2/23/2024
Q: Have you ever worked with CERACLAD and other products in project? Which is easier to construct?
A: We’ve done both. We had experience with others before so when we learned about CERACLAD we knew we could do it. Our experience with CERACLAD was great and they’ve always provided great customer support.
Q: What are the most important factors when contracting your projects?
A: Let's see, an accurate takeoff on my part is important. Knowing your material prices upfront, and then sometimes, like with a project we bid on when it was three years away, you have to kind of factor in, "Okay, what are my costs going to be three years from now?" And with CERACLAD having their little fixed price menu, let me see if I could find a sample of it, makes pricing materials easier. Also, getting the quote from Nick from CERACLAD and The Grigg's system, I have my material costs right there. And then part of material costs is, you have estimating items, right? How many panels can I put in in an hour? How many corner pieces can I put in in an hour? How many clips can a guy install in a day? So having the takeoff between myself and then also with Nick helps me quantify all those parts and put together an accurate labor takeoff. So all those factors together are important in a proper bid that you're confident in. And then the other factors you have to look at is access to the job. Am I going to be able to deliver all the materials at once, which is good, or will they reply saying, "No, you need to bring it in five different shipments?" You only have so much space to put your materials. So that just kind of can give you extra costs when you're delivering materials and stocking. So those are things that you have to look at that are kind of outside just the normal.
A: The market kind of can dictate what we construct. Right now, there's more residential than commercial, obviously, with the economy having been struck by COVID, nobody was in the office buildings. Office building work basically stopped, so there were a lot of jobs that got canceled. But the residential in the Bay Area, there's a lot more of multifamily residential in recent years, whether it's low-income housing or housing for teachers, housing for firefighters, police officers. California wants to build more homes to help the housing crisis. So they're kind of, in each and every city, whether it's Campbell, Saratoga, Lascata, San Jose, they're making each city build a certain amount of affordable housing because they're trying to help the housing crisis.
Q: What type of exterior material are you installing? (e.g., siding, stucco, brick, etc.)
A: Daley’s Drywall has been making a big push into the siding market. When I started here there was no siding division to speak of. We bring value to our clients by provided them with as many services as we can provide to their project. This means we work with many different types of materials. We see the value in the CERACLAD projects and hope to bring that to more of our clients.
Q: What is an important factor when communicating with any other trades Such as plumber, electrician, framer, for your project?
A: Commonly for siding you must communicate with framers to make sure there is backing for the siding system. This usually isn’t a problem for us when Daley’s is also the framing contractor. Sometimes it can be difficult to communicate what we need with other framing installers.
Q: Which do you prefer? Using caulk sealant or not?
A: No sealant. And I think everyone would agree. We’ve gotten really good at doing the sealant and touch-up details with CERACLAD, however it’s a benefit for everyone involved to minimize the amount sealant products we use.
Watry Design, Inc. | Parking Garage Design
Q: What is an important factor when designing your building?
A: People. We have to remember that we build buildings for people. So, we have to be welcoming and still give a sense of place, even in a parking garage. We really focus on those parts of the structure where people will interact with it. CERACLAD’s Rustic Wood texture in Caramel was a great fit for the project at Sierra College. Budget is also an important factor. We’ve found CERACLAD to be budget-friendly and simple to install.
Q: Is there something that sets CERACLAD apart from our competitors?
A: We go back to cost, quality, and economy because there are so many cheaper products on the market. CERACLAD combines quality and cost, and the two come together. Additionally, there's a wonderful range of colors and textures available.
What CERACLAD means is that we can use a wonderful-looking material while still having a spare budget to do other things we want. I think it's quality for the price range. Also, I just like the product type; it looks great but is also wonderfully functional from a fire perspective and in terms of robustness. For our types of buildings, we want a product that's not delicate, and I think the nature of the material is perfect for what we do.
Q: Which do you prefer? A sense of texture or color contrast.
A: I think both are important, but I would say color is more important to me, and having many colors available is also important. I love the color contrasts, particularly the bright colors that you can get with your panels. As you see with our buildings, when you put color on panels, they really brighten up. What I like to try and do is what we did here with the lighting, color, and actually the texture and material - create a focal point for you to know where you're going. So, it becomes kind of a guide, and your building says, "I'm here," it's not trying to shy away.
Q: What is the most significant difference between when designing parking garage and other types of buildings?
A: Often, when we work on a garage, we are not in total control of the design. The parking structure typically serves as the support building for other existing or new buildings, so we have to collaborate with other design firms to ensure that we bring their vision to life. The parking structure at Sierra College presented a unique situation where we had the opportunity to work on the design directly with the client to help them select options for this project. The client was so impressed with CERACLAD that they decided to incorporate it as a material for their new master plan.
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