Introduction to Hawkes Construction Writing

THE RENOVATOR

What first drew me to building was the income; it was the best summer job a college freshman could wrangle.  It was the sweat and the sawdust that captured me.  The warm pungency of wet fir wood surrendering to the screaming saws and the hot dusty scent of summer mingling with the pop of nail guns, loud country music, sunscreen, and sweat.  This, it seemed to me, is what work should feel like.  Maybe I was tired, maybe I was sore, but the cold beer in my pitchy hand was well earned, and there, where once there was just dirt and scrub, sat a freshly framed house.

Some years later, what drew me back to building was the challenge of leadership and team management (and again, of course the income).  The ensemble of a well-run job site is a thing of beauty.  Five thousand square feet of home, humming under the saws, drills, and tape measures of fifteen men of six different trades; skillfully layered around each other, so as not to disturb the work of the others, while still maximizing the expediency of the larger project schedule. Not only is it a dance of efficiency and craftsmanship, but it is a dance of dependence: a network of specialists united under the banner of a larger goal, coordinated in step to allow for each other’s strengths and weaknesses, each in their proper time, by the hand their choreographer – me.

 The third and final time I returned to building it was for independence.  Tired of carrying the burdens and successes of others, tired of bumping against the ceiling of small, family run companies, I acquired my own license and set about the long slow process of building my own business.  My first projects were deeply humbling; I earned pennies as I replaced toilets and rotting fascia boards and built small cabinets.  But on this go, when I saw a problem, I knew exactly who was responsible, and I knew that if I was courageous enough, I could do the difficult work of fixing it.  A sole proprietor has nowhere to hide, and the most difficult dance in all my work history began in this chapter.  Even today, as each consequence of my own fear and laziness raises its ugly head, revealed by the fires of self-employment, I must either choose to ignore it and let a monster grow in the prison of willful blindness, or confront it head on, and encourage my soul by defeating it.  My record is far from perfect, and the failures are deeply personal and painful, but the successes engender a deep, soul-nourishing sense of meaning that follows in the vein of faith, marriage, and child rearing.

 This is HAWKES CONSTRUCTION WRITING.  It is a collection of stories, lessons, and on occasion, pieces of advice.  Most of the content contained within is about construction, mingled with my own faith and philosophy as it changes and matures over the course of my building career.  However, some of the content within has nothing directly to do with building but is just something I feel is worthy of sharing with anyone who is willing to read it.  Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoy!