FCA Blog

Please let this busy vibe keep on rolling…….I am here to tell you that it feels like the economy really is moving again. In the as-built industry we are at the front end of a lot of action in the construction/ remodel industry. You can’t get going with a remodel until your architect/contractor has your existing plans. Well judging by our piece of the market – homeowners and commercial landlords alike are definitely getting their confidence back.

We are enjoying the old feeling of “all hands at the pump”. It is so much fun making business plans at busy times. Nathan who has been straining at the leash in his role of apprentice has now made journeyman status with a 5,000 sqft building in the Marina under his belt. A new draftsman has been taken on and is getting dirty handling the wide variety of drafting jobs we have – from servicing an architect’s need for proposed drawings to drawing stone layouts for a masonry company working on a 40$ million Hillsborough home. Lastly we are successfully assisting Design Concepts in Kauai as they transition from CAD to Revit. Work life is busy and varied – as-builts are still the bread and butter but there are lots of other projects keeping it fresh and fun.

The Shasta Valley Ranch farm was a wonderful road trip as-built session. As expected it was a grueling work flow for Nathan and me. No bad thing that we were so busy because the “night” life in the sad town of Yreka only seemed anything to miss after we spent a night hiding from the “meth’d out” truckers in the even sadder town of Weed. Our nights were spent working on our beds with the Olympics in the background and a three night stint at a local Diner which got progressively more awful each night we went.

The ranch house was a real treat to measure and draw. With a set of base plans from Chris I was able to put together a 3d model in two days whilst Nathan added all the details to the floor plan and built an electric plan. With Nate holding the extension cord we went deeper into a roof than I have ever been – using over 60’ of extension cord as I gathered the data for some intense section data. The 3d model was unnecessary in terms of the final deliverables but with the angled nature of the building I couldn’t resist in allowing the 3d tools to create my orthogonal elevation views for me.

The highlights of the trip are easy to recount. Firstly – nailing an awesome 3d model of this building. Secondly – eating lunch on the back patio in the winter sun looking across the valley at a view of the snow capped Mount Shasta (a view that looked like the valley had been created to provide the ranch with that view of the mountain). Thirdly – the end of the third day we took some beers and our guitars and sat on the back of a parked cattle train and had a jam session with the sun slowly fading behind the mountain…….it’s not all Work! Work! Work!……..oh yea and Shawn White really needs a mention for taking snowboarding to a new level (once again).