Masonry Magazine June 2006 Page. 27
sons. It's so closely related to
Ninety-nine percent of the as in masonry.
Mackie Bounds, owner of Brazos Masonry Inc., said some jobs require improvising during the masonry process, expert modification of materials as the projects are constructed and envisioning the final project without the benefit of architectural drawings.
"Many of these projects work from very detailed shop drawings, and then other projects will be done with not much more than freehand sketches," Barnes said. "You must have the ability to visualize what these projects are going to look like, because there are times that you will not have many drawings to work with."
"This allows our company to be more creative than you will find in the traditional building project."
Dee Brown's Executive Vice President Rob Barnes said he also enjoys hardscaping work.
"Personally, I like it because it's not the typical, everyday project," he said. "When you get into it, you have to stretch your mind on how you can physically do the work."
Brad Goldberg, the designer and artist who worked with Dee Brown on the Allen Civic Plaza project, said it's important for him to work with masons who take the same pride in the project as he does.
"For twenty-some odd years, I fabricated and built all my own work, and I wouldn't let anyone else touch it," Goldberg said. As the projects started getting larger, he realized he could no longer do it all, so he started working with Dee Brown. "They're the only ones I'll let touch my work."
Goldberg said it's crucial to work with an experienced mason contractor, since he doesn't want to solicit bids for his jobs, such as the Allen Civic Plaza project. "If you put this project out to bid, it would frighten away most subcontractors and they would triple or quadruple the price, so you couldn't afford to do it," Goldberg said. "There are a lot of people who don't have the capability to do these types of projects."
Rob Barnes said his company has worked closely with Goldberg on several projects over the last five years, which has developed into a strong rapport and a sense of partnership.
Unique Challenges
WHILE THE PROJECTS have their own set of rewards, they also have unique challenges, ranging from transporting gigantic rocks to fitting tight joints to blending colored stones. But probably no mason contractor has faced a more solemn challenge than Brazos Masonry's Bounds, who built the Aggie Bon-The Voice of the Mason Contractor
Wide range of paver colors and styles.
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Pine Hall Brick Co., Inc
PO Box 11044
Winston-Salem, NC
27116-1044
800.334.8689
www.mokup
Aggie Bonfire Memorial, Brazos Masonry Inc.
fire Memorial at Texas A&M University on the site where 12 students died while preparing logs for an annual bonfire celebration.
"It was emotional. The entire thing was emotional, from building, through managing, to completion," Bounds said. "Most of the job sites you go on, there's a lot of talking, a lot of construction talk. When you walked on this site, there was complete silence."
To meet the challenge, Bounds and others made an extra effort to perform their very best work.
"When you look at the workmanship of the project, you see they took very, very special care to make sure the memorial is top-notch," Bounds said. "It was a sobering job, but a job you can take a lot of pride in."
Pine Hall Brick
CLA
GENUINE
CIRCLE 309 ON READER SERVICE CARD
June 2006
Masonry
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