If you are looking for experience you can count on, then MCA’s Sales Professional, Tom Bernacki, is your man. Tom has over 26 years’ experience in commercial concrete construction that he uses for his customers’ benefit.

For starters Tom worked his way through college making and breaking concrete test cylinders for a construction materials testing lab. After college he worked for a ready-mix company in charge of quality control and was “the guy” in charge of several 50-story high rise projects in Houston, TX.

He’s also worked at a forming company selling Ellis Shoring and Gates and MEVA forming systems. He was involved with the US introduction of Zig-Zag Bar Supports and STABOX. While working for Ardex Engineered Cements he was trained in substrate preparation and repairs using cementitious materials.

“Tom’s broad construction background is of value to us on the job,” says Finn Eikeland of Walsh Construction. “He always finds the right answer to our questions and MCA always comes through with what we need. And it’s always delivered on time.”

Tom celebrated his five year anniversary with MCA this past August and is glad to be part of the MCA team. “I have always sold service, not just products, and MCA believes in that 110%,” says Bernacki. “With four locations now and a fleet of over 20 trucks MCA gets the customer what they need when they need it.”

Tom has an active personal life. He has been married for thirteen years to Gayle and they have a 9-year-old son, Will, a karate brown belt holder. The household also includes Sunny, a sheltie dog, and Hammy, a hamster (what else!).

Fishing, cooking, and watching the Cubs, Bears, and NASCAR races occupy Tom’s free time. “I combine my hobbies with my work life,” says Tom. “I often cook and cater “topping out” parties for my customers. I also cater MCA’s Open House events. I really enjoy doing it and so far I haven’t gotten any complaints on my cooking!”

Tom wants to tell all his customers how much he appreciates their business and that he looks forward to continuing to deliver what they need in the future.

Well, like most things in life the simple answer is “It depends.”

If the wall is less than 8’ tall, is relatively short, and has a lot of cut-outs and corners, then you’re better off using a hand-set steel-ply forming system. These systems go together pretty easily and are extremely versatile to more easily accommodate jogs and openings.

Let’s say that you need to pour a longer and taller solid wall, then your best bet is to go with a gang forming system like a clamping forming system. Use Giant Gang Form Panels that are 8’ wide by 9’ high. These are clamped together on the ground for long wall stretches and are then lifted into place by a crane. By using these forms in larger jobs, you save up to 80% of the man hours required with a hand-set forming system.

Another difference between the two types of systems is that the former generally are used for residential foundation applications and the latter are used for commercial buildings. The hand-set systems use a lot of ties that become part of the concrete work, and, therefore, are a consumable – and a cost – of the job. The ganging systems use a lot fewer ties and those that are used (called “tapered” ties) do NOT become part of the concrete. They can be used over and over again.

Not sure what’s the best system to use? Ask your MCA Sales Professional. MCA even rents both types so you can decide what works best for you for different applications.