Meet Jeremy | The New Guy

Jeremy started working for HA Construction in March of this year. While he may be the newbie of the crew, we see him sticking around for awhile.

Jeremy moved from Florida to the Springfield area in August of 2014 to be closer to his parents. His dad was injured in an accident, so Jeremy brought his daughter to the area to be closer to her grandparents. He discovered the job opening with HA Construction and the rest, we hope, is history in the making.

“I do whatever they ask,” he says of his work for the company.  “We’ve done a wide variety since I’ve been here: hung ceilings, worked on some floors, poured concrete, hauled bricks…” But Jeremy likes the diversity of work and the opportunity to show his skills in several areas. His background is in framing, and he’s working in construction off and on for the last decade.

“I’ve worked for a few different people. Andy here has a good heart. I think he cares and he wants to do a good job. He’s definitely involved and it’s been a joy to work for him so far. Some places it’s a number syndrome where you’re just a person coming in to work – I’ve worked in other places where you go to talk to someone and they don’t even know your name. But when Andy stops by he’ll talk to you for awhile – he’s down to earth which is nice.”

Working on the master bedroom/bathroom addition has been Jeremy’s favorite project so far. “Other then the fact that for two days I had to haul all of this brick out of here by wheelbarrow to a trailer, which pushed the limits of what I like to do,” he jokes.  “But we got through it and it’s been great framing this. I know a little about that stuff so it’s been easy, and Nick and I get along pretty well so it’s just been smooth.”

What’s Jeremy’s favorite part of working for HA Construction so far? “Seeing it come together – from the ground up, the progress – and when it’s finished, that’s the coolest part.”  

Meet Nick | HA Construction’s Framing Guy

Nick Lewis has been working for HA Construction for a little over four years now. He is our go-to framing guy, though he has a wide range of skills. Nick did custom house framing in California for 10 years before moving back to Missouri about five year ago – he had family here and was looking for a slower paced life than the California scene.

“Since working for Andy, I’ve learned a lot of different skills,” Nick says. The newest being laying hardwood floors;  he really enjoys laying tile flooring too. Every now and then, Nick fills in where he’s needed, but his framing work is unmatched in our books.

Nick says that it’s the variety of what HA Construction has to offer that makes the company stand out among competitors. “If you have a job that has a lot of different items that need to be done, we can cover it all. You don’t have to go to different contractors to get it all done. We can take care of it all and the projects don’t get dragged out – we’re efficient too. We pride ourselves on having good communication with the customers and making sure they’re informed on what we’re doing and our schedule.”

“Andy and Lisa are good people and it rubs off when you work for them,” Nick says. “Work is never an issue – Andy keeps us busy and there is definitely job security. It’s never mundane – we’re constantly doing something different. The job is always a surprise, to a point.”

One might say that last fall, Nick got the ultimate job site surprise. HA Construction acquired a job replacing over 600 windows in an apartment complex. Nick was in charge of the window project, and that’s how he met Heather, the office manager for the complex. Because of the nature of the job, the two of them worked together every day and soon started spending time together outside of the job site. On Valentine’s Day, Nick proposed and the two will be married in May of 2016. Talk about a job perk!

In his spare time, Nick is a radio-controlled gas powered racecar enthusiast. He’s pictured here with his nephew and all his racing gear. In 2013, he received forth place at the nationals in Texas, and he’s received various other trophies and awards with his racing skills. HA Construction is proud to be a sponsor for Nick’s car – we like seeing our decals on it, especially when he wins!

Are Your Gutters Prepared for the Rainy Season?

One of our clients has huge, two inch deep rivets in the siding on her house. A couple of years ago we replaced the gutters around her front porch. They were bent, cracked and leaking everywhere. But the damage had already been done to the wood where the gutter touched the side of her house. Now a woodpecker has left his mark, shredding the pliable, damaged wood to find his next meal.

Poor Gutters Cause Damage

To protect your home from damage, functional gutters are a must. Just as important as a roof and siding, gutters fend off water damage. Without them directing the flow of water, it would pour directly over eves, eroding the soil around the foundation of your home. And even if you have gutters, they may not be functioning optimally. Bad gutters can cause just as much damage, including:

• Leaks that damage and weaken siding
• Water collecting around the foundation of the home, which can cause flooding and even foundation damage
• Backed-up gutters can cause roof damage from excessive debris, ice dams in colder temperatures and water pooling under shingles
• Mold growth anywhere the water is pooling and not directed away from the home properly
• Damage to landscaping from gutter overflow

If you need to install new gutters, HA Construction can certainly help you with that. We recommend that all eves and overhangs have gutters directing water flow to an appropriate run-off location in your yard (i.e. downhill, away from the home).

Keep Those Gutters Clean

Once new gutters are in place, then maintenance is key. First, we recommend gutter guards of some kind, whether that’s the full-throttle gutter system with covers, or mesh wiring to keep most large debris out of the gutter (such as leaves and sticks).

Even with guards in place, you’re going to need to clean the gutters. They will likely need to be cleaned at least once in the fall. Even if you don’t have large trees, wind blows leaves everywhere. And if you do have large trees that require raking your yard multiply times throughout the season, then you should add gutter cleaning to your yard work regimen each fall.

It’s also a good idea to clean the gutters after the final thaw in early spring. This will give you the opportunity to check the gutters for damage from ice and snow (snow is actually quite heavy and, in large accumulations or a long winter, can create bends, breaks and leaks).

Really, at the end of each season is an ideal time to at least check the gutters for debris and damage, otherwise you may find yourself replacing them again long before you should be. As with any aspect of your home, diligence is key to keeping everything functioning as it should and preventing damage.