Koch Construction Specialties

10/11/2024

I haven't been posting much lately. I'm fulltime working at Tallgrass Prairie during the week as their maintenance man. I'm still doing about 30-50 hrs a month on business projects. Doing most of this after hours or on weekends.

This was a satisfying little repair job on a historic stone fence near El Dorado. A garbage truck backed into this wall years ago and was sort of put back together. The orginal, large capstones were missing, so I split some new ones to finish out the proper look.

08/12/2024

I think it's time I catch everyone up on what I've been up to. First of all I want to put to rest the rumor that I retired! I have gotten too many comments from friends asking about my "retirement!" I HAVE NOT RETIRED! My business, Koch Construction Specialties is still active and alive and well. I do spend most of my week at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve as the maintenance man. I've been running a crew of summer Youth Conservation Corp. We've been repairing trails, mowing, clearing brush, doing repairs on equipment and patching stone fence, deep cleaning and organizing the buildings. In the evenings and weekends I've been selling stone, renting equipment, carving memorial stones and laying stone on a project in Matfield Green. Also been balancing family time, and even got my daughter married a few weeks ago! I havn't gone anywhere and don't seem to have much down time right now. Here's a few snapshots of the last 12 weeks as I've started this new chapter of my career.

05/26/2024

05/25/2024

This week, we started a new chapter in Koch Construction Specialties' story. After months of planning and soul searching, I've committed to filling the Maintenance position at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. I'll be bringing my 30 years of experience in stonework, carpentry, property management and preservation work to the National Park Service. This is a seasonal job lasting 6-8 months each year and I am planning to continue my own business as well. My plan is to be more selective of my projects; I hope to focus on artistic projects and unique or special builds. Letter carving and memorials will also be projects I will market.

My crew is going to continue our work, with my blessing, as two new companies.

My crew leader and foreman, Matt Heslet has created his Topeka based company called "Heslet Masonry Specialties". He'll be using his 20+ years of experience in masonry to lead his crew. He will focus on our customers in the northern portion of the Flint Hills. He can be reached at (785)383-8388.

Carl Kop led my crew in the shop and on jobs closer to Cottonwood Falls. He also brings 20+ years of experience as he starts his new company, "Professional Stone Masonry". He'll be focusing on our current workload in Marion, Chase and Lyon Counties. He can be reached at (785) 561-0628.

We plan to continue serving the Flint Hills with their stone needs. We hope that our new ventures will make us more efficient and available to our customers. (Click on the pictures for more information about the crews)

05/19/2024

Once in awhile we get a project that is a "Top Ten" favorite! This is our 5th vaulted cellar or bridge we've built with these forms. This rural Wabaunsee County ranch had the setting that just demanded the presence of a root cellar/ cave! Enjoy the slide show of our 3 week build!

05/13/2024

Here's a project we were involved in in Alma. Nice to see it all wrapped up. We did the stonework on the wainscoting and steps.

05/13/2024

We broke off a big project to do some work on a local Cottonwood Falls project. These fire escape doors are being turned into windows. This was the historic grade school for nearly a century. It is being remodeled into nice apartments. Glad to see it will have a second life!

04/20/2024

My friend Cooper Schroer owns Glimpse Drone Services. He did some really nice aerial video of the moongate we built at Clover Cliff Ranch Bed and Breakfast. I thought this would be a good way to remember one of my favorite projects my crew and I built in March of 2022.

03/14/2024

I was able to reset the clock on this nice wall today. I piece of farm equipment had caught the end of this wall years ago. Only took a total of 6 hours to fix. Here's some before and after pics

03/11/2024

This project has nearly 4 years of our involvement. Met with the customers to plan perhaps a year or more before we started demolition in November of 2021. Started with the disassembly and storage of a stone addition. Followed up with restoration and remodeling of the main stone home. Stepped back while the foundation and framing got done. Finished up with reusing the salvaged stone to accent the new addition.

03/07/2024

Little job but we earned it on this one! Basement wall restorations are a lot of work. We reused all the stone. Then carried another ton of new stone into the basement to beef it up. Carried out around 3000 lbs of dirt and debris that had displaced the wall. Don't forget the additional 2000 lbs of mortar carried into the basement. 3 guys 1 1/2 days. ( I helped dismantle and haul out dirt a half day as well, until my back gave out.)