Celebrating 30 years in business, Ronzani Inc. (DBA Ronparco LLC) attributes its success to a strategic pivot toward a lean, specialized team focused on high-margin commercial renovations, technical stucco repairs and AWCI-certified quality craftsmanship.
This past August marked the 30th anniversary of Ronzani Inc., a wall and ceiling contractor that began as Ronparco LLC in Euless, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The milestone highlights the success of a company that has carved out a comfortable niche, focusing on renovation and repair work in commercial and public sectors for owners and general contractors who have come to know and trust their work.
Pivoting to a Leaner Business Model
Founded by Flavio Ronzani and his wife Eva on a shoestring budget with a small crew, the contractor steadily expanded, and over the first two decades it grew to a peak full time field staff of 185, driven largely by work in EIFS and plastering. A secondary market was thin stone and brick veneers for tilt-up walls of cement base surfaces.
By 2020, Ronzani, who is executive vice president and chief operating officer, dramatically changed the company’s course. Gone are the days of juggling numerous jobs, working long hours and carrying a large staff in a price-driven, low-margin world, he says.
Today’s down-sized version has a field crew of only 25 and 5 office staff. Annual business volume is around $5 million. “We’re a small business entity by choice and we do not use contract labor.”
The smaller company has built a reputation for custom work and is selected by general contractors (GCs) and even owners for its expertise and reliability. “We have several GCs and owners that want us to take care of their problems for repairs and renovations and on at least half of these jobs we are the only bidder. It is where I want to be.”
Roughly 80% of the contractor’s work is renovations and repairs, with commercial and public sectors representing the lion’s share. Jobs range from corporate offices to institutions, including schools and even church interiors. While its prime market is the Dallas-Ft Worth Metroplex, Ronzani is prepared to travel anywhere in the states for select clients.
Modernizing Preston Park Village
One of its bigger challenging jobs recently was for the modernization of Preston Park Village, an open-air 40-year-old shopping mall in the Dallas area. Largely clad in brick, the upgrade called for contemporary detailing, featuring EIFS and various stucco finishes. The scope of work for Ronzani, still known as Ronparco in the industry, included roughly 40,000 square feet of plaster and EIFS. A three-coat stucco system was employed to revamp and modernize the aging shopping center. Other work included a one-coat stucco system over existing sections of the exterior. The 18-month job was completed late last summer for a cost of close to $1 million.
Ronzani says where brick facades were removed, Ronparco applied weather-resistant barriers and then stucco with drainage matts. In places where brick cladding stayed in place, the contractor cleaned and then coated it with a primer before applying a coat of stucco. Although not mandated by building code for every stucco wall assembly, drainage mats are a standard requirement in all Ronzani’s stucco systems.
Often working from scaffolds or lifts in tight spaces in the retail mall, Ronparco’s 10-person crew installed cement stucco soffits over existing sheeting, working to tight deadlines to minimize disruptions to shops in operation. Checking all substrates with laser levels was critical before applying the traditional three-coat stucco system, says Colby Hicks, Ronzani estimator and project director.
To create the look of wood without the expense or maintenance, the contractor installed EIFS, cut grooves and applied a woodgrain EIFS finish that looks like fibre cement siding in select areas of the mall. Crews worked in fenced off sections and completed each phase on an accelerated schedule to minimize mall disruptions to shops, says Hicks, pointing out that the site logistics were probably the most challenging aspect of the 18-month job.
Carefully planning crew movements daily and just-in-time materials/equipment deliveries were
paramount. Once Ronparco was done in an area, the contractor would go off site, sometimes for weeks, while demolition and framing crews did their jobs. “It was quite the coordination process among the trades, and we had to make sure we were ready when we were needed back for another area,” says Hicks. “They (GC) would come up with a schedule two or three weeks at a time, but it wouldn’t always be accurate. Sometimes we had to wait another week or so to get back on the site.”
Ronzani adds that by the time his crews were called onto the site, they were dealing with store owners with worn patience from construction noise, dirt and disruptions. “We had to check our substrates carefully ahead of time to make sure everything was right. Staying organized, keeping our areas clean and working quickly and safely was important.”
Quality Standards and Workforce Retention
While the trade hasn’t seen much in the way of new technology, Ronzani says the company stays current on fasteners, uses drainage matts behind all stucco systems, and trains and closely supervises its crews to ensure proper application and assembly. And, unlike many contractors, Ronparco installs an acrylic coat with incorporated mesh known as a “crack shield,” a protective cover under the finish coat of stucco. “It’s a product that has been on the market for years but, in my opinion, hasn’t been used enough by many contractors,” says Ronzani.
Hicks notes that Ronparco won an award in the EIFS category last year for its work at Preston Park from the Texas Lathing and Plastering Contractors Association. On the strength of its quality work at the shopping mall the contractor has been awarded a similar job on another aging shopping mall, Wynnewood Village in Dallas. Expected to take about two years to complete, the job is for the same GC and developed by the same owner.
Ronzani says a major factor in the company’s success is its ability to retain skilled workers—the average employee has been with the company eight years. “The longest we have had an employee is one who started with us as a laborer in 2001.”
Ronzani emphasizes the importance of educating personnel on new products and ensuring all field staff are properly trained in application methods and safety procedures. Many of its staff have gone through the AWCI’s Doing It Right® Stucco and EIFS educational programs and the contractor is EIFSmart certified, a program administered by the AWCI.
Forensic Remediation and Innovative Solutions
Recently, Ronparco commenced a recladding contract for Public Storage in Houston to replace a failed system. It follows another contract for the self-storage giant in Ft. Worth where a similar failure occurred. On that project along one corner of the four-story building the stucco had been ripped off the frame during a storm. Ronparco assisted the consulting engineer with forensics on the wall failure to determine repair options for a renovation that consisted of the entire 40,000 square foot cladding system.
Ronzani says the wall failure resulted because rather than screw the metal lath to the framing system, the original contractor had stapled the lath directly to the exterior gypsum. “There is no way that could hold.”
Removing the old stucco wasn’t an option because disposal fees of the material comprised of sand, cement, metal, acrylics and other substances would have run $600,000–$750,000, more than the cost of recoating the building. Working with its supplier, Ronparco devised a solution to fasten the existing stucco to the building’s framing members. “From the inside we figured out the spacing of the interior framing to be about 16″, and then at the top of the wall through trial and error we drilled self-tapping screws into wall. If they bit, we knew we had hit the frame. If not, we filled the hole with spray foam and tried again.”
Once the correct holes were established, an “old-fashioned plumb line” was employed to pinpoint stud lines down the wall. The old stucco was secured using Wind-Lock fasteners, typically employed in EIFS to attach EPS insulation boards to substrates such as wood, light gauge metal, steel, or masonry. The contractor then installed a water-resistant barrier and two inches of EIFS, which through its thermal properties “stabilized the metal structure,” eliminating cracks caused by movement during temperature changes.
The installation required a crew of about a dozen and work was done in several phases to minimize disruptions. The cladding was verified in place by an insurer which provided a labor and materials 10-year warranty.
Looking to the Future
Ronzani expects to see more projects like this one—and the Houston Public Storage job—because the self-storage company is in expansion mode, acquiring additional properties in the United States, Canada and overseas.
Though the industry is undergoing uncertain times, Ronzani is optimistic about the next two years for Ronparco. “We are in a very good position, with a good backlog of work.” That includes the two-year contract for renovations to Wynnewood Village shopping mall and public-school renovations that will run into 2027. “Those are old schools that need specialty work such as special cement plaster coatings and repairs plus soft ceiling work.”
While labor shortages haven’t affected Ronparco, Ronzani believes the United States must take a hard look at how to expand its labor force as the current aging generation of skilled workers retires. “Our industry needs some form of legalization program for foreign workers because we simply don’t have enough people in this country to meet construction demand. We’re short about 350,000 workers this year, and that gap is expected to reach 450,000 next year as more of us retire.” CD
Don Procter is a freelance writer from Ontario, Canada.
