I had 9 new prospects to call. After deciphering what I wanted to say in the form of a script so that each call would be somewhat the same, and the results measurable, I called all 9 and took notes.
Because of this small effort, I now know about an investor who will be closing escrow in 1 week on a new house rehab project in which he will be needing a contractor for, a property management company who may be in need of some occaisional fixes/maintainance, and a realtor who recently lost 2 of his main contractor contacts due to them closing shop. Not bad for a couple hours work and just a stroll through my neighborhood.

CertainTeed Presidential Roofing

2009-10-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

What I learned form the past 8 days of roofing:

You can only work half days if it gets too hot, so start early; then possibly get a few hours in before dark. That roof gets hot, and the asphalt on the shingles melt, foot traffic smears it up.
The CertainTeed PRESIDENTIAL has a 4" exposure, requiring alot more roofing compared to a roof with a 5".
The 'book' : 1st course: Full shingle) 2c: -5") 3c: -20") 4c: -25") 5c: Full.. Continue in perpetuity.
We hand nailed at all of the eve's - next time I will purchase the coil nails to make for a faster job of it. As you reach the ridge, lap the north facing side first; Southern face on top: typically the wind at this location will travel towards the north.
The flashing around the vents and at the gutters gets slightly technical but fairly simple if you take your time and think it through. Its mostly just time consuming, but very simple.
I ike to run 'torch down ' in the valleys prior to installing the matal valley flashing. when properly layering this flashing in the valleys, it makes for a very durable water tight application that will last for many many years. When installing the ridge cap , keep in mind what is the predominant wind direction and install it such that the wind carries over and does not try to flow up under and against the shingles.

Remodel on Fulton Ave.

2009-08-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

Remodel on Fulton Ave.:
Now I can say that I have removed wall paper. Exciting right? Wow, what a tedious job. The steam machine we rented from H.D. worked better than the DIF gel and the circular scoring wheel. We found 2 layers of paper at the kitchen with the undermost layer being the foil type. After much time of steaming one sq. ft. section at a time and removing with the drywall taping knife, we now had to go back over the drywall tape joints and skim coat the mud that was damaged while removing the paper. Tomorrow, we will be spraying a knock down texture at the wall paper stripped and patched walls, then rolling on the prime and paint.

With calls coming in, in request for my services, I'm now challenged with delegating portions of the work load to the team as to keep everyone busy and not pass on work because we have too much of it. All while keeping this current project on schedule. I'm up for this challenge. I believe this is what I have been searching for.

Stepping up- The goal

2009-08-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

I've been planning to create some sort of project for my house weekly- The goal.

Today I decided to build the much needed step up to my front porch.

I think it turned out well. It looks what I was going for, but is it durable? time will tell.

So I started with an OSB form. Cutting the ends of each form section at 10 degrees ,so that when connected, will lean foward as opposed to vertical.

Set the form , nailed level to the stakes. Dig out the dirt around the perimeter of your slab, a little deeper, for sheer strength and so that it grips the earth.

I also , slightly filled up the center with dirt to save concrete. I should have used sand.

The 'ladder rebar' (?) I cut to pieces fitting the the perimeter profile to reinforce at the center of the slab. Now , just pour, not forgetting to install the wire .

Leaving the concrete slightly low to leave room for the mortar bed that the tiles are set in. Let this cure an hour on this hot day, and pulled the forms.

Get all the (stones) set in mortar then mix grout of mortar , adding the color powder to the mix.

This is the first time I have ever attemted a masonry project like this. I applied the grout by hand, directly over the form board surface of the concrete, hoping that this is a proper technique. The tough part was getting the grout to adhere to the cantilevered underside edge of the stones. Its too much weight on the wet mortar and falls out, this must be done in muliplt stages to build it up. One concern I have is that the two seperatly staged applications will not adhere properly to each other. Apply the second while just after the first one feels like its kicking off.

The remainder of the project was just alot of sponge work to contour the grout and clean the stones. Thats it.

This was a good learning experience. Makes me think about how custom I could get with the shape of the slab. Next one I'd like to construct with slate as the steps.

Do what your good at.

2009-08-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

If you focus on what you are good at doing and enjoy doing , and actively pursuing that, then that type of work will come your way. If you're not focusing on this then other jobs come up that you have to take.

When you are working on a project in which you are fascinated by it, your energy level, productivity rate, and enjoyment is much higher. You get more done, you get paid better, life is good. Delegate to others, the jobs that do not interest you or someone else can do more efficiently than you, because that is what they are good at. And while they are doing that job, take notes. Eventually you'll be good at that too. Learning new tricks of the trade will open up new doors of opportunity, but stick to what you enjoy primarily. Delegate the rest.

today

2009-07-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today, July 12th 2009, i started blogging. This is in hopes of creating a better future for my Ellis Craft Home Improvements business. it is my goal to reach out to people in my area and inform them as to what I do and maybe give some knowledge regarding somoe home improvement items to help people out some. Okay, Thats it for now. Thanks