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THE dearth of funds has been variously fingered as the major problem besetting the construction industry. The plethora of uncompleted and abandoned projects that dot the nation's landscape has often been traced to this factor. Indigenous construction companies have been worst hit, hence, many of them have folded up, giving way to multinational construction companies who are often backed financially by their home governments. Both the Federal and state governments have often hinged their preference for expatriate construction companies on the fact that their indigenous counterparts lack the equipment to execute complex jobs. But how can they effectively compete with these offshore funded companies when borrowing from commercial banks is usually at cut-throat interest rates. Built environment professionals who have been badly affected by this scenario have not rested on their oars in a bid to float a specialized bank that would be sympathetic to the cause of construction industry operators.
Construction work on Mt. Diablo Boulevard in Walnut Creek is set to begin Monday night and continue each night through Thursday. According to a city of Walnut Creek spokesman, Top Grade Construction, Inc. will re-pave Mt. Diablo Boulevard between Oakland Boulevard and Bonanza Street. The work will begin at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and end at 6 a.m. each morning to minimize traffic disruption. Drivers should take note of all "no parking'' signs that will be posted in the area during construction to avoid their vehicles from being towed. .
Shoemakers' kids used to go barefoot, or so the old story goes. That's because to keep food on the table, their dads relentlessly devoted themselves to cobbling together shoes for everybody else.
If Dad is a custom-home builder and Mom happens to be an interior designer and also his business partner, their offspring may not share a similar fate. At least not if they're members of the Uetrecht family of Wildwood. With their daughters -- Mia, 5, and Morgan, 11 -- builder Pete, 38, and his designer wife, Jenn, 36, the principals of Claybridge Homes, live in their 6,800-square-foot, two-level dream home which, according to Pete, is "based on exactly how we live."
Q: What makes this house especially yours?
Pete: It's a ranch. The bedrooms are all on the main level, and the laundry room is part of the master bedroom instead of off the kitchen, as it is in many new houses.
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