The Hammer

Mickel Maalouf of Huntsman Building Solutions joins The Hammer to discuss Radon abatement from the ground up. Radon, a colourless, odourless, radioactive gas, is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Heavier than air, radon can accumulate in residential basements, increasing the risk of exposure to the homeowner. Radon can infiltrate in several places, especially cracks or openings in the floor, slab, cracks in the foundation wall, or sumps. A radon barrier around the basement using Heatlok Soya HFO closed-cell spray foam can seal and prevent radon infiltration. That said, let's talk about radon, recommendations for reducing it, steps to take for building or renovating a radon-free basement, what are some of the protection requirements and the benefits of using Heatlok Soya HFO.

There are more government rebate programs out there than you can shake a stick at. Luckily, Bonny Koabel of AKR Consulting has a whole basket of sticks and spends most of her time shaking them at the various government agencies so you don’t have to. Bonny joins The Hammer to explain three national rebate programs that can give substantial money back to homeowners building custom homes and renovating existing homes. Passing along this information to your customers could help overcome sticker shock and smooth the rails to a higher-value sale.

The Ontario government has announced a string of programs and restructurings aimed at improving and promoting skilled trades training. Robert Bronk is CEO of the Ontario Construction Secretariat, an agency that acts as a forum for construction contractors and construction unions to work together. As such, he has some great perspectives on the state of skilled trades learning and the apprenticeship system. In this episode, he talks about the new Ontario initiatives; how our apprenticeship system is viewed around the world; what is working and not working; how the education system has let skilled trades languish; and the intersection between apprenticeship and unionization.

Oversized windows are becoming increasingly popular. Homeowners are looking to buy products that help achieve a unique, customized look, while offering greater access to outdoor spaces and natural light. JELD-WEN of Canada experts Rob Adams and Chantale Brosseau discuss why oversized windows became a trend; how oversized windows work with building codes and energy efficiency standards; what challenges they create for manufacturing; how you can support your customers when they want oversized windows; and why JELD-WEN windows and doors are the right fit for your project.

We’ve watched the codes and standards tighten for years now, requiring windows and doors installed into new builds to meet ever-higher performance metrics for air/water ingress and insulating value. And they will continue to tighten as Canada’s code authorities follow the federal Roadmap to make all new buildings built in Canada meet net-zero energy performance standards by 2030. But what about the inefficient existing buildings out there that represent a far larger proportion of the homes in the country and therefore a much bigger impact to carbon emissions? Never fear, regulators have not forgotten about them. Frank Lohmann, director of building science for the Canadian Home Builders Association, joins The Hammer to talk about plans to create an existing buildings section of the National Building Code by 2025, which will focus on energy-efficiency requirement for renovations.

Recorded the day after Ontario returned Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives to majority government, Luca Bucci, CEO of the OHBA, joined The Hammer to register the association’s official reaction to the new government and share his thoughts on what should happen and what might happen going forward. He talks about why the OHBA is overall excited and positive about the PCs returning to power. The topic of housing prices and supply was important in the election and Bucci has ideas about things the new government might do to resolve the bottlenecks to development, including moving municipalities past the notion that development is always bad for the environment. Bucci is supportive of the efforts to reform skilled trades governance in Ontario and thinks there are things the government and the OHBA can do together to promote youth participation in the trades.

Now is the time for builders, contractors and even homeowners to consider protection against water infiltration from potential flooding. With high water levels and extreme weather from climate change, we are bound to experience residential water penetration problems. Join Maxime Duzyk, Director of Building Science with Huntsman Building Solutions, as he discusses what we should be thinking as far as protecting home basements from water damage. Sometimes water infiltration may be inevitable, so products that can withstand a flood and even maintained after they have been submerged in water, need to be considered. For example, using building materials that are not affected by water, like metal framing and spray foam insulation that is rated a class five by FEMA and that can survive wetting and drying, and be successfully cleaned after a flood. Join Maxime as he talks about building trend options that despite the forecast will protect the home.

Slow clap for the 2020 National Building Code and National Energy Building Code that have been released at last after long delay. Gord Cooke of Building Knowledge joins The Hammer to explain what’s in the new model codes for window and door providers, especially the tiered energy efficiency requirements that will probably soon be the law throughout the land. We’ve known about much of this for some time, but now it’s here to inform our product designs for years to come.

Last year in Ontario, 30 percent of all the working people who died from opioid overdose worked in the construction industry. It’s clearly time for we who employ tradespeople to pay some extra attention to this issue and be prepared to help those in our companies who struggle with substance use and misuse. To help, Jan Chappel, a senior occupational health and safety specialist with CCOHS, joined The Hammer to give us some advice on what to look for in employee behaviour that might indicate a problem; how to address the issue; and where to find the resources both you and your employee might need.

We all hate taxes. But is there a case to be made that contractors should pay what the law says they owe? Mike Yorke, director of public affairs for the Carpenters District Council of Ontario joins The Hammer to talk about the CDCO’s No Tax Fraud awareness raising campaign and make his argument for contractors playing it above board, especially when it comes to larger projects and payroll taxes. He talks about the billions that tax fraud costs the Ontario government annually and the unsavoury practices, such as human smuggling, that can accompany tax evasion practices. He also addresses some of the common objections to his position. Enjoy!