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"We do all our own work locally," Maul says. "We sell it and have full control. The bottom line is we're doing the work so we can provide the quality."

He says making sure each crew understands the day's work ahead is a priority for the company. Each Maul crew includes a foreman who is responsible for the job and for communicating with the clients or tenants at the jobsite. Maul holds morning meetings each day with the job chief to make sure he knows what to expect each day. Then job chief is provided with MapQuest directions to each site and often an aerial view of the property obtained on the internet.

"We do a lot of sites half one day and half the next, and they need to understand that because that's what we've communicated to the client and the tenants" Maul says. "With the aerial view it's easy to show what parts are supposed to be done which days. Plus, it's just easier to talk about the job if you can look at a picture of it."

Tackling its biggest job
The 1 million-sq.-ft. job was for AMC Cantera 30, a movie theater complex in Warrenville. In addition to the main lot that served the theater the property includes six out lots, each serving a restaurant. None of the work could be done on the weekends as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the theater's bread-and-butter days, and the restaurants were concerned about the work chasing away customers.

"We feel it's our job to try to help the customers schedule their work. We've been around long enough to know when we will be likely to disrupt them the least and we try to help them out with that," Maul says. "We'll do it whenever they want but we do have some experience and insights in this and we try to pass that along."