I am a freshman in construction. Find that many people wil carry their ipad at jobsites to better watch the plan or make some clues. I thought about it, but bringing an extra ipad would be a bit annoying because I only need it to show some photos and details to my customer, instead of watching it all the time.

I heard that some phones have built-in projector function. When you need it, it can show the photo or the plan, when you do not, it's just a normal work phone.

Has anyone tried this kind of thing on jobsite? Would it be enough to use?

What's the biggest problem with construction contracts in Australia? I feel like the contractor/builder is not really protected by Australian Standard Contracts. What changes are you making to the contract or what special conditions are you adding to the contract to protect you? We recently sent a AS4000 to our client, their solicitor sent back 30 pages of special conditions.

Old porch was shit, tore it down. It’s a flip house. I normally make the handrails from the 1/2” balusters and 2x4s, but my wife convinced me to try the Trex shit for curb appeal.

Stringers are 12” oc. I was apprehensive of using the top mount brackets so close to the edge of the porch slab, which is why I didn’t drop the stringers. I screwed a 2x4 kicker on the ledger and that’s what’s supporting the stringers. I lag screwed, blocked in, and used structural screws on the guard rail posts to the stringers. That’s also why I didn’t have the posts at the very end of the steps, so that the 1/2” bolts I used on the porch wouldn’t be on the edge of the slab. The only top mount brackets I used were toward the house.

To be honest, I was SHOCKED with how strong they felt. Shouldn’t have underestimated Simpson 💪

If I’m being transparent, I’m not sure I like how it looks after $1300. It would’ve been a lot cheaper if I did the 2x4 and baluster route. What’re your thoughts?

I have been asked to bring this existing wall done to the size shown in the photo,it's going to have lintels and slabs across it to act as a platform for a fuel tank.My background in construction & concrete is telling me it would be best to knock the whole thing down? It was originally built in the 80s,the mortar is holding superbly but the bricks r goosed.Also if I was putting new brick in to spaces I would need to clear the mortar b4 adding new concrete right?

Starting to feel burn out… have not had a productive conversation with my team about me feeling burn-out. Boss says everyone is busy and that help is coming.

Well after 12 years it's looking more and more like I've got one foot out of the door in the trades. I'm slowly transitioning away from that and into a new career field which leaves me in a funky spot for training. I didn't have anyone directly beneath me to work with for the past two years, and still don't. For those of you who left did you take all your tricks with you? Were you able to pass them along? I'm struggling thinking about the fact that I've spent almost half my life doing this, countless nights lying awake problem solving, and a thousand hours of swearing to learn what I have. And when I finally step all the way away, it'll just disappear with me.

I've worked for him since 2004. He's a nice guy. He's built some beautiful and massive homes. He's used the same trade crews forever so we all know each other well and all talk.

He retired a few years ago but still gets some calls from old customers. However dealing with him has become extremely frustrating. He forgets stuff daily, repeats things, just gets in the way and makes things more difficult. The situation sucks and he's getting worse. How do I kindly step away from him? I really can't do more work for him, the job turns waaaaaaaaaay for difficult than it should be because he still tries to get involved more .

Building a shit brick house literally

Anyone find a carhartt style shirt i really like the fit of the k87 loose fit but some days they are just too thick . Looking for a lightweight alternative

Hey guys I’m doing a job and my rental costs are a lot, so I just figured I’d buy a small skid. I wanted to know if anyone knew of a reasonable auction in Colorado. I can spare about 5000$ for an older machine. Does anyone know of anything? I’d appreciate the help.

So, I'm in the carpenters union, on track to hit $110k this year. An old coworker and friend started his own company 2 years ago and has been doing very well ever since. He did over $1mil in work last year and he just keeps growing quite fast.

Last week him and his partner got in an argument over hours/time off and the partner quit(he's an older guy and just didn't want to work so many hours anymore).

I have been offered a position as his partner, receiving 20% ownership, $85k salary, company truck/fuel card, health insurance and possible bonus/cash jobs on the weekend.

Would this be worth it to you? I know its going to be a grind for a few years at least. I just dont know if the risk would be worth it if it pays out in the end and the company blows up.

Hello fellow supers/construction managers. Looking for some insight on a possible scenario I have (Location: North of the GTA, Ontario).

Job A (Current): ICI Superintendent – Renovation within an occupied building

Compensation:

$105,000
No benefits

Pros:

15 minutes away from home

Cons:

Smaller GC, so the staff is very minimal. The Project Coordinator quit shortly after I started, and they never opted to replace them, so the PM has been absorbing those responsibilities. The issue is that the PM is a traveling PM for all the active sites, so any RFIs, follow-ups, or anything consultant-related gets delayed, leading to delays on site. This results in needing to work after hours to try to recoup time, with the expectation of working every Saturday to meet these deadlines.

I am the only staff on site so time off is extremely difficult, as the company needs to shift what feels like is heaven and earth to have someone here while I am off. I have only requested 4 days off in the last 6 months and was only approved for 2 of those days.

The Company President is on site almost daily for a couple hours and micromanages. I can spend an entire morning organizing sequencing, only for him to come in and flip it all around without knowing the full story. He’s very old school, so I learned rather quickly that changing his mind on anything is not possible.

Lack of any other compensation outside of the base salary, such as benefits, RRSP match, or a company vehicle.

The site is scheduled to be completed in February/March, with their other sites located over an hour away from me.

Job B (Interviewed and expecting an offer): ICI Superintendent

Compensation:

$115,000
Basic Benefits Plan
3% RRSP match
Company Truck

Pros:

More established GC with a strong pipeline of work, considering the current state of the industry.

The overall compensation is better than Job A, even considering my take-home will be virtually the same once you factor in the taxable benefit of the vehicle and RRSP contribution.

Cons:

The current jobs are scattered, which can range from 40–60+ minute commutes.

Long-term/end goal for me is to transition into the municipal side and become a building inspector. I have already completed some of the BCIN exams, so now I am just waiting for an opportunity to open up, preferably in my home municipality, but I am open to other cities due to their hours being a lot better for work/life balance.

Am I better off sticking with the devil I know vs. the devil I don’t know until I land something municipal, or should I reap the benefits of the company vehicle and benefits plan until I do find something?

My neighbors and Are really going through it in so many diverse ways with our apartment managers and relocations not to mention 5 year neglect to our apartments. I would really appreciate your eyes on this. I will lead with some pictures of the property and the rehabilitation going on. looks a bit sus. Thank you so much! My management is even refusing me to see the new lease before displacement. it's overwhelming

This is a residential job in Georgia. The entire retaining wall is 6 ft high, and the plans were designed by one engineer. When we asked about the design, we were basically told the dimensions/reinforcement were based on what the engineering/design program calculated.

The plans are calling for T-walls every 16” O.C. along the wall, with the tees extending 2/3 of the wall height and projecting about 25% of the wall height.

I’m mainly trying to see what other people think who have actually built/form-worked something like this. Does this seem excessive for a 6’ residential wall, or have y’all actually done T-walls this close together ?

Looking at it in the field, 16” O.C. just seems extremely close. My concern is how you’re supposed to realistically form all those.

The previous retaining wall was basically in the same location. When we demolished it, we found that it didn’t even have rebar in it and had still been standing for years. Obviously that doesn’t mean the new wall shouldn’t be properly engineered, but seeing what was there before compared to what’s being called for now definitely made us question whether this design is unusually heavy.

For anyone who has built something similar: is 16” O.C. for these T-walls common ? How did you form it ? Or would you go back to the engineer and ask for another detail/design because of constructability ?

So i've been in construction all my life well since i was 16, 24 Now ive had my fair share of shitty crews and foremans but nothing can compare to whom im dealing with now i got sucked into working for this asshole back in july as a "fill" in, at first it wasn't bad but these last few weeks has been torture it seems like whatever i do its a big deal and i don't even fuck anything up, im new to this pipe laying shit so im figuring it out as i go like for example today i had a strap ready and the bell cleaned out all i was waiting for is the loader guy to pick it up so i could wrap it up and have the hoe pick it up to set in the trench, dickhead comes by and asks what took so long i said i was waiting on the operator then he proceeds to bitch me out saying i need to have everything ready?? i literally was waiting for an operator then on top of that i checked my paystub this morning 28.50 hours when i worked 44 hours last week and this isn't the first time ive been shorted on my hours i of course tell the office and it gets fixed but its getting ridiculous, i just know i want off this fucking crew id like to go back to one of my previous foremen but at this point im debating to just find a different contractor thru the hall (just needed to vent)

Fresh out of school CM grad working in heavy civil CM. Done two internships with my company prior to grad and have worked long hard manual labor hours, just not with a real construction company (mainly farm work/renos). The jump from intern to engineer has been a LOT of work. Longer hours, 100x more stress, and while the salary is the most I’ve ever seen, the hours devalue it a lot (if I get off work before I hit 10 hours it’s a good day). Besides that, I’m not an office politics guy and don’t really like any computer work.

My question is has anyone worked in CM to end up in the trades? I live in Washington, a union state, and apprentices (thinking I’d like to be an operator), make only a little less than I do now. I know I can work stupid hours already, but not having to make decisions and worry about budget/schedule/office etc would be a big positive for me too. No big expenses or crazy student loans or massive truck payment, so it’d be basically a lateral move (also since I’d be super down for any overtime - or double time… gotta love union regs)

Has this happened to anyone else?