SPF Rig Last Seen on Barge   
 

Location, location, location. For this spray polyurethane (SPF) crew, the importance of location couldn’t have been a more important part of the job. The location for this personal residence, although a dream come true for the homeowners, caused quite a ripple in the Coler Natural Insulation crew’s plans.

Situated on the eastern edge of Canandaigua Lake — one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York — the home would have been a challenge for anyone to reach. For the Colers and their SPF equipment, though, the location proved to be a transportation nightmare. Situated at the bottom of a 185-foot cliff — with the lake at its front and a 30-degree driveway 200 feet away at the top of the cliff — the house might just as well have been on an island of its own.
  

“I noticed our first potential hurdle of the project when we needed a four-by-four truck to even get down the half-mile-long driveway, which was 30 degrees plus,” said insulator and co-owner (with wife Kathy) Jim Coler. “Then it was a good hike just to get to the edge of the cliff.” It would have been impossible to stretch a hose to the house from the driveway, let alone inside the house, so Coler considered other alternatives.

One if by Land, Two if by Sea
   
With the 200-plus steps snaking up the cliff side being a “daunting” obstacle, Coler decided not to try to bring the equipment by land. He decided the only way to get the rig close enough to the house was to leave the equipment on a barge while the SPF crew sprayed. Now, how to get to the shoreline?

Coler called several barge companies that serviced Canandaigua Lake. After high estimates, the homeowner negotiated a contract with a company that had a barge large enough to handle the size and weight of the SPF rig. Having the ability to add the rig to the barge’s insurance didn’t hurt either. Just in case there was an accident and the barge (with rig) sank, the Colers would be covered!
   
While the two-man crew headed to the job site by truck, Coler met the barge at a docking site near Bristol Springs, N.Y., at 7 a.m. that first morning. Unfortunately for Coler, who was ready to drive aboard and start the cruise, a minor hitch delayed him.
   
At the shoreline, a load of stone had been delivered and left on the path to the dock. Instead of driving right onto the barge, Coler had to wait two hours until all of the stone had been moved out of his way. Finally able to come aboard, he loaded the rig onto the barge without a problem.
 

By 9:30 a.m., the barge captain casted off, and they were on their way to the other side of the lake where the house waited. Luckily, the water that day was calm, and the barge was able to make it to the house near Rushville, N.Y.  If the water had been at all choppy, they would have been forced to turn about and head back.
   
Two hours later, after crossing the lake, the barge was tied off on shore. By then, the crew members who’d traveled by land had already finished prepping the house. They had taped off all areas — including windows and doors — that they didn’t want to be sprayed, and they had left the 1,200 square feet of wood to be sprayed uncovered. With the rig finally on site and the house ready for foam, the crew put on their 3M full-face respirators and got to work insulating the building envelope.


Finders Keepers?

Since there was no shoreline for the trailer to unload on, Coler left it on the barge while the crew sprayed the house. That meant that the crew had to carry all equipment off the barge or from the truck up the cliff. This included the hose that stretched from the barge to the house.
   
Using a Graco E20 system, the crew spent the next six hours spraying four inches of BioBased Insulation’s 501w SPF on the walls and six inches to underside of the roof.  At 5:45 p.m., after they’d finished putting the final touches of foam on the walls, the crew packed up the rig and got ready to head home. They trimmed any excess foam off the walls and roofline, cleaned up any remaining equipment around the house, and left some trimmings and tools on the steps to pick up the next morning.
   
The crew headed home after dark. They drove from the lake house back to headquarters with Coler, prepared to retrieve the rig the next morning after it was motored back to the other side of the lake.
   
“When the crew went to get the rig the next morning, the barge and our rig were not to be found,” Coler said. They called the barge operator all morning and waited anxiously for a return call. In the meantime, they headed back to the job site in Rushville to get the tools and trimmings they’d left on the steps. They were hoping that the barge was there, but, alas, it was not. To this SPF crew, the next logical step was to go search for the barge.
   
The crew spent the morning driving around the southern edge of the lake looking for their rig when, three-and-a-half hours after they were supposed to meet the barge, the contractor called to tell them where it had gone.
   
“He had taken it to a different boat ramp where he had another job,” Coler continued. “He neglected to inform us of this change until about 10:30 a.m.” Unfortunately, this caused the Coler crew more than just a little extra gas money and heartburn. It also delayed another job that was scheduled to start that morning.
 
The crew immediately headed to the barge to head to the next job. They took with them their SPF rig and a new appreciation for “fudge” time.

“What we learned from this experience is to plan additional time before and after a job when working with a contractor,” said Coler. “Other contractors will focus on other jobs and fit you in at their convenience.”
 
It’s a good thing the Coler Natural Insulation crew remained calm and focused. With these qualities, they were able to get not only the lake house job done on time, but were also able to make up for the lost time the missing barge had caused. One drop of patience went a long way.

   


 

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