CC - November - December 2019 by annexbusinessmedia

GRK’s “Show Us Your

Project” Contest

Winners and Runners up

Page 24

The Dilemma A Difficult Subtrade

Page 38

Hunt, Don’t Fish Solving the Employee Problem

Page 20

PROFESSIONAL PERFECT PASSIONATE

The perfect mix of caring, quality and professionalism in a successful renovator

Page 14

Dwayne and Anne Butler, Master Edge Homes Markham, Ontario

Dwayne

Anne Butler

Cover Photo: Larry Arnal

By Rob Koci

” Material things don’t lie, manipulate or play games.

Editor rkoci@canadiancontractor.ca ”

BUSINESS IS PERSONAL

About two years into my carpentry career, I was cutting 2 x 4 for a big, end-of-day glue-up at a furniture factory where two of us (the boss and I) made beds, tables and chairs. I don’t remember how many pieces were involved, but I 'm sure I was at the radial arm saw at least an hour, gang cutting the lumber and re-stacking it by the gluing table. Just when I was about to start gluing I realized I had set up the radial arm to cut all the lumber exactly one inch too short. As a young kid just starting out and working in a very small furniture shop where that much lumber was a big, big expense, I was horrified. I stared at the lumber dumbfounded for a long time, then checked and rechecked the length to confirm that I has just wasted a lot of time and wood.

My strongest memory of the moment was the realization that material things don’t lie, manipulate or play games. When you cut lumber one inch too short, it stays one inch too short forever. It never changes its mind. It doesn’t say a moment later, “Ha ha, fooled you, I am actually the right length.” It is not capricious. It obeys the laws of physics and nature, and your feelings, plans or needs be damned. At the moment in question, that was a terrible realization, but it also explained to me why I chose carpentry as a profession.

I became a carpenter in part because I had no confidence in handling personal relationships. I was convinced that people were very, very hard to handle, and the laws that material things obeyed were more trustworthy. At least material things were honest, clear and unequivocal. Working with material things was better in the long run for my peace of mind.

But the ambitions of business came along and I expected my construction knowledge and ability to handle material things to be a critical benefit to success. But business is all about people! You are surrounded by the hellish creatures now, and reliving the pre-carpentry horrors that drove you to handling things in the first place!

What to do? Humbly, carefully, you must turn to those better than you at handling people, sit at their feet, and listen. You will discover that, though people are far more complex than lumber, there are good rules to follow that can at least get you pointed in the general direction of success.

I found a paradigm that was to be the lens through which I was going to understand humanity, our place in the world and how to conduct interpersonal relationships. It’s worked out pretty well for me. You will need one of those lenses, too. Find one that fits you, make it prove itself in the real world of personal relationships and then work it, refine it and get it right.

And as a sidebar, remember that the guy you are promoting to Project Manager from being a site guy has at least in part the same revelation and experience as I had. His technical ability will not prepare him for Project Management. In fact there is a good argument for not hiring site workers to management levels because they are often not prepared at all for the amount of human interaction they are about to experience and more importantly, don’t want it.

WHAT TO DO WITH DEMANDING PEOPLE

I think many of us can relate to Rob’s story and the comfort he took working with the known, the reliable, the predictable, the controllable. It’s a great thing being a skilled tradesperson as these are appreciated skills that are in high demand. The challenge is that it’s driven by those whose unpredictability we set out to avoid – people!

Good news: As entrepreneurs, we have two important character traits working in our favour:

1) A love of learning. We’re willing to try different types of projects, study new and better ways to build; and 2) A demand for perfection. We are driven to complete the best possible end-product, period.

Now, you may be wondering how these two characteristics make good news? Well, put together and directed at the challenge of learning how to deal with people, they acquire and perfect the new skills we need.

This is what I have found drives business success. Dealing with people and their inherent unpredictability is a challenge for sure, but one we can manage because we know and enjoy the benefits of learning new skills and we will work at perfecting this new craft. This is what I suggest you use to drive both personal and revenue growth in your company.

As company owners, we decide when we will start and stop, what will be completed, who will work with us and what they will do. Now, through our technical skill and knowledge and through our people skills, we can develop and control every aspect of our daily work towards business success.

More good news: there is a huge range of opportunities and resources available to learn people skills. There is a mountain of books to help us. Our industry associations and local colleges offer courses. There are podcasts, videos, magazines and peer groups. There are networking opportunities, mentorships and consultants. Find your preferred method of learning and get’r done!

Remember, without people, you have nothing to build. However, with some easily learned people skills, the sky is the limit. And there is an added benefit: when you translate those skills to improve relationships in all aspects of your life you make going to work and coming home a lot more fun.

Finally, while we may not like that people are unpredictable, we are still all people pleasers. I find nothing worse than that moment just before the grand unveiling when my self-doubt says ‘what if they hate it?' Fortunately, with well-developed people skills, you don’t ever have to worry. You have learned to communicate expectations to everyone involved and your trained team has worked equally hard to understand the results that the clients are expecting. The result is a smooth handoff that you already know they will love. BOOM, Mic drop, Elvis has left the building.

Dang that feels good.

So, add your love of learning, your perfectionism, and your peoplepleasing desire to your skill as a tradesperson and meet the demand being driven by those whose unpredictability we set out to avoid—people!

By Steve Barkhouse Amsted Design-Build, Ottawa Guest Editorial ”

”As entrepreneurs, we love to learn and we demand perfection.

VIDEOS FOR PRO RENOVATORS AND HOME BUILDERS

Canadian Contractor has hundreds of videos online for serious residential construction professionals

ALL ABOUT FASTENERS VIDEO SERIES

Sponsored by ITW Construction Products Canada

In this collection of videos, Rob Koci talks to experts from ITW Construction Products about the different uses of specialty fasteners in the Canadian renovation and custom home building industries. Topics include failure mechanisms for screws and bolts, mechanical versus chemical bonds for anchors, concrete pins and thermal bridging solutions.

CANADIAN CONTRACTOR SITE TIPS

BUILDWIRE VIDEOS

WHAT YOU PAY YOUR PROJECT MANAGERS

Canadian Contractor called upon the RenoFocus alum from 2015 and 2016 to tell us what they paid their project managers. We received three replies and a comment from a digital reader.

An incentive-loaded model for our project managers

Our model is that our project managers (the actual name we use is Project Developer (PD)) are actually part of the design development team and as such are responsible for estimating the project as it develops to construction-ready. They download the production team on the final construction version and then manage the project through construction with one of our field lead hands who is assigned to the job and on site all day on the tools. The PD might be on site one or two times a week unless more frequent visits are necessary.

Our standard base salary is between $55-60k and goes against a base $750k gross revenue, beyond which they receive commission based on finished Gross Profit (GP). Commission is sliding scale starting at three per cent at 32 per cent GP and rises to eight per cent at 42 per cent GP with onus on them to help maintain respectable GP.

An average performer can do $1.2-1.5 million at 35 per cent GP and can make $80-100k, with a high performer producing $1.5-2.5 million Gross Revenue and pulling as much as $150-180k in salary and bonus. Because they play a role in sales as part of the design development squad they help sell the work. We dole out commission based on who sold the initial concept design agreement, construction design agreement and actual contract.

Also included is who did the estimating and project management. It’s a flexible way to let people participate where they shine brightest and still be rewarded, regardless whether they were all in, part in, or shared the load. If the sales guys and the PD shared the load on a specific component of the design development then they split that piece 50/50. We’ve implemented this system over the last six years with very little friction or arguments, and the final GP is agreed upon 45 days after contract is closed and reconciled. We track all this on our WIP (Work in Progress Report).

Hope that helps. Keep doing what you do, Rob, it's appreciated!

Name withheld

The “office based” project manager For context, our PMs are responsible for project scheduling, sub/

supplier bid solicitation and selection, budget control, quality control and—because we do much of our work with our own in-house team—staffing and company equipment logistics relating to their project(s). It is primarily an “office” job, with attendance on site generally once or twice weekly though more often at key milestones/activities. They additionally are generally provided with a Working Site Supervisor (WSS) who behaves as the PM's eyes and ears on site and handle/monitor the day-to-day site and staff logistics and oversight, including peer review of subcontractor work and general quality and schedule adherence, while getting on the tools themselves once these duties are attended to.

Our PMs do not generally have any responsibility for/ oversight of design nor sales though are frequently brought into those conversations/processes to support the design and sales staff. They also do not generally have any responsibility for communicating directly with the clients (or their own third party designers), which instead is handled by different, client-facing, office support staff known as Project Coordinators (PCs). Thus, our PMs effectively take a set of plans, scope and specs and just look forward. Others are charged with ensuring that their PMs are armed with the necessary information to do so.

OUR PMs GENERALLY MANAGE TWO

CONCURRENT

MAJOR PROJECTS."

Our target wages for the role start at $50k up to $80k, with the median at about $64k. Our PMs generally manage two concurrent major projects, each at differing stages of completion, plus potentially some punch list items on any project they might have recently completed. The net annual output per PM is approximately $1M (our workload mix is presently about 80 per cent new custom homes, 20 per cent renovations/additions).

Our geographic market spans relatively higher value real estate communities – Guelph, Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge, Dundas, Caledon – with lower value real estate areas – mostly across rural Grey County, Owen Sound, Markdale, Arthur and north Wellington County. Wages across most fields of work are commensurately lower in these rural communities versus the larger (and nearer to GTA) centres. Our own wages reflect a bit of an average of the market rates across these service areas.

Because of our team approach (PM + WSS + PC) to project management, we are able to have family/community friendly policies in place to guarantee that they will not be required to work more than 44 hours at peak… so we are often hiring people who are not necessarily aiming to be top earners but instead are looking for a family-first environment. (It has also had the benefit that our staff tends to skew young, in an industry that is aging… though our PMs do still tend to be older at the stage of mid-career to late-career.) That said, I have been interested in aligning project margin (and other KPIs) success with PM, WSS and PC wages by way of incremental bonus.

Ben Polley

Evolve Builders Group Inc.

Harvest Homes

Fermata – Works of Earth

A mentoring style to project management

From 2005 to around 2015 we were grossing $2.5 to $3M per year. We had 3-5 site carpenters/foremen that essentially ran their projects with guidance from the office. They were hourly paid, making $70 to $80K per year on a regular basis and were with me 10-14 years full time. One fellow left for a couple of years for bluer pastures but saw the light and came back with us. Very rarely do we re-hire someone who left because it does not work out 90 per cent of the time.

Our office consisted of myself doing sales/estimating, an estimator/sales person at $80K, a front desk general support and a bookkeeper. We had a total of 13-15 employees including apprentice carpenters. I tend to shy away from straight labourers. I want people who want to get ahead in life.

I HAD SNEAKY PERSONS TAKE WHAT THEY WANTED AND MOVE ON."

Our incentives were more geared towards learning and management opportunities and the guys generally picked up on that along with being part of a great team. I don’t know many carpenters that like working under someone’s thumb and most times they love to “run” their own projects. About twice a year I would offer to assist anyone that might want to start their own company using our forms and organizational materials. Ask and I will give. Twice I had sneaky persons take what they wanted

and move on. One of them is successful today doing what they do but I do recall years ago competing for a project and seeing my estimate sheet and agreement contract with a different name at the top. It was kind of surreal.

Every Thursday morning, we had a general meeting around the shop table saw. Being late was not an option. Chairs, bar stools and saw horses. I usually got a saw horse. Together we all reviewed each job status, progress and two weeks planning ahead. This gave each person an idea of what was happening in the big picture. A guy might be a foreman this week and ordering folks around but next week he’s needed on another job and he becomes the carpenter for someone else. That keeps the egos in check for sure. For me it was very rewarding at the conclusion of the meeting as I head back to my office and the guys are working together lining up next week’s work. I chose Thursday so there’s still time to finish off the week’s work and confirm trades booked for the following week.

Our projects were in the $30,000-bathroom range and up to $1M restoration projects. Generally we were in the $100 to $350K ranges.

David Litwiller Litwiller Renovations & Custom Homes Ltd.

Peanuts gets monkeys

Paying a PM between $50K and $80K is a joke. I have a friend who is a postman who earns between these two figures and whilst he has a difficult job delivering post in all types of weather, his skill set does not compare to what one expects a PM to be able to do. This probably explains why construction projects are in such a mess; paying peanuts gets you monkeys.

LAST ISSUE’S “FUTURES WE LIKE.”

Last issue, Canadian Contractor published the results of a budgetplanning coaching call (Getting ready for growth, Sept/Oct issue, page 24). The numbers used were real but the name of the contractor was changed to protect his privacy. Under cloak of his pseudonym, the contractor responded.

Source for “Getting ready for growth” story responds!! Hi Rob, I just returned from vacation this week and have been catching up on things. In that process I had time to read through the

Finsbury

last issue of CC and relished reading the article about Freely Construction and Fred. It's very exciting to see the potential Freely Construction and myself have in writing versus abstract thought. Thank you for your time, insight and coaching to this point.

This may be a slow process for me as I stumble though change and try to keep the cash flow going throughout but I look forward to the challenge, growth and transition. Short term discomfort in exchange for long term success.

The other article you wrote and sent me a while ago really resonated with me as well—you touched on how you preferred action to thought in the past and I can relate closely to that as I find myself more comfortable in action than idle in thought. That said, I see the potential and benefits that exist through learning how to focus and cultivate my vision and energy. Talking with you and reading your words following our conversations is a very powerful motivator as well as very helpful in creating clarity in mind.

I consider myself fortunate to be in the position I am in already as an entrepreneur and am grateful for our new connection.

Talk soon and best regards

Fred (not his real name)

President

Freely Design/Build (not the name of his company!)

NAZIS, EUGENICS AND GLOBAL WARMING ALARMISTS

Editor Rob Koci wrote an opinion blog on canadiancontractor.ca

(Let’s talk about Global Warming Alarmism, why some believe it and some don’t and why this industry should care) comparing Global Warming science to Eugenics and the Global Warming movement to the Nazis influence of the 1930s. Readers responded.

The comparison “a bit of a stretch.”

It is a bit of a stretch to compare Eugenics and Nazism to that of valid scientific research over global warming. The “discontent” that people experience in our societies are minor to that experienced by the German people of that time, as they are mostly manufactured outrage by those on the right of the political spectrum. I suppose the same could be said about the overzealous on the other end but, let’s face it, their extremists are much less vocal. Additionally, if we do work towards a better environment, what’s the worst that could happen, our world gets just a little better? Just remember, don’t take heed, and the opposite may also come to pass.

Justin Collins

A

reader “opinion shames.”

You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to use the pure evil of Hitler as a metaphor for the climate change situation facing the world. Regardless of one’s view of CC, you just lose me when you raise the Hitler thing.

Have whatever view of CC that you want, but find a better way to express it.

Tony Mollica

Blog “Obviously meant to arouse mass incredulity.” Comparing climate “alarmists” to eugenicists would be frightening if Mr. Koci’s editorial wasn’t so obviously meant to arouse mass incredulity. I assume it was parody. Surely, no editor could allow someone on his staff to publish a piece so full of unattributed “facts” and hyperbole.

For example, I could find nowhere, Mr. Koci’s claim that reducing global emissions by half would result in a .009 concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. There is no attribution. And, anyway, so what? What has that got to do with the effects of the changes forecast by the science? Small changes, in a system in relative equilibrium, cumulatively, over decades, often have far reaching impacts. But we can’t assess this “fact,” we just have to take Mr. Koci’s word.

SADLY, CANADA PAYS LIP SERVICE TO THE CAUSE OF REDUCING GHGs."

Sadly, Canada pays lip service to the cause of reducing GHG’s but acts more like Koci-style global warming deniers in practice. Here’s what we’ve accomplished in the recent past that has “alarmists” worried: Canada’s contribution to GHG emissions was 1.6 per cent (2014 – as per the link and info below.)

https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/ services/environmental-indicators/global-greenhouse-gasemissions.html

Canada’s emissions in 2014 reached 745 Mt CO2 eq., which made up 1.6 per cent of global GHG emissions. Recognizing that these are 2014 figures and change has occurred, might we be doing better? “The latest national inventory report on emissions, filed with the United Nations climate change secretariat, showed

Pivotal™

716 million tonnes of greenhouse gases were produced in Canada in 2017, an increase of eight million tonnes from 2016.”

We’re doing worse. No wonder the kids are restive.

Add to this the fact that we are, per capita, the 10th highest emitter in the world (see previous link), and we have a moral, treaty and fiduciary requirement to talk honestly about the impact of global warming. We need to do it for our grandchildren, the people conservatives so often speak about when talking budget deficits.

But perhaps Mr. Koci has a problem with the science? Put it aside then and ask an insurance actuary why I can’t get

flood insurance in downtown Toronto, or the Pentagon who are assessing threats through the lens of huge refugee movements caused by drought and famine from global warming, or the Army Corps of Engineers who are making mitigation plans for Miami and Manhattan what threats lay ahead.

You can deny, but you can’t escape this.

But I’m sure it was all a joke. I’m sure Mr. Koci knows, the first person who brings up Nazis in an argument, loses.

Bruce Van Dieten

HomeBuilder & Renovator Expo Overview

HomeBuilder & Renovator Expo

In case you have somehow forgotten, the 2019 HomeBuilder & Renovator Expo is coming up very shortly (December 4-6 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre).

Now a part of the Buildings Show -- along with Construct Canada, PM Expo, World of Concrete and newcomer Buildings Connect -- HomeBuilder & Renovator Expo will draw some of the 30,000 industry peeps expected at the show -- making it the continent's single largest event for the design, architecture, construction and real estate sectors.

Some of the seminars you can attend include:

• Applying Lean Project Management Techniques: From Office to On-Site;

The 2019 version of Canada’s biggest homebuilder and renovator Dec. 4-6 emphasizes education for builders MEET THE

• The Retirement Bubble is Here: What Can You Do to Attract New Talent;

• House of the Future;

• Project Planning and Estimating for Residential Contractors and Renovators; and

• Lessons Learned: Designing and Building with Wood.

THE BUILDINGS SHOW Booth 7928

Metro Toronto Convention Centre North Building

EDGE LIVING ON THE

By Rob Koci

CanadianContractor sat down with Dwayne and Anne Butler, co-owners of Master Edge Homes, to talk about, among other things, how they started the business, the day-to-day issues of operating it efficiently, and the balancing act between passion and profits.

CC: Dwayne, can you tell us about how you arrived in construction and ultimately owning Master Edge Homes?

Okay. Well, it's a long history because I am 50 years old, and I have been involved in the industry all of my life. From a father who was a builder/renovator to working summers for construction companies. I studied it in high school, and in college. I graduated from Fanshawe College and became a construction site supervisor, assistant for a builder. And two and a half years later, I decided to go back to school and did my apprenticeship, became a Red Seal carpenter. And then I moved to Toronto, moved around a bit in the Toronto area working for two companies; for one I was doing strictly framing and for the second company I was doing project management for 10 years for a production builder. And 14 years ago, I decided to jump into my own

The original concept of me moving off job sites and not building 100 houses at a time was just to be by myself and do odd projects for people. It wasn't about growing a business or creating Master Edge Homes as it is today. It was just to keep me busy. Really, that's what it was.

Fast Facts

Company:

Master Edge Homes

Founded: 2005

Location:

Markham, Ont.

Employees: Eight

Specialty: Custom renovations

Geographical area served: York Region

Annual revenue: $2.5 million

CC: You were employing yourself so you could have

Yeah. And then it turned into more and more people recognizing that I was on my own, and the jobs became a little bit bigger. And I hired an apprentice, and then it became two employees and then more jobs. And then we hit one year, we had $700,000 in revenue. It's like, "Oh my gosh [laughter]! How did that happen?" And then it became a point where here we are today and it's Master Edge Homes.

CC: So when do you come into the picture and become part of the story, Anne?

We had one daughter. I was pregnant with our second child and his sales pitch to me was that he

Dwayne and Anne Butler, Master Edge Homes

wanted to improve the industry and give clients better product. So I helped him with bookkeeping. When I went back to work after my maternity leave I continued to do the books on a part-time basis. Seven years ago I quit my full time job and now work full time with Master Edge Homes.

CC: When he first started, was it scary for you? I mean you were pregnant at the time, this sounded like a leap of faith. It sounded like a very altruistic motive as well. So you're stepping into something that didn't necessarily have its roots in practicality. AB: No it wasn’t scary. He really struggled with the lack of quality and was never proud of the end product when he was in production. When you see someone kind of struggle with different aspects of their careers, and they have the ability to make a difference and improve their craft, how can you not support that? At the time there was a lot of untrustworthy renovators in the news and he wanted to be one of the good guys. He really did want to make the renovation industry a better place.

CC: What did you see in the renovation space that you thought you could improve?

DB: There were many reasons why I decided to do what I did. But that story of me wanting to make the industry better is true. In doing so, what did I want to make better was that there was no passion or professionalism in our industry. Subcontractors have

a lot of tradespeople that have no passion for their job, whether it be electrician or framer or roofer, nobody cared. And the product that was being delivered was just not to my standards. So my battle on the site all the time was to push the trades to do a much better job to meet my standard. And really, when you talk about a standard, you're talking about something that is a character issue, not necessarily a technical issue. They probably could have done a better job, technically.

CC: It's a matter of the passion, because you've used the word passion. It's a matter of not applying the kind of passion that makes you do a better job or the best job. So is that a fair characterization of the thing that you saw that was missing?

DB: Yeah. No one cared. That really kind of resonated with me. The passion, and the desire to put forth the best product, but yet it was also the professionalism that was really missing. It was frustrating. Very frustrating. Because I had no control.

CC: What was your reaction to that, Anne?

AB: I was in full support of it and was thankful that he also wanted to spend time with his family. Business hours were always from 8 in the morning until 5 at night, and didn't go on into the weekend. Evenings were sales calls and stuff like that, and it got to the point where the company grew. It would grow and then it would (scale back), so it's a little bit of a rollcoaster, actually

not even a little bit of a rollercoaster. It is a big rollercoaster ride. Some days it's great, and then other days, not good at all, and we didn’t even know what the heck happened. We try to rebuild and then we fix the little nooks and crannies and there were points in time where we just thought “you know what, we're not doing this anymore” but we couldn’t quit.

CC: So what have you learned about the intersection of the practicality and the technical issues surrounding building, and business and professionalism and passion? What have you learned about how they fit together, as you've grown this business?

DB: Well, I would actually put the passion and the professionalism at the top. The business side of it has been a complete learning curve for us all the way through. We don't come to this as people who know how to run a business or are business-orientated, so we are learning as we go. So that's been kind of the downside of business ownership, because we've got the technical and the professionalism all under control, and that's visual through our clients, and our trade partners who love working with us. It's beyond that, the business operations that Anne and I have learned from day one as ground zero up and have lived the

turbulence of money, cash flow, no money, no cash flow, and so all of the above. And so... if we could flip sides and... let the passion and the professionalism be as is and then put the business ownership on top of the pedestal, it would be a different company.

CC: How so?

DB: I think that we would have more focus if I didn't start off in construction but started off in business and went into construction, the business would be running as a full-fledged business from day one. The passion and everything else would come afterward.

CC: What have you learned about the nature of people during the process of running a business?

AB: I don't think that being a business owner has changed my perception of people in general. I genuinely like people. I like hearing their stories. I care for their wellness whether it's someone on the street that I don't know from Adam or someone who's worked with us for 10 years. I care about them, I wouldn't say equally because obviously, there's a relationship that we've built with some people over others, but I do genuinely care about people. So that question doesn't really resonate with me as much as it would with someone who doesn't already have that characteristic instilled in them. I don't have a lot of interaction with our clients. I'm more kind of behind the scenes. I do more of the administrative functionalities of the business, so I don't have that relationship with them. Dwayne would have a very different perspective on that because he's frontline with our clients. He's frontline with our partners. He's frontline with our team internally.

Well, let me ask you that question. What have you learned about people as a result of being a business owner?

DB: I don't know whether it's any different than it would have been when I was a project manager for a company. You see the different challenges that people have, whether it be personal or technical or just doing their job. I don't see a difference.

CC: Anne said that at some points you've said you didn't want to do this anymore. What were some of the reasons why you might have said that?

DB: Well, we weren't closing deals. So my sales process wasn't refined. I wasn't confident in my sales process. Our competition was undercutting us so knowing I've got to meet these margins, I still had to drop my margins to make cash flow happen. And yet, I'm still losing jobs because of the different business models that they were creating or whatever it be. I haven't said it very often, but it was just more of a frustration point that, "I just don't know if I can handle this anymore." And every time we'd turn around and we'd get a good six months, and things are going well, all of the sudden, something happens that turns it around and makes it go the opposite direction. And so (it's the) frustrating points that really (cause) it.

CC: What stage are you at in the life of the company and in that experience? Are you beginning to develop a little bit more of a pragmatic approach to the ups and downs? Have you built strategies for being able to survive the ups and downs of running a business?

DB: Yeah. So I think the sales and confidence... which I'm the only one that does the sales for the company, I think it's very much refined and it's in a good position (thanks to) reading books and learning a little bit more things that I can do with that. But that's a good thing and sales are going very well. On the back end and the inside, there are many, many spreadsheets that we work with to try to manage the cash flow and different situations that come up through the projects and the timelines. It is efficiencies that we are working on as more of finer details. Making sure that the teams all work efficiently. And making sure that we manage our sales to match our needs. And working with the clients. We've got a lot of work going on for the fall, which carries right into March. And the phone's been ringing and we're getting leads. The leads are coming in and more work is coming up. So if we could take on this work now, would we want to? And can we? And are we going to try to push them off? And that's part of the thing that we're trying to manage. We're not taking on a project just because the client wants to do it now (which I am all about… because it pleases the client). But Anne's trying to push me through to say, "Let's not do it now. Let's push it into a section of our year where we can fit it in much better." And so it's managing things like that.

CC: What are your strategies of managing the ups and downs of running a business?

AB: I think... having a business is kind of like having a home. You start renovating it and... it's never done. By the time you've finished one project, you're onto something else. In the business, we’re constantly evolving. We figure out what we need to fix today, and in six months we're changing something else. So just for instance, today, we were expecting a certain amount of expenses for the month of September. And they didn't have it. So I sat down with our project manager to ask, "Why didn't we get these invoices? Like, what happened on the jobs where these invoices that we were expecting haven't come in yet?" And they've been pushed off to our next quarter, so just kind of figuring out how to better manage that cash flow, right? So I know that when I do my payment schedules in the future, I will push off those expenses and expect them later on in the project rather than at the beginning, so just always kind of learning to see what's working, what's not working, and to plan for the unexpected. Anything that I can put in a spreadsheet, because I can see what happens. I can see where the jobs are going to be spread out over time. So if we're looking at signing up for a job today, I'll look at the spreadsheet and say, "Well, that means we're going to be at this many projects. And can our team work that many projects at the same time?" Sure, that would be great for cash flow. But in essence, something along the line is going to fail. So let's try to look after our team first and make sure that they're able to do their roles and responsibilities properly and efficiently to better suit our clients and our partners at the same time. So nobody's getting rushed. Everyone's doing the work that they're expected to do. And the jobs continue on time and on budget.

CC: So you extracted yourself from the production. You started on the tools. You were the only guy. And then one day you find yourself off the tools. How was that experience and how did you manage that internally as well as externally?

DB: Well, there are several different jumping points through business ownership. Starting out on my own to become an employer and having staff, to lead and mentor them on the job to work on their own, while I left the site for various meetings, was the first jump-off. The next jump point I think would be letting the project managers and project coordinators do their job. That’s the point where I removed myself from the tools, but yet I was still going to the jobsites. Now I'm at the point where I’m not on the tools at all and I don't even go to the jobsites. It's purely trust in your employees to be able to do that. And I think it has a lot to do with having mentored and worked alongside of my team, having job descriptions that define their scope of work and what they're responsible for. The struggle I have in our office is that my office

is close to the production and design team so I always have an ear to the ground listening to what's going on. I'm very quick to jump in with a very quick, easy solution. The team is also quick to come to me for a solution. My request to them is don't come to me with a problem without a solution or two.

CC: How has giving your employees more responsibility affected you?

DB: I think that helped us grow, too, as owners, (because) before we took everything personally. If a client didn't sign with us, we took it personally. If there was a problem on-site and there was some conflict, whether it would be with a trade or a client, we took it personally. Now we can be a little more objective as we’re not involved in the day to day.

It's interesting because we're always learning. Every time that we turn around there's always something new to learn, whether it's a technique on the site or a different thing that we've encountered because we've not taken business courses. So it's just something that we've learned along the way, and it may be something simple that someone has said to us where finally that light bulb has come on, and now I know what my true responsibility is.

CC: How would you describe it?

DB: Managing the business and sales are my responsibility. And, of course, to continue to lead our team so they continue to grow.

HUNT, don’t fish

How active recruiting helps solve the skilled labour “shortage”

By Steve Maxwell

Foras 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’t get workers and subs to show up on time, stay sober and keep working.” The people telling me these stories are all earnest and they back up their claims with real life examples of underachieving people doing bad work and costing them money. These owners certainly have trouble, but there are also things about this story that don’t add up. If poor labour quality really is the result of a lack of good people in the economy, then how come our world still appears to be more-or-less properly constructed? Someone’s got to be doing the work, right? And if a shortage of good people really does exist, then why doesn’t the economy respond with higher wages, pulling higher quality people into the trades, solving the problem? That’s how the free market works in every other part of the economy. Why wouldn’t it work in the contracting business? Then there are those contrary stories of comfortably retired people who started contracting years ago, built a business by hiring people and subs, with one of their kids now overseeing the operation of a stable

venture that employs 20, 30 or even 50+ people year round today. If outfits like this can find and keep dozens of good people, why can’t you find a few?

So here’s a question that might make you angry: Could it be that there really is no true shortage of good workers? Could it be that there are just barely enough good people around to satisfy the demand, but no extra? Maybe the reason you can’t get and keep good workers is because other contractors who are smarter and more proactive than you have already got them.

Looking for skills in all the wrong places

So how do you go about finding decent people to add to your team? If you’re like most business owners, you might place an ad in print or online. You’re also almost certain to ask the good people you’ve already got if they know of anyone “looking for work.” This last phrase is a clue to the source of the problem many owners experience when it comes to staffing. In an economy where there’s no shortage of work for good workers and subs, good people are never looking for work. The only time a good worker isn’t working is when they choose not to. Most of the obviously available, unemployed workers and subs are, by definition, bottom-of-the-barrel producers. They’re just barely

good enough to be engaged some of the time. When their last contractor gets tired of paying money that may or may not cover the cost of wages, these marginal people become available. Hope makes company owners hire these people because they’re available, and the cycle of disappointment begins again.

It’s vital you recognize that good people rarely look for work. The fact is, you need to approach staffing as an active outreach operation – hunting so to speak. This is not a passive sit-and-wait venture – like fishing. So how do you hunt for good people? You’ve got to start by thinking differently.

First, get your mind right about recruitment. Hiring is, primarily, a sales activity. We typically don't think about it that way, but you should. You’re really trying to sell prospective hires and subs on the merits of coming to work for you, while you are also evaluating whether or not they're a good fit.

If you’re used to hiring and managing people who are regularly unemployed and available, then you might also need to check your attitude and adopt more than the usual amount of humility when recruiting. If you want craftsmen, you need to treat them with respect.

Too many contractors think of themselves as the great and powerful Oz, and that everybody else is just lucky that they're offering them a job. That's not what it takes to get and keep the best talent. Business is all about competition, but too few contractors realize that this competition extends to the hiring side of things, and not just winning jobs from clients.

The first thing to ask yourself is who are you going after? Since most good workers and subs are working all the time, they are the people you need to find. They’ll almost certainly not come to you, even if you place an advertisement. Occasionally, decent people cycle through the ranks of the unemployed, but more often than not they're working for another company all the time. That’s why you have to be willing to recruit people away from other contractors. Do you feel uncomfortable doing this? Well, you're already recruiting customers and jobs from your competition. So if you really have an issue with competition, then you should never bid on another project again.

Business is ultimately about competition, and if a worker voluntarily chooses to leave one place to come and work for you, it’s their choice. You’ve just given them a situation where their work experience is better. What’s wrong with that?

Selling what workers want

Once you realize that you’re really selling two things – completed projects to property owners as well as superior working opportunities for subs and workers, you can start recruiting in a way that most contractors never do.

If contractors use recruitment messages at all (most don’t), it

TOO MANY CONTRACTORS THINK OF THEMSELVES AS THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ."

usually goes something like this: "We're hiring. Come grow with us. Experienced people wanted.” A better message would be aimed at subs and workers whose contractors and bosses don't appreciate them. This is something that a lot of people identify with. Most people don't quit their companies, they quit their bosses. When you mention the problems that many workers and subs experience day-to-day, spotlight those problems then solve them by letting these people know that you're different. It works.

Once you get good messaging out there and go after the right people, you've got to make sure that you're online, that you have signage and messaging that let’s people know you aim at creating a great working environment. Sit down with the kind of people you want and have a conversation about their career. You’ll be surprised by the quality of people you end up talking to.

Building an inventory of people

Does active recruiting sound like a lot of work? It is, but it’s not nearly as costly as babysitting even one employee or sub who’s causing you grief, destroying your reputation, and maybe even costing more money than they earn for you. Like anything in life, you need to look at recruiting as a good habit that becomes part of your professional life. You definitely don’t want to start recruiting only when you have an immediate need, either. You’ve got to recruit whether your crew roster is full or not.

While marketing to skilled, employed people is an alien concept to most business contractors. Proactive recruitment to keep the bullpen full is common outside the contracting business, even beyond the white collar world. On the back of every 18 wheeler, what do you see? There’s almost always recruitment messages. There’s sometimes as much recruitment marketing on an 18-wheeler as there is recruitment of new customers. It makes no sense to aim 100 per cent of your marketing just at sales, and none for building your capacity to actually build. Your work vehicles should have signage that invites people who want a better career to call a 24-hour toll-free hotline for subs and workers. Use a recorded message to tell them why working for you is a great career opportunity, then meet with them and see if they meet your standards.

Like most bad things in life, bad subs and employees happen more or less automatically. If you want things to be different, you need to take active steps to make it so. cc

Your toughest gets our toughest.

The 2019 Ford Super Duty is the Most Capable Super Duty Ever

You don’t step into the 2019 Ford Super Duty, you step up to it. An absolute beast of a truck, it’s designed to challenge the laws of physics. No matter how tough your task, this truck has your name on it. Depend on the 2019 Super Duty to get the job done, and then some.

It starts with a 6.7-litre Power Stroke V8 diesel engine offering 450 horsepower and 935 lb.-ft. of torque. Super Duty allows you to get the job done while outsmarting the competition thanks to its mighty capability plus a suite of intelligent features.

Enough Muscle to Move Mountains

You’ll get a maximum gooseneck towing of 35,000 lbs.^ and a conventional towing maximum capacity of 21,000 lbs.^ So if you’re looking to tow big, call on none other than the beast that is the Super Duty.

Tons of Torque for Tonnes of Hauling 7640-lb. maximum payload** rating

When the Super Duty went to a military grade‡ aluminum alloy bed and body paired with a high strength steel frame, the net weight saving‡‡ went into its frame, leaf springs, trailer hitch, rear axles and transfer case, while also coming out up to 24 times stiffer than the outgoing model. This truck will not buckle to heavy payloads.

Available Class-Exclusive Trailer Reverse Guidance System†

The Ford Super Duty is the only heavy-duty truck in its class to offer an available Trailer Reverse Guidance System† to help increase its sightlines. Visibility is enhanced via cameras in the side view mirrors and visual guides in the centre dash screen, giving you a clear rear view of where the trailer is going. And with a customer-placed rear trailer camera that seamlessly integrates into the centre stack screen, it turns reversing a trailer from an exercise in futility into an exercise in precision.

The 2019 Super Duty. Works as hard as you do, and then some.

^ When properly equipped. Maximum gooseneck towing capacity of 35,000 lbs. on F-450 4x2 with 6.7L diesel engine configuration. Maximum conventional towing capacity of 21,000 lbs. on F-350/F-450 DRW with 6.7L diesel engine.

** When properly equipped. Maximum payload of 7,640 lbs. on F-350 DRW Regular Cab 4x2 with 6.2L gas engine.

‡ 6000-series aluminum alloy.

‡‡ up to 350 lbs

† Class is Full-Size Pickups over 8,500 lbs. GVWR based on Ford segmentation. Driver-assist features are supplemental and do not replace the driver's attention, judgment and need to control the vehicle.

Vehicle may be shown with optional features.

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• Super Duty has best-in-class* max. payload of 7,640 lbs

• F-150 has available class-exclusive^ features like Pro Trailer Backup Assist

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• Transit Connect has a compact footprint, and a maximum cargo space of 145.8 cu ft†

FASTEN-ATING!

GRK’s 2019 “Show us your project” contest highlights fascinating challenges and quality work

By Rob Koci

Throughout 2019, fastener manufacturer ITW ran its annual “Show us your project” contest exclusively for Canadian Contractor readers. As in past years, the entries were excellent and the winner extraordinary. Here’s a look at the overall and some notable runners up.

Winner: The Willemse House, D.F. Crocker Ltd., St. Thomas, Ontario, president Dan Crocker, vice president Ben Crocker (timber frame by Okewood Timberworks Inc.)

BenCrocker, vice president of D.F. Crocker Ltd. of St. Thomas, Ontario says the ITW fasteners he used throughout this awardwinning house saved him tons of time and money, but not for the reasons you would expect.

“There was a lot of stuff in this project,” says Crocker. “Most of it we did twice, a lot of it three times, sometimes had to go back four times, changing stuff up. it was unlike anything we've ever been on, just the sheer scope and the size of that project, everything was crisp. The homeowner, everything was his vision and we just had to make it happen, whether it was a conventional approach or a completely different approach. That's where the GRKs were just unbelievable because we just got to the point where we're putting everything together with screws, and you have to change it, and you pull it apart, and you didn't have to be ripping stuff apart like you would if it was all spiked.”

On the surface, it sounds like the GRK screws were great, but the customer was, as they say, from hell. “No, no. That's

the unbelievable thing about the customer,” says Crocker. “My dad was going nuts keeping up with the change orders, but the customer didn't care. He just wanted what he wanted. We'd submit a bill and he’d pay it, and never, ever had an issue. We're actually back at the house now on another build.”

ITW, manufacturer of GRK, never planned to make fasteners for structures built, dismantled, rebuilt, dismantled again and rebuild again, but it will enjoy the part it played in this project’s success. For his part, Crocker is happy for the durability that allowed him to respond quickly and efficiently to the customer’s needs for the life of this 23-month project. “Actually, a lot of it was designed by the homeowner. He spent five years planning this thing and wanted to really control the project and be really involved.”

With over 700 individual pieces of timber in involved in the structure, the demands on the framing crew and the Crocker team were considerable. The fasteners made a big difference. “It was actually the framing crew that got us on to GRK,” says Crocker. “Normally, when you have to use screws, you use deck screws, but they have no structural value whatsoever. But there was only, I think, three times where I snapped a GRK screw, and the only time it ever happened was when we were repetitively using them. They're super strong, they never fail, they're a great, great, great invention and a blessing to have in the truck.”

Lucky for Crocker, he now has another year’s worth of GRK screws (and a new Paslode nailer) to kick start 2020. Congratulations.

We used GRK screws to fasten all the timbers in these pictures. They ranged from different lengths and shank sizes. We had a boxes set aside with all the different sizes, that way we had the right GRK for the application. Whenever you fastened a timber with the GRK you always seemed to be able to suck it tight. We at Jaspers Custom Homes are very impressed with the strength and ease of use of the GRK fasteners.

Shawn Jaspers

Jaspers Custom Homes

As part of a second phase project for an existing Eurodale client, we used GRK fasteners to create a wonderful family connection to the rear yard. The home, which was fully renovated a couple of years prior, was underutilizing the beautiful ravine setting in the back. A sloping yard and an old and poorly designed deck created a barrier to the view and access to the gorgeous property. A new deck with built in BBQ, beverage cooler and pergola provided space to entertain. Glass railings ensured a seamless view.

Brendan Charters Eurodale Developments Inc

A deck in the trees

Runner up MSB Carpentry makes it neat and tidy with GRK

You can tell when talking with Miguel Sevald-Beaulieu, owner of MSB Carpentry of Winnipeg, Manitoba, that he was built for carpentry. A framer by trade, now running a more wide-ranging business in carpentry, Sevald-Beaulieu enjoys not only the hard work, but the ability to create something neat, clean and beautiful as well.

This deck is just such a project. Designed in consultation with the owner, the 3,000 square foot platform surrounding this modern house was the perfect project for GRK fasteners. “We used them on everything involved with the deck,” says Sevald-Beaulieu. "The trim heads were perfect for the deck boards. They are very low profile and give the deck a nice, neat look. And of course, there’s lots of time saved using GRK and not having to pre-drill and lag everything.”

Matt Snowdon, one of the carpenters who worked on the deck, says they used 2 – 3” GRK composite screws and PL glue for the clear cedar deck boards and 2” x 7” lag screws for the posts and rim joists. In submitting the entry for this contest, he reflects Sevald-Beaulieu’s pride in the work done. “This is not your average cabin in the woods. This is not your average deck.”

Code changes that could save thousands: Part 3 THE NEED FOR INNOVATION: ROOF VENTING

By Paul Duffy, M.A.Sc., P. Eng.

Last issue, Duffy used the real-world example of Slab on Grade construction to illustrate the roadblocks to innovation and how they create real world problems. In this issue, it’s roof venting.

Consider the way we build roofs. In most houses, you frame a sloped roof and place your insulation at the floor of the attic. Then, because air leakage driven moisture can often penetrate through the insulation, you add venting through the roof to get rid of it. Conventional wisdom is that there's a lot of penetrations including electrical outlets, plumbing stacks, vent fans and pot lights that make it difficult to air seal the ceiling area. Venting is the brute force solution that solves the problem. When all else fails, ventilation gets rid of the problem. Or at least that is the primary way many people defend the need for ventilating roofs.

However, the Code provides two examples of roof assemblies that do not require venting:

1. The lower portion of a mansard or gambrel roof is specifically called out as not requiring venting in the Code. (See subsection 9.19.1.4)

2. The Appendix to the Code identifies that some roof assemblies in some factory built houses have “over time, demonstrated that their construction is sufficiently tight to prevent excessive moisture accumulation.” (ref. Appendix A-9.19.1.1)

It’s unfortunate that the Code isn’t more prescriptive about how you need to design things when venting can be eliminated. You almost have to infer design requirements from the nature of the exceptions given.

For instance, some people suggest that venting is needed to protect shingles from overheating. But if that were the case, why would (shingle clad) unvented mansard roofs be allowed? In any event, research done by people like Armin Rudd in the U.S. examined the whole shingle overheating issue and found little to worry about. Using an unvented

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design raises shingle temperatures only 2 to 5 degrees. The fact is that there are much greater effects seen when you change shingle colour (black vs. white) or home location (Arizona vs. Canada). Shingle manufacturers don’t void their warranties on certain colours of roofs, or on roofs built with more sun exposure, or in certain climates; why should they if the roof is unvented?

So the key issue, as far as the Code is concerned, is moisture—venting is provided to get rid of it. Why not stop the moisture getting into the vulnerable components like the roof deck in the first place?

Conventional roofing materials are intended to keep moisture out, coming from the top side, but what about the underside of the roof deck? What if you applied insulation at the roofing level on the underside of the roof deck as with spray foam or maybe an SIP panel? Wouldn’t that eliminate a number of penetrations that lead to air leakage driven moisture problems? Wouldn’t the fact that these products meet Code requirements for air impermeability help limit moisture accumulation at the roof level? Would that be enough to protect sheathing and structural elements? Would venting still be required? What if you used materials like closed cell spray foam, or foil-faced polyisocyanurate board? Would the fact that these materials act as vapour barriers as well meet Code requirements for a continuous vapour barrier as well as air barrier be enough? Or could a conventional polyethylene air barrier or a spray-on coating as a vapour barrier be added to vapour permeable materials to make the assembly work?

I have posed the design process as a bunch of unanswered questions but wouldn’t it be nice if the Code gave more complete answers as to how you build without venting a roof? At present, it does not, so many building officials (wrongly) assume that an unvented roof cannot be built and they give you a rough ride if you try to build without venting.

If you go to other jurisdictions, (this time in the U.S.) again you find they are using building codes that give prescriptive requirements for unvented attics and these requirements have been in place for more than 15 years. (That’s six “Code review cycles” and not only do the unvented attic code provisions appear to be working, they have been expanded!) In U.S. Codes, they give specific guidance on where and how you insulate, the types of materials that will work, R-values, design criteria by Climate Zone, etc.

The really interesting thing about this example is that, we think of the U.S. as being generally warmer than Canada, but, the U.S. Climate Zones do include areas like mountains in Washington State, places like North Dakota, and of course Arctic climates in Alaska. The U.S. Climate Zones include

MOST HAVE POORLY INSULATED ATTICS, AND EXTREMELY LEAKY KNEE WALLS."

lots of jurisdictions that have climates that directly parallel Canadian climates and the U.S. Building Codes include provisions for unvented attics in all climate zones! The science doesn’t change and therefor prohibit unvented attics in cold climates. Why don’t we have Code provisions that describe how you build an unvented attic in Canada?

Why is this change important? It would sure make it easier to achieve higher R-values and energy efficiency in a cathedral ceiling if you could eliminate the vent space and add more insulation. It would also make it easier to add more high quality living space in attics by insulating at the roof line, maximizing insulation, minimizing re-framing and adding valuable living space on the interior.

Or maybe you live in one of the millions of post-WW2, 1 ½ storey houses that CMHC helped build in cities all across Canada. If you look at them closely, most have poorly insulated attics and extremely leaky knee walls on the second floor and chronically high energy bills. Wouldn’t it be nice to fix the problem by sealing the attic and knee walls by insulating at the roof line with a continuous layer of an air sealing, air impermeable insulation solution?

Again, we have another potential Code change that could save thousands in construction costs and produce substantial improvements in energy efficiency and comfort.

A Fresh Start

I am recognizing that there are huge opportunities here to build more affordably and better aided and encouraged by better Code language. Perhaps we need a resolution to do the heavy lifting and get the job done.

For change to occur, it will take advocacy on the part of industry associations where competitors can collaborate in less threatening ways. It will take receptive ears in the regulatory community. I even believe builders and designers need to speak up.

If you are working closely with your local building officials you have to make it known that this is a high priority for you. This isn’t just a technical discussion best left to housing researchers and engineers.

Questions and comments on this article can be addressed to Paul Duffy and Associates Inc. cc pduffy@jpaduffy.com

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Heat-line water supply freeze-protection

Make your water line safer and easier

If you ever tackle projects outside the city, chances are you’ll need to freeze-protect water supply lines in water systems at some point. This is especially true if you work in cottage country. As baby boomers continue to retire to the lake, seasonal cottages and camps are being converted to yearround homes like never before. This means you might’ll get asked to freezeprotect water systems that were never meant to be used in winter, and the job ultimately comes down to the hardware you choose.

Canada is a world leader in heating cable technology for water supply and sewage applications, and Muskoka, Ontario-based Heat-Line, established in 1988, makes the best water line freeze-protecting systems I’ve seen. I first installed theirHeat-Line hardware in 2011, so I’ve seen how its products perform over the long haul under actual field conditions.

Retro-Line is one of three Heat-Line water protection systems I installed this fall, and there are three reasons I like this stuff. First, as the name suggests, Retro-Line is made to be fished through existing water supply lines, retrofitting them from the inside out. This system works with all kinds of pipes: black poly, PEX, copper, even ABS and galvanized. It doesn’t require pipes to be dug up, just cut into at some point within a heated space. Push the cable into the pipe (it’ll push up to about 150 feet), then seal up the cut with a proprietary tee fitting that allows the heating cable to enter the pipe while also making a water-tight seal. Want to freeze-protect the outside of water pipes? EXT cable is another Heat-Line option. It’s made to fasten

to the outside surface of pipes using aluminium tape, cable ties and or fibreglass tape. Slip the pipe-and-cable combination into an insulating foam sleeve, put the insulated combination inside 4” diameter ABS or PVC pipe for physical protection and your client is set for winter.

Are you installing a brand new water line? A Heat-Line product

called CarapaceARAPACE combines polyethylene pipe with a built-in heating cable. This pipe is the same sort typically used for private water supply intake lines in rural areas, except that the heating cable is molded directly into one side.

All Heat-Line freeze-protection systems useare based on a proprietary, a self-regulating heating cable that does something you wouldn’t think possible. It’s smart enough to more or less deliver heat at different points along its length, depending on the surrounding temperature at a given spot. So, if there’s a cold spotarea where a water line has less soil cover than anywhere else, the cable delivers more heat in that area only. If some part of the pipe run doesn’t need much heat, the Heat-Line cable throttles back the heat output in that zone. This self-regulating feature is why RetroLine, EXT and CARAPACE can be part of plastic water line systems without fear of overheating. Couple it with a thermostatic control box and you’ve got a system that uses so little electricity that it’s hardly worth counting. Many Heat-Line water supply installations perform for less than $10 per month of electricity during winter.

Freeze-protecting water supply lines is a high-stakes challenge because frozen pipes are such a disruptive hassle. When clients count on running water year-round, but pipes freeze because of inadequate protection, that early morning phone call on a -30ºC Canadian morning isn’t something you want to happenget. If there’s a more thorough, reliable and efficient approach than Heat-Line to water supply freezeprotecting, I haven’t seen it yet. cc

RELIANCE HOME COMFORT

The Ultimate Furnace Guide

Every good contractor needs to be a teacher sometimes. Clients often want to be educated on various issues concerning their projects, and the more efficiently and effectively you can perform this education the better. Furnaces are a case in point. Why spend time explaining to clients how to choose a new furnace when someone has already done a great job for you?

The Ultimate Furnace Guide (https://reliancehomecomfort. com/furnace-guide/) is an example. Created by Canada’s own Reliance Home Comfort, this free resource delivers solid technical information and education, not marketing. Send curious clients to the link and they’ll learn about heating system choices, they’ll get help deciding to rent or buy, and learn about the maintenance requirements for various heating options. Information on repair, energy conservation, accessories and more are all part of the guide.

The Internet is full of information these days, but most of it is wishy-washy, written by people earning a few cents per

DEWALT DCGG571M1

Cordless Grease Gun

I’ve always hated greasing equipment and the main issue relates to those conventional, lever-pump grease guns. I have two which work okay some of the time, but they’re just as likely to leak grease around reluctant fittings as they are to deliver the goo where it needs to go.

Improving my greasing game was what I’d hoped the 20 volt DEWALT DCGG571M1 cordless grease gun would do for me, and it has definitely paid off. I like greasing much better now... I must because my supply of grease cartridges is going down faster than it used to.

Besides getting the job done at least twice as fast, cordless greasing works better because it frees up one hand to hold the grease hose tight to the fitting. You’re free to apply extra pressure to the fitting if needed, angle the hose a bit one way or the other, then inject grease at high pressure by squeezing

word explaining things they have no personal experience with. The Ultimate Furnace Guide is different. It’s written by technically experienced Canadians for a Canadian homeowner audience. Save yourself time, serve your clients with great information and it’ll make you look pretty good. cc

the variable speed trigger. This tool takes the same 20V batteries as other DEWALT cordless tools and it takes both cartridge and bulk grease. The variable speed trigger makes it easy to add just a bit of grease to a small joint, or you can hold the thing wide open for filling big, hungry bearings and bushings.

Price: $219 for the tool alone; $359 for the tool plus one battery. cc

Black's Bane

Jeffery Black, owner of Black’s Renos, had an opportunity to hire retiree Sam Mellon, a cheap, diligent, slightly incompetent labourer, to fill a hole or clean up a mess now and then. Mellon had some shortcomings, certainly, but with some attention, Black turned him into a serviceable labourer that could even swing a hammer. It was a good relationship that ran in the background and solved the occasional problem.

In the fourth year of Mellon’s part-time employment, work dried up. Black only spent about $18,000 per year on Mellon, but in this year of austerity all costs were being scrutinized. Alarmingly, when it came time to discuss cutting back Mellon’s time, Black learned that somehow Mellon had turned his relatively inconsequential service from a job into an entitlement. Mellon was shocked to hear his hours would be cut back, offended by the very possibility and angry that his “work,” was being devalued. For Black, one who had been a mildly annoying but effective labourer had become a petty, vindictive, miserable subtrade with revenge on his mind.

A week after their discussion, Black got a lawyer’s letter, as did three of his clients. The letter was a screed, outlining Black’s appalling business manners, Mellon’s excellent “labourer” credentials and how important it was that Black provide a formal apology to Mellon and reinstate his hours.

Black could have taken the letter as evidence that Mellon was simply a crank, but the letters to his clients demanded attention. What should Black do? See the options at right.

Last issue’s winner - Helping Heinz

Last issue, builder Heinz Gebaur needed to find a way to end his relationship with the retailer for which he was doing installations. It was a great relationship that got him out of a serious financial jam years ago, but the tight margins and the time sucking organizing required to do the installations properly was dragging down his growing company. He needed a plan to get out from under his commitment. We asked for a five-point plan to help him.

As usual all of your responses were thoughtful and well considered, but we found Rick Wysocki’s response hit the nail on the head. The Newmarket-based Wysocki said this:

“Heinz should not consider raising prices in hopes of the retailer firing him. If he goes this route it would cause animosity with the retailer since he provided him the work to grow to the size he has become. Why ruin an excellent relationship?

Heinz should first have a meeting with his staff that are dedicated to that division to discuss how the business has grown over the years and that he would like to focus more on the primary business. He should offer to spin off the installation division to the staff in the division. By doing this they can continue doing installation for the retailer but also for Heinz and any other window and door supplier.

The installation staff become their own entrepreneurs. The retailer loses none of Heinz business.”

Thank you, Rick, for your thoughtful response. Look for your DeWalt tool in the mail!

What should Jeffery Black do?

1. Ignore the letter and get on with running his business;

2. Ask Mellon to retract his letter;

3. Talk with his clients and explain what happened and then leave it alone.;

4. Engage his own lawyers and threaten to sue Mellon for defamation; or

5. Something else.

HOW TO ENTER

If you have a five-point plan for Black, email your entry to rkoci@canadiancontractor.ca and put “Black dilemma” in the subject line. Please don’t post your plan as a comment to the Dilemma post on our website

Entries close January 7. The winner will be announced on www.canadiancontractor.ca on January 24.

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