Solid Foundations

We were with a client recently who had one of his tenants run a fork truck into a column damaging it quite extensively. As you can imagine, this is cause for major concern as the only thing holding up that portion of the roof is that specific structural member. The real kicker was that the column had been run into many years ago, twisted like a spaghetti noodle and then encased in concrete for added “support”. As we stood in the facility looking at the twisted column, we noticed the next column to the left had a large portion of the bottom sliced out of it (another causality of the fork truck). Needless to say, our client spent a few $$’s that day getting columns repaired. Thankfully the foundations of the columns had not been damaged. Setting a good foundation for your column is imperative so that column replacements can be done easily and effectively.

Planning for your next building project is a lot like setting the foundation for your columns. Building foundations support the superstructure from settlement and failure. Similarly, planning provides the base to keep your project from veering too far right or left before it ever gets started. There will always be outside factors that can throw the project off course, just like a fork truck running into your column. As long as you start with a solid foundation of planning in the beginning, “repairing the column” during the building process is an easy fix to keep you focused on the end goal.

At PDMi, we can help you establish that solid foundation on your next project. Give us a call so we can put our experience to work for you.