 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
|||
Welcome to our Website
I was recently writing a cover letter to submit with project references to a customer when, I realized how limited the information was. The customer was a homeowner’s association whose board was charged with making a major decision that would affect, for most of the homeowners, the single greatest investment of their lifetime. Certainly, the board would want the greatest amount of information available. The purpose of these web pages is to provide that information.
Please feel free to look around. A great deal of information can be found in the in the ‘Expanded Summaries’‘ sections of the 'Project Profiles’. At present the expanded summaries contain hundreds and soon will contain over a thousand photos. These pages are a work-in-progress so; you may want to come back later to see additional information.
Sincerely Yours,
Mark Reichlin
Cement fiber and stucco at Olympic Condominiums in Bellingham.
Western Exterior Services, Inc.
Western Exterior Services, Inc. is a general contractor. This company was founded in 1998 with the singular intent to provide high quality construction services for building-envelope problems. Over the past seven years I have been fortunate to be joined by many great like-minded individuals who make up this fine company.
By specializing in building-envelope-remediation, we are able to focus our knowledge and out training on the best materials and practices for application or correction of building exteriors.
We work hard to provide safe steady employment for our fine craftsmen, and in doing so assure a high quality and good production.
Our Staff
We perform the vast majority of the work on our projects with our regular full time employees. We have worked hard to develop a good working atmosphere where our people can enjoy their day as well as their pay. I believe that the difference between a 'good job' and a 'great job' is the attitude of the employer and the the way he treats his people.
"We take care of our people, and our people take care of our customers".
Training
Everything that we do requires training. Each transition at each flashing, sealant, trim, vent, door or window must be thought out and planned. Procedures must be developed for each project and in the end it is up to the crew to carry out the work. This requires training every day at every job.
We have worked hard to develop a an atmosphere where our people expect and seek out this purposeful procedural review for each step.
"Employee knowledge and experience does not eliminate the need for training, but it makes it go a heck of a lot faster".
At the beginning of my construction career in 1970s I worked for my father in a commercial roofing business. I recall working with Architects that were engaged by building owners from planning stages to completion for almost all construction projects.
As time passed it became unusual to find Architects involved beyond the permit process on smaller commercial and multi-family construction. It took many years for the changes to result in buildings-envelope problems. In the 1980s, roofing failures were an early indicator of problem construction. The Roof-Consultant profession emerged and prospered as a result of these early building-envelope-failures.
"Failure to utilize professional oversight is not the cause the problems that we see today, however; such oversight might have prevented the current building-envelope crises".
Owners of larger commercial and public sector projects continued to engage Architects and consultants for full services, sometimes including inspection. Building-envelope problems are much rarer in these sectors.
Today we see a reversal of the trend. Developers are engaging Architects and Building-Envelope-Consultants from beginning to end. More attention is being focused on exteriors in building design. Difficult transitions and details commonly worked out during weekly meetings when projects are well managed and professional oversight is present.
We are not a consultant. We do not produce reports prepare specifications, or provided oversight on projects where we are not the contractor. We do participate with and support consultants in these endeavors.
We strongly encourage building owner’s to utilize the services of qualified consultants when purchasing construction services from a contractor.
It is good to have a contractor that you can trust, however; it is best to avoid being in a position where you must rely solely on the contractors knowledge and integrity.
When we are working on someone’s building, we are quite likely being entrusted with our customer’s single greatest investment. “Do what you would do on your mother’s house”.
When you realize you made a mistake, fix it immediately, preferably using the same people that made the mistake. They are less likely to make the same mistake. “If you did it wrong, do it over”
When working with subcontractors, it is our job to encourage them to inspect our work and to constantly inspect their work. “Check Everything”
When working with consultants it is our job to double check their work. It is certainly their job to check ours. "If it doesn't make sense, it could be wrong"
"You should never miss your kid’s game"
“If you can’t reach it from the ground, use scaffold”
Contact Us. Email : markr@exteriorservice.com
