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 t...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 39 min
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 interest...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 46 min
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 ...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 42 min
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 open...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 56 min
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 occupanc...
Feb 28, 2021•1 hr 48 min
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 th...
Feb 24, 2021•1 hr 22 min
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 ...
Feb 16, 2021•1 hr 30 min
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 Th...
Feb 09, 2021•1 hr 35 min
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 comin...
Feb 09, 2021•1 hr 9 min
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 tradesper...
Feb 04, 2021•1 hr 56 min
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 busi...
Jan 27, 2021•1 hr 54 min
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 ...
Jan 19, 2021•1 hr 37 min
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 Commi...
Dec 16, 2020•1 hr 37 min
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...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 35 min
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 govern...
Dec 02, 2020•1 hr 41 min
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 col...
Nov 29, 2020•1 hr 36 min
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 int...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 39 min
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 ...
Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 32 min
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 brother...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 42 min
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 m...
Nov 05, 2020•1 hr 26 min
Andrew is back and we get very technical about glass and metal fabrication and design. The science behind the glass and the techniques and all the great details and expectations of tempered glass. We discuss Prince Rupert’s drops AKA Dutch or Batavian tears about the toughness of glass. Andrew discusses his designs from years back and how they are still difficult to fabricate with today’s tech and how Andrew has had people copy his work but badly and the quick and cheap way. Thank you so much An...
Nov 04, 2020•1 hr 30 min
We open the show not with a song but rather a story about this General’s first job interview and what he did that secured his employment. We have Camilo a GC and Marta the only female Site Super on this site. We discuss what it is like building to this luxury scale and how the trades of today need way too much handholding, or babysitting or our new term, tradesitting because too many trades simply don’t care enough. We dive deep into what makes these 19 luxury 3500 sq ft 4 story homes way above ...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 35 min
The newly formed The Construction Life 2.0 with Manny and Jim asking the direct questions about the construction industry. The wine is poured, it’s a nice fall evening and Jim and Manny sit down to talk about the construction life. Let’s talk about Renovation Price, Quality and Time, pick 2. Clients need to understand how this renovation triangle works and why. It always begins with price, that submitted estimate and the clients flipping through the scope and ending at the back page and the fina...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 30 min
Wish was a metal fabricator and one day the writing was on the wall and he say his termination, worried Wish had no idea what to do next but quickly realized he can do some handyman work until he figures out his next move. Go figure, he got his first job a week after being fired and the work has not stopped. Wish was in his late 40’s when this all happened and with the help of a government program, the SEB Supplement Employment Benefit program that is still active today during these difficult Co...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 36 min
Rosie and Rob join Manny and Carlito to talk about construction and food and Covid and how things were, how they are and what we hope things will be like soon enough. We get right into how best to cook speducci and we get right the whole menu and how you can step up your lunch game on the job site with a little help from Speducci. Oh and the salt, wait for it, the salt is key. We discuss the upcoming thanksgiving boxes they will be offering, a Canadian AKA mangiacake and the Italian thanksgiving...
Oct 03, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Nobody plans their day in hopes of getting injured on the job. What safety hazards commonly shut down jobsites or create injuries? What’s the deal with PPE and Fall Protection? What could the Ministry of Labour look for if they paid your work a surprise visit? Hear our interesting hard facts about jobsite safety, and some of the very reasonable cost & time saving solutions that are overlooked. We talked about all this – and a lot more – with the folks at Brafasco. Brafasco works directly wit...
Oct 01, 2020•1 hr 36 min
Jim Caruk is my co-host of a newly formed The Construction Life 2.0 where Jim and Manny will be speaking to more people that are passionate about construction. On today’s show we are speaking with Rob Renna about his recently completed project from Caruk Hall Construction. Rob tells the whole truth about working with Jim, why he and his wife went with Jim and his team and how Jim finished the project on time and under budget. The show opens with a great intro by Rob and a lot of food, as Rob say...
Sep 23, 2020•1 hr 40 min
Jake arrives at the recording session with famous Hamilton pizza from Shorty’s and swag for us. Jake began his construction career as most of the new generation did, shop class in high school and that led to post construction school at Mohawk and that is when things really changed for Jake. He embraced construction and learned what he could. Once out of school, he worked for a few smaller construction companies and paid his dues. Early 2020 he made the decision to go on his own and then Covid hi...
Sep 23, 2020•1 hr 32 min
Adam discusses his path from HVAC to ICF and how his very first experience watching ICF being assembled actually frustrated him, he quickly realized the potential behind this new way of building. Adam truly believes most of the negative attached to ICF has everything to do with how and who is installing, like everything in construction. It is in Adam’s nature to question the status quo and build better, even when an architect questions ICF over the client’s request, the best part is the ICF cont...
Aug 29, 2020•1 hr 44 min
Peter AKA Lundy shares his story with us from a teenager to his home being burned down by the meth lab neighbor and now he is dealing with the government and rebuilding his home in British Columbia. What a great talk with Lundy and prepare for a really emotional show. We open the show with a Construction Bone Lundy has to pick with us and free estimates. His career began with a newspaper article about youth apprenticeship, after searching for a school to attend since most schools were closing th...
Aug 19, 2020•1 hr 28 min
