About Grindstone Construction

Ben Cunningham founded Grindstone Construction, LLC in 2016. He is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Monroe with a bachelor’s degree in construction management.

In 2005, he started his professional Construction Management career as a Project Engineer for CDI Contractors, a general contractor, based out of Little Rock, AR. He worked mainly in the field and worked his way up to Assistant Superintendent. During his tenure at CDI Contractors, Ben gained great experience and exposure while building multiple business relationships within the state of Arkansas and Texas. CDI Contractors provided a solid knowledge base for Ben and taught him industry standards, best management practices, and procedures. He was surrounded by an outstanding group of construction professionals at CDI.

Ben continued his Commercial Construction career as a Project Manager for Rogers Electric, a national electrical contractor, in Irving, TX, and Kemco Waterproofing in Dallas, TX. Ben has mutual respect and understanding for general contracting and subcontracting. He was a vital role in the construction of several large-scale commercial projects in Retail, Government, Hospitality, Cultural, Renovation, and Health Care while working as a subcontractor in the Dallas Metroplex. He was exposed to several of the best general contractors in the nation, including Balfour Beatty, Austin Commercial, JE Dunn, EMJ, Whiting-Turner, Yates, Hensel Phelps, McCarthy, and several others.

In 2011, Ben and his wife Brittney were blessed with the birth of their first child. At this time, they decided it was best to move back to her hometown, Monroe, LA to be near family. Ben made the switch from Commercial Construction to Residential Construction. He managed the construction of over thirty single-family homes across Northeast Louisiana and Southeast Arkansas. He also managed Multifamily projects in Northeast Louisiana; including (2) thirty-five home tract subdivisions and a historical remodel of an old theater that was turned into an apartment complex.

In 2014, Ideal Construction Co. offered Ben an opportunity to get back into the Commercial Construction Industry as a Project Manager. Ben successfully managed on average fifteen million dollars per year for Ideal Construction. Some of his most memorable projects included high school buildings, gymnasiums, hospitals, clinics, fire stations, and a hotel.

After building a great network in the Construction Industry and learning the way, Ben knew the time was right for him to follow his dream to run his own company, Grindstone Construction, LLC.

Grindstone Construction, LLC believes team approach management is the best method to ensure quality, under-budget, and on-schedule projects. We follow the methods outlined below:

1. PLANNING:

Planning is key to the success of the project. Planning your project helps to ensure all team members are working towards the same goal with the same understanding of the construction documents and identifying needs.

2. SITE ACCESS:

During the planning phase, we will also coordinate with the Owner to establish site access routes, construction boundaries, material lay-down areas, and any important dates and times that may affect site access. This information will then be distributed to all team members, subcontractors, and suppliers.

3. QUALITY CONTROL:

A quality-constructed project is one of our main goals. We stress this every day in our workplace. Our quality control starts with providing the right tools, equipment, and resources for our staff. On the document management side of construction, we will utilize PlanGrid, Planswift, Bluebeam software, and AIA documents for recording and
tracking all the various construction documents, reports, and data.

Thorough shop drawings and submittals review are critical to preventing costly and timely errors. Once a new trade mobilizes, we hold pre-installation meetings with our subcontractors to enhance them and to gain the assurance that they know how the manufacturers recommend their materials to be installed.

Our Field Superintendent is onsite every day work is being performed and will review each trade’s workmanship and materials that are delivered to the site. Any work or material that is incorrect or of poor quality will be corrected and then reviewed again to ensure that it has been done properly. Our Owner will visit the project weekly to
review progress, quality, and concerns as well. The subcontractors and suppliers we have selected are some of the best in business for this project. We have relationships with them and are very confident in each one of their abilities. This is critical to a smooth and quality-built project.

4. COORDINATION:

A key factor in keeping a construction project on schedule is coordination. We hold a preconstruction meeting with all our subcontractors prior to starting construction to enforce the rules and regulations of the project. We hold weekly progress/coordination meetings once per week to address any potential challenges. We encourage the Owner to participate as well. We hold a special MEP coordination meeting as well to ensure we limit conflicts with the routing of duct, conduit, or piping.

5. PHASING & SEQUENCING:

We have set up this project schedule for 3 months to achieve the most cost and time-efficient manner for construction. We are flexible. If our current sequence does not meet your needs, we can re-evaluate the schedule.