Major Siding Project Shows Why SPS Does Bigger, Better
Whom do you hire for the largest capital improvement project in your association’s history? For the trustees of Drummer Boy Homes, a 44-building, 150-unit luxury townhouse community in Lexington, the answer was Schernecker Property Services.
Schernecker Property Services is a full-service contractor that specializes in major capital improvement projects for condominium associations. Since 1987, SPS has built a reputation for quality workmanship, extraordinary service and expertise in managing the large-scale building envelope work that so many associations are now facing.
“At first, we thought we had a painting problem,” says Dominic Serra, an onsite supervisor for Drummer Boy’s management company, The Dartmouth Group. “We’d paint the siding, and it would start to bubble and peel in less than a month.”
Frustrated by repeating paint failures, the Drummer Boy Board hired engineering firm Noblin & Associates to diagnose the problem. The culprit turned out to be the siding itself. After 30 years, moisture transfer and mill glaze made painting futile. The remedy: Replace existing low-grade cedar with moisture- and insect-resistant fibercement siding. Replace existing wooden trim with fiber-cement trim.
Exceptional Performance
SPS was hired after a competitive bidding process, also conducted by Noblin. Onsite supervisor Serra was cautiously optimistic. Although he had worked with SPS for years on painting jobs, this time the scope of the project, and the stakes, were much bigger. And, in his 14 years at Drummer Boy, he’d seen his share of contractors who looked better on paper than on the job. “Our board has strict policies about contractor performance,” he says. “Given the size of this project, I was concerned that if I had to keep an eye on the contractor all the time, other essential day-to-day operations would suffer.”
Serra now realizes he had nothing to worry about. In fact, he says, SPS’s performance proved to be exceptional. “I was able to focus on meeting the needs of the homeowners instead of worrying about the contractor. SPS had four crews onsite, and it was amazing how hard and how well everyone worked. They hit the ground running every morning and didn’t stop until last light.”
Serra was also pleased that SPS followed the Board’s strict dress code and avoided what had been a major challenge for previous contractors — interacting with homeowners. “The board wants homeowners to communicate through management to avoid confusion,” says Serra. “SPS understands the dynamics of working for an association. The crews know their roles, they are always polite and professional, and they do not allow themselves to get distracted.”
Incredible Attention to Detail
Clear and consistent communication was also another key to making project management easier for Serra. Every week, SPS held production meetings to review progress, resolve problems and plan future work.
“It was easy for me to prepare my weekly report to the board and to keep residents up-to-date at every phase of the project,” says Serra. “Homeowners had at least two weeks prior notice before work started on their building. And when SPS was ahead of schedule, I always had adequate time to inform residents that we’d be starting earlier. There were no unpleasant surprises.”
Serra also credits SPS Vice President Chuck Huntley for the project’s success. “Chuck managed this project with incredible attention to detail and enthusiasm,” he says. “We talked every day, and when it was necessary, he’d call me after hours with an idea to solve or avoid a problem. A project like this is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. And you need someone with stamina and experience to get to the finish line.”
A System for Doing the Job Right
One of the tools Huntley used to accelerate productivity and assure quality is SPS’s punch list inspection system. “It’s part of our commitment to doing the job right the first time,” says Huntley. “We create and complete punch lists every week instead of waiting until the end of a job.”
The foreman is responsible for ensuring that all items are complete before the next week’s inspection, says Huntley. Crew incentives, which have always been linked to customer satisfaction, are also tied to the completion of weekly punch list items. “This way, we’re able to stay on top of and correct problems as we go,” he says. “It’s much more efficient.”
Smart Start, Strong Finish
SPS’s methodical, efficient approach to project management was also impressive. “They didn’t just rush in and start pounding away,” says Serra. “They took more time on the first two buildings to fully understand the construction. But, once they knew what to expect, SPS quickly picked up the pace. They were like ants — each crew member knew exactly what to do and when to do it.”
SPS started smart and finished strong, says Serra. “This project was a massive undertaking, but SPS came through for us. Now that the work is done, it looks like a different world here. The homes are beautiful and everyone is still smiling.”
