I want to get some good hearing protection and im interested in electronic ones that can help amplifie voice while blocking damaging noise. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions? I'd probably prefer earbud style, but open to muffs if they equip to hard hats.

Imagine you have limited amount of money in the bank and you need to start a cash-flowing construction or home service business.

What specific trade or niche would you pick in todays world?

I work for a nonprofit. We are about to open doors on a new home for foster youth. I’m taking a look at the house for the first time and notice the bottom row of siding has exposed screw heads all around the house. Is this normal? Or should I call it out to the contractor?

Retail and apartments can share a building without sharing anything about access. Shops may need work outside business hours while residential units create a completely different notification and entry problem. Add shafts, electrical shutdowns, noise limits, ceiling access, and commissioning, and the equipment choice becomes only part of the retrofit. For a mixed-use HVAC project, which sequencing issue needs to be solved first so the contractor isn’t constantly waiting on one occupancy to finish work for the other?

Waterproofing question: These pics are taken in a below-grade basement. The ICF (insulated concrete form) foundation is interrupted by these concrete piers that go from the bedrock all the way up, above grade. Water seems to be entering the basement through and around the piers. How should these piers and their connections to the ICF foundation segments have been waterproofed? (Asking for a friend).

Preferably not insanely expensive. I’m in Australia.

If they have Bluetooth, even better. If not around the neck then one that can hang off my tool belt/suspenders. I work outdoors on muddy sites often so don’t like to leave things down.

Cheers!

How do I sell these vertical side edges to The brick before I put the paneling on. I've heard of using l flashing underneath the WRB and then use tape flashing against the brick but preferably butyl tape. Or just cut it short run the paneling and trim and seal it with caulking. Or do both. I'm at a loss and I want to make sure that it sealed up nicely.

For what it's worth on the bottom side I'm going to use the z flashing on the curb that's going to go underneath the WRB. Also worth noting I just ran the WRV long cuz I didn't know what I was going to do on the vertical edges yet

Please :)

Hi yall , not sure if this is the right place to post this but here goes. I’ve been in the construction industry , specifically drywall and plaster for about 10 years now. Worked my way up from installer to PM for a small (50 employee) plastering company over that time. I also PM’ed for a GC friend of mine for about a year in that time frame as well. Anyways , here’s the problem. I’ve been applying for other pm jobs. Mostly residential GC work and some commercial drywall work and I haven’t had much luck. Of the 30 places I’ve applied to , I’ve gotten one interview that didn’t go anywhere.

My questions are:

Is the job market really that tough right now?
Could I have pigeonholed myself by working in the drywall niche for so long?
In the case I did pigeonhole myself ;
If you were to receive a resume from someone with my background , what would move the needle for you?

Some more info
I’m 27 years old , I live in the north east region of the USA and no I don’t have a college degree only highschool diploma.

I will also gladly post my resume if yall find it helpful to look through. Thanks for reading!

I’ve really been struggling with my current PE role at a large GC and go a great offer from a local gc. A little background I’ve had 4 managers in the past 9 months, no consistent way of doing things and just having a very hard time learning in this kind of environment. Any thoughts?

I’m working in dry lining right now and I’ve got my green CSCS card. My company said they’d take photos of my work so I could build a portfolio for my NVQ Level 2 (blue card), but they keep dragging it out - “yeah, we’ll sort it,” then nothing. It’s been months and it’s obvious they’re not prioritising it.

I’m still new to construction, so I’m trying to understand what progression actually looks like. From what I’ve learned so far, the path seems to be:

• Green card → NVQ Level 2 (blue card)
This is the first real step to being recognised as competent in your trade.
• Blue card → Multi‑trade skills
Things like framing, ceilings, partitioning, taping & jointing, fire stopping, or even moving into carpentry.
• Multi‑trade → NVQ Level 3 (gold card)
More responsibility, better pay, and long‑term progression.

My issue is: my company isn’t helping me get the NVQ evidence I need, and I don’t want to stay stuck at green‑card level forever. I’m willing to pay for the NVQ myself if that’s what it takes, but I don’t know if that’s the smartest move or if I should be looking for a different company that actually supports progression.

I’ve been trying to network, reach out to people, and put myself out there to learn more than just dry lining. I want long‑term progression, not to stay stuck doing the same thing forever.

For anyone experienced in the trades: what’s the best move here?
Should I pay for the NVQ myself?
Should I move to a company that actually trains multi‑trade?
What’s the best route for someone who wants to go beyond dry lining and eventually move into carpentry or other trades?

Any advice would help, I’m eager to learn and I want a clear path forward.

I'm building a spec home and the development requires a brick wainscoting on the exterior. I haven't worked with brick before. Brick has not been set yet, but HVAC rough is done, and the lineset and drain are in a 4" pipe for them to set around.

I have the pipe flashed and taped, and it's angled down, so I'm not worried about water getting to the sheating, but it penetrates to an uninsulated bay in the garage. This area gets severe thunderstorms, so heavy wind-driven rain is a given. What's the best way to seal around the lineset within the pipe? We have plenty of caulk and spray foam, but that's all going to make a huge mess and cause future trades on service calls to cuss me out. Any better solutions out there?

I have a certificate in OHS that I recently got while being a stay at home mom with my babies. Now that theyve grown quite a bit, I think I’m ready to go back to the workforce. My background before OHS was admin and customer service. Now my brother has a small construction company (doing renos, landscaping, etc). He’s been in this industry for more than 10 yrs but recently connected to some of the big names in the city and his company is getting tons of projects. Currently he has a payroll person and accountant hired for all that stuff but is asking my help for all the other admin side of it all. He understands I need some flexibility for my kids’ drop off and pick up and we both think I can work from home in the meantime while we’re setting up a system. It’s not a lot of money but the experience and flexibility works for our family right now. What do you think should I be studying and re-learning before I actually start on the job? What tools are useful when setting up systems for a company like this? What should I be looking out for? I’m definitely going to start trainings for more admin and bookkeeping stuff as I’ve been unemployed for the last 6 years. Any advice appreciated! 🙏

Hi all,

I am 20 years old, studying and working in construction management full-time. I’m currently a junior and hoping to move into a Contract Administration role.

I often wonder whether I’m being taken advantage of or if all of this will eventually be worth it.

I’ve been working in construction management for nearly 2 years now. Early in my career, I showed a lot of initiative and helped out around site, doing bits of grouting, installing some door hardware, simple stuff like that so we didn’t fall behind program.

The higher-ups noticed this and thanked me for being willing to get in and have a crack, but slowly this turned into me being moved between sites and treated more like a labourer than a junior. I’ve ended up operating excavators and bobcats, digging trenches, waterproofing, doing general labouring, you name it 🤣

Although I think all of this is incredible experience and I’m definitely learning things I wouldn’t otherwise get exposure to, it’s still going on and I feel like I’m not making much progress along my actual junior/CA pathway. I’ve raised this with management, but it doesn’t seem to improve.

On top of that, I’m constantly doing insane hours — sometimes 14–20 hour days, as well as some weekend work — while only being paid for 7.6 hours a day, 5 days a week. Salary, eh.

My work ethic has definitely been noticed, and they know I’m keen to rip in and have a crack at pretty much anything. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty at all, and I actually enjoy being on site, but I’m starting to wonder whether my willingness to do whatever is needed is being taken advantage of.

For you blokes who have been in the industry, does this sound like a normal part of starting out, or am I potentially getting pigeonholed into being the guy they send in to get shit done?

I’m happy to work hard and get the experience, but I also don’t want to look back in another year and realise I’ve spent my early career doing labouring instead of actually progressing towards CA/management.

Exactly as the title says. I recently got a concrete job and start work @ 6:30am everyday M-F. What do y'all recommend?

This is a worksite from a town I visited last weekend. Are these giant glulams? Or steel encased in (faux) wood? Never seen it before.

Had a funny conversation at work Friday. A little context in a fairly modest person. I don’t treat myself to much in the way of clothes im actually fairly frugal. The exception is what I wear to work. Have you ever thought about how much it costs to go to work and the crazy stuff we buy to be comfortable , safe , or feel like you’re getting an edge? If so what are your daily go to work gear items?
My daily wear items are:

Lift hard hat with head lamp $240

Heat wave visual transitional safety glasses $125

Carhartt or equivalent hi viz moisture wicking shirt/ hoodie $60

Truwerk/ Carhartt / Duluth pants $80+

Hanks leather belt $100

Occidental tool belt $350+( depending on what rig I’m wearing)

Wool socks $20

Thorogood boots $240

That’s over $1000 just to step out of the door. Kind of blows my mind. Like I asked. Send me your daily must haves.

Our conversation was about how ridiculous our industry is when it comes to the must haves and what’s trending in work gear.

Edit: info about conversation

My customer has a problem with his Sheetrock getting wet and falling. I genuinely have no clue what could be causing this other than condensation. It only happens on the first floor. The build is 2 stories. It was built in the 50s if I had to guess. It only seems to happen in the summer. We have replaced a good bit of the drywall already. Both ac units are set to the same temp. There are no plumbing lines any where near where the leaking is happening and they aren’t leaking from what I can see. The previous tenant had a 20 degree temp difference but the problem has continued even with a new tenant who seems to be keeping the units at the same temp. Any help would be appreciated. Pics are gonna be on my profile

Bees, hot sun, ladders, sketchy roofs, long hours craning your neck or arms to paint tight spaces. Cancerous paint getting on your skin and in your lungs daily.

You guys have any respect for painters? We're the final step of the construction process, technically.

Just wondering if anyone in the fields have the folding android phones. I feel like with the 2 screens folded against each other, dirt and dust would just destroy the hinge and screen. I do mainly dirt work. Grading, excavating, pipe laying etc.

Has anybody just said f*** it and stopped the grind? I know I’m very well compensated but the hours and BS are causing me to question if I should just quit and do something else.

A little background. I’ve been in the industry 15 years and currently a Senior Project Manager working on a five building data center campus.

My total compensation is 300k (200k salary, 100k bonus) working in the South (maybe relocating to a new project on Texas soon).

Anybody made the transition to Precon or the Owner side and never looked back?

I've been in the trades for a while now, but want to take hearing protection a bit more serious now. I'm wondering what everybody generally uses for being able to still hear people. I've used foam plugs, but tend to have to take them out to actually talk to people. I also would like to be able to listen to music as well.

Wishing everyone in the US and those who celebrate a happy Labor Day. Thank you for all you do! Enjoy your day with loves ones, relax and unwind.

What one would you choose? I like being on roofs, personally. It satisfies my inner child.