The Construction Life

23-year-old tradesperson with a lot of passion and heart for the industry and he loves Frank Sinatra, hold on, this is going to be one great show. His Dad taught him only one way to be a tradesperson, the right way, he taught him how to build better, and be better. Losing his Dad at a young age was very hard for the family, really sorry for your loss Shane.Shane has a solid base for his business and what was key, was his crew, his trio of tapers, himself, Saudi and Adam, Shane’s plan is to find more tapers, find reliable subs, and continue to grow the business on volume and keep moving forward. Incredibly refreshing to hear Shane share that he always prefills with Durabond 90, it’s a must for his quality, prefill, tape and then he covers. Game Changer alert – Shane has 2 Festool Planex Drywall sanders and from pole sanding to this amazing tool, he can’t live without it.3 years working this new business of his, starting this brand but remember Shane had that union work and his Dad taught him as a teenager and that brought other issues, most old school trades would dismiss Shane cause of his age, shouldn’t be the case everyone, if it’s your first or last day on site, you will always have something to share, teach, leave behind. Shane is the kind of trade, when he’s completed his scope, he will walk around with the homeowner, or the GC with a check out light and inspect all areas, all corners, all details, that’s the kind of tradesperson he is and that’s the kind of business and brand he is building.Shane is looking for volume of work, he’s looking for those sub division job sites, he and his crews can handle the work, give the man a chance, he will not let you down, he will actually elevate your quality to new heights.Shared and Discussed Linkshttps://ifstc.comhttps://www.usg.com/content/usgcom/en_CA_east.htmlhttps://csrbuilding.comhttps://www.instagram.com/box_drywalldesign/https://www.instagram.com/eq_construction/https://www.instagram.com/easydrywall/https://www.instagram.com/jm_insul/?hl=enhttps://www.tapetech.comWhat an amazing show and thank you so much Shane for sharing so much on drywall, steel framing, insulation, mudding and more information, educating our listeners on everything to do with your trade, Thank you. Find Shane on IG @plastermasters and contact Shane on his email at [email protected] Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]

Open the show with a great Irish work song and we get chatting about Ireland, the beautiful country and people, the great food and work ethic. What a pleasure to have Kevin on the show and everyone knows Manny will always have a special place for the masonry trades. On with the show. Arriving in Canada in January, five years ago got into autoparts first, and after a number of odd jobs including the rickshaws by the Skydome aka Rogers Centre, yes he did that for a little while to build up his endurance but construction was quickly calling him. Beginning with all sorts of block, underpinning, brick work that all led to restoration work and why Canada has so much damaged brick work and why being a mason is in very high demand. The conversation shifts into the next generation of masons and why most of them have a hard time with an honest hard days work. Most tradespeople will always focus on the problem and not thrive on finding the solution to all sorts of construction problems, this is construction, there will always be problems. Kevin brings up yoga and how yoga has helped him deal with aches and pains from the construction life. Kevin shares that he can find knowledge in every crack and corner and aske the other trades, even the cranky trades, rub their belly and get them to share. Kevin started like most masons, mixing the mortar, carrying the brick, feeding the mason to keep the production going. Kevin is interested in building a great atmosphere of masons on every site. We end the show with an interesting story on the name of his business and how it came about while he was on holidays. Kevin has a lot to say about the industry, the cast of odd balls that get into construction and how much he loves them for it. It’s really about coming into work with the right attitude, so simple. Shared and Discussed Link https://www.selfbuildcanada.ca https://kreitmaker.com https://ontariomasonrytrainingcentre.com https://www.wettinc.ca What an amazing show and thank you so much Kevin for sharing so much must needed mason information, educating our listeners on everything to do with stone and brick, Irish and life, Thank you. Find Kevin on IG @thefriendlymason_ and contact Kevin on his email at [email protected] Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online. The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]

We are @speducci recording the show on the patio, Rosie and company are always amazing for letting the show record there, it’s quickly becoming the Speducci Studios for the TCL Podcast, thanks guys.Open the show with a few shout outs.Tim from BC @poundforpoundframers Tim from Akron Ohio sent me an email. @southcoaststudio rocking some great Schluter projects. Rob from @galaxyplumbinginc had a pic to share. John from @greekbuilder asking me to do a show on “approved” programs. Marco from @electricallocal69 not a real union shared some insight regarding ESA and Heated floor cables. @andcura Master Electrician and Certified Fire Alarm Electrician wanted to connect while I was in Cambridge. Jarrett from @pacificwildgeneralcontracting had a few stories to share. Framers that are planning on being on the show in the near future, Alonzo @cluelessframer and @alchemist_carpenter and we also will have Ziggy and old school soul been framing for decades and plenty of dry Polish humour, great shows coming soon. Patrick from @blders.ca talking bikes with me via DM’s. On with the show.Mike has been in construction for most of his life, he is very familiar with the construction life and now he adds cigar aficionado to his life, for the last 12 years. Why cigars? We get into the many reasons why and how it connects to construction and even if you have always wanted to but weren’t sure how to, Mike shares so many great tips. We even discuss the heath concerns so please understand we are not trying to suggest you take up cigar smoking, we are simply sharing a lifestyle and TCL has always been about sharing information, laughs, inspiration, and more, once again this podcast episode or show in general might not be for you, if not, I am totally fine with that, the thousands of listeners that listen and support this amazing construction show want more and I will always share more. Thank you.Mike begins by discussing the construction of each cigar. Cigars are made up of 5 components. Combination of 3 leaves that make up the blend, the binder which is the inner and outer of the cigar and then the wrapper which is the look of the cigar. Mike walks the listener through how to judge a cigar on firmness, or high humidity, how to cut the end with a guillotine cutter, avoid the amateur cut and achieve the perfect cut, how to properly light it and never use propane as Manny has before in social media posts, and how to draw for the first time and every time.Shared and Discussed linkshttps://www.canadiancigar.com/shop/Montecristo.htmlhttps://www.neptunecigar.com/cigars/gurkha-san-miguel-petite-corona@scollocigarsWhat an amazing show and thank you so much Mike for sharing so much information, and educating our listeners on cigars. Thank you. Mike’s email at [email protected] and find him on social @torontohabanos on IGFind Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]

Larry and Brian are back on the show and Jim is joining us to talk loads and load calculations, hold on to your tool belts, the math is going to be massive on this episode of The Construction life. The last time the Waddell guys were on the show was May of 2021 with a two-part show, #77 and #78 and now they are back to educate us a lot more on the wonderful world of engineering. We begin discussing upgrades to active factory set ups and how they engineer new ways to move in new machinery, from Honda’s Aliston’s plant to many others. We discuss a passion of Waddell, timber framing, using wood charts based one species, based mostly on SPF, Spruce, Pine and Fir, not the other SPF, Sun Protection Factor. Jim shares a recent story on a current project of his where there has been a little engineering friction, must listen and you judge for yourself. The Waddell guys weigh in on how and why this other engineer is requesting such a massive beam and install method. Bringing us to discuss deflection with the common formula of L (Length) divided by 360 to determine the deflection in MM. The topic of KPA comes up and What is Kilopascal used for? Kilopascal Uses The pascal, kilopascal, and gigapascal (GPa) are used to express tensile strength, compressive strength, Young's modulus, and stiffness of materials. We discuss building barns and how structures in that segment have changed and grown to the size of 140 by 900 feet with trusses spanning over one maybe two beams, massive structure for the farming industry, with 108 foot long trusses being transported on site with a little more than a red flag. We discuss the Ontario Farm Code, a total of 28 pages and it covers everything you need to know to build barns. With 200 projects a month it is fair to say Waddell Engineering is doing something right. Keep up the awesomeness guys and all the best. Jim and Manny will do a site visit one day before the winter arrives. Discussed and Shared Links https://risa.com https://www.caledontimberframes.com https://www.wolflaketimberworks.ca https://trusscore.com https://monoslabezform.com What an amazing show and thank you so much Larry and Brian for sharing so much needed information, and educating our listeners on building and engineering. Thank you. Larry’s email at [email protected] and his web site www.waddelleng.com and find them on social @waddellengltd on Twitter and @waddell_engineering on IGFind Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 60 plus different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online. The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.

Matt opens the show with Darius Rucker “Wagon Wheel”, great way to open the show. Operating this business for 13 years, coming from a family of tradespeople with his Dad being an old school carpenter, Matt always had a hunger for construction but he never wanted to be that “guy” that just gave in and gave up and stopped caring.Matt works with realtors to secure lots, he brings in other builders, friends in the industry and they share the lots, they work together to build each other’s business, the way it really should be when it comes to The Construction life. A 2003 Conestoga graduate, Matt felt he didn’t have the book smarts, he loved working with his hands. Covid changed everything for Matt and his business, what he thought was primed to close his business down, pushed his business to new levels, more homes, more employees, loads more business. Matt’s working with a 5-6 month building window from excavation to delivery and with delays in material as long as 4-5 months at a time, it can me challenging to finish these homes on time.Matt and the brand he has built has always been and will always be about customer service and his team has the same mindset, his suppliers have the same mindset, his building team has always been about customer service and he believes he can never change that, just for an extra buck or two on the bottom line. Matt shares his greatest fear in building a construction business and we can all relate.Discussed and Shared linkshttps://www.conestogac.on.cahttps://www.strassburger.nethttps://www.cardinalcorp.comhttps://arriscraft.comhttps://www.homehardware.ca/en/store/15796http://www.ms2.caWhat an amazing show and thank you so much Matt for sharing so much must needed information, and educating our listeners on building so many homes. Thank you. Matt’s email at [email protected] and his web site www.feeneydesignbuild.com find him on social @feeneydesignbuildFind Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 60 plus different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online.The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Thank you to Larry and Brian from @waddell_engineering for letting us use the office space to record these 3 shows.

We open the show by letting our listeners know Mr. Jim Caruk is back on the show and it’s great to have him back on the mic sharing so much valuable information about The Construction Life, thanks Jim.On with the show, this show is all about the team, working together for the greater good of the building industry. Glen has a lot to say about the building code and how things have changed over the last 4 decades. You don’t want to miss this show and this one show will be one that is listened to over and over for all of the great insight Glen shares with us. Glen is a college professor at Conestoga College, probably the best trade school in Ontario, Glen is an Architectural, Construction, Engineering, Technology Program where Glen not only teaches but is a graduate of the program. Hold on to your tool belts, there is a lot on this nearly 2-hour long show.First thing Glen shares, building officials need to understand they are part of a team and not police officers. Glen was taught early on the COB Principle, it stands for Condition Of The Bowel, depending how your body is that week that will dictate how you represent yourself to others. It really is about getting to know the tradesperson, begin with a few compliments, share some good before your share some bad. In his early days Glen learned you gained peoples respect by respecting them. We answer a few questions from a couple of listeners that watched my story leading up to the show, shout out to @elliottstrustedtrades and @pepeandty thanks for the questions.Here are some Discussed and Shared links https://www.ohba.cahttps://nrc.canada.ca/en/certifications-evaluations-standards/codes-canadahttps://www.ontariocanada.com/registry/view.do?postingId=16962&language=en https://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/https://worksitesafety.caGlen ends the show with quite a story from his early days and dealing with a contractor who never applied for a permit and Glen was driving by and the rest is history.What an amazing show and thank you so much Glen for sharing so much must needed information and educating our listeners Building Code and the side of the industry most tradespeople don’t know much about, Thank you. Glen’s email at [email protected] and he is more than willing to answer any questions you might have.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 60 plus different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online. The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Thank you to Larry and Brian from @waddell_engineering for letting us use the office space to record these 3 shows.

We love having guests return to the most listened to construction podcast and we love continuing the great conversations that move this amazing industry forward. Adnan was on the show way back in March of 2020, episode #56, please check out that show. On today’s show we further discuss C Cans, building with Shipping Containers, Modular Building and more, I even come up with an interesting idea for designing shipping container dog houses for our furry friends. Let’s get talking everything to do with shipping container building and let’s begin by saying, during Covid the price of a C Can has tripled. Adnan shares how his first time on the show he had a client reach out because they heard about Adnan on the show, we are after all the Construction Tinder. His first meeting with this new client began at the Stack Market in Toronto, check out the link https://stacktmarket.com We discuss costs of containers, drawings, designs, options, zoning, codes, permitting, fabrication, building. Inspections throughout, CSA approvals and more. Adnan is working with contractors across Ontario and one of them is https://levelcontracting.ca Tallest shipping container building in London England, check it out, https://www.dezeen.com/2019/07/02/worlds-tallest-shipping-container-building-londonAlso check out https://dentistconcierge.ca Adnan discusses the path to make this mobile dental unit. Don’t forget Adnan’s key hashtag - #ourmodularmovementisgrowingWhat an amazing show and thank you so much Adnan for sharing so much must needed information, educating our listeners on modular design, fabrication and building, Thank you. Find Adnan on IG and Facebook @acad_modular and @adnanzabian and contact Adnan on his email at [email protected] 647 248-9117 and web site www.acadmodular.com for your next project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online. The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]

Something a little different but not, today’s show is extremely relevant to the construction life, so many tradespeople ride motorcycles. Bikes are a huge part of our downtime, keeping us sane, inspiring us and our renovations, dealing with clients and more. Carmine has been my service tech for a while now and has taken care of my 1999 Ducati Monster Dark 750 which has evolved into a different kind of Monster over the 22 years of owning it. Have a listen to this special show as Carmine shares his insight in getting into the trades, working his way through the industry to setting up his own shop, nearly two decades ago with two young apprentices on his staff. Carmine has worked on every bike imaginable, and he has a lot of great insight to share. Wait till you hear about the moto triangle, I never knew about this, and I chatted with Jim afterwards and he never knew about it either, for you older tradespeople, you want to look into the moto triangle. The mental health benefits of riding a motorcycle are well needed when one works in the construction industry and Carmine discusses all of the connections made when you schedule a trip and make the time to improve yourself. Carmine runs us through all the types of bikes he has worked on, rode, and he gives up some great intell on Italian, British, Japanese, and American bike, old and new. What an amazing show and thank you so much Carmine for sharing so much must needed moto information, educating our listeners on riding, moto tech and life, Thank you. Find Carmine on IG and Facebook @dukesofcycle and contact Carmine on his email at [email protected] and the web site www.thedukesofcycle.com for your next service or bike project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online. The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]

Stephen currently is a project manager with Black and MacDonald but got his start in sheet metal fabrication, he has his Red Seal and is also working on achieving 3 more Red Seals, Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical. He’s not trying to be greedy; he wants to educate others and build this amazing industry even further. For the past 8 years he has been teaching sheet metal at a high school in Toronto in his spare time, educating the new generation of tradespeople, preparing them for real life construction.We discuss so much on the show, from education, approved programs, the sheet metal trade, other trades and it all begins with the math, loads and loads of math and science. It’s the difference between a good trade and a great trade, understanding the how and why we build. Stephen shares so much on this show from metal techniques, artistic metal skills competitions where he has made a violin, hat, beer stein and more all out of metal.Easiest way to remember your metals and how metals react to each, Stephen shares the Galvanic Chart of Metals - All Zebras SIN To Look Cool, which breaks down to Aluminum, Zinc, Steel, Iron, Nickel, Tin, Lead Copper. If you put aluminum and copper together, the copper oxide will eat the aluminum.What an amazing show and thank you so much Stephen for sharing so much much needed metal and construction information, educating us and our listeners on loving what you do for a living, proud, ambitious, hungry and real, Thank you. Find Stephen on IG @sheetmetalsteve and contact on his email at [email protected] for your next project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online.The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]

We have one hell of a show today, our 2nd longest show to date and for very good reason, Taha, Sal and Z from Crew Men Group are here and ready to share so many construction lives experiences. Prepare to be inspired, the gentlemen from Crew Men Group will get you to remember why you got into construction. From the hood to demo to building, these guys will never hold back how passionate they are. It all began in their early teens and demo with a friend’s father, the old man wanted the boys to stay off the streets. Taha will be giving loads of people from his life, big ups, this man loves his family and friends and will never forget where he came from.Taha went to college, didn’t really want to, studied multimedia and ended up graduating as a drug dealer. School wasn’t for him and by chance he got a job as a labourer on a landscaping project, that was his very first and he impressed the owners with his attitude. Then we meet Joe, Joe had a huge influence on Taha’s construction life, don’t want to miss this story that carries throughout the whole podcast with an ending that will resonate with many tradespeople.This is an epic podcast and you don’t want to miss a single minute of everything the Crew Men Group have to share. Nobody on the show had anything to do with the dead bunnies, they were already dead long before any trade showed up. The next time Taha and the Crew Men Group return to the show, we have to begin with the $400,000.00 fuck up that T says was his fault but wasn’t his fault. We all learn from our fuck ups and for good reason.What an amazing show and thank you so much Taha (T), Sal and Z, for sharing so much must needed information, educating us and our listeners on loving what you do for a living, proud, ambitious, hungry and so funny and real, Thank you. Find Crew Men Group on IG @crewmengroup and contact Taha on his email at [email protected] for your next project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online.The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]

What a great show we have today, talking about carbon fiber reinforced polymer and the countless residential and commercial applications in construction. Discussing basement cracking, bowing, leaks, settling and more and how this product can repair these and many other issues. We get right into the science behind the carbon and epoxy, the engineering, installing and training.The process begins with images and or site visits of the issue, it’s never as simple as one stop solution, the objective is to research the true reason behind the failure and engineer a solution. These techniques for Steve began in the residential market but discussing the benefits of this product a lot of concrete trades were also getting a lot of commercial work and again applicable to their business.The conversation shifts to Miami Surfside Condominium Collapse and all of the lives that were lost. How all the signs were there, there were issues with the structure and how the builder actually had previous infractions and was given a slap on the construction wrist and then right back to building and his next project was the Surfside project.Structural Reinforcement Solutions looks at the causation of the crack, shift, issue, it’s not always what’s visible on the surface, they want to know the true reason behind the issue and then assess and repair the root cause and not simply the surface cause. I ask the question, where is the one area that has the most amount of questionable concrete projects and require the most repairs, Steve shares the city and why. We also discuss what exactly is carbon fiber and why is it so strong? We wrap up the show with the fact, there are over 230,000 bridges across America with structural deficiencies.What an amazing show and thank you so much Steve, for sharing so much must needed information, educating us and our listeners or a solution that could be a part of a future project. Thank you. Find Structural RS at the following @structural.rs on IG and FaceBook www.structuralrs.com and contact Steve on his email at [email protected] for your next project, check out the YouTube channel and call him at 1 888-292-2592.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online.The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Thank you so much for listening to the most listened to construction podcast online, making it the number one construction podcast.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.comReach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]

Brock opens the show with a great rendition of a track from Tennessee Ernie Ford and covered by Johnny Cash. What a great opener, thanks Brock. Brock is young and ambitious, 25 years old and left a well-paying 6-figure field service tech position with Tormont Cat to start a career in construction, just jumped right in and loving it, that was 5 months ago. What a great story to share, don’t want to miss this one. One last thing before we begin, Brock was kind enough to bring me some maple syrup and venison deer meat from Country Meat Cuts, https://countrymeatcuts.com thanks guys.On with the show. Bought his first rental property at 20 years old, bought his second triplex at 23, the found a commercial and residential zoned property with 4 potential units and went through the whole re zoning process. Ambitious to say the least, good on you Brock. Brock just dove into being a tradesperson, he got started during Covid, he has only delt with high material prices, he’s taking the risk and he wants everyone to know, it’s not nearly as hard as everyone thinks it is.Shout out to @southpawstoneworks Brock hired him and highly recommends him and his skillset. Another shout out to @heavydutyhomes and the trucks that represent their business and brand. One more shout out, Brock is a huge fan of Jesse @barbosacarpentry and his show has been getting a lot of downloads, please check it out, always worth listening to the shows more than once.What an amazing show and thank you so much Brock, for sharing so much must needed information, educating us and our listeners on being young and very ambitious Thank you. Find Brock and Advanced Property Solutions or APS at the following @advancedpropertysolutions on IG and advancedps.ca on FaceBook www.advancedps.ca and contact Brock on his email at [email protected] for your next project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online.The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]

Started in the cladding business when he was 17, he’s now 37 and has learned a lot and of course has come across all the tradespeople that are negative when it comes to wanting to build better. Joe has always been about learning about new products, new techniques, push the industry forward and offer client’s better products and service. This will surprise our listeners, Joe found new employees through the local YMCA, yes that’s correct, up to 90% of the new employee’s wages are covered up to 3 weeks. Joe has the best way to describe certain wanna be tradespeople, the look on their faces when they arrive on site.I love how open, honest and very clear Joe is when it comes to his business, his reputation, his brand, he never looks for confrontation and he’s always the first to say…”ok, we’ll just end this conversation now.” Thanks, Joe, for being a leader.I actually slipped and said Tik Tok and not Tip Top, sorry about that Joe, follow Joe and Tip Top and I don’t care about Tik Tok BS. Thanks, Joe, for the correction. Big shout out to Desmond from @thesidingguy, amazing tips on the trade, the material and the tricks, a must follow. We discuss the whole game changing battery tool set up and how Joe is almost all batteries, but he understands the investment it is, constantly and making sure the crews do the walk around to collect any and all loose and missing batteries on the job site. Joe discusses @sagiper_na, great product and worth checking out, he has a big project coming up so please stay tuned to his IG for more posts on it.The conversation returns to hiring and firing and how the pool of potential employees is very minimal, what can we all do to change that? Joe does a huge shout out to BDR the man himself @best.damn.roofer we all know who he is and what he stands for, the truth and reality to begin with. Joe shares his thoughts on there are certain applications where certain materials must be used but as with most things in construction the budget will always tell you what and which material will get used and the homeowner and or GC and or site super will tell always tells you otherwise, because they don’t care, it frustrates Joe. We wrap up the show with a few lessons on reading a measuring tape, a must listen.What an amazing show and thank you Joe so much for sharing so much, educating us and our listeners and plenty of laughs. Thank you. Find Joe at the following @tiptopexteriors on IG and FaceBook www.tiptopext.ca and contact him on his email at [email protected] for your next project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online.The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Thank you so much for listening to the most listened to construction podcast online, making it the number one construction podcast.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Jason of The Keystone Contractor is on the show finally, been chatting on IG for years and it’s a great pleasure to have him on the show. Huge shout out to his lovely wife, Laura for baking these amazing goodies for me, OMG, so good, thank you so much.From high school to the military to anything and everything during his 20’s. A self-taught tradesperson where he will try to educate himself as best and as most as he can and do a great a job and onto the next thing. Jason has built a solid window and door install company and he knows his worth, on the days and time off he tackles bathroom and kitchen renos by selection. Jason has seen it all, everyone is so unhappy doing the job, everyone is so quick to leave one employer for another over a couple of bucks, everyone is in it for themselves, he doesn’t’ understand it. An injury to his arm changed things for him, not that it prevented Jason from working, surgery was on Wednesday and he was back on site on Monday, the injury was the kick in his ass that he needed to make new moves, and he did. Jason brings up a solid point, the first 3-4K you earn in a month goes towards running your business, after that, you can start earning. Jason brings up a great book and I have read it a few times, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81948.The_E_Myth_Revisited worth a read everyone. Jason does a shout out to one of his window suppliers, https://www.panes.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=local&utm_content=Mississauga Jason considers himself the Aspirin of Construction, he understands what it takes to make the scope move forward. Jason is a no bullshit tradesperson and he expresses as much with all his clients, suppliers and subs, he doesn’t smoke, drink and has a 0 tolerance cell phone and social media usage on site policy. Jason’s biggest motto is, Adapt, Improvise and Overcome and it has served him very well.What an amazing show and thank you Jason so much for sharing so much, educating us and our listeners. Thank you. Find Jason at the following The Keystone Contractor @thekeystonecontractor on IG and FaceBook www.thekeystonecontractor.com and contact him on his email at [email protected] for your next project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online. The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Thank you so much for listening to the most listened to construction podcast online, making it the number one construction podcast.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with a massive Beastie Boys track, thanks Bram. Bram got started in construction because he owned a frat house and his friend/partner was moving out and Bram was getting married and they needed to fix the place and sell in. Picked up a hammer and that was about 15/16 years ago. Before construction and before tending bar Bram was a licensed auto mechanic. Then life kick in hard for Bram, back issues, left being a mechanic, went back to school for IT, at the start of his new career path plenty of work, by the time he graduated, no work, got a job as a bartender, worked his way up to management and then got laid off, restricting was the official description and then came construction.The big talk about bad clients and who’s fault is it really when you end up with a bad client and how to avoid bad clients, we have a lot to say about bad clients. Bad client’s and bad situations is what got Bram to plan for his business and he began to give himself a salary, a proper and legit wage and all the deductions that come with that salary. Building is easy for tradespeople, building a business is the hard part, tackle the hard part every single day and you have many fewer problems with your business. The estimating and presenting bids gets detailed as Bram and Manny run the listeners through lessons learned and how best to set up the paperwork for potential clients. Bram introduces us to COPE – Cost Of Project Execution where you basically breakdown the entire project for your business and for your potential client. Bram also mentions https://grasshopper.com/# the best and easiest way to set up a separate business line that gives you so much more, check it out. Then the topic is Cash Jobs comes up and how recently Manny is being asked by subtrades and clients to do cash as part of the job, we discuss it. Shout out to https://www.facebook.com/remodelyourmarketing/ this group has helped Bram a lot, please check it out. Bram discusses all the of construction software programs out there and how they never worked for him but he tried https://www.uniteddesign.com/cs_compare.html and it’s helped his business, he loves it, check it out.What an amazing show and thank you Bram so much for sharing so much, educating us and our listeners. Thank you. Find Bram at the following Bram Weitzman Renovations @bwrenos on IG and FaceBook www.bwrenos.com and contact him on his email at [email protected] for your next project.Find Manny @hardcorerenos [email protected] [email protected]’t forget TCL M.A.P. Skills Competition Contest is still going on, submit your project that you did this year, send pics or video and a write up on your skills and passion to [email protected] for a chance to win $1,500.00 in cold hard Canadian Cash and the contest is open to every tradesperson from around the world since The Construction Life is listened to in 44 different countries and find it on one of the 11 podcast platforms online. The Contest winner will be revealed September 6th 2021, Labour Day.Thank you so much for listening to the most listened to construction podcast online, making it the number one construction podcast.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with a few shout outs to @marescarpentry @galeforcemasonry @oliverlumber Ian reached out, needed to have a couple of custom planter boxes made out of Ipe, I reached out to Gary Mares, picked up the lumber from Oliver Lumber and things are being built, the power and positivity of Social Media. Thanks guys and looking forward to seeing them.A fan mail and question, Darrel Kwan from @dk_tile asks us how to handle the next job when the current job is running late or being added to possibly delaying the start of the next project. Great question.We are back at @venturexoakville recording the show in their amazing boardroom. What a great facility, please check them out guys.On with the show about wellness and the home, how important is this topic? Over to you Linda. She is Well AP Certified - https://www.wellcertified.com 65% of your time is spent in your home, 90% of your time is indoors, imagine how much healthier your home and life should be? Linda is simply asking that you present options to your clients, present wellness options and Jim goes even further and suggests line items offering “healthy” options for product selections. There is a builder right now building wellness homes, Andrew Guido with Erth Homes https://erth.com/about/ Linda discusses Circadian Lighting and the positive effects on the mind, body and soul. Wellness isn’t about trends, sorry HGTV, it’s about the science of how to build your home, how your home is supposed to make you feel. You have two nervous systems, your parasympathetic and your sympathetic nervous systems, one is your fight and flight and the other boots your serotonin. Check out the Chive Plant Store location https://chive.ca find out how plants can change your home for the better. Zinco is another great supplier of green roof products, https://zinco-greenroof.com check them out @zinco_canadaLinda discusses ageless design, we never really want what our parents had and these days we have to think about new ways to build with smarter homes, taking AI Smart home Tech to new levels to benefit the homeowner for decades. Consider purchasing a VOC air monitoring device, and use that device on your next client meeting and see what gets revealed. Wellness in your home will actually impact your family’s health more than a Doctor can. Think about that for a moment. Consider adding a new line item to your estimate, the Heathier Options for your clients and their home. Be a Changemaker, embrace building for the ageless, the wellness because one day you will be building for your own ageless and wellness home.What an amazing show and thank you Linda so much for sharing so much, educating us and our listeners on building healthier. Thank you. Find Linda at the following @livablebydesign @livablecanada [email protected] www.livablecanada.com Livable Environment Conference coming October 26-29 2021 please check it out, don’t want to miss that show.Find Jim Caruk @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction and Manny @hardcorerenosDon’t forget TCL M.A.P. is coming June 2021 stay tuned to find out more.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

What an amazing show we have today, Gabe is an Architect Technologist and Engineer and Building Consultant all rolled into one person. It all began with his Father who a Building Consultant from Italy but never certified as an Architect. Find Gabe at GPF Design Services Inc. [email protected] 416 656-0134This show is all about the structural planning and design of most residential structures, here in Ontario, building this way is Part 9 of the Ontario Building Code and Gabe dives deep into this. Manny asks the big big big question, do engineers over engineer? And wait till you hear what Gabe has to say about that. Building has changed dramatically with most residential structures being big boxes with no internal, lateral supporting walls, always a challenge for every engineer.Math, this show is all about the math. Stay in school kids if you want to be an engineer. What a great show for the math, the techniques, the understanding behind the building.The guys get talking a lot about engineer lumber and steel and more. Gabe says something that is very important, there is a difference between a “framer” and a “carpenter”, understand his reasoning. Gabe discusses old school vs new schoolwork and techniques from surveying to so many other construction details, from moment steel frames to support lateral walls, all glass walls and more.Gabe discusses, ICF, and modular building and he even did a modular addition on his own place back in 2006. Gabe enlightens us with concrete slab structures and discuss on grade and saw cutting. The group discusses thermobridging, cantilevering, commercial details into residential builds. Gabe shares how triangular structure works with load transfer over openings, fascinating to hear this section.What an amazing show and thank you Gabe so much for sharing so much, educating us and our listeners. Thank you.Find Jim Caruk @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction and Manny @hardcorerenosWant a TCL sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.Don’t forget TCL M.A.P. is coming .This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Jim and Manny and no guests and no wine as we sneak this show in before the long weekend, Canadian Victoria Day and the US Memorial Weekend. Shout outs!!!Zoe reached out to us, her boyfriend/tradesman Jeremy is a huge fan and loves listening to the show, find him @jeremydoiron Jamal, AKA to his friends as J loves the show and wanted to say hello, find him @agdrywallandtaping Taylor, another fan and loves listening to the shows on his long drives to and from work. Started his career at 18, he’s 30 now and loves that he can relate to us, our guests and what we all go through in The Construction Life. Oh, and he has a few stories about a certain “approved” program. Laura out of Omaha NE wanted to share some info about lumber pricing and a graph she sent us where you can clearly see the spike in 2020 and 2021, the spike of greed. Trust me Laura, I keep asking Jim to speak up, he’s settling into his latenight DJ voice and can at times be soft spoken. Thank you everyone for reaching out, really kind of you and the amazing feedback. We are giving away 4 @bosshammerco and we want our listeners to let us know what we should ask for a chance to win of these stunning hammers. Let us know. On with the show. The guys open the show with a bit of info about the 1918 Spanish Flu, the roaring 20’s followed by the great depression of 1929 to 1939 and how what’s going on right now is on track to repeat itself but quite possibly on a much faster and feverish pace. All of this will affect current and future budgets. The guys dive deep into presenting those material line items, having the conversation front and center, and explain in detail why materials are that much, every client knows this, they read the news, they watch the news, this isn’t a surprise so as contractors don’t be afraid to speak up about it. Budgets, cost of material, costs of labour, construction numbers must be right at the beginning of everything from now on. An interesting question is presented, do we think designers have better or stronger relationships with suppliers than contractors? Jim and Manny discuss the new numbers in today’s budgets, home automation, upgrade to 400amp service, gas and water consumption, car chargers and more. Jim shares a great tip for filling up a pool, must listen. Jim shares his actual budget and how his 200+ line items work and work really well for both parties involved. M.A.P is coming and things like Jim’s budget and how he handles his paperwork will all be shared in the program along with a lot of other great and extremely valuable information to add to anyone’s construction business. That is what the Mentorship Alliance Program is all about. Stay tune for more info as we launch the program in June 2021.Find Jim Caruk @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction and Manny @hardcorerenosWant a TCL sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.Don’t forget TCL M.A.P. is coming June 2021 stay tuned to find out more.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

The show opens with a little tease about a BBQ and “non alcoholic” beverages on the table at the make shift concrete studio in the DGR shop and what is and was the concrete industry all about, Jorge has some great insight into this question and how it all connects to track building and sub division work and scope.With a crew of 15 from as young as 22 and as old as 63 and everyone has something to say about that age bracket. All 4 guests share why they love concrete so much and in the end, it’s in their blood, that’s the right answer. The group discusses the paper vs building ratio being at 60/40 and why. When discussing building a better concrete business, it was always about better communication, so paramount to designate who and what they handle and why and that goes across the company.Huge shout out to Rexdale Building Supply RBS the go to concrete supplier for DGR, they live and die by the concrete arriving on site. Material costs come up, have we reached a tipping point? Substituting steel rebar for fiberglass rebar and the costs and benefits behind that. Understanding that ICF is the future and any concrete crew that isn’t educating themselves about it and making the shift will get left behind especially during these turbulent construction times, clients are asking for ways to build better and cheaper.We discuss the on-site science vs the technical terms of concrete such as MPA, Megapascals equals concrete strength, the metric measurement for PSI. The topic of certification comes up heavy and the DGR crew get very vocal, just because you can buy a hammer it doesn’t mean you can swing it. That leads to a great point about there has never been a roofing inspection as part of the building process here in Canada. We get into the crew and teams you build over the years and where does one create a “boot camp” for the new guys? How about your own place? From there we discuss blind concrete work such as architectural concrete and exposed aggregate. Lastly, we have the biggest 12 questions of construction, 4 guests, 48 very interesting answers.What a great show about the concrete business and the solid tradespeople behind the forms.Thank you, DGR, Jorge, Robert, Ryan and Marco for an amazing chat about concrete, construction, more concrete, relationships, millennials and hard work. Reach out to DGR at www.dgrconcreteforming.com [email protected] @dgrconcreteformingFind Jim Caruk @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction and Manny @hardcorerenosWant a TCL sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.Don’t TCL M.A.P. is coming This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with no song, we have David Cairns the VP of Business Development at Ridley Windows and Doors and he was caught off guard…wink wink Jim.Then we really open the show with some terribly sad insider info about the lumber industry and what’s really going on, Jim and Manny have to share this with the listeners and the industry. You must listen to what we discovered and prepare your business for more increases and possible hardships ahead. We run the gambit of all of this madness, and we even get into assisting the new trades, the young trades in the hope to help them prepare for the potential of a recession…there is a very good chance it will happen guys. The guys even bring up the Ford Pinto as your go to work vehicle, look it up listeners.Now we get back on track, this show is all about relationships, this is show about making mistakes and how you handle those mistakes, nobody is perfect, and you have to admit that to yourself, your crew, your clients but you have to make sure you step up when things do go wrong, this is one show not to miss. We get talking about windows and doors and how Ridley has come a long way since opening up in the mid 80’s. They handle all types of windows and doors and have worked on a number of Historical or as Jim puts it, Hysterical society, Ridley windows blend in as if they were original but they meet or exceed today’s standards. They won’t give out pricing over the phone, they are not interested in offering a product or service solely based on price. Clients should make the time and effort to walk in and discuss the units, discuss their home, discuss their lifestyle and figure out what they really are looking for when it comes to windows and doors for their home.The topic of reno tv shows comes up and we discuss it, David brings up some good points and Jim and Manny bring up more good points. Being a contractor isn’t always about the actual build, focus on building the relationships, those relationships will get you enough work to last a career. Thank you, David, for an amazing chat about construction, lumber, windows and doors and construction relationships. Reach out to Ridley at www.ridley-windows.com his email [email protected], on social at FaceBook @ridleywindows and on IG @ridleywindowsanddoorsFind Jim Caruk @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction and Manny @hardcorerenosWant a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Let’s begin. Jason from @propertymaxdevelopment_corp discusses the pandemic and how there isn’t more support from so called “influencers” on social media. Jarrett from @pacificwildgeneralcontracting from Winnipeg brings up a new bullshit bylaw the city will be presenting to go after homeowners who didn’t get a permit. Andrew Maida from Georgian Renovations loves the show, would love to find the remaining seasons of Real Renos on Canadian Amazon Prime and would love to have a coffee with us to talk shop. We have Amy Perl from @amypeakson and @mydreamprep reaching out with a number of questions and all about her situation and we love it. She asks about union way, school, mom and pop shop or renovation co and she reminds us she’s 47 years young and has 3 kids. Thanks, Amy, for reaching out. Chris Goodwin @chrisscg82 sent Manny a pic of a lumber robbery at a local Home Hardware yard. It’s getting bad out there. Joe Rosselli shares his story about an opportunity to work for a company with full security vs staying on his own and building his own business and brand. Josh @onhive asks will they shut down construction for 4 weeks? @rusty_carpenter reached out for stickers and thanked us for a great show. @matthewvincenttbg from Matthew Vincent Building Group since us a bunch of price increases. Jason from @thekeystonecontractor wants to be a part of and help out with the association coming soon and we share some exciting news about our association. M. A. P. @dlcinstalations a great comment about our show. Thank you, brother. @glenwoodconstruction with a couple of questions, how should we handle past clients contacting our trades and bypassing us? And should we breakdown our estimates even further? Ray from @buildingpassive and the fine work he’s doing on those side-by-side new builds. Jay McDonald from @elitehomerenovationsca has some big news coming and we support him with it and all the best Jay, we will shout it out when you’re ready. Griffin McCabe from @gcmccabe loved Manny’s interior van video and gave him ideas how to organize his trailer, plus he asking about security and how to protect your work vehicle investment. @countryoakscontracting sent us a meme about a Fast and Furious stunt involving stealing lumber off a moving train. Shout out to Chris Mendolia, started at 16, he’s 18 now, OYAP student, huge fan of the show and he’s learning to build his skills. Find him @christhecanadiancarpenter. Filipe Juliao @filjuliao asks us would we rather hire a fresh kid or someone slightly older that is changing careers? Justin Misna @clearchoice_construction has a sad story to share about wanting to giveaway his older corded tools and the fiasco that unfolded online. Kevin Soto from @ksinteriorllc asking clients need to speak up with us for lumber pricing. Ross Tyrell @tyrellconstruction sent Manny an image of distribution yards full of lumber and questioning what shortage. @craig7890 CDM Plumbing and Heating out of San Francisco, lumber is going crazy over there. Jarrett is back on the same show, twice, we love it, @pacificwildgeneralcontracting shares a story about a recent job and client, and her actions to hire another person while he was already on the job. Find Jim Caruk @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction and Manny @hardcorerenosWant a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with a Portuguese classic Fabio belts out, thank you sir for such an amazing opening number.We are at the Mare’s Carpentry and Construction Inc. Workshop and Jim and Manny are very impressed. Gary is back on the show, @marescarpentry the one and only email him at [email protected] and this time Gary has brought Fabio Andrerde from FNA Custom Woodworking @fabio.andrede51 and email him at [email protected] Fabio has been in Canada for 6 years, we have 2 finish trim carpenters on the show and we are going to be open and honest about the trade and the industry. Even the Old Man, the OG, the GodFather of woodworking shares a few words during the show as he hangs out for the conversation.We begin by an upcoming giveaway from @bosshammerco we have 4 hammers to giveaway, stay tuned on how we are giving those away. Jim is disqualified from entry.We talk about old school and new school, tricks and toys, we even discuss how Gary and the Old Man shaped a recent poplar jamb extension for a project for @wicklowcarpenter using his belly. Joe from @uniquetouchcarpentry was scheduled to join us but things happened, we will schedule another show and have Joe on the show talking more finish carpentry, we miss you Joe. We dive even deeper into the world of adhesives and @akfixna and their line of products is shared and why. Pricing, we discuss pricing and how they don’t price off the drawings, the Old Man wants to go to the site and see the current state of the job site before submitting any price and they never do a price per square or linear foot. Who wins when it’s price per foot? How do you handle the extras? Since your tools are here, can you please…? Then everyone discusses the painter, where the clients make the mistake of hiring the wrong painter based on whatever budget is left over. You can’t…CAN’T. You need a professional painter to professionally paint the skilled trim work that has been recently completed. The talk even turns to stained wood trim carpentry with walnuts, white oaks, exposed material where you as a Trim Trade have to be perfect.Towards the end of the show a huge special shout out to Tony from @tc.installations.inc and Jim said on the mic he will be calling you for some upcoming work. Thanks brother. We discuss how the rates of a finish carpenter has not risen as quickly and or fairly as most other trades, finish carpenters have a lot of liability with risk on the tools, risk hitting plumbing lines, electrical lines, the machinery they need to have for any given task. Finish carpenters should be compensated more than they are currently. Gary and the Old Man have always been about working together, building a construction community, other finish carpenters are never competition. A few more shout outs, Aaron from @wicklowcarpenter Andrew from @carpenteronsite Joel from @lanewaycustombuild Tony from @thetimbertailor great bunch of tradespeople and please reach out.Thank you, Gary, aka 2nd in Charge, to the Old Man, the OG, the Godfather and Fabio for an amazing chat about finish carpentry and the invitation to your shop. Reach out to them both for your next project, you will not regret it.Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We are at the Skilled Trades College of Canada where Ralph started a hands on school for pre apprentice electricians, pre apprentice plumbers and he even started a introductory home reno course. With 65-70 student in each of the three school in the Toronto area, Ralph is adding to the industry. A little bit of background atmosphere as the classes are still going on when Jim and I arrive there to record a special show. Find the school at www.skilledtradescollege.ca on IG @stc_canada and email to reach Ralph or anyone at the school [email protected] get the students to step up to the microphone and Ask Jim and Manny anything they like to know more about. The questions and answers will add to the already growing positive vibe The Construction Life has created.Ralph has been doing this school for 14 years now and he still runs his own electrical business, Neutron Electrical Contracting with a staff of 20, not bad for a small business.On with the questions.Samantha asks us – what is a typical day on site for us?Chico asks us - What benefits do we think having these skills can contribute too the industry?Savenish asks us – How valuable is renovating a basement before listing your property?Kyle asks us – When you’re starting off what’s the biggest day to day battle? And When did we feel it was time to go off on our own? And how do we build a clientele?Omar ask us – about being ripped off by General Contractors and how to avoid that?Ron asks us – a two-part question, at 45 how tough is it for someone to start a career so late in life? How do we price our jobs?Joseph asks us – about career changes early on?Paul one of the instructors asks us – have we been able to upgrade our motorcycles from all the money we are making off the podcast? LOL. Paul does have a legit question even though Jim and Manny felt the motorcycle question was 100% legit. Paul wants to know if there is a way to weed out the bad flippers, the ones that don’t care and fly in and out to make a quick buck.Eberhime asks us – How has Covid affected the materials costs for electricians?Stevie asks us – where do we see electrical going in the near future? How big was the code book back in our day? LOLCasey, asks us – What’s Jim’s favourite and lest favourite things about the Trades?Eric asks us – what peeked our interest to get into trades?If we had to start all over which trade would we choose?Clive asks us – what are some good tips we can offer fresh out of school trade students? How do we stay motivated to go to work everyday?Robbie and Callum ask us – How should we and when should we open up your own business? What tips could we share and what risks to avoid?We end the questions with Frank the plumbing instructor at the school, a lot of the students speak highly of.Thank you Ralph for the invitation and meeting all of the great students you are educating for the future of the construction industry.Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

A minor technical glitch at the start of the show, 2 mins and then we get back to normal. Must be Manny with way too much on his plate these days. We discuss the rising costs of material, from lumber to metals, to everything is seeing increases and we begin with the why. We begin the show with stats on how high lumber prices have gone from the 80’s to as recent as 2020 and how the USA is Canada’s #1 customer followed by China as #2 and that leaves next to nothing for the Canadian industry. Canada is a world leader when it comes to softwood and our government officials made deals to give it all away and that is the real reason why we are now paying for an $8 2X4. Time for a RENOLUTION!!! At the beginning of 2020 Jim and Dan of Caruk Hall decided to downsize after they invested into a new office space and they even had to let a few people go and consider where things were heading and Jim feels it will not be “normal” until 2022. As contractors we have to anticipate where the markets are heading and consider standing your ground with your labour rates but you also have to consider reducing your profit points, maybe lower 1 or 2 even 4 points that way we can still get the job and everyone has work. We end today’s show on an interesting question, more of a four/five part question…how would you describe the perfect client and how would you describe a bad client? How would you describe a good or bad GC and what is your threshold for staying or walking away from the scope? Thank you to everyone for adding their comments and two cents for this show. @mas_araz @kyle1302 @jordanvers @versahomes @IamYodaOk @kb007 @nestorbarsllc @longjonggingers @homestarroofing @rahulderrodra @cluelessframer @viawoodworking @blucontractors @captainlirp @gibsoncarpentryinc @marleausactionmaintenance @dkmay87 @lewiswoodworking @yo.prmn @nickelgeneral @greekbuilder @blders.ca @tilebychristoppher @integrabell @e6analytics @upperlevelfinishes @b.curriecontracting @thejakedekker @electricallocal69 @ryanmatthews411 @lonewolfdrywall @ryanaberin @rjhattonrenovations @tonygdcontracting @mackconstructionsinc @fortunatos @cullenmch @stonesthrowconstruction @brydonperryconsinc @matthewvincentbg @khan.kharpentry @ksinteriorllc @binsplusdisposalsolutions @blackbroncoconstruction @nickoulton @northridgecorp @catarquiconstruction @renosbybill @cafecoccoalatte @mselyan @sever_homes @carpenteronsite @joemconstruction @baruchbuilderscorp @joefraschini @vanhoornscustom @ritewayconstruction @mikemooresold @macneilconstruction @gonellhomes @philbarbosa30 @hardworkcanada @righteouscontracting @sidde @rahulderodra @khan.kharpentry @nwoplumber @cascoagency @sheetmetalsteve @vivhosking @franksflooring @kylescustomwoodworks @tacobelli14 @jpstile @daytonhardwoodco To all of our listeners, old and new, thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. Don’t forget to find Jim @jimcaruk @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We are back at the R Club recording another great podcast with my guest co-host John from Craft and Clerk and Stones Throw Construction, we open the show with a few shout outs and a special shout out to the wine that John brings, thank you Sir.Find Joe from Napa Valley Developments at www.napavalleycontracting.com and [email protected] and he is not on social media and Manny is very happy to hear that. The bell is wrung when Joe presents the truth behind a lot of social media images on construction business pages, are they really their work? The conversation gets a bit hot under the hood especially when Joe brings up TV renovations and how he refuses to discuss parallels with TV and a real construction to a potential client. Joe brings up his back story where he was the construction team on a show from the early 2000’s called Mondo Condo about renovating small spaces and he hated how TV pushed him, he worked for free and he disliked how TV always painted a negative image of contractors. Manny wonders where he has heard this before? Hmmmm. The stigma of “you’re just a contractor” sparks a debate across all three men and all three bring up some great points about how clients, designers, architects, the public perceives contractors. John began his career in construction in 1982, working in subdivision track building as a labourer for a framing crew, framing 1100 sq ft homes in 4 days and the shit that he went through would literally make the new trades of today cry. The abuse he was subjected to would have child services on speed dial, but that’s how the industry was then and some people feel it should go back to that way, because things got done, and people were tested, confirming construction was for you. Joe takes us down his construction path, from framing, to renos, to custom homes, to duplexes, triplexes, commercial, boutique condos builds and more, Joe has the skills to pay the bills, as John would say. These days Joe is actually comparing wood framing to concrete building for his triplexes and concrete is about par to wood and even if he was 15-30% more for concrete, he would still go with concrete because of the fire separation and added expense to safely secure wood framing for fire code. Things to consider these days. What changed things for Joe was his Drive, his passion to move forward and while he was working, starting a family, he was driven to buy a place and flip it, so he did, then he bought a restaurant and partnered with his Uncles, bought more places and flipped them and still to this day he is still buying, working on them and selling them, even in today’s ridiculous real estate market. Joe says there is opportunity everywhere, just do the work and find them and besides he looks for places that most don’t want, whereas Joe has the skills to buy something that is not over his head. What an amazing talk, thank you Joe. Loads of construction, old school, new school, restaurant building, cooking, handling clients and crews and so much more. Thanks you Joe for being on the show. Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Our first guests from outside of the Greater Toronto Area. We chat with two builders from Calgary, and we discuss how they build and what motivated them to begin Builders and Brews. Here is the contact info.Adrian: @uniqueprojectsyyc https://www.uniqueprojects.ca/Byron; @brookwright_construction http://brookwright.ca/ Both involved in @buildersandbrews https://www.buildersandbrews.ca/ and @home_upkeep http://homeupkeep.ca/ We apologize for the bad connection as we tried a new mixing board and were using Bluetooth connection with a mobile device. Future shows will not be like this and I am sure the guys will be back on the show soon. We don’t open the show with our guests singing, instead we close thew show with our guests singing and you don’t want to miss that tune. Jim opens up about your appearance, your brand, your face, and how to establish yourself to attract those million-dollar clients. The group discusses a very important detail in construction, site cleanliness and how it’s never beneath any GC to maintain a clean site. Byron shares a story of his site super, Brian and how some trade left the onsite toilet a mess and Brian went around to find out who and everyone was dick punched until he found the guilty party. At Brookwright there are a few company policies, such as Bum Touching Thursdays, and other great ways to build moral on the job site. Adrian and Byron began looking at ways they could work together instead of against each other and that is how Builders and Brews was born and it’s been growing ever since. We discuss paying yourself again, because this needs to be understood. We discuss bridge loans and bank construction loans and lines of credit, milestones in construction to achieve next draw funds, we discuss, client relationships, where to find more clients and use “Mom” web sites and or committees to source out your next client, we discuss getting paid and why do we always have to feel bad about asking for money earned? We even discuss paying your trades what they ask because in the end will they have integrity, will they drop everything to handle any issues, will they be there for you? Absolute pleasure speaking with Adrian and Byron and getting a better understanding of contractors out west, we all have similar ups and downs and the guys have great ideas on how to build better and build the construction industry. Thank you Gents. Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Another great Question & Answer show with Jim and Manny. A jam-packed show with another long list of questions, comments, inquiries and more all about The Construction Life.We open the show with Jim mentioning @renosforheroes and how the pandemic has made it tough to get donations to help our wounded soldiers. Jim and Manny as asking for tradespeople to go to the web site www.renosforheroes.organd donate any amount. Thank you so much for the support.On with the show!!Here is who reached out to us and thank you everyone for reaching out.@hayesnulmandesigns wants to know how to scale up his business@rabenbuilt – Does he partner up or continue to sub contract?Tim from Ohio email commentUpdates from our good friend - @upperlevelfinishesTim Reed from Christiansburg, VA he left the business, now at 42 wants back in and wants to know how to ease back inDanny Valado – a labourer for a large high rise builder would love to share his story on the [email protected] – side hustle real estate opportunities@libramplumbing – wants to learn how to improve his plumbing tradeRyan Connolly – a 21 year old tradesperson would love to be a on the show and share his Millennial story.The ASSOCIATION or should we be calling it a Mentorship. It is coming soon.@mishaaksel – asks, what should a trade thinking about going on their own have?Chris Goodwin from @chriscg82 – he’s 38 and wants to get into trades and thinks he might be too [email protected] – Increases in painting materialsMr. Smith is Back with more insight into the building code and inspections.Adam from @ozoconstruction – wants to know should he as a GC apply for permits?@kiraveedesignbuild – clients keep asking him to itemize his estimates and they begin to cost compare trades.@jake_buckman – Working exclusively for one builder, good or bad idea?@hamiltondrywall – being robbed, truck broken into.Lorenzo from @supersevengroup – Would love to see the Roundtable return, was curious about what Jim was up to and his google search found the podcast.Aaron from @eastidohocarpenter – much respect for Jesse and the younger trades that step up.@mas_araz Landscaping Company - The rising material costsStay tuned for a follow up show where we tackle the crazy rising costs of material and how an early morning story post on IG woke up 100’s of trades on line.Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life.Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Let’s get dirty, we are talking about those heavy big boy toys full of all kinds of dirt, and concrete materials, we are going to dive into this world and the world that Laurie has been a part of for 22 years, and Parkview has been in business since 1995 and she doesn’t take any crap from anyone. We open the show by talking about her Dad, the person who built the business because nobody was doing what he needed done so with a few interesting phone calls to friends and family, Parkview Building Supplies was born. Welcome to Stone Therapy with Laurie. We get right into all the different types of material they offer and the purposes behind each one, always comparing the bad vs the good trades out there. Why is that the yard once they open and the first trades walk in for material the place smells like a skunk, 7am pot smoking landscapers? Back in 95, Laurie and company started seeing a shift in construction and felt it was time to shift gears from old school dinosaur mentality and bring things to a new more efficient way of offering customer service. Clients really have no idea what outdoor construction really costs and when they have finished the interior the budget that is left over in truly a fraction of what they really require. We discuss the rising costs of material and how has the current world climate affected Parkview. When you have costs of containers going from $1300.00 last year to higher than $6000.00 and its turned into the container mafia with bidding overtaking everything. Time to look in our own backyard but then we have to deal with trends and clients requests. Manny asks the question, where are clients going wrong when it comes to outdoor construction? Laurie tells us straight up what they are doing wrong. Enjoy the great secrets that are shared about planting tomatoes. And lastly we discuss Nona and how Nono was going to be a nun and now she makes Nono meat on Fridays, something Laurie wished she never heard. Magically Laurie reveals the calculation for yardage, please write this down. The depth in inches, divided by 12, multiply by the square footage, and divided by 27 and that’s how you get the volume. Thank you so much Laurie for being on the show and highlighting the wonderful world of building materials, keep doing what you’re doing, passion with fashion. Find her at www.parkviewonline.ca email her at [email protected] 416 752-4748 and www.romalaltd.com for their shoring and excavation part of the business. Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Thank you to John my Guest CoHost from @craftandclerk and @stonesthrowconstruction and www.craftandclerk.comand www.stonesthrowconstruction.com Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected] This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Joel, like Noel, is Laneway Custom Builds, a red seal framer from North Bay came to Toronto nearly a decade ago and jumped into urban construction. Joel has come across almost every type of “urban” scenario, neighbors, deliveries, inspections, tradespeople, working in very tight lots and spots, did we mention neighbors? Getting started with garage building, with his own being the first due to the neighborhood arsonist being kind enough to set his car on fire. Joel had absolutely nothing to do with the fire. He built his garage, another neighbor wanted a garage, and another and off he went with his construction business. Laneway approval is only a couple of years old in Toronto and the city is starting to make things a lot easier for more and more homeowners to apply and construct more laneway homes. Visit the web site https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/planning-studies-initiatives/changing-lanes-the-city-of-torontos-review-of-laneway-suites/ We get into all the utilities attached in building the laneway and how all of it has to come off the main home. Best to review all the options and possibly handle these upgrades and changes before the building permit is even issued. Joel even scopes all of the drains to see what they may be up against and the homeowners might consider upgrading the waste lines at that point. From there the construction begins and it’s conventional building, 2x6 framing, batts, mechanical run throughs. Joel is finding working with forward thinking architects and homeowners is allowing him to take the conventional to new levels and build more efficiently. Joel is currently working with Solares Architecture https://www.solares.ca and what are the odds, there office is at 1113 College Street, the home where Manny used to live as a kid. Joel introduces the listeners to a new way to do a slab on grade, ICF slab on grade by http://www.legalett.ca well worth checking it out. This product was used at the University of Toronto laneway homes and that is how Joel heard about it. Joel has a new title given to him by his trades, #Air Boss, it’s all about air leakage and making sure trades do not make unnecessary holes and correctly seal any and all necessary holes. We discuss design layouts and really thinking outside the drafting box. We also chat about costs and realizing that laneway building is a premium construction budget and clients should understand that when they research. Laneway Homes are a great idea and time to move away from the fact only cars live back there. Thank you so much Joel for finally being on the show and sharing your day to day. Love to have you back talking a lot more about construction. Find Joel @lanewaycustombuild on IG, www.lanewaycustombuild.ca and email him for your next project [email protected] Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We have a great show for our listeners, let’s talk about buying that second property for yourself or to rent out, a place to getaway, a place to experience, a place to fixer upper. Steve is an expert in purchasing these types of properties and he has a lot of great information to share. Find Steve @steve.haid on IG his website www.stevehaid.com his email [email protected] and his phone number 416 277-6604 The wine is on the table, a bottle for each of the three nationalities represented on the show today, Portugal, Italy and Germany.On with the show.There is a massive push for 30- and 40-year-olds to purchase fixer upper waterfront cottages from the aging population. You would be surprised, there are a lot of cottages on the market. Steve recently purchased his own place up there last year, a 1900 two story that needs a lot of construction love and right off the bat, Steve’s budget doesn’t line up with construction reality, but the guys discuss what it would really cost and what type of contractor you will attract the lower your budget goes. You honestly get what you paid for. Steve walks the listeners through the key steps involved in purchasing that property and it might not be a cottage on the lake, it could be rural, it could be a condo as the market grows up in cottage country. Steve is talking about a potential 20-30% return on your real estate investment. The conversation deviates into Manny never wanting to own a place up there himself because Manny is not an outdoorsy kind of guy and you will never catch Manny portaging or shitting in a thunderbox. The guys talk about working with all of the governing agencies up there and how particular they are when it comes to shorelines, wildlife and wearing camouflage pants. We discuss tech and how everyone is now on wifi and data networks and how those details are assisting with security and home office functionality for cottage owners. Then Steve hijacks the conversation back to his own place and asks how long the renovation will take, Steve thinks a month, that way he can disappear to Costa Rica and return to a completed reno, not the case as Manny and John enlighten Steve on the truths of timelines. Steve speaks openly about how badly clients up in cottage country desperately want a “hands off” experience and want the contractor to take full responsibility over everything from the permits to design. John and Manny even suggest Steve should consider renovating his home into a passive home, especially after hearing that Steve spends over $1000 per month on electric heat. So much to consider when it comes to cottage country living. Thanks so much Steve for walking us through the ups and downs of cottage purchasing, renovating, and living. John shares his latest and greatest phrase…Skills to pay the Bills. Use it guys.Thank you to John my Guest CoHost from @craftandclerk and @stonesthrowconstruction and www.craftandclerk.com and www.stonesthrowconstruction.com Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with a phone call to Adrian in Calgary Alberta chatting with him from @uniqueprojectsyyc giving our listeners a brief glimpse into what the great folks out west are doing with @buildersandbrews along with @brookwright_construction stay tuned for a whole show with them. There is a lot more to share on the great construction and contractors going on across Canada.After the call with Adrian we shift gears on the already scheduled Q&A show Jim and Manny had planned, Jim wants to say something about a good friend he recently lost from Covid and work related unawareness regarding PPE back in the day. Due to not wearing the proper respirators, Jim’s friends was recently diagnosed with damage to 50% of his lungs from all of that overhead hammer drilling into concrete and silica dust inhaled over the years of working. Jim is asking that every tradesperson wear the proper PPE, all the GC’s make sure everyone is wearing the proper PPE, all the tradespeople make sure your coworkers are all wearing the proper PPE. The only person that will truly help you, is yourself.Stay safe on the job site. It’s a very long Construction Life.A bunch of shout outs from our listeners, @upperlevelfinishes @vkum @renosbybill @brollyrenos @filjuliao @schaeferwm @buildingpassive @youngelectric @btlcontracting @byurbangray @newwaycontractors Thank you so much for listening and sharing the show with so many other tradespeople, like-minded people that truly want to change the industry.Questions from so many listeners, @neilrmols @carpentermuncey @electricallocal69 @propertyrehab @symmetreerenos @nw_kitchenandbathsplus @ygjaws @jpaulitzki So many great questions and Jim and Manny try to answer all of them to the best they can and hey everyone that listens, Jim and Manny may not always be right but they may offer up some ideas that could point you in the right direction. It truly is about adding more into the industry and making this Construction Life stronger and better.Jim and Manny discuss, trades talking crap, working in construction is it all worth it, finding your price for your skills, side hustles should you, should GC’s have a test to pass, dealing with clients that only want to hire the low bid, using Tyvek on the backside of a basement framing wall and our thoughts, red seal certification and is it worth it, another great show and another great listeners with everyday construction life questions.Jim shares a great story from one of his earlier clients, the president of a bank and how he could have built whatever he wanted but that’s not what this client wanted. Another great show with a mixed bag of construction topics.Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life.Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Mike opens up the show with a funny onsite story that involves this opening song, the avocado!!! We have Mike and Jessica from Belley Renovations, find them on IG @belleyrenovations and www.belleyrenovations.com Navigating the wonderful world of dream kitchen and bathrooms. There is a lot of thought put into the design and functionality of bathrooms and women dictate the start and finish line on that design and function. Manny just lets it all out and starts the conversation down a very interesting path discussing the luxury bathroom. We dive deep into the myth about “she” has the final say, Mike and Jessica agree that it doesn’t exist any longer. This show is revealing a number of ways to approach your current and new clients, pay close attention to the cues. We are recording the podcast at their home that is under renovations, shoemakers at their best. We get right into waterproofing and how it’s just put into the budget, not even giving the client any opportunity to question proper waterproofing for all of their wet areas. Construction is in the family, Mom was a site super for track residential, Grand Dad was a plumber, Uncle in HVAC, Dad was an Electrician, another Uncle that does Finish Carpentry, and Mike never thought he would get into construction and hated construction and during the family get togethers, it was always construction talk at the dinner table. Mike went into the culinary arts and cooking in some of the finest restaurants and was one of the best moves Mike ever made. The comparisons of being in culinary to construction are so similar and Mike learned a lot and it all prepared him for construction. Shout out to @livingstoncabintry and @binnerswasteremoval We dive into all types of good and some bad plumbing fixtures, why they work with for them and their clients. Our last conversation is about food, what tradespeople are eating and why and what they should be considering for lunch, breakfast and snacks during the workday and how Uber Eats isn’t really helping the industry and how it’s adding to social pressures to today’s generations. Things get a little heated in the kitchen. We discuss what tradespeople eat, what they put inside their bodies, how what you eat makes you the person you are on so many levels and it really is about a lifestyle, Mike and Jessica are Vegans and it’s something to consider for your construction life. Thanks Jessica and Mike from @belleyrenovations for such an amazing talk about cooking, construction and caring. Keep up the awesomeness. Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We have an amazing show today, we have a very special guest, Matthew Bradley from OYAP. Matt works for the TDSB for the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program Department. Before OYAP he was a carpentry teacher, before that he was carpenter, before that he was a cabinet maker, and from leaving high school Matt went to study philosophy in university and not really knowing why he did that. LOL. Matt began his career in finance in the UK but working in finance wasn’t satisfying. Left London and moved to Calgary and transitioned from finance to web, and all of this relates to his construction path. A failure in the web allowed Matthew to be packaged out and use that money to study cabinet making at Humber College. Now Matthew began his construction career, working on all sorts of projects and learning so much more. From there with the help of his wife who discovered teaching and went through the programs to be able to teach. Matt has gotten a very good perspective on tradespeople getting in, staying in and thriving in the construction industry. We discuss the entire program and how to find the right apprentice for the right employer and it’s truly the employers that OYAP needs more of, they have plenty of students with the desire to work. We discuss taking the students on after the coop period and making them your employee. The students are PPE prepared and aware, they arrive on site ready and safe. They are informed of the latest tools and toys but they need a jobsite to keep learning. All of this is funded by the Ministry of Labour Training and Skills Development, one great thing the MOL is doing for construction. A recent approval by the MOL are construction coaches, this is an amazing new platform for all students. There are 144 different trades that these students can study for, we typically know about the most popular ones but there are so many more. We discuss the Step In Construction program, a hugely successful program within OYAP. So much to learn about the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program and I am sure Matt will be back one day. Watch for Jim and Manny to do more work with OYAP. Thank you so much Matt for shining a lot of light on teaching, apprenticeships, the construction industry and more. Really appreciate it. Find Matt at www.oyaptdsb.com and oyap.com is the provincial site www.oyaptdsb.com/[email protected] 647 467-9744 and on social IG and Twitter @tdsboyap Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Very explicit conversations in this show and a few jabs at DeWalt and Milwaukee.Let’s open the show with some Shabba and some reggae from Carlos and this is how as all construction podcasts should open. LOVE IT!! We have a special Co Host to join Manny, John from Craft And Clerk proposed the idea of joining the show and here we are. Manny is interested in doing more Co-Hosting, so anyone interested in filling in the seat, please reach out to Manny.Carlos a little nervous to be on the show opens up as the bottles of wine go down. We get off to a slow start but boy does the conversation ramp up fast.Right out of high school Carlos got into landscaping, choose a hard career path and loved it. A decade and half of working for others Carlos made the move to go out on his own and he chose early 2020 to make the move, right smack at the start of the pandemic. Talk about a challenge? Most of his friends, family and coworkers told him to wait, not to take the risk, Carlos listened but he still moved forward, and he had a great start to his new business.We get talking costs to run a business and what to expect with the crews and even going as far as discussing Uber Eats and all of those fees vs losing a guy to go get coffee and lunch. Things get heated and not from the microwave. Carlos was very lucky out the gate, his first job was in a higher end neighborhood of Toronto and we joke about that area.John takes the show to a side tangent by asking Manny all the behind-the-scenes work involved with The Construction Life podcast and what Manny goes through on a daily basis, on the job site, running the business, producing the podcast and more.We discuss ways to optimize your mind, your brain functions, how to be more mentally aleart and Manny discusses Brain Fog, eating coconut oil, mixing in MCT oil and Ghee Butter into his morning coffee and making his Bulletproof coffee, look it up guys, it will help you mentally and physically.Back to landscaping.We discuss the many ways your new business can and should be profitable, it’s important to have those goals but they need to always be attached to profit. We discuss tools, all kinds of tools, we even get a chance to upset every tool brand in the process and then the conversation turns to electric pick-up trucks and can of worms explodes. We end the show on quite the porta potty story and a brand new iPhone.What a great show and thank you Carlos for sharing your ups and downs and all the best to you and your new business.Give Carlos a follow, contact him for your next landscape project, @cavemen_landscapes and follow John @stonesthrowconstruction doing more tham just landscaping www.stonesthrowconstruction.com and please contact him to organize your business with @craftandclerk and www.craftandclerk.com Thanks John for being my cohost on The Construction life.Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life.Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world.This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

The show opens with a mic check and a bottle of wine, Pinot Grigio this round. Back at the evening podcast recording session and Jim and Manny are answering a lot of listener questions. We have a great show for everyone, talking about all details of construction and Mr. Smith returns with more information from the wonderful world of the Ontario Building Code. Let’s open the show with a classic scenario where a sprayfoam trade is being asked by the client to provide documentation for her occupancy final but the client never paid the GC but the GC paid the spray foam out of his pocket and we are asked what should the spray foam trade do now that the GC has submitted a legal claim against the client? And now the questions.Do we struggle not being on the tools? Jobsite vacuums?Jobsite garbage, who is responsible?Are GC’s expected to shovel snow off driveways?Trade hovering, should you or shouldn’t you?Should you commit time to social media?When designer ideas don’t and can’t match real onsite construction, how to handle that?When does the finished flooring get installed? Before or after trim?Trades and the GC are not allowed to speak to the clients directly and without the designer?Why do custom trades expect payment asap, the e transfer has to happen right away? Mr. Smith got back to our last show and he has some very interesting replies and a few more questions and Jim brings up more questions. What if the homeowner doesn’t want the inspector on their property?Why do inspector question manufacture specs?Who pays for inspector’s wage?Why do we need to and must build to the exact way it is drawn?Why are permitted drawings issued and not approved?As much as contractors as inspectors to have on site experience well contractors should have building code experience, two-way street? Back to other listeners and more questions.What should a new guy start at regarding wage?How accurate can young tradespeople get with their quoting? Jim and Manny wrap up the show discussing the “association” a new endeavor that Jim and Manny are preparing to begin, a new way to change the construction industry. Thank you everyone for listening and the everyday support. Don’t forget the Shout Outs - @elitecustommillwork @whiteoak.construction @kestrelrenovations @upperlevelfinishes @pacificwildgeneralcontracting @foamit.ca @fortunatos_ @customandqualityinc @blders.ca @procustompainting @timberwolf.carpentry Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

What a great show we have today, Edward talks to us about being taught all the wrong lessons and he will be the first to admit the stereotype behind Asians and construction, how it’s always fast and cheap is the best and only way to renovate. Edward talks about going to post school, leaving in his 2nd year, he didn’t think school was right for him, but he did end up finding a network of likeminded tradespeople that he eventually turned into Ridgewood. Edward felt school was too simplified and they needed to teach him more and more about all aspects of construction. The guys go through a gambit of different construction topics from building a brand, building wealth, setbacks, people complaining, millennials and establishing money after you have gotten close to establishing your brand. We discuss entry level pay rates and what the new trades should be asking for and the why behind the rate, more importantly the opportunities behind that rate. Edward reveals some of his epic downs and ups in his construction career and as he states, the ups only happen because of the downs, embrace those losses and build from them. Lastly we have the 12 questions of construction. Thank you, Edward for being on the show and all the best with all your endeavors. Find Edward through Ridgewood Building Group at www.ridgewoodbuildinggroup.ca and on IG @ridgewood_group and email at [email protected]. Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Want a sticker, contact Manny at [email protected] or DM Manny @hardcorerenos He will mail you a sticker free of charge anywhere in the world. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We turn the topics over to our listeners and they have sent in great questions for Jim and Manny to answer and they don’t hold back. From dealing with Building Inspectors to how to price low to high end jobs, to what can trade schools do better when educating for RED Seal, to losing out on the job, to shadowing other contractors, to how to set your pricing and is pricing a constant evolving thing, to clients not willing to pay that final payment, to staying a sole proprietor or make the move to incorporation, to going back in time to our early years in construction and what we would do differently and the same. Manny shares the continuing Toronto Hydro Saga and something interesting came up on site, a construction life lesson regarding book smarts vs on site smarts. And our good friend Nick Andrew sends Jim and Manny a DM over IG as we are recording, just in time to make it into this week’s show and the guys are presented with a great question Nick asks, don’t want to miss this final segment of the show. Lastly, the show ends with Jim and Manny’s perspective on Valentine’s Day, the guys couldn’t be more different. Have a listen to another great show. Thanks to all the listeners for all the great questions. Jamie from @rabenbuiltJoe Rosselli @rossellirenovations @brock.peel Travis D from @black_bronco_construction Kevin from @pardely_woodworking and @I.westminster.purcell Thanks for all the support, the kind words, the emails and messages about our little podcast. The word is spreading, tell your friends, family, subtrades, suppliers, tell everyone and anyone about The Construction Life. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Something a little different on today’s show, Jim and Manny just rapid fire the topics and discuss a variety pack of construction hits and misses. We open the show with a little DATA on our followers and how much we have grown since launching the show back in 2019, over 150,000 total downloads with an average of 17,000 downloads per month, with May of 2020 being our biggest month ever, over 30,000 downloads. Thank You to all of our listeners and spreading the word, letting everyone know about The Construction Life and how we have great, honest, interesting, passionate conversations about construction. Jim gets right into the permit process and how the “C” word is killing the slow and steady workflow currently going on, the government needs to address our concerns otherwise construction is heading into a slow period this year. Jim is optimistic that things will get better but there needs to be a give and take on ours and the governments sides to continue the construction growth. Jim and Manny dive deep into what your profit should be, what percentage should your business be looking at? These are key points for any contractor and business owner. Talking 20 points for 100K or smaller renos but then closer to 15-12 points for million-dollar projects and that could drop to 8%. You have to be aware of every penny being spent and how those pennies take away from those profits. Cost of materials and how that could contribute to clients not moving forward, thinking things will get cheaper and favor the homeowner which both Jim and Manny disagree with, costs will always go up. Jim and Manny discuss how the younger trades can make the right choice when it comes to, who to work for, who will teach me, guide me, help me move forward on my construction career path. What a great question and a huge concern of many young trades out there. Great story about a sheet metal great friend of Jim’s with 4 thumbs, crusty as hell but would teach you the hard lessons. Leads us to on site etiquette, what a world of worms that opens up. We discuss how clients always leave an empty coffee cup mess after a site meeting. We discuss music on site and music levels. We discuss how GC’s should be charging clients for parking tickets. Then we talk about not getting paid by clients, by GC’s and how to handle those situations. What a great show we have touching upon a number on construction details. We wrap up the show with a little bit on the reno TV industry, the so-called influencers on social media and how the real construction world isn’t the way these people who say they represent us, really don’t because they really don’t live a real construction life. Stand up and be a man and if they want to talk smack about anyone, say it to their face. Thank you again to all of the Listeners and followers, thank you so much for making our little construction podcast one of the best shows online. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with a few construction terms and the origins of these terms, from Journeyman, the imperial measurements to plumb.Let’s get talking about your next construction office space, the Oakville location has 18, 746 square feet with 63 private offices, 3 boardrooms, a café, a lounge, and a flexible workspace. There are currently 5 locations in the GTA, this Oakville location, 3 in Mississauga and 1 in Richmond Hill with more expansion into Etobicoke, Ottawa, and out West into BC coming in the next few years. Ventures X is a global brand and well worth enquiring about the option to start your next construction officer space with them.The freedom to have a private office space, have access to the café, lounge area, free parking, set up boardroom presentations with clients, tradespeople, architects, and designers, a professional business address. Plus, the added advantage of flexibility of term, you can rent a space for as little as 60 days, there are no long-term leases here. You don’t have to worry about those fixed costs, heat, hydro, wifi that is all included in the space.Signing up to one location allows you to access the other locations globally, now that makes a lot of sense when you have clients across the Greater Toronto Area and can schedule meetings closer to you, or closer to your client. Even get a virtual office and use VenturesX professional address to run your business.We wrap up the show with the guests turning the questions onto Manny and asking him his thoughts on some great details of construction, things that have not been expressed before.Reach out to Joe and Trevor at the following info. www.venturesxcanada.ca find them on Social Media @venturesxoakville reach them at 289 644-2393 and email [email protected]’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the how at a new venue, we are at VenturesX workspace in Oakville and next week’s show will be all about this space. Thanks Trevor and Joe for offering up the space to record the show.Mike, what a great guy, calls himself the “toolbelt contractor” he loves being on site and seeing what’s happening and doing what needs to be done. Mike is proud of what he does for a living, but even more so proud that people call him a carpenter. Mike has 21 years of great stories, a successful tradesperson and running a great brand at the young age of 37. Mike and Manny get right into his construction life.His story begins with an apprenticeship with his Dad and when he looks back at it now, Mike didn’t realize how much he was being taught at the time, the opportunities his Dad was presenting him. His Dad built a very successful company, a union company with 20 employees and Mike learned so much from how his Dad set up and ran the business.A lot of respect for Mike because he not only tells us the great stories, the positive stories but he shares the downside of the business and how it happened and how he handled it. His Dad guided him through those major ups and downs and Mike thanks him for all of those lessons.Mike’s next mentor brought him to the bid, bad and bold world of high-rise commercial work for all of the big players in the industry and Mike loved it. He worked for this mentor for 5 great and life changing years, the knowledge Mike absorbed forever shaped his future.Mike shares an interesting story about his white ford van way back in the day that sort of got him into a bit of heat, you want to hear this story about a 1/3 into the show. LOL.Mike and Manny discuss side hustles, flipping, the how to’s and does it really make sense? Mike opens up the Millennial door wide and presents some valid points about working in trades, smoking pot on or near site, handling employees and subtrades and much much more.We warp up the show with a bunch of rapid fire scenarios and that leads Mike to telling us that he had Covid and what he went through.Thank you Mike so much for being on the show and sharing such amazing insight into your construction life. Find Mike Campbell from Integrabell @integrabell on IG and www.ibbg.ca or on his cell 905 691-3830 and on his email [email protected]’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Jesse Barbosa is back on the show and finally gets to meet Jim, we get talking loads of Framing. Jesse a 25-year-old framer with a solid crew that has old school heart and love for the trades and the construction life. He’s a hard worker that truly cares about his trade and what happens before, during and after his work, regardless if he can only blame the foundation guys for any issues while everyone else blames the framer. Listen in as Jesse shares some great insight on how he started his business, working with homeowners, GC’s, and always on the hunt for more framers to work with. We get talking about winter framing, back framing, steel framing, jobsite appearance, tradesperson appearance and more. We discuss cash jobs, taxes, underground economy, getting rid of the tax on renovations, proper paperwork, running the show and the business and none of us pull punches, our objective is to educate others to build and run a business better and you can only do that by sharing the information. Jesse brings up a great term, Framer of the Future when it comes to understanding building envelope and passive framing. We discuss how the quality of milling lumber comes up and reputable framers are sending a lot more lumber back to suppliers. The conversations get right into the ups and downs of framing, estimating, and so much more. We end the show with a few construction stereotypes, classic ones are expressed. Thank you so much Jesse for being on the show again and continue to build like a Rockstar. Thank you so much Jesse for joining the show and sharing your construction stories and you have a massive career ahead of you. Anyone interested in any kind of great framing please contact Jesse at 647 227-7783 and [email protected] find him on IG at @barbosacarpentry for some great posts and videos that will teach and entertain you. Don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

WE ARE BACK!! It was a nice hiatus, well worth the 4 weeks off and enjoy some downtime to ourselves. We hit 121 podcasts at the end of 2020 and now we are focused on reaching 200 podcasts by the end of 2021. We welcome Marc from Craigmhor Construction back on the show to have a great conversation about stigmas in construction and we just let the conversation roll from there. We open the show on what potential clients think about us showing up at their homes, the way dress, the tools we use, the work vehicle we drive, everything, it’s the way we present ourselves and our brand that matters all the time. We discuss education, trade schools and the career path tradespeople should consider and the value and available assets out there for every tradesperson. Marc brings up some great points about workforce and what has been going up or down and how to understand putting yourself in a much better situation based on a little research. We get right into the heart of construction and talk about working together, set aside our differences and build the construction up together, possibly look at building a network of like-minded tradespeople and grow this amazing industry together. Marc said it best, the construction worker is not the person most people think of, now is the time to push the change, push the image of tradespeople to new heights. The topic of reno tv shows and the renoactors comes up, the negatives behind social media as an individual and forgetting the construction collective comes up, and the agencies that only care about their percentage points behind a connection versus building the construction industry, trade shows and webinars come up, the future of sharing information and how we can evolve comes up. Thank you so much Marc for being on the show again and sharing such amazing information and insight. Find Marc at www.craigmhor.ca @craigmhor_construction and don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.comand [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We get right into the wonderful world of architects and designers. Talking about the formal education, the on-site education, the real construction life. We even discuss the egos attached to being an architect, a designer and how to handle those egos. Then we jump into the formality of drawings, zoning, committee of adjustments, urban forestry, conservations and all of that fun stuff months, years before that first shovel hits the ground. Jim and Craig walks us through actually attending a Committee of Adjustment meetings and dealing with the neighbors objecting the permits. Jim and Craig walks us through dealing with neighbors, bad neighbors, good neighbors and why most neighbors just will never like construction until it is their construction.Craig walks us through where the love for custom residential came from and why, such an interesting and relevant story, we can all relate too.Thank You Craig for being on the show and sharing so much, a lot about the construction industry, architects, designers, and clients. Craig enlightens us on how the homes have changed over the years and what clients are asking for today, basically making the home a more functional space throughout. The dreaded work triangle is brought up and discussed is it really used in design today? All 3 of us go off on closet space and what closets were like for 3 brothers in one room versus today’s client’s requests, amazing how times of interests have changed. Powder rooms and sound levels and boy do all three of us bring up some very valid decibel points when designing a powder room. We finally chat about the numbers, the real construction numbers behind everything. We get to talking numbers versus clients expectations and the lovely world of construction finance.Thank you so much Craig for all of the valuable information and great stories.Find Craig at www.cardesignstudio.com @cardesignstudio and don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.comand [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We get right into the world of working for women clients, single professional women, married women and the stigma attached to having a female client. Why do contractors treat the ladies differently? Why can’t all tradespeople treat all clients the same way?Women are concerned that they need to know all of the construction terminology, not true, women and men, all clients need to know what they want, let the contractor worry about the terminology and make sure they are using the proper materials and techniques. Never be afraid to ask a question, ask 1000 questions, ask for images during each stage of construction, it’s your money being spent here, so ask away.The discussion of the “look” of a contractor comes up, their appearance and personal hygiene and somehow the conversation turns to exciting women, stimulating women, that fantasy of the strapping, manly man wearing a tool belt and taking care of problems in the home comes up in a big way and a new term is shared, Vagina Coupon, we will let the ladies explain that one.Then the issues of safety and bringing in strangers into your home and how can you trust people. It has a lot to do with who and why women hire anyone and allow anyone into their home. Would a woman client prefer to hire a woman trade? Single women looking for good contractors is an important segment of the market and instead of dismissing these women, embrace it. Change your business today.Thank You Ladies, Maya, Tanya and Trisha for being on the show and sharing so much, a lot about the construction industry, coupons and more.Maya @shopjtg and find Trisha @trishasand1 find Tanya @tanyakusu and don’t forget to find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with a couple of bottles of wine, a few cheeses, salami and bread as any great construction podcast should start.We don’t sugarcoat it…Covid is killing small business or should we say selective lockdown is killing small business. The panel today gets right into the motives behind the Canadian government and how they are handling the pandemic, lockdowns, and small business owners or should we say small business survivors.What is the real reason for this 2nd lockdown? The government is saying to prevent a burden on the health care system. When you actually look at the actual real health numbers, which by the way Alberta has been the only province to share this info, the actual number is 26 people of 297,000 people in Alberta with Covid have died, less than 1 percent and by the way that healthy person is over 70 years old. All of these cases we keep hearing about and the justification of the lockdown and restrictions are numbers from 99% of Covid mixed with underlining issues. Our government should be sharing all of the information, not just the information that will benefit big corporate. The medical industry is now controlling the economy, is that right? Is that fair? There are more deaths from driving than Covid, are we going to lockdown driving? More deaths in skiing than Covid, are we going to lockdown skiing?We discuss the recent Adamson’s police and government fiasco and why and what did he really do wrong? We discuss the Canadian Charter of Rights, The Canadian Bill of Rights and what our small business is allowed to do. The conversation gets warmed up and we don’t hold back. Are restaurants really the cause of the spread of Covid? They are not and yet the government is forcing these small businesses to close and die.Dave expresses a 3rd lockdown will happen in early January, as soon as this one is done, the 3rd one will begin and there will also be a 4th lockdown. Are these selective lockdowns really doing anything? We all get quiet as Dave shares his thoughts.We discuss the cause and effects of Covid on families, domestic issues, divorces and the overall mental strain on the communities for years to come after Covid.Thanks to Dave and Mark for being on the show and sharing so much about the pandemic and small business and the construction industry.Find Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Something a little different but very relevant to our construction life, on today’s show we get right into a lot of health and lifestyle, eating and living. You really need to listen to your body and what your body is telling you because it is telling you a lot and listen up. It really is about what goes into your body has an effect on you, physically and mentally and what needs to come out, what is left inside will do good or bad to your body and mind.Your health begins with your gut, your colon, what is going on in those two places and you need to drink half your body weight in ounces in filtered water, that is the best first step to changing your body. Your body is always trying to come into balance, what is consumed your body has a reaction to it, good or bad and we need to understand the balance. Your body needs to always be in a state of repair and recover, we cannot bombard our bodies and skip the repair and recover because it will compound and eventually create life threatening issues.We get into the whole world of vegan, gluten, celiac and what are we really eating and why are bodies react the way they do. We discuss the Blue Zones around the world and how and why these cultures are living healthily into their 100’s whereas we live in a place where prescriptions are being handed out in our 40’s and 50’s to maintain a somewhat normal healthy life.Pay attention to your sleeping environment, black out blinds, not lights, phones not near your bed or even worse your head, place your phone on airplane mode, do not check that last email, that last post, clear your mind before you go to sleep. EMF’s, electric cars, GPS units and how these microwave fields can cause damage to your bodies. We finally try some foods that Sandra and Speducci have brought together for the show and you can find everything at Speducci. We wrap the show up discussing colonoscopies, colonics, float pods and more, most people are really full of shit because of the what they eat and all of that extra waste is just staying inside you. Let us not forget about stress, it is the number one cause of reducing life in all of us. Start with drinking lots of water, then squatting on the toilet and eact better food for you and your life.What an amazing show on health and wellness, it will open you eyes to living and eating better to live a much better life and lifestyle. Thanks Sandra for being on the show and sharing so much about the health, nutrition, energy and food, so much great food for the construction industry and thank you to Speducci for always inviting the show into one of the best places in the Toronto area. Anyone interested in reaching out please contact Sandra @speducci on IG [email protected] web site www.speducci.com 416 242-2777 and at her own website www.sandraflorio.com and IG page @sandra.florioFind Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Back in the Caruk Hall Boardroom and we have a couple of special guests, Dan Hall from Caruk Hall, Jim’s younger partner in construction crime and Terry a recently retired plumbing expert on today’s show and we are going to talk about the three segments of business ownership and operation.Both Dan and Jim got started in their late teens and went the union route and they partnered up 5 years ago, Terry was independent and started in the 80’s as a renovator and got out in the early 90’s, went into plumbing and recently left for good. The construction landscape in the next decade is going to dramatically change with more people tradespeople leaving than coming in, which sets up the challenge for us one man shops, and partnerships to find more tradespeople to be a part of the team. The frustrations will pile up and some will leave, some will grow, some will accept it. We talk about the renovation triangle, we talk about how everyone is billing for on-site meetings except contractors, designers, engineers, architects, they all bill for time and this conversation bring us to understanding it takes a special type of person that wants to love construction and when that love stops, that is when you consider getting out for good or at least shift gears to another segment of construction.The conversation gets really interesting once we discuss what average people are making s an income, what tradespeople are making, what school costs for people in and out of construction and the return on that education. Jim flat out says we need to bring back the technical trade schools and classes to attract more people into the trades and he’s so right. We need more passionate people in the construction industry.Thanks Dan and Terry for being on the show and sharing so much about the construction industry. Find Terry enjoying life, driving his cars, find Jim @jimcaruk and find Dan and Jim @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.comand [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

Back in the Caruk Hall Boardroom and we have a special guest, Dan from Tropical Heating and AC and today’s show is all about HVAC and Dan shares his experience for over 30 years, wait till you hear how much things have changed and how little things have stayed the same. Dan started at 19 years of age and eventually got partnered up with his brothers and built up one of the best HVAC teams in the Greater Toronto are and now the sons are working with the Dad’s, truly a Family Business. We discuss forced air systems, radiant systems, steam humidifiers, ductless systems and cassettes, HRV’s, Snowmelt systems, Generator Back Up, BTU’s, ventilation of 2nd, 3rd and 4th basement levels, carbon monoxide air filtration sensors for underground parking, indoor pools, ground source heat pumps, geothermal, 1200 cfm exhaust fans, best HVAC practices, services and more about HVAC, always a great talk when it comes to the air in your home. Remember, after your kitchen the mechanical room is the next most expensive room in your home, after all, it runs the house, it’s the heart of the home, plan for it, design it, lay it out perfectly for future service calls. Thanks Dan for being on the show and sharing so much about HVAC service and construction. You can find Dan and his family of hardworking HVAC tradespeople at www.tropicalheatinghvac.com and find Jim @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

10 years ago Jim was on a road trip across Canada and with a phone call from a friend about his son in law returning from Afghanistan and struggling with his family and new born, Jim came up with Renos for Heroes and wanting to do something. We open the show with Mike and Dean sharing when they join the service and when they retired, the beginning as it turned out was a choice between military or prison, that old cliché. We discuss the connection between every service person and how that brotherhood and sisterhood carries on through the years. A lot of service people transition into the trades and Mike and Dean are a lot like that, they discuss the reasons behind the military and construction and how we can all help veterans transition into the workforce.We have a moment of silence for all of the military service people around the world. Thank you for your service.Thanks Mike and Dean for being on the show and sharing so much about military service and construction. Thank you Jim for starting a charity helping military service people, Renos For Heroes.You can find more info at www.renosforheroes.org and on IG renosforheroes find Jim @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602. Find Dean at www.fast-rescue.com and find Dean at www.helmetstohardhats.ca Lastly, find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com

We open the show with a shot across The Construction Life bow when Steve brings up his construction bone, he has a problem with people that talk negatively about tool influencers. We get right into the whole social media influencing game since Manny has been very vocal about calling these “influencers” the Tourist In Construction or TIC’s. Jim asks, what makes these influencers experts? Jim feels it’s the first time that these so called influencers are using these tools and using them in their mom’s backyard and not a real job sites by real tradespeople. We get into branding and why certain trades use certain tool brands and how true this is. We dive deep into health and safety of all Bosch tools and the future if where tools are heading with batteries and why Bosch as a leader makes tools that last, they make batteries that last and they refuse to go to market to simply be the first ones there. Bosch spends so much money on R&D and battery new technology so the batteries can last decades. The topic of trade schools and are the up and coming young tradespeople ready for the job site, we all feel they are not ready and all three of us make some really great suggestions. Bosch has some amazing new tools coming in 2021 and trust us you want to be asking a real tradesperson about these new tools. What an amazing show with so much truth behind the mic. Thanks Steve for being on the show and sharing so much about tools and Bosch Tools, find them @boschtoolscanada and @boschtoolsna and www.boschtoolscanada.caYou can find Jim @jimcaruk and @carukhallconstruction www.carukhall.com [email protected] 416 546-8602 and find Manny @hardcorerenos www.hardcorerenos.com and [email protected] 416 433-5737This is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com