March 24, 2009 by Jay Dietz Construction.

We’ve come to expect it every year.  The spring thaw in the Red River Valley is news every year.  This year is proving to be historic.  The forecasts are grim, with flood stages on the Red River predicted to surpass the 1997 flood.  With the wet fall and the record amount of snow that fell in December, we all knew that we’d be facing a challenge.   If anyone was skeptical about Fargo taking on a massive diking project, I think they may be singing a different tune this week.  The forecast called for 1-3 inches of rain, and we have been on the lighter side of that, thankfully.  Out here in Mapleton, we are watching our dike carefully.  The Maple River is  inching up a bit faster than we’d heard predicted.  We’re pumping out yards and watching the ditches go down as the culverts start flowing. 

Our yard is high and dry.  You know Jay…he firmly believes the higher the better.  The house we’re building for the Parade of Homes is not faring as well.   We were hoping to pour the concrete for the basement floor and garage floor last week.  Unfortunately, there was about a foot of ice that just wouldn’t melt even with heaters going.  Then, things started thawing, and running into the basement.   Last I heard, we had between 3 and 4 feet of water to pump out.  If we pump into the street, it collects at the corner, which is already a foot deep.   So, we wait for the street to drain, and pray that the rain passes us by.   I’ve added a picture from last Friday, of the porch added on.  I’m hoping to get over there and get more pictures of the water fiasco. 

On a very sad note… Jay and I would like to express our deepest sympathy to Carol Loe and her family, as they mourn the loss of her husband, Terry.  We attend church with the Loe family and have gotten to know Terry very well.  Jay and his crew did a lot of work at their home last summer and they were great to work for.  Terry passed away this morning unexpectedly.  He had been taking treatments for Lymphoma, but seemed to be doing well.   Terry blessed our church last Sabbath, by praying for us at “prayer and praise time.”  He was thankful that he was able to be at church another Sabbath.  No one knew that would be his last prayer for us. 

We never know…what’s in store for us, how much time we have left, who will leave our lives unexpectedly.  The great thing is that Terry knew.  Terry had a very strong faith.  I’m sure he was at peace, hopefully holding his wife’s hand, as he smiled one last smile and looked towards heaven’s gates.   He knew that we’ll all be together again soon. 

God bless Terry and his family

 Carlita  

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

February 16, 2009 by Jay Dietz Construction.

I completely missed January’s post, but I’ll try to catch everyone up on what’s going on.  Jay and his crew have completed the framing job for Kochmann Bros., in rural Horace.  That was a BIG one, with lots of extras.  Jay had a couple of extra guys on the job site to help out.  Thankfully there was not much additional snow in January, but they did have bitterly cold weather several days.  They found themselves working at the Hemmah’s project on those days, or at the Weible home in Grandin.  Both of those jobs are remodels.   I have added a few new photos of those projects on the gallery.

In other news, I have begun my term as a member of the F-M Home Builder’s Assoc. Board of Directors.  It’s been interesting, I’ve learned a lot, and met several new people.  It has occurred to me that there has yet to be a woman President of the local HBA, so I might set my goal for that.  I am specifically involved in the New Member Committee, which recruits and welcomes new members.   Recruiting is not so easy these days.  There are not many new companies starting up right now, so we have to go back to companies that have been around for a while, but have never joined.  I am also running for a seat on the Mapleton City Council.  Someone left their position earlier this winter, so a spot is vacant.  There are 2 of us that are running for the position, and the special election is on March 13th.  I have gone to the past several City Council meetings and have met lots of people since we’ve moved here a year and a half ago.  I don’t plan on going door to door campaigning, but I will be working on some posters, and a sign for our yard.

Jay has been working full steam ahead on our spec. house for the past week.  He was  a bit worried about getting it done in time for the Parade of Homes that will be the end of April.  That is until he saw how fast the framing is going.  They are already on the second floor, so I’m hoping he’ll have it enclosed by the end of February.  I’ll have new pictures to post by the end of the day.

I’m short for this post, but I’ll have more for March I’m sure. 

Don’t wait around to be blessed…BE A BLESSING!

Carlita

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

December 12, 2008 by Jay Dietz Construction.

I’m behind schedule with my “monthly” posting, I know.  Things for us are busy all the way around.   This is NOT something we complain about, however.  We know that we are blessed, just keeping the jobs lined up.  Right now there are millions of people out of work, and yes, it’s being  felt  in Fargo.  We have tried ads in the newspaper and with Job Service in the past, when Jay has needed to expand his crew.  We never have gotten responses… until this past month.  It was incredible…the phone rang off the hook, and I was getting several e-mails from Job Service each day.  Obviously people are out of work. Other construction companies are laying off portions or all of their crews.  This is good news for us.  Jay was able to be picky about who he hired.  He went through a few underqualified guys, until he found one that can actually do what Jay expects an ”experienced” framing carpenter to do.   

Work wise, Jay is framing a new custom home for Kockmann Bros.  It’s good timing for us, since the shingling jobs have come to a seasonal end, and this is a nice big home that will keep Jay and his guys busy for several more weeks.  Jay is also slipping in days here and there for the Hemmah’s.  There project needs the interior framing finished up, and the custom windows/doors should be arriving soon for installation. 

Some exciting news for us…we have started another house project.  No…It’s not for us.  We are never moving again…at least not with-in ND.  We are taking a big chance, and building a spec. home here in Mapleton.  We are being reasonable in size and price, and have picked a great lot to build on.   It is directly east of our house, about a block or so, which will make it very convenient.  We did not want to miss the up-coming spring Parade of Homes, so we have just had the basement concrete poured, and will put it up for sale next week.  If we’re lucky enough to find buyers for it right away, we’ll finish it.  If not, we’ll get started on it in February, in order to have it done for the Parade by the end of April.   There is a photo added to the gallery, of the basement concrete forms set up.  The concrete has been poured, and Jay will get the trusses on to cover up the basement ASAP.

I’m predicting that I won’t be adding another blog yet this year…

so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

In this time of economic turmoil, take the time to really count your blessings.  There are always people less fortunate than you, and you’ll most likely always have enought to share.  So, be generous.  I believe with all my heart that God multiplies the gifts that we give to those in need and that He blesses those that bless others.

Carlita

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

December 12, 2008 by Jay Dietz Construction.

I had set this card aside, always intending to post it to the web-site.  It’s a thank you card from the Schultes, for whom Jay and his crew built a new double stall garage with a covered porch area on the side.   There are pictures of it posted on the photo gallery too. 

 Jay & Company,

Thank you so much for  building us such a well-needed and functional garage.  It truly is a one-of-a kind - and we are very proud of it!

Thanks too for putting up with all of our last minute changes.  I love my patio -it’s just the way I invisioned the look.  I will definately enjoy it for years to come!  I love all the details.

You are an amazing c0ntractor, I would recommend you to anyone.

Thanks again for your time and talent.  You have made us the envy of the neighborhood.

With gratitude, 

Dave and Joy Schulte

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

October 30, 2008 by Jay Dietz Construction.

Jay recently re-shingled a home in north Fargo for Mr. James Kaplan.  Along with his payment for the work, James sent this nice note…

                                                                                     Oct. 20, 2008 

 Dear Mr. Dietz,

        Enclosed is a check for $XXXX in payment for the recent roof work on my house.  Thanks for a fine job.  Feel free to use me as a reference.

Sincerely,

James M. Kaplan

Thanks James…we sure will. 

Jay usually gets great feedback, and the home-owners are happy to give him the payment before he leaves the job site.  (Which we love.) Since Mr. Kaplan was waiting for his insurance money, we just told him to mail it when it came in.  It’s always fun to get this kind of mail.

Carlita  

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

October 30, 2008 by Jay Dietz Construction.

We’ve been celebrating Halloween for nearly a week already.  The kids have had parties at church and school.  We have decorated the porch and front yard a bit for our first Halloween celebrated in Mapleton.  It seems every one that we knew offered us pumpkins this year, so we have a dozen or so.  I’m not a skilled carver, but the end result is tasty roasted pumpkin seeds.  We are saving the grand daddy pumpkin for Jay to carve.  I saw a man use his power tools to carve spectacular Jack-o-lanterns on “The Today Show”, and I intend to make Jay try it.  The shell looks like it’s 2 or 3 inches thick, so power tools are the only way to go.

Work retated news…Jay has had a few weeks away from shingling.  He and Damian  have been having fun doing a demolition for the Hemmahs.  They purchased a 70’s era office building, and intend to turn it into their next home.  Jay and Damian ripped out 3.6 miles of phone line, walls, bathrooms, windows, and 60 or so flourecent light fixtures.  5 or 6 dumpsters later, the place is ready for new framing and the sub-contractors to come in.  There is a photo on the gallery of a 2 story building with out a front wall on the second floor… That was how it looked last Friday.  Jay has since framed in the front wall for it’s new windows.  When the windows come in, and Jay has installed them, I’ll take a new photo to post. 

The other new photos are from our neighbors here in Mapleton, Jeff & Kristy.  They were tired of taking out a 2nd mortgage every winter to pay their heating bills, so they looked for the problem… No insulation in the walls of their 100+ year old home…Seriously, NONE.    So, they ripped off all the siding on the N and W sides of their home, widened the 2×4 walls, installed insulation and new sheeting.  At the same time, they decided to replace  some old, drafty windows.  Jay suggested that since they have everything torn open, that they should make their living room window a bump out. It really gives the front of their house a nice look.   Jay helped them with that part, and installed a nice vinyl, casement window.  (We just happened to have an “extra” one lying around”) They had just a solid pane before, so the option of cranking it open was a definite plus.  Besides being able to maintain 68+ degrees in their home now, they noticed that the insulation also helps with reduction of outside noise.  (Mapleton has trains going by every 8 minutes or so.)  Next comes the E and S sides of the home, and new fiber cement siding all around.  I can’t wait to see what color they paint it.

So, make sure you treat all the little ghosts and golins tomorrow, and have some fun yourself.  Life it too short, so enjoy every minute of it.

 Carlita

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

September 22, 2008 by Jay Dietz Construction.

I know that I said I’d try to post every month.  I’m only a few days past my goal, but I have a good excuse.   I spent most of last week getting ready for the West Fest Parade.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with this parade, I’m really sorry.  It’s one of the biggest in ND, and this year was the 17th annual parade.  Jay has wanted to have his business in the parade for several years.  So, this year, I signed us up.  We have a trailer and a pick up to pull it, so all we needed was a theme for the float and some helpers, right?  The helpers part was easy.  Our daughter, Katrina, is a Brownie Scout, and her troop jumped at the opportunity to toss candy.  We had 5 very excited girls waiting in line for more than an hour for our turn for the float to pull out of the parking lot.  The theme part was not easy for us.  Jay had wanted to do something more elaborate, but he ended up working 70+ hours that week and just couldn’t put anything together for us.  SO…Katrina, the Girl Scout, stepped in with a nice sketch and a plan.  We rounded up our 2 small tents, bought some green sheets of plastic for “grass” put some firewood and lawn chairs and 1 Ficus tree.  Wallah!  It’s a camping scene.  We added some balloons and foil streamer things too.  I had also spent a total of 3 days working on a banner for our troop, so that had to be displayed proudly on the back.   The girls all looked so cute, with their sashes or vest full of patches.  They got lots of nice comments from the crowd too.  That is until, of course, we ran out of candy.  YES…I way underestimated the size of an 8 year old girls’ fist.  It seems they can hold 14 pieces of candy in one fist full.  I knew after the first block that we were in trouble.   We technically made it about 2 blocks from the end.  Now I know to buy twice as much for next year.  Jay and Jesse threw about 30 Jay Dietz Construction shirts from the pick up.  I thought I was going to see blood shed.  People were acting like the shirts were home-run baseballs in a World Series game.  

I forgot to mention that Oliver, our pre-schooler, was invited to ride on the school float, so he parted ways with us when the parade floats moved out of the parking lot.  His uncle, Trevor, was kind enough to be his grown up for the day.  Trevor said that Oliver nearly fell asleep a couple of times.  Apparently parades are boring if you’re not catching the candy.

So, until next month, be generous with your time and your talents.

 Carlita

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

August 18, 2008 by Jay Dietz Construction.

I can’t believe that my last posting was in February.  I’m already buying school supplies and sending our children off to school next week.  Where did spring and summer go?  Spring was mild, and Jay got an early start on the roofing projects that were on hold from last fall.  June left us wondering if we should build an arc.  Yes, we had rain every weekend, and things were very soggy.  July was HOT every weekend, and made for great camping weather.  I’m happy to say that Jay has been scheduling himself to allow for us to have some much over-due family time.  We were able to do some camping, go to a concert festival and visist Colorado for several days.  Our family had a terrific time visiting Jay’s sister and her familly in Fort Collins.  (See the new photos in the people/activities photo gallery.) While we were in CO, Jay’s crew completed a roofing project by themselves.  (Leaving the crew is always nerve-racking for Jay.) 

Besides the roofing jobs, Jay has built a storage shed, put up a cedar fence, and divided a utility room to separate the furnace area and finish the laundry room.  The in-progress and completed photos have just been added to the photo gallery.  He’s currently putting up another fence and making a paver patio for Mrs. Beauclair, and is back at the Zuther home finishing a bathroom and bedroom in their basement.   We still have roofing jobs lined up and more coming in.  Many people waited for things to settle down before they hired the contractors to repair the hail damage that happened 10 months ago.  Now that most of the out-of-town contractors have moved on to more recent hail storm repairs, that leaves Jay and the other locals to finish things up.   I’ve learned that there are many challenges to working with insurance companies, and in some cases the home-owner’s mortgage companies, when dealing with hail damage claims.  Each company has different procedures and time-frames for turning around payment requests.  I’ve been making good use of my fax machine to expedite the invoicing. 

I’m thinking I’ll have more time to work on our web site when the kids are in school.  It’s is very exciting to say that our little boy, will be starting pre-school this year, and our daughter is starting 2nd grade.  Our teen-ager is starting his senior year in high school, so there are lots of changes coming up at our house. 

So, check back more regularly, because my goal will be to up-date monthly.

Remember to be thankful for what you have, who you have, and the time you have.

Carlita

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

February 10, 2008 by Jay Dietz Construction.

The holiday season whizzed past, and January has been left behind. Is it possilbe that it’s really February? That means spring is nearly here, right? Those are the words all carpenters long to hear. With most of the general contractors that we frame for holding on to their spec homes longer than they care to, we haven’t been busy framing this winter. We have been finishing basements, putting in new windows, and any other misc. work that we can handle. Everyone has heard about the housing slump. I’m sorry to say it is affecting us. With the recent interest rate drops, many people are realizing that it’s a great time to remodel or make those long over-due repairs. So, we have found ourselves to sliding into that niche. It’s poses unique challenges, but it is fun to work with the families involved. It requires great communication with our sub-contractors and suppliers. Timing is critical, in order to keep on schedule.

There is a new photo of a recent window replacement we completed. The Trautman family, from Dilworth, MN was excited to replace their drafty old windows with new Minnkota vinyl winows. Glenn wanted to help as much as possible, and thanks to the nice weather, they got most of the windows installed in 1 day. They should be able to take advantage of the IRS’s tax credit for improving the energy efficiency of their home too. The next picture I’ll add is their home with new siding installed.

The Isaac family has had their garage insulated and sheetrocked and we have been finishing their basement. We are about to install the interior doors and trim. Then comes the new carpet. They are adding 2 bedrooms, a full bath and a familyroom (totalling 900 square feet of living space) to their home. Photos of that project will be added shortly. Jeff wanted to help Jay as much as possible. He helped install the sheetrock, do some of the mudding and he did all of the painting.

So, keep us in mind when you are thinking about those home improvement projects, or if you would like to meet with us about new construction.

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

November 19, 2007 by Jay Dietz Construction.

Man, has the past month been a blur! We have been working on roofing jobs left and right and have several very pleased home-owners. They are sending referrals our way like crazy! You know who you are, and THANK YOU! We plan to get these jobs done through the winter, as well as the odds and ends that are lingering incomplete at our new home.

On the photo gallery you’ll notice couple of photos that I have added of the Schulte’s finished garage with lovely porch. I never imagined that it was going to turn out so well. What a great vision Dave and Joy had on that project. Like our logo says, “If you can imagine it, we can build it!”

I also added a more recent picture of our Wyndmere framing job. Jay was back out there recently, so he saw the house with siding and stone. How beautiful. Hopefully the Halvorson’s are seeing things progress daily, and we’ll be able to come visit them soon at their new home.

So, at this time of year, we are giving thanks for all we have.
We work for great families, we build them their dream home, (or garage!) they tell their friends and family to talk to us for their projects and it just keeps getting better!

Thank You for your business:

Hanson Bros. Construction, Cheri Johnson, Angie at Titan Homes, The Cariveau Family, The Eichele Family, The Olson Family, The Halvorson Family, The Wussow Family, The Schulte Family, The Riveland Family, The Isaac Family, Becky Lee, The Dralu Family, and The Zuther Family

With Much Appreciation,

Carlita

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »