News Center

2023: New Piping/Plumbing Fab Shop

The plumbing and mechanical piping fabrication shop has moved locations to 12959 Wright Road in Buda. This shop is 20,000 sq feet and includes areas for mechanical piping and plumbing fabrication, as well as supporting our process piping and manufacturing division.

To maximize our production, we utilize:
•(2) Bridge cranes covering over 8000 sq feet.
•(5) welding stations with positioners that handle up to 42” pipe.
•Plasma burn table for cutting carbon steel, stainless steel and cast-iron pipe.
•Victaulic RG5200i and VE416FSD for grooving carbon steel, stainless steel and copper pipe
•(5) Miller Pipe Works multi process welding machines.
•Tiger Stop auto load saw for cutting copper and pvc pipe.
•Segregated material staging areas for each project.

The mechanical piping and plumbing crews regularly fabricate components for various systems needed in health care, hospitality, high rise office space, multifamily residential, manufacturing, and semiconductor facilities. The shop frequently works with pvc, copper, cast iron, stainless steel, and carbon steel to support the field installation crews. We provide these services through in-depth planning on all projects to meet or exceed the schedules. The shop provides on-time deliveries and avoids the need to store large quantities of pipe and fittings on the job site. The shop takes great care to follow all internal and job specific policies and procedures for material storage, assembly, and QA/QC documentation.

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2023: Clean Room Fabrication Facility

The Porter Company is proud to announce the opening of our clean room fabrication facility.
The cleanroom fabrication facility is now up and running at 2581 South Loop 4 in Buda, Texas. This 5000 sq foot shop has 1550 +/- sq ft. of cleanroom and gowning area- with the remaining space used for office, storage, and fabrication support. The cleanroom portion has been certified as meeting the requirements for FS 209E class 100 or ISO 146441 ISO 5. This shop will support prefabrication for process piping in manufacturing and semiconductor facilities.
To maximize our production, we utilize.

  • AXXAIR model SAXX200 orbital welding machines
  • AMI model 207 welding machines
  • McElroy Polygon Butt Fusion welding machines for Polypropylene pipe systems
  • Swagelock Tubing Benders

If the situation requires, we can separate the cleanroom into two areas allowing the fabrication of stainless steel and polypropylene pipe fabrications at the same time. The shop has the capabilities to fabricate stainless steel, both welded and bent, weld polypro and pvdf, and bend PVC for chemical piping systems. We utilize the same internal and job specific policies and procedures as our piping shop to ensure quality conformance and timely completion and deliveries.

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Employee Spotlight: Homer Fernandez, General Superintendent

As we state in our Core Values, we believe we can’t succeed in the work that we do without each other. We’ve got a lot of amazingly talented and hardworking people on our team and so we’re starting an employee spotlight feature here on our social media. We’d like to introduce you to our first Employee Spotlight: General Superintendent, Homer Fernandez.

Homer’s the General Superintendent here at The Porter Co. on the piping/plumbing side. When we spoke, he was just hoping off the Austin FC Stadium and onto TxDot. Homer’s been crushing it in the construction industry since right out of high school and he’s been with The Porter Co. for nearly that long – just over 11 years! His dad was a welder so as soon as Homer graduated, he went straight to Local 286 and started his career as a pipefitter.

When Homer started with us, he was out at our pipe fabrication shop on Willow Springs working as a welder. Over the years, he’s worked on many jobs but says his favorite was University of Texas Chiller Station #7 because of the massive pipe builds. In the past three years that Homer’s been a Superintendent, the most challenging aspect of his role has been the balancing act of accommodating for all people while still being productive in the project timeline. Overall, seeing the projects come together and become part of the Austin skyline and industrial landscape is something Homer is proud to have accomplished in his career.

An avid Texas Longhorns fan, a hunter, a fisherman, and a father to two beautiful little girls, Homer is most proud to have been able to create a career with longevity and provide a good life for his family. We are so grateful to Homer for his leadership and reliability over the years and we look forward to many more!

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Women in Construction 2021: Denise Moon, Project Manager

The Porter Co. recognizes the need for more women in the construction industry and the unique perspective and skills they bring to the field. We’re concluding Women’s History Month by highlighting another one of the Women in Construction on our team.

Project Manager Denise Moon didn’t set out to have a career in the construction industry. With an education focused in International Business, she happened upon the chance to work for General Contractor early in her career. She worked for a handful of GCs and a Mechanical Contractor before joining The Porter Co. in 2016. In her role as Project Manager, Denise provides direction and leadership to the project team by working closely with the GC, clients, and suppliers. We reached out to her to tell us about her perspective and experience of being a woman in the male-dominated construction field.

⚙️What are some of the challenges that you face as a woman in this industry?
“It is no hidden fact that women are dramatically underrepresented in the construction industry. The last I checked, there was less than 10% female representation in the construction sector. The biggest challenge is unconscious bias and the typical gender stereotype.”
⚙️What do you think are some of the advantages of being a woman in the construction industry?
“As a female, we can build rapport with our colleagues and counterparts rather quickly and in turn prove our knowledge and build credibility with those individuals.”
⚙️What is something you’re really proud to have accomplished or been a part of in your career?
“There is always a sense of achievement after each project along with lessons learned which is applied to the next project. Especially if a project is fast paced and at the beginning you wonder if you can finish it within the scheduled duration. There are not many professionals in other industries that can point to a high-rise, hotel or manufacturing plant and say “I helped build a portion of that.”
⚙️What advice would you give to young women entering the construction industry today?
“You either know if you want to get into the construction industry or not; it’s a rarity that you just stumble onto it like I did. If you choose this career path then break free from the stereotype by being confident, competent, and open minded. Don’t be afraid to ask questions from the tradesmen and learn from those that have been doing it for half of their lives.”
⚙️How do you think the industry as a whole can help with the inclusion and advancement of women in construction?
“There is a critical labor shortage in the construction industry so there are plenty of opportunities to promote gender diversity to recruit, train, and retain skilled women. Offer mentorship and networking programs to assist in career advancement opportunities.”
⚙️What is an aspect of the construction industry that you’re excited to see develop in the future?
“The construction sector is somewhat antiquated in how work is completed so it will be exciting to see how integration of advanced technology into the current construction processes will assist in designing, developing, and building in a more effective manner.”

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Women in Construction 2021: Keri Payne, Shop Coordinator

The Porter Co. recognizes the need for more women in the construction industry and the unique perspective and skills they bring to the field. We’re celebrating Women in Construction Week this week by highlighting some of our team.

Shop Coordinator, Keri Payne studied Early Childhood through 6th Grade Education at Texas State University before deciding to take on the challenge of a career in construction. She joined The Porter Co. in early 2017 as a material handler at Samsung. After six months, Keri moved over to our in-house fabrication shop as Shop Coordinator where she handles scheduling and coordinating deliveries with jobsites, priority lists for the shop floor, inventory and ordering, job cost, ST duct, and ticket tracking. We reached out to her to tell us about her perspective and experience of being a woman in the male-dominated construction field.

⚙️What are some of the challenges that you face as a woman in this industry?
“One of the biggest challenges I have faced is proving my worth to others. Women are in the overwhelming minority in this industry, so I’ve always felt a sense that as the “unknown” person on the floor, at the shop, or in class, I would have to demonstrate my abilities to a higher degree than everyone else. Fortunately, I succeeded. I gained the trust and appreciation of those around me, and now I’m more comfortable and confident than I’ve ever been.”

⚙️What do you think are some of the advantages of being a woman in the construction industry?
“Many women are innately organized and being organized is one of my best skills, which has served me well in my coordinator role. Additionally, as an outsider, I offer a fresh perspective on problems/scenarios that our team faces.”

⚙️What is something you’re really proud to have accomplished or been a part of in your career?
“I designed production reports for each of our job sites that track material costs, labor costs, and total costs for every ticket the shop produces. These reports not only help the shop stay on track with the budget, but they help set goals and to strengthen our weaknesses; they also will be beneficial to forecasting and estimating in the future.”

⚙️What advice would you give to young women entering the construction industry today?
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions and never stop being curious—both lead to learning!”

⚙️How do you think the industry at large can help with the inclusion and advancement of women in construction?
“From my experience, women should be empowered, meaning their strengths should be maximized. They should be given greater responsibility and hold important positions. When those things are done, women’s admiration and loyalty for the industry will grow and their inclusion will grow and maintain.”

⚙️What is an aspect of the construction industry that you are excited to see develop in the future?
“Innovation because it’s always evolving, which means there will be more interesting/new things to learn in the future.”