Hiring and Firing: Hunt Don't Fish

By Steve Maxwell For as long as I can remember I’ve been hearing the same heartfelt complaints from contractors. “We can’t find good people! No one wants to work these days. I can&r

April 07, 2021

Visible Timbers: Three practical ways to expose the beauty of structural wood in your next project

Canada probably grows more big trees than any other country in the world, but you’d never know it by looking at Canadian houses. Even though wood is always involved in construction, it’s typically sawn into boring, uniform 1-1/2” planks, spiked together with no thought for appearance, then hidden under drywall.

March 11, 2021

How to Control Moisture: Building Science Rules for Contractors

The enemy of buildings is moisture. In the presence of moisture: wood rots, concrete spalls, steel rusts and gypsum turns to mush. For building contractors, controlling moisture is job one.

March 11, 2021

How to Avoid Fence and Deck Nightmares

Three steps prevent profit-sapping outdoor wood finishing disasters. Depending on when during the life cycle of a project you see a particular client call in on your cell, it can fill you with joy, indifference or panic.

February 08, 2021

Portable Backup Power

Declining generator cost and greater concern about the reliability of grid power are the two main reasons more property owners than ever are interested in electric generator backup. The thing is, most of your clients only know that they want this sort of protection, not how backup power works nor how to choose equipment wisely. This is especially true when it comes to one of the most popular backup options – the large portable generator.

February 08, 2021