At Minera Roof Trusses, we understand the pressure our customers face during building projects with tight deadlines. It is our pleasure to be able to take some of this away by offering a free on site measuring service to sites local to our offices in Wrexham or for a small fee further afield.
With requests for site visits at an all-time high, we thought we would let you in on the man behind those oh so accurate measurements. Meet Eric Meacock, our Operations Director who has worked as part of the team for 34 years and counting. Many of you may know him as the elusive man spearheading our social media efforts, never to be mentioned himself but keeping you up to date on all things MRT. We take a quick coffee break to sit down with Eric and find out a little more about his experiences of site surveying…
What does a typical day look like for you?
“There is no typical day, that’s what I like. My day could start at 3am or 7:30am. Luckily I’m an early bird. I will always have site visits booked in ahead of the day but as the day goes on I could receive calls from the office with additional site visit requests.”
How many site visits can you get through in a week?
“I can get through about 5 site measures a day depending on their size and complexity so I would say 25 a week at most.”
What is your favourite part of visiting sites?
“I love meeting builders and people in general. I enjoy seeing old friends just as much as I enjoy making new contacts, hearing about their current and upcoming projects. Anything with complexity that will get my grey matter working!”
What are your favourite builds to measure up for?
Eric jokes, “Single garages of course! No, realistically, the bigger the better. Recently we measured a 35 bedroom burnt out nursing home in Waltham Cross. That was a mammoth task – 4 hours of measuring completed without a glitch.”
What’s your snack of choice on the go?
Eric glances up as if this is a rhetorical question, “A ham sandwich, an apple and a coffee of course. Nothing more and nothing less!”
What is one trade secret to being successful that you will share with us?
“Always be EARLY. I will always leave an hour earlier than what I need to get to the site. We’re happy to wait for a customer but we would never keep a customer waiting ourselves.”
What are the most unusual buildings you have measured up for?
“They range from the conversion of a 13th century pig sty into a dwelling to measuring an old Virgin Megastore in High Cross shopping centre, Leicester for metal web joists. One time, I visited RAF Valley in Anglesey to measure up an extension on the officers’ MESS room. It took two hours from the time I arrived to finally get inside to start measuring due to strict security and health and safety procedures. Once on site, planes were taking off here, there and everywhere. Luckily ear plugs were provided. What an experience!”
What is the most lavish site measure you have completed?
“I visited the Duke of Westminster’s Eton Hall for a site measure in 2014. Before I was allowed to enter his grounds I had to participate in a protocol meeting where I was shown how to greet the Duke should we cross paths. The Pottery Room was being refurbished and I measured for metal web joists so they could lower the ceilings. Inside the walls were made of porcelain tiles – it was magnificent!”
What is the most challenging site measure you have completed?
“I was once requested to measure up at the Mansion House in Whitchurch built in the 1800s for an extension of the existing roof. When I arrived, the existing roof was made from carved trees. You could still see the knots from the branches on the rafters!”
What are you most excited about for the future of Minera Roof Trusses?
“Progression and change! Recently, I’ve been helping to show Ryan (one of our Designers) the ropes of site surveying. He’s been doing a great job and it’s good to have company on the roads with me, especially on long journeys.”
What is the furthest you have travelled for a site measure?
“Probably Dover, measuring for a new bungalow. Recently we’ve been supplying trusses for further afield like the Isle of Man and France. I’m wondering when the site visit requests will start coming in for places like those – it’s all possible!”
Whether you’re a seasoned architect with a busy workload or a first time self-builder looking for us to take responsibility for your measurements, we would be more than happy to help. Now you know whose capable hands you’ll be left in, feel free to contact us at our offices on 01978 758 869 to book your site measurement service today.
