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...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 16 min
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 end...
Sep 02, 2021•1 hr 22 min
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 @elect...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr 10 min
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 H...
Aug 28, 2021•1 hr 17 min
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, ...
Aug 26, 2021•30 sec
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 o...
Aug 24, 2021•1 hr 49 min
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 w...
Aug 23, 2021•1 hr 20 min
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 hi...
Aug 17, 2021•1 hr 31 min
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 construct...
Aug 15, 2021•1 hr 27 min
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 sta...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 57 min
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 ...
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 20 min
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 a...
Aug 09, 2021•1 hr 23 min
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 w...
Aug 07, 2021•1 hr 25 min
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...
Aug 03, 2021•1 hr 52 min
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 caree...
Aug 02, 2021•1 hr 29 min
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 ...
May 29, 2021•1 hr 24 min
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. gpfdesign@hotmail.com 416 656-0134 This 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 ...
May 28, 2021•1 hr 30 min
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 ...
May 21, 2021•1 hr
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 ...
May 16, 2021•1 hr 45 min
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, an...
May 01, 2021•1 hr 26 min
Let’s begin. Jason from @property max development_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 ...
Apr 24, 2021•1 hr 36 min
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 marescarpentry@gmail.com and this time Gary has brought Fabio Andrerde from FNA Custom Woodworking @fabio.andrede51 and email him at Fabio.andrede.en69@gmail.com Fabio has been in Canada for 6 years, we have 2 finish t...
Apr 17, 2021•1 hr 48 min
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 ...
Apr 07, 2021•1 hr 41 min
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. Canad...
Apr 04, 2021•1 hr 38 min
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 joe@napavalleycontracting.com 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...
Apr 02, 2021•1 hr 39 min
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 ...
Apr 02, 2021•1 hr 46 min
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.org and donate any amount. Thank you so much for the support. On with the show!! Here is who reached ...
Mar 23, 2021•1 hr 26 min
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 S...
Mar 23, 2021•1 hr 51 min
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 wi...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 36 min
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 stevenphaid@gmail.com and his phone number 416 277-6604 The wine is on the table, a bottle for each of the three nationalities represented on t...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 40 min
