Internship gratitude of working for Henges, read an employee’s unsolicited statement…
After graduating high school, I was adamant that I was going to further my knowledge of construction in some way before pursuing a degree in construction management. At many different places I searched for spots to become an intern or laborer. This was until I came upon Henges Insulation and applied to be a summer intern. I spent half of my days out on the field and the other half in the office. Throughout my summer days I gained a lot of experience in and off the field. I now feel more equipped to pursue a career in the construction industry and have gained a sense of professionalism on the office aspect of things.
I started out in the field the first few days of the week and would work the office the last few days of the week. My first few days with Henges I went out on the field with a couple other Installers to learn the basics of insulation. Before coming into the internship, I had never heard many insulation terms, framing terms, and other building terms. By just the first week I learned about many different types of insulation and how they work from blowing attics to installing batts into a newly built house. I thought coming into the internship that Insulation would be mostly all I would learn about, but there was so much more to it. There were many framing terms I came to understand from the meaning of California corners to Soffits. Soffits are actually very essential for houses as they provide airflow to keep moisture away to reduce mold and help the materials last longer. There are also so many kinds of insulation in general that I did not know about before. I not only installed batts and helped load the hopper when attics were being blown, but I also got to experience and help with a drill and fill, spider sprayed wall insulation, foam and caulk, and stucco board.There are overall many different terms and processes I learned throughout the summer.
When you do different kinds of insulation, you also see lots of stages of building a house. When putting stucco boards on, the house is a simple foundation. Then when the framing is finished and the wires are run, we go to do fire stopping and caulk the seams. With fire caulking, foam is used to block small holes that run between floors. This blocks oxygen from traveling between the cracks and holes in case of fire or smoke to stop it from spreading. Insulating the walls is done shortly after, but fire stopping, air sealing, and Rough in all have to be approved before doing so. Blowing the attic is last, soffits have to be put in before this can be done and sheetrock is put up before as well. Throughout these different phases of insulation, I ended up learning so much more about the process of building houses and got to really see them come together.
Not only did I learn important terms about framing and insulation and about the process of building houses, but my understanding of the safety and hard work on the jobsite grew as well. There is so much that goes into installing insulation and building houses in general that is sometimes not realized by someone who has never done it before. To realize the work that truly goes into each job makes someone greatly appreciate what is being built. To have this understanding is something I feel most people who are on the management side of construction should come to know.
When working in the office and getting to see how jobs were being scheduled, I learned the importance of understanding the construction stages and work gone into each stage . It is essential to know what work goes into each job and how different stages of construction work for respect and for managing the crews well. When jobs are being scheduled, there is contact between Henges and the builder. Both schedules are tight so it is necessary that the builders are ready and the crews work fast. Seeing this interaction between the builders, Henge’s management, the Salesmen, and the crews truly helped me to understand what goes into scheduling and planning jobs, especially in the construction world.
In the office, I saw how the jobs started as simply just quotes and worked their way through the process all the way to invoicing. I would assist in converting quotes into orders which then turned into tickets for the crews to complete the work. Once the work was completed, I helped our office manager to put in the material used and the hours on each job. Not only did I get to see how the jobs worked their way from quotes to invoices, but I also got to experience scanning and filing paperwork. I know that each of these tasks that I learned how to do in the office will prepare me for wherever I will work in the long run.
I was lucky enough to even see a little bit of what the salesmen do as well. Customers go through the salesmen first and they are the ones that prepare the quotes for them. They use measurements and what type of product the customer desires to come up with a quote. I got the experience of going out on a jobsite with one of our salesmen as he measured a house for a quote. To better understand where to measure and what he had already come up with, he used blueprints to do so. Therefore, I got a little bit more of a brief understanding on how to read blueprints. As we walked through the house measuring it, I studied the blueprint and compared it to the actual structure. Getting to see the house being measured for the quote gave me so much understanding of the salesmen’s line of work and helped me to understand much more of the process of building a home.
The internship overall gave me so much insight on the residential construction world as a whole. There are many processes, terminology, and tasks I learned that will be beneficial to both completing a degree in construction management and in helping me succeed in my future career. I learned so much beyond just insulation and now can grasp the idea of what goes into building a house. From scheduling, making quotes, orders, learning about work ethic, and understanding processes, I learned so much this summer. I am very grateful for what I have learned and know it’ll help greatly. I am also just beyond grateful for the opportunity that I had to do this internship because it was overall very beneficial.
-2024 Summer Experience