CAT Contracting Chosen for Largest Hail Claim of 2013
Hutchinson, KS (PRWEB) December 26, 2013 -- On the evening of July 23, 2013, the city of Hutchinson looked more like a scene from the movie Armageddon than that of the quiet midwest community its residents know. Hail in excess of grapefruit size battered the north east side of the city of nearly 50,000 residents with the brunt of the damage striking the area hospital and shopping center.
Patrons of the movie theatre commented the hail was so loud the movie could not be heard inside the cinema. Storms are common in these parts of the country, but what wasn't expected was the size, ferocity and damage these patrons would uncover when exiting their show.
Battered windshields, broken headlights, severed mirrors and their vehicles resembled the outside of a golf ball more so than an automobile. Over 500 vehicles totaled in the mall parking lot.
The vehicles weren't the only casualty on the property. The hail breached nearly every skylight on the property with some damaging interior walls. Water began pouring into the inside of the mall immediately when torrential rains insisted after the hail let up. The aftermath was devastating, but what was uncovered the next day was simply astounding.
Hutchinson Mall manager Dan Flores contacted the property owners, Rubloff Development in Rockford Illinois to notify them of the situation. Subsequently Matt Spanton owner of CAT Contracting was immediately notified of the emergency situation at hand.
CAT Contracting immediately dispatched their staff and crews to begin emergency repairs. Roofing, skylights, and exterior mitigation was under way just 12 hours after the hail struck the property. "This type of situation is right up our alley," said Spanton,"we're suited for such response and can react to these occurrences for our clients throughout the country. Time can cost our clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage if we falter, that's just not an option. That's not how we do things at CAT. When our customers call, we respond, no matter the situation."
Option it wasn't for the owners and management of CAT Contracting, as they had the entire 600,000 square foot mall water tight and ready for their insurance assessment in just under 48 hours. Over 60 men were dispatched to ensure the property loss was minimized and merchant operations were never shut down. Jon Moore, General manager for CAT Contracting stated, "We realized when called for this project that this didn't just involve one client. With over 50 stores inside, we needed to ensure they were all taken care of and operating at typical capacity."
"Insurance negotiations, bids, and pricing are something on a project like this that are continual, we knew the important thing was to determine a scope of initial repairs with the insurance adjusters so that we could get repairs under way, all parties mutually benefit from a water tight building," said president of CAT Contracting Matt Spanton. The nearly 7 million dollar roofing system began first while scope and pricing remained a continuous discussion for the Mechanical Units, the EIFS (stucco) painting, electrical work, and interior work.
After months of negotiations and nearly 80 men working on site, the project is rounding 3rd base and on the final stretch. "We have a bit over a million dollars in mechanical units to restore or replace in february, then final punch out work for warranty transfer," stated Curt Panfil Vice president of CAT Contracting.
With a final tally of nearly 11 million dollars, and 15 different trade disciplines this project is arguably the largest hail restoration project of 2013. With gross revenues nearing 18 million dollars in 2013 CAT Contracting is expanding into commercial markets in Dallas Texas and Denver Co. For more information on CAT Contracting, contact them at 855-TELL-CAT or contact them online at http://www.catcontracting.com.
Matt Spanton, +1 815-985-0875, [email protected]
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