October 16, 2008 - The General Contractor is mobilizing; soon all this prairie grass will become Kinetic's new addition.

October 23, 2008 - looking down from the roof of our 1975 heat treating shop you can see the roughed in drive to our reception area along with all the excavating equipment and gravel trucks bringing in fill to our project.

December 16, 2008 - After positioning the joists the ironworkers weld them into place.

December 17, 2008 - Another damp overcast day; but the ironworkers are almost to the west end of the building with the joists.

December 18, 2008 - The sun is out but that also brings bitter cold to the ironworkers working on the job. The good news is that all the girders are in place and they are finishing hanging the joists.

December 18, 2008 - After installing the girders and joists come the cross ties. With 2 - 15 ton cranes with no bumper restrictions our structural engineer made certain that the structural integrity of the building was beyond question. He does this with steel rods tying the girders and joists together. Once the concrete blocks go up x-braces will be added strengthening the columns and preventing them from failure when the cranes are moving with heavy loads. At the end of construction we have a tight structural envelope for our building.

December 18, 2008 - It's starting to look like a factory. But everyone is starting to button up as the weather man (correctly) predicted a severe winter snow storm for December 19th with 8 inches [203mm] plus snow and very high winds and drifting. There will be no one on the jobsite December 19th.

January 2, 2009 - The iron workers continue strengthening the 1975 ceiling; today they work on the south side of the deck positioning 4 beams in place and welding them between the existing beams ensuring they are tight to the ceiling deck. Here iron worker foreman Doug Lenz prepares the rigging to lift one of the beams into place.

January 2, 2009 - The four beams needed to handle the parapet load factor for the south west corner of our 1975 plant are in place. The two beams on the left side over the garage door caused more then a casual problem for our iron workers. As far as these iron workers are concerned "it's Miller Time" and after watching them manhandle these four beams into placed they all deserved a cold one - or two.

January 5, 2009 - Everyone who has done a big construction job knows that there always comes a day when “it hits the fan.” January 5th was that day; you know things are not going well when a staffer comes into your office and says: “Do you know there is a lake outside our office?”

January 5, 2009 - While preparing to connect our new 8” fire protection line to the existing line the contractor removed the "concrete buttress" from the end of the existing 8" tee a little prematurely. You do that combined with below freezing weather and excellent water pressure and the tee cap blows off and we had water pouring out all over the front of our lawn. Afterwards the Greendale Water Department did some calculations and determined that by the time the street valve was turned off over 635.000 gallons [2,403,725 liters] of water had poured out of the broken tee. At least the lawn was froze so it did not turn to a field of mud; and if it had happened over the weekend we would probably have been mopping water out of our offices.

January 20, 2009 - After more then a week break caused by sub-zero temperatures and even worse wind chill our iron workers were able to get back to working outside. Our building is starting to look like a building as they begin nailing the roof deck to the roof structure.

January 20, 2009 - You don’t have to hear iron worker foreman Doug Lenz answer the question: "How is the deck installation going?" His two thumbs up tells Kinetic that the deck is being installed in good order.

January 21, 2009 - After nailing and screwing the deck to the roof structure we finally got our building 100% covered. And we are proud of the compliments we are hearing from Greendale about how nice our new addition is looking.

March 16, 2009 - after a planned winter construction halt of almost 2 months on a 50°F [10°C] day work resumes. The first order of business is setting up the automated scaffolding which will save the masons countless hours erecting and taking down old fashioned scaffolding.

March 18, 2009 - the first of the several thousand concrete masonry units (CMU’s) arrive and get positioned.

March 20, 2009 - Block by block the masonry works begins; 10” [254mm] CMU’s on the outside, then 2” [51mm] insulation, and finally a 6” [152mm] CMU on the inside. This building will be low cost to operate with the insulation in the walls and with the double block wall construction it will surely stand the test of time.

March 23, 2009 - Viewing the west exterior wall from the interior it is starting to look like a factory.

March 25, 2009 - The west exterior wall is being completed and work is well underway on the north exterior wall.

March 27, 2009 - This is the 3rd factory addition these masons have constructed for Kinetic. They know that Joseph Masters is the nicest client in the world - and the most demanding. They are not just building a factory; they are building a Kinetic addition and their best workmanship is required.

April 7, 2009 – The Scherrer masons are making good headway on the north exterior wall. The “jack up” scaffolding not only saves time but stress on the masons. With old style scaffolding the masons stood on the same level as the CMU’s; causing them to constantly bend to pick up the blocks. With the “jack up” scaffolding the masons are below the level of the blocks so bending, along with back strain, is eliminated.

April 13, 2009 – As the west and north walls near completion the size of this addition is becoming apparent.

April 15, 2009 – Scherrer mason Dan Binstock works on building up the CMU wall between our 1975 shop and our higher elevation 2009 addition. Dan Binstock is an old hand laying block and stone at Kinetic; he was on the masonry crew building our 1991 office addition.

April 15, 2009 – The roof is finally going down; insulation, rubber membrane and stone ballast. This means that several other trades can start installing conduit, sprinkler pipe, HVAC equipment, and plumbing pipes in the joist area and not worry that rain will damage their work.

April 16, 2009 – It’s never too early to learn how an industrial factory is built. Here experienced Scherrer mason Peter Jones teaches Clayton Masters some of the finer points of putting down mortar on CMU’s. Clayton has a bit to go to make apprentice mason!

April 16, 2009 - When you want to learn construction methods you need to be taught by the best. Here Clayton Masters is with Scherrer Construction Job Superintendent Fred Lininger. Fred is a familiar face at Kinetic; he was the job superintendent for our 1985 plant addition, our 1994 plant addition, along with numerous remodeling projects and machine base constructions, plus with projects too numerous to mention at Joseph Masters' farm and Cash Masters' home.

Fred was planning on retiring in June of 2008 until Joseph Masters said that he would like Fred to postpone his retirement until after our addition was build. Fred and Joseph work well together and Kinetic was happy that Fred agreed to postpone his retirement to supervise this plant addition.

According to Scherrer Executive Vice-President Jerry Scherrer: "Fred started working for Scherrer in 1967.  His brother Dave began work for us in 1966 as a superintendent. Fred's son is also working for Scherrer as a superintendent. Fred's father had a small construction company and the family grew up in the construction business.

"Fred became my right hand man when we were working together on a project at Nestle Chocolates in Burlington, WI. He became a job superintendent when Scherrer was doing a job for Gander Mountain in Wilmot, WI.

"He has been my right hand man ever since and I am having second thoughts about letting him retire and making me go back to work!

"Fred is a valued and trusted employee."

Clayton: you are learning from the best! Take notes and listen well.

April 23, 2009 – All that remains on the north wall is to complete the bond beam and do some clean up work. The east wall is also almost complete. If it stops raining the masons will soon finish the south wall. While April showers bring May flowers the rain also prevents the masons from working.

April 29, 2009 - Against a grey sky the factory air conditioners are lifted and positioned in place.

May 4, 2009 - The Scherrer masons lifting concrete into place to fill in the bond beam on the south wall.

May 5, 2009 - The interior south wall is almost complete; only 2 wall sections to go! Then just several exterior sections until the masonry work is complete

May 7, 2009 - Looking towards our offices along the completed north wall of our factory addition.

May 12, 2009 - Nick Martorano from PieperPower is busy putting up conduit and pulling wire in the ceiling area. He has a lot more to pull before his job is done!

May 14, 2009 - All that remains is the fascia, paint, and landscaping and our new addition is ready.

May 15, 2009 Scherrer carpenter Bruce Brenner is finishing up the blocking behind the fascia. The exterior is nearing completion.

May 21, 2009 - Kinetic's 400S Mattison Grinder is getting a proper base. Here Scherrer cement finishers are pouring the base for this huge grinder. Just how much concrete was used for the base? 25-1/2 yards [19.4 cubic meters] weighing approximately 84,150 pounds [31,408 kilos]. This 3 foot [.91 meter] thick base will ensure the stability of our Mattison 400S grinder; our customers will appreciate its ability to hold tight tolerances and give a good finish.

May 22, 2009 - It's not exactly the same as when the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 but today the wall between our 1975 plant and our 2008 addition came down giving us a large doorway between the two buildings. Our employees are looking forward to working in the new addition and now can look though the doorway and watch the progress of the construction.

May 29, 2009 - Things are moving quickly on the south wall. While the sheet metal worker is putting up the fascia the painters are right behind him giving the wall a second coat of paint

June 3, 2009 - Work continues inside the plant as the first coat of block filler is applied to the north interior wall. The very large pipe mid-wall between the floor and crane rail is a 3 inch [76mm] compressed air pipe which circles the building to provide compressed air to both the machines and machine operators.

June 4, 2009 - The north face of the plant is starting to get finished; and we are very proud of the many compliments we are receiving from our Greendale neighbors about what how nice our expansion looks and is for the community.

June 4, 2009 - In the rear of the building we are adding a 6000 square foot [560 square meter] concrete storage area. We will need this area to store steel awaiting processing.

June 6, 2009 - The Scherrer crew is getting the 8 inch [200mm] steel bollards ready for installation at the south garage door stoop. Concrete finisher Scott Bower is making sure that the Bollard is plumb. It is too late to make corrections after it is filled with concrete and with its base several feet into concrete!

June 10, 2009 - Scherrer job superintendent Fred Lininger has the honor of removing the Kinetic sign that has been on the face of our building since 1975. Prior to that it was on our shop in Milwaukee. Fred is treating the letters with kid gloves as he knows that Kinetic Vice President of Operations Cash Masters will be putting them into storage so that they can be used on our next addition.

June 12, 2009 - Our outside concrete storage area is getting finalized. The rebar has been laid and today the cement finishers are pouring and finishing the slab so we will have a large area to store steel awaiting production.

June 23, 2009 - A heavy duty industrial floor requires a lot of rebar for strength. Our floor has a double layer of #4 rebar; the rebar will strengthen our 8 inch [203mm] concrete floor.

June 23, 2009 - When we built our 1992 office addition we used what was known as phenolic insulation; unfortunately just after it was installed the roofing industry learned of its problems. What happened is that the phenolic insulation caused a degrading of the steel decking weakening it and causing leaks. It got to the point at Kinetic that a decision was made to remove the rubber membrane and phenolic insulation and replace it. The problem is on a flat rubber membrane roof you have round stones serving as ballast which have to be removed first. How do you do that? Use a big vacuum cleaner! It sucks up 2 inch [50mm] round stones just like your home vacuum cleaner - only a lot noisier.

June 24, 2009 - The finishing touches begin arriving as trees and shrubs are installed in the front of the addition.

June 25, 2009 - The east ½ of our floor is becoming a reality. But the Scherrer cement finishers have a hard job made worse by 90°F [32°C] ambient temperature with extremely high humidity. They poured 14 loads of concrete and earned every penny of their pay.

June 25, 2009 - Once the concrete is in place the job of finishing begins. Along the walls and in corners the concrete finishers work as they have for years; on their knees using hand trowels. But when finishing large spaces today's concrete finisher relies on a "ride on concrete power trowel". Here Scherrer concrete finisher Lee Kirkham is riding the power trowel smoothing out the floor ensuring a good hard finish. For those with experience finishing concrete when you start getting a deep brown color you know that the job of finishing the floor is being done correctly.

June 30, 2009 - The rod-busters are working hard to install balance of the #4 rebar needed on the west end of our shop. These guys have a permanent backache as most of their work is done bending over tying the rebar in place.

July 1, 2009 - There is an expression in the concrete business that "time and concrete wait for no man" and the concrete finishers from Scherrer learned that expression years ago. Using a combination of tools and brawn they are getting the concrete floor set up for the "ride on concrete trowel" to finish the floor to our exacting requirements.

July 1, 2009 - While the concrete finishers are hard at work inside finishing the floor our landscaper is working on adding some bushes, shrubs, and trees to eliminate the mess made by our construction project and make the front of our new factory an attractive addition  to the Village of Greendale.

July 13, 2009 - Our old sign was only removed June 10th but that is too long for our building to be without identification. Working with our good friends at Poblocki Signs, who made our original sign for our Milwaukee plant, we had a new sign ready and waiting for installation. We have already gotten numerous comments for how this sign tastefully identifies our plant.

July 13, 2009 - On July 23rd we showed the start of the roof remediation project caused by the use of phenolic insulation. In case you have phenolic insulation and are concerned about its effect on your roof deck here is a good example. The damage to our roof deck was disastrous and without question because of the rusting the integrity of the roof deck was in question. If you have phenolic insulation on your roof use this as an example to immediately remove it and take the established protocol to correct the problem. If you would like to see additional photos of this project please email and he will be happy to forward you a CD showing the complete amount of phenolic insulation damage to our roof.

July 16, 2009 - The front exterior finishing touches continue as the landscapers start adding sod around the new shrubs and bushes.

July 21, 2009 - It only took 39 years but with some help from Poblocki Signs we finally got our address posted. Just don't ask why the address sign of 6775 West Loomis Road is located on South 68th Street; that is too long of a story to tell here. The sign needs a little cleaning up around it, sod added, electricity brought to it for night time illumination and it will be ready - finally!

July 28, 2009 - After 39 years our guests will finally get to drive up to our reception area. It was a hot afternoon but the asphalt pavers from Black Diamond are used to these working conditions and our visitors finally have their own parking area.

August 3, 2009 - When you lay sod on a hot muggy August day in Wisconsin you have to turn the irrigation immediately or the sod will go bad. We increased the size of our irrigation system to take care of our larger "front yard".

August 7, 2009 - Pieper Electric has gotten the high bay fluorescent lamps installed and energized. Our employees are all commenting about how good the light is in the new addition and how they will like working in it.

August 20, 2009 - We turned on the lights and had everyone in Greendale talking about how attractive the exterior lighting and KINETIC sign makes our new addition look. When we saw the final exterior lightening effect all we could say is: "this looks better than we thought!"  And we had our employees saying how proud they felt when friends complimented them on working at a company that cares about how it looks to Greendale and the world.

September 11, 2009 - It isn't the end but it is the beginning of the end. Our two 15 ton [13,600kg] cranes are being installed and it required a mobile crane in the middle and two riggers at each end "trying" to drop the crane wheels on the crane rails. The most common heard expression was: "how come we didn't call for more clear space to install this sucker."

September 11, 2009 - This rigger earned his pay wrestling the crane end to a position where he was able to drop the crane wheels on the crane rails. And yes there were many "expletives deleted" in accomplishing his task. But the cranes were installed in good order.

September 18, 2009 - Just because the sign on the crane says 15 ton [13,600kg] Kinetic VP of Operations Cash Masters is a "show me" type of guy. So he had the cranes tested and ran them to a 37,500 lbs [17,000kg] load which is 125% of guaranteed load. The cranes passed the test and the structural steel didn't make any funny noises so we are comfortable that Kinetic's new building and cranes are ready to go to work.

September 21, 2009 - There is an old opera expression that "it ain't over till the fat lady sings". When an industrial building in the United States has an overhead crane "it ain't finished" until you proudly hang the American flag on the cranes. Our flags remind everyone at Kinetic that every shipment from our Greendale plant, whether going across the state or across the ocean, proudly has a sticker on it that says: "Made in America". We are now starting to bring equipment into our "2008 addition". We hope you have enjoyed watching Kinetic transform a green field into a building which is an addition to the most modern and advanced factory in the world for the manufacturing of industrial knives. We enjoyed designing and building it.