The Hammer

Most of us curse the little low-value job where we're doing something the client could do themselves and that takes almost as much up-front administration as something much larger. That's why the effort is usually to move up the chain of project size and complexity to higher revenues and higher margins. Shon Zax, co-owner of Buildman, has moved in exactly the opposite direction, creating a flat-rate repair and minor renovation service carved out from his father's existing custom homebuilding company. Tune in to hear him explain how and why it works.

Josh Noble and Erik Sommerfeld run Meinhaus, an online contracting business that books over 100 projects per year without either of them meeting a client in person. Creative use of AI is part of the way they have been able to set up and scale the business. It's been so successful, they feel their model represents nothing less than the future of residential contracting, especially for smaller projects. Josh and Erik join The Hammer to explain what they do, how they do it and how AI might change almost everything about how we interact with clients and our work.

David Rames, director of technical sales for Midea, joins The Hammer to explain advances in heat pump technology that make them work much better in cold climates than perhaps many of us thought. Crucially, he outlines a third option: hybrid systems where the heat pump pairs with a fossil fuel system to ensure optimum performance and energy use all year round, while potentially allowing contractors to reduce the capacity of both systems.

If you haven't taken a deep dive into the potential for AI in helping your renovation business, this conversation with Chris Smith from Woodsmith Construction will leave your mouth hanging open. Smith has turned large-language tools such as Claude and ChatGPT into what are effectively professional office managers for his business, reducing his time spent on administrative tasks to two hours a day of oversight. He's using them now in every aspect of his business and has implemented these systems at nominal cost without the help of a single software engineer or paid consultant. Smith is not an industry booster or software salesperson - he's a regular renovation contractor with an amazing story to tell about how AI has transformed his business.

RenoMark has declared October Renovation Month and is celebrating with a firestorm of outreach to homeowners educating them about home renovation contracting and showcasing great work by their members. The Hammer wanted to get in on the action, so we invited Dwayne Butler of Master Edge Homes to talk about a big opportunity for home renovators today: adapting residences for use by elderly and disabled owners to enable them to stay in their homes. Butler explains the Canadian Home Builders' Association's Adaptiv Home course, which trains contractors about what kinds of renovations these projects require, and how to execute them safely and in accordance with regulations.

In 2021, Ontario's Home Construction Regulatory Authority took over licensing and regulation of new home sellers in the province, leaving Tarion to adjudicate warranty disputes only between buyers and sellers. As the enforcer of homebuilder licensing requirements and watchdog for violations of the law and good conduct, CEO Wendy Moir has the sometimes challenging task of ensuring professional and aboveboard behaviour in our industry. She joins The Hammer to explain the HCRA's role, outline her approach to the regulatory enforcement and share her insights from many years of seeing it all in the construction industry.

Calculating the embodied carbon of a building is a process of adding up all the inputs. So it follows that the more inputs there are, the more opportunities there are to increase a project's global warming potential and make the project less sustainable. Not a big concern for most projects today, but soon will be as code authorities move closer and closer to limiting the allowable GWP of new builds and renovations. As a building science expert working for Canadian spray foam manufacturer, Elastochem, Rocky Boyer has taken a deep dive into these issues and realized that each layer in a wall assembly adds multiple sources of carbon that often aren't counted, but might be under a strict GWP-limiting regime. He brings the receipts with a story about a project where his company was able to eliminate three of five wall layers in a heritage retrofit by using spray foam insulation, thereby eliminating the carbon contribution of materials, transportation, installation and replacement for dozens of wall components.

With Mickel Maalouf, building science manager at Huntsman Building Solutions

Builders and contractors: as energy codes evolve, smarter wall assemblies can help improve thermal performance, airtightness, jobsite efficiency, and long-term comfort. In this episode of The Hammer podcast, Huntsman Building Solutions discusses how interior-applied continuous insulation with closed-cell spray foam can help reduce thermal bridging, support faster construction sequencing, and deliver high-performance building envelopes for today’s Canadian projects. Listen now to learn what this approach could mean for your next build.

Jobsites are changing, technology is changing and Canadian rental stores are changing along with them. Equipment rental operations are no longer just dingy garages where you pick up whatever is there - today's operations feature specialty divisions with rare equipment you won't find anywhere else and expert advice on how to accomplish your toughest tasks. Derek Cashmore, director of sales for Cooper Equipment Rentals, joins Get More From Your Rental Store week to explain how specialty rental operations deliver solutions to complex construction tasks like concrete curing, trench safety, dewatering, jobsite power supply, safety and more.

When you talk to equipment rental people, you quickly learn there is no group more dedicated to helping you and your projects. As evidence, we present the Get More From Your Rental Store panel, featuring Canadian Rental Association directors from across Canada. Learn about how equipment rentals work, how they've changed over the years, what help you can get beyond just picking up equipment, online vs in-person rentals and renting from equipment dealers in this energetic conversation with Warren Carriere (Cooper Equipment Rentals), Shelley Cole (GNS Equipment Rentals) and Peter Kinney (Unique Diesel Solutions).