Professional Watershaping
We know that the equipment and materials they offer us stand at the core of everything we design and/or build as watershapers. Nonetheless, it’s easy to overlook the significant role played by those who manufacture, distribute and support the products we use. As I see it, however, discounting the role of suppliers in the watershaping process is a serious mistake. Not only do these companies
There’s no way around the fact that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are nasty stuff. They smell bad, they are highly flammable, they damage the atmosphere and they can be acutely toxic to human and other living beings. At the same time, however,
Interview by Eric Herman Through the past quarter-century, Skip Phillips - owner of Questar Pools in Escondido, Calif., and one of the founders of The Genesis 3 Design Group - has served as an expert witness in more than 300 lawsuits involving pool construction. He estimates that
When good concrete coatings go bad, moisture is often the culprit. Even cured concrete can emit enough moisture to blister, cloud or delaminate a coating, especially when a slab with
In the “My Perspective” piece I wrote for WaterShapes EXTRA! last May, I shared my thoughts about the universal nature of water and how our relationship to it binds watershapers from all specialties — pools, ponds, waterfalls and all the rest. Along the way, I made the point that water, in all of its perceived abundance, is too often
Looking beyond standard modes of operation is nothing new for watershapers: It’s how many of us grow professionally. In my case, for example, I’ve moved in a variety of different directions in my career, and I’ve found that each of these endeavors has added substance and insight to both my business and professional acumen. Some experiences are more valuable than others, of course, but I’ve always found something positive and a few times have watched my business transform and grow before my eyes. Looking back, it’s been quite a journey. I began my career more than 20 years ago with
These days, it seems natural for people to be reluctant to take risks. We are, after all, still feeling the effects of a severe recession, and lots of folks are hunkered down, saving their pennies and waiting for something good to happen. I completely understand this conservative impulse, especially on the business front, but it’s also obvious to me that if we’re going to take the necessary steps to return to more prosperous times, then we as individuals, as an industry and even as a society will at some point need to start
Welcome to the first installment of “References,” an occasional feature that highlights professionals who contribute to the watershaping process. I (and eventually some others) will be using this space to identify people who have had a significant effect on my work – and to suggest how similar associations might be helpful to other watershapers. This time around, I’ll deal with something that has always been dear to my heart:
If you ask my employees and manage to get an unguarded response, they’ll tell you that I’m an unrelenting pain in the neck – a real tyrant. That’s because I’m always asking nagging sorts of questions such as, “Why isn’t this project finished yet?” or “How much longer is this going to take?” or “Can you speed things up?” My point in asking, of course, is to let them know on some level that if I were on site and was responsible for what was happening, we’d already be
Although many people steadfastly defend their efforts at becoming a project's low bidder by saying, "There's just no other way to bring in the business," the sad fact is that this practice is a cancer — one that degrades the product, leaves the clients unhappy and diminishes
