| In Memoriam
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Grant Langstrom
passed away on March 4, 2009. He will be greatly missed by his family at Pyramid Masonry and everyone in the masonry Industry.
The viewing will be held on Saturday, March 7th from 2:00pm - 5:00pm at Conrad & Thompson Funeral Home, 511 Emmett Street, Kissimmee, FL 34741
The service will be held on Sunday, March 8th at 2:30pm at Eastern Avenue Baptist Church, 1001 Eastern Avenue, St. Cloud, FL 34769
A memorial fund has been set up for anyone wishing to make a contribution rather than send flowers. Contributions can be made at any Center State Bank Central Florida to the Grant Langston Memorial Fund.
The main office is CenterState Bank Central Florida, 920 N. John Young Pkwy, Kissimmee, FL 34741 (407) 847-3800. There are many branches and their website is:
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| Founding MAF Members |
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Contractor Members
Pyramid Masonry
Ron Kendall Masonry
Cocoa, Inc.
BBA MCI
Tucci Masonry,Inc.
Painter Masonry
Carlton-Walker Masonry
Henley Concrete & Masonry
D Lenn Masonry
Sunchase Construction
Berard Creative Concepts
Southern State Masonry
Central Broward Construction
Coastal Masonry, Inc.
Target Masonry, Inc.
Falcon Contractors
Overberg Masonry
Red Brookshire of Florida
George Lenze Construction
Jim Fox, Inc.
Ginty Construction
Oceanside Masonry
Suncoast Builders Development
Producer Members
Cemex Construction Materials, LLC.
Tarmac America, Inc. Vulcan Materials - Florida Rock
A-1 Block Corporation Block USA
B.E.T - ER Mix
Bell Concrete Products
Florida Block & Ready Mix
Oldcastle Coastal
Prestige Concrete Products
Associate Members
M.I.T.
Masonpro
Cast Crete
Gordy's Equipment of Broward
Florida Silica Sand Company
Form Block - Florida
Bar-Fab of Florida
Southern Foam Insulation
Adrian Engineering
Tailored Foam of Florida
Carolina Stalite
Powers Steel, Inc.
Brick Industry Association -SE Region
MortarNet USA
W.R. Grace Construction Products
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| Welcome Baby Berringer! |
William Joseph Beringer IV (Will)
Born Feb. 5th, 2009
9lbs. 1 oz, 21" Long
"Future Pittsburgh Steeler"
Congratulations!! |
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Dear '"Heartbeaters",
It's true--it's the heart that keeps the body moving; like the engine in a car, the heart is responsible for keeping you alive as do the members of the heartbeat team for the local MAF/MCAF Chapters. Thank you for keeping your local board and membership advised and continuing to drive NEW members to our organization.
If you are interested in joining the HEARTBEAT TEAM contact joyce@mafl.org
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FICAP 2009
Clay Shoot
March 21, 2009
Quail Creek Plantation
12399 NE 224th Street
Okeechobee, FL 34972
863-763-2529 |
| Thank you from the Faulconer Family |
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A huge thank you from Judy Faulconer, the wife of Mike Faulconer one of our Southwest apprenticeship instructors for the overwhelming support from the Masonry industry who attended the services on February 17, 2009 at Grace Lutheran in Naples and to those who contributed to the memorial fund set up for the family.
Please make checks payable to:
Mike Faulconer Sr
Memorial Account
Fifth Third Bank
15221 Tamiami Trail South
Fort Myers, FL 33908
Acct. # 7432311285
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| eNews Calendar |
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| Please visit www.mafl.org to see events around the state or add YOUR local area events! |
| Codes Questions & Answers |
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Executive Director |
Pat McLaughlin
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MAF Membership |
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| Joyce Rivas
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MAF Marketing |
Deb Bartolucci |
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Chairman's Comments
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Founding Members to date. Although we have a long way to go with membership and are going through some rough times, now is our chance to sell masonry back to our builders and architects and get masonry recognized as the leading building material in Florida.
Don't stand on the side lines. Get your local membership dues to your chapters and your state sponsorship in and help us get our industry back on track! Join Online!
There are great activities in process (check the eNews calendar on www.mafl.org) around the state. I appreciate what our MAF staff is doing to support, promote, organize, help buy back our market and communicate to membership as evidenced in this monthly E-news. Everyone have a great month.
Thank you for continuing to "Grow with US in 2009"
Keith Sommer | |
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Director's Diary
Patrick J. McLaughlin - Executive Director - Masonry Associaiton of Florida, Inc. - Pat@mafl.org
Another month, can't believe it . . . too quick . . . but what a month!
I continue to travel and attend Chapter meetings and meet new masonry contractors across the state. I attended the Gainesville Chapter meeting this month at Harwood Brick's office and the group is excited about the possibilities to promote masonry. Thomas Moss of Allan Spear Construction, the Chapter President, toured me around to visit key masonry contractors in the area. Thank you, Thomas, for your time and enthusiasm! It looks like we have three confirmed masonry contractor members and three more on the fence. This is a great start for the Gainesville Chapter!
We lost a great man last month - Michael Faulconer, Sr. I believe that the number of people who show up to your funeral service is a measure of your success in life - nothing more, nothing less. Mike's service in Naples this month showed he was a GREAT man and will be missed.
Don, Debbie, Sandy and Joyce continue to work hard for you. Don continues to scout and meet with the state's specifiers to sell masonry. Deb continues to pump out association promotion materials and web communications promoting the association and masonry construction. Sandy and Deb are organizing the masonry workshop and other upcoming education events. Joyce makes those hard-to-make calls to assist chapters and the state organization to gain membership and coordinate communications among chapters.
We have really found a great resource and person in Sandy Cinque, our new administrative assistant. Sandy comes with many years of office and customer service experience. Please feel free to call her and introduce yourself - 561-305-0892 or Sandy@mafl.org . After a few days of Sandy's expertise, your MAF office is already running better!
Remember, if you are thinking about joining the MAF, sign up before March 31st. You will be forever enshrined as a "Founding Member" of the association and receive special recognition.
Let's survive - and thrive - and have another great month! |
| Tampa Bay Chapter News
How to Make a Difference in Four Hours
The MCAF/TBC annual charitable project - Metropolitan Ministries Clubhouse - On the cool Saturday morning of January 23rd 2009, volunteers from The Tampa Bay Chapter gathered in the pre-dawn to give back to our community, namely The Metropolitan Ministries, a faith based organization dedicated to serve the poor and homeless in the Tampa Bay region.
The task at hand was to do the masonry work for a 1,764 sf clubhouse that would serve a small apartment complex. The scope included over 2000 8" cmu's, 16 precast lintels, 8 precast sills, 13 cy's of grout, and one ton of rebar.
On hand were masons and tenders from contractor members, apprentices from our program, material suppliers and a handful of "shirts" that were willing to get in there and get dirty. It was quite the spectacle to see such a sea of manpower, equipment, and materials all come together in a proud and workman like manner. Any observer could see that these guys knew they were doing something good, something special, and could feel it.
By noon, the walls were up, scaffold loaded back on the truck, the site cleaned up, and the most amazing evaporation of 50 Egg McMuffins and four dozen donuts I've ever seen had occurred.
Let's take off our hats to those that opened their hearts and checkbooks and found a way in this economic climate to remember that there are so many people that are far less fortunate:
In no particular order:
Overberg Masonry, Brookshire Masonry, George Lenz Construction, the entire Apprentice Class, Florida Block and Ready Mix, Tarmac, Vulcan / Florida Rock, MasonPro, Quality Precast, Bar-Fab of Florida, Ready Building Products, Ring Power, Sunbelt Rentals, and Advanced Rentals.
Thank you to all the participants and the entire Tampa Bay Chapter for your support of this worthy project. We've done another part in making this a better world ...one block at a time.
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| MasonrySystems.org
Inspiration. Information. Interaction.
A comprehensive industry website and a gateway to all of the best information that exists about masonry wall systems. A single resource that pulls together all of the pieces of the masonry puzzle and all the sources of information about it in one user-friendly place. A unified source of information, inspiration and interaction for everyone who uses masonry.
As an industry, it is our job to provide you with information that will make it easier for you to comfortably, safely and cost effectively design with masonry.
This research tool has been developed by the Masonry Executives Council, an informal coalition of nearly three dozen state and regional masonry associations that work together to promote the use and understanding of brick, block and stone wall systems.
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Founding Members Drive
It's still not too late to become a Founding Member. The deadline is March 31st. The goal is 100 contractor members so that means approximately -13 contractors per area. The 'new' Masonry Association of Florida is very clearly a MASONRY CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION . Don't delay-be listed as a FOUNDING MEMBER on the Members page of www.mafl.org .
On the horizon, possible new MAF chapters, please get involved by contacting:
We have a NEW and improved Pledge form posted on the JOIN OUR ASSOCIATION page of the website AND yes----- you can NOW join on-line a new function as of this week. Please invite every masonry contractor you know to get involved in the NEW MAF! Of course, you already know this...Every member must join the State Association at some pledge level and one local chapter. You will be billed quarterly by the State and Annually by the local chapter that you choose to join. Join on-line now !
There is only ONE membership drive left...March 25, 2009 in the Treasure Coast. For more information, please contact Dave Pfeffer at dpfeffer@titanamerica.com or Mike Ryan mryan@castcrete.com |
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ProMasonry Propaganda
Help us to help you! Have you visited the PROMASONRY page of www.mafl.org ? Details for ALL meetings of the ProMasonry Committee are posted there. Be sure to mark your calendar and plan to be involved! April 1st is the next meeting date at the FC&PA offices in Orlando. Have you heard about the state of the art interactive website www.masonrysystems.org? Have you participated in the training teleconferences showcasing the multi-faceted masonry design functions? Be sure to visit the Design Center at www.mafl.org as we list dates of training teleconferences. This Train the Trainer style workshop teaches MAF members how to use the new MasonrySystems.Org website and present it to area design professionals. They will navigate the site with instruction from the webinar presenters. Questions Contact: annsullivan@comcast.net .
The ProMasonry committee is spearheading a 2009 architectural series initiative headed by Chris Bettinger and supported by Don Beers and local teams. Get involved by contacting don@mafl.org . |
Member Benefits
James Ball - Medallion Financial Resources - medallionfr@verizon.net
Thank you for the opportunity to do business with your association. Please do not hesitate to contact me either through www.mafl.org in the Member Benefits section or call me with any financial questions or challenges. There is absolultely no charge or obligation for consultation for Masonry Association member companies, employees or families. I am available to attend your local chapter meetings for presentations on any benefit topic.
I welcome inquiries with no obligation, so please feel free to contact me with questions @ 941-486-0305 or E-mail Medallionfr@verizon.net Registered Principal of and Securities offered through National Planning Corp. (NPC) MemberFINRA, SIPC, Medallion Financial Resources and NPC are separate and unrelated companies.
March 2009 Q & A :
Dear Jim: My investments continue to drop in value. I'm not sure whether I should panic or what other options are available. I understand that much of this is predicated by age and financial goals, but would like a constructive second opinion. I continue to get mixed input from my friends, business associates and financial advisors. What do you advise? Signed, Puzzled Masonry Contractor in Florida
Dear Puzzled:
As you all look at your investment portfolios, personal & retirement plans, you continue to see the markets are not reacting positively to the change in administration or the stimulus package. 2009 does not look positive as corporate profits look very weak and there is an basic lack of faith in our financial institutions. It would seem to make sense to search for non-market correlated assets or in any case to take a conservative stance relative to your porfolios. We'll make a comeback but it's going to take patience. Good luck to you in '09.
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Engineering Elements
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The Good, The Bad and The Best NEWS About Masonry
The Bad News. Around 2005 we maxed out our capacity to both produce and install masonry in Florida. This has happened to us several times in the past 30 years with about the same results - our customers go to competitive products. Many of you have heard me say this but it bears repeating - in many ways the wall system is like soft drinks in a 7-11 cooler. If you can't get the one you like you simply pull out another - and the one you pull out may be ok - so you start drinking it instead. Additionally, wall systems are fiercely competitive. If Pepsi stopped advertising and promoting in an area what would their sales do? Think about it, if terrorists blew up every block plant in Florida tonight - in the morning the construction industry would simply step over our dead body and continue on down the road un-phased.
We ran out of product, we ran out of labor AND we did not fight to maintain the commercial market. Our customers got the hint and went elsewhere.
Now the good news. After being intimately involved with the Florida masonry market for 25 years I am as convinced as ever that masonry is the BEST, and in most cases, THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE wall system available. Hands down. Masonry is a GREAT product particularly in Florida with our special climate (rain, humidity, termites, hurricanes, etc). Regardless of the inroads of our competitors, masonry is understood, respected, accepted and well liked!! It is, and has been for many years, the PREMIER and PREDOMINANT building system in Florida. This is really important - we are not behind in the race because we were surpassed in strength by our competitors, we are behind because we stopped running and simply let everyone pass.
Masonry is UNDERSTOOD by the engineers in Florida.
I am in the process of surveying the participants of last years Dr. Brown seminars. Almost 350 engineers around the state took the course and the results of the survey are encouraging. First, almost all the engineers enjoyed the course and picked up some new skills in masonry design. That's great! But just as importantly, and in a very positive light, almost all of the engineers felt comfortable designing in masonry prior to taking the course. Our structural engineers in Florida stand at the ready to design whatever masonry comes their way.
Masonry is UNDERSTOOD by builders and building departments in Florida.
Many building departments in the state have sent virtually their entire staff through our Masonry Certification Workshop. We have the advantage of being the predominant building material for the last several decades. We are not introducing a new product but simply offering a reminder that the tried and true advantages of masonry are still available.
Masonry is RESPECTED by everyone in Florida.
I suspect that for a $10 bill almost everyone in the Florida building industry (and ½ of all adults) could mumble off the litany of masonry advantages - fire, structural strength, termite proof, rot proof, insurance, sound, etc etc and COST. They know - all we have to do is spark their memories.
Masonry is ACCEPTED and WELL LIKED by Architects in Florida.
No other product offers the Architectural freedom and design flexibility of masonry. Florida architects are proud of their achievements in masonry design. They may be designing with something else but there is a masonry structure somewhere in their heart - be it old or new!
Regaining our market share is not an impossible task if we all pull together.
The BEST news.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step... Take your first 'step' !
Please contact myself or any Masonry Association of Florida PROMASONRY team members with your ideas on regaining market share don@mafl.org
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The 2007 Edition of the Florida Building Code with 2009 Revisions is effective on March 1, 2009. The design of buildings for which permits are applied on or after March 1, 2009, are required to comply with the updated code. The code has been available for a number of months and may be ordered at any of several sources. The 2009 Revisions are the result of the Glitch Code Change cycle, gubernatorial mandates, and legislative mandates. The 2009 Revisions to the 2007 Florida Building Code are available for download at the Building Code Information System website www.floridabuilding.org . The updated code contains a number of items of interest to the masonry industry.
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Updates ACI 530 and ACI 530.1 to the 2005 editions
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Modifies lap length provisions for reinforcement. The lap lengths contained in ACI 530-05 and the International Building Code (IBC) are based on seismic loads. Working with the Florida Building Commission, we were able to modify the provisions in Florida Building Code, Building by using factors related to wind loads rather than seismic loads. The result is a decrease in the required lap lengths which would be excessive for Florida designs. (See FBC B §2107 and §2108.)
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Clarifies, refines, and corrects prescriptive tables in the FBC Residential. The prescriptive provisions for masonry contained in the residential code allow the design and construction of dwellings without the services of an architect or engineer except in the HVHZ (Miami-Dade and Broward Counties). Changes were made to the shear table reinforcement requirements.
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Clarified the use of mortar as grout in the residential code.
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Adopts ACI 530 tolerances for masonry openings. The code consultant worked with the Fenestration Manufacturers Association to remove proposals requiring liquid flashing for 9 inches around all fenestration openings in masonry walls.
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Requires verification of rough opening dimensions on framing inspections.
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Increases energy efficiency requirements by 20% across the board.
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Adopts the International Energy Efficiency Code as the foundation code for thermal efficiency in the state. The Florida Legislature has further mandated a total of 50% increase in thermal efficiency by the 2019 Edition of the Florida Building Code.
The Florida Building Commission continues to work to refine the code. Work has begun on the adoption of the 2010 Edition of the Florida Building Code. The next edition will use the International Code Council code family as the foundation code. A code change cycle for Florida will be opened after the ICC codes become available.
Please watch the www.MAFL.org CODES section for further updates, new information and enhancements. The Codes Message Board is up and running...submit your queries!
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Foundation Footnotes
The Foundation forges ahead into the second quarter of 2009 continuing to search for students to fill the programs and jobs for the students to stay employed. Mary Jane Mueller mj@masonryeducation.org sends out a huge thank you to A-1 Block for the donation to the Orlando apprenticeship program. Apprenticeship and Pre-apprenticeship activities and industry education and training information is posted on www.masonryeducation.org or go to www.mafl.org / Education for All section for links and overviews of everything training related. The Regional Regional Masonry Showcase was held in Starke, FL on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. This was a great opportunity for the youth to demonstrate the skills that they are learning in the classroom. Our next E-news will bring you updates and pics of the event. February 19, 2009 was a Great Day for the students in the Academy of Architectural and Building Sciences at Pedro Menendez High School in Saint Johns County. The Florida Masonry Apprentice and Educational Foundation, Al Herndon al@masonryeducation.org in conjunction with the NE Chapter of MAF and the Region 2 FCPA Group has become the Industry Sponsor of this Construction Academy at Menendez. Everyone has worked very hard to make this happen and we are looking forward to providing the students of Menendez with the knowledge and the guidance to become members of the construction industry. Thanks to everyone involved for their hard work in making this happen. View the article: http://staugustine.com/stories/022309/news_022309_033.shtml Al Herndon attended The National Career Academy Coalition Training for Career Academy Reviewers in Florida. This is an excellent opportunity for industry representative to have a voice in Career Academy Reviews in Florida. This was the first time the construction industry was asked to participate in suggestions for programs needed at Career Academies. |
| Masonry Construction & Inspection Certification Workshop
 March 20 & 21, 2009
NEFBA
Builders Association
103 Century 21 Drive
Suite 100
Jacksonville, FL 32216
MAF Members:
First time Attendees $349
Re-certification $199
Non-MAF Members:
First time Attendees $399
Re-certification $249
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| Structural Masonry Design Seminar
Date: March 25, 2009
Time: 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM (Lunch Served)
Location: Fort Myers, FL
Price: $199.00
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| If you have information you would like included in an upcoming newsletter, please contact
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