Share on facebook
Tweet
Email
Share on LinkedinEpisodes
Building Consensus | Episode 146: Right Now Mentality
Episode 146
Time and again we see problems that start smaller grow into disasters due to people avoiding the difficult thing. Sometimes it’s informing clients of an overage they weren’t expecting the moment you discover it, or getting the water and sewer connected early in job even though it means disrupting the neighbors spring plantings. The best time is almost always right now.
Building Consensus | Episode 145: The Paradox of Help
Episode 145
The problem with needing help is that in order to get it you have to take time to interview, hire and train the helper - and that takes a lot of time. The reason we typically need help is that we don’t have enough time to give proper attention to all things we need to do, so in order to get some help with not having enough time we simply need to invest more time. Thus the paradox.
Building Consensus | Episode 144: Do You Let Your Clients Dictate Trades?
Episode 144
If you've ever had a client ask you to use their brother, sister, in-law, friend or whoever they have in the trades this one’s for you. If you allow it you’ve ceded control of the outcome on your project to the unfamiliar. If you say No you can never satisfy the client with the trade partner they never wanted you to use instead of their preferred choice. What’s a builder to do?
Building Consensus | Episode 143: Where do you like to Finish?
Episode 143
When we build high-performance homes there is (or should always be) a tremendous amount of focus placed on indoor air quality. With that in mind, should we be considering more pre-finished products so the off gassing happens off site?
Building Consensus | Episode 142: Diagnosis: Buy More Tools! with Randy Williams
Episode 142
While many choose to subcontract their building diagnostic testing to their local BPI or HERS rater, a lot of builders (ourselves included) have begun performing a lot of their own testing. Having your own equipment allows testing and troubleshooting at multiple stages of each build as needed without scheduling lags due to availability of others. So what are the top five tools?
Building Consensus | Episode 141: Do You Service Your Services?
Episode 141
The homes we build are becoming increasingly complex and the equipment and systems we include in them can be vexing to even the sharpest clients. With many in the trades already moving their business efforts from install to securing service contracts we discuss the pros and cons of that shift, and whether we as builders should do the same.
Building Consensus | Episode 140: Let Me Ride (In Your Car)
Episode 140
Do you hire to need (skills) or to character? What’s a good way to learn about a perspective team member before hiring them on to work with your crew? Are there specific interview tactics and skills tests, or some other path to finding that right fit? Somehow, this podcast does NOT begin with Travis singing the Dr. Dre classic.
Building Consensus | Episode 138: Specialization in the Trades versus General Contracting with Lydia Crowder
Episode 138
Drywall Shorty is possibly the most famous specialty contractor we know here at the BuildConPod and she drops by to help the fellas see what it’s like on the other side being that they’re both general contractors. Being the best at something and only doing that thing sounds pretty awesome, but there are some drawbacks as well. Is the grass always greener?
Building Consensus | Episode 136: Rational Upgrades or Irrational Expenditures with Bryan Uhler
Episode 136
Building custom homes allows a simplistic view on wether a product or process is “worth it” or not. If it’s worth it to the client then it goes in the build, but in speculative construction that decision is solely left to the builder. Bryan Uhler builds both spec and custom so we discuss what items are rational upgrades and which are irrational expenditures.
Building Consensus | Episode 134: Builder vs. Architect - Who’s Responsible? with Steve Baczek
Episode 134
When Steve took builders to task for not sharing on-demand pricing on his podcast one of our hosts took umbrage. We determine who needs to know off the cuff costs, who needs to share what information to facilitate that process, and even wether or not it’s productive to offer incomplete pricing off of incomplete information. Also, Pie vs. Cookies. Thank you to our sponsor Huber Engineered Woods. Learn more at www.huberwood.com.