The Construction Life

We have Jim Caruk, the man, legend, the Godfather of Construction on the show and he has nearly 50 years of experience to share with us. So much talk we had to split the show into two parts, Corleone would be so proud. Starting his career in construction right out of high school with a major in trades, sheet metal, Jim went right into Union work, the year was 1973. He did the sheet metal work for...

We’ve got a great show for you this week. We’re talking with Renoshield about building more trust in the construction industry. Payments are a big source of frustration when it comes to renovations. From scope changes to stolen deposits to homeowners refusing to pay, contractors are put in a tough position. Dave Strang and Tyler Burton join us as our special guests to talk about how Renoshield is...

Jackie Schagen Design introduces us to her world of Space Planning Expert. What an amazing show about the whole truth behind Interior Design, the relationships with contractors, clients and changes. Jackie has a great outlook on the construction and design industry sharing her thoughts from school to the job site. Jackie understands that dynamic between her client and her contractor and how everyo...

We finally have a conversation about Geothermal heating and cooling systems and we have Roman and Orest working with Denis Campbell from Polar Bear Geo. Let’s talk about a system that has been around for over a century in Europe, even longer than that if we discuss the very early days of capturing heat from Mother Earth and using that energy to save the planet. Let's not forget how Geothermal is a...

Manny and Carlito are on location at the Artistic Skylight warehouse talking with Marco and Nenzio from Artistic Skylights. We get right into the history of the skylight and how far back in history was the very first skylight ever built and installed and we also get into the 40-year history of Artistic and where it all began. Then we get into all of the benefits especially the health benefits behi...

Matthew Janeko joins us and we get right into talking about cash jobs and are they worth it. Manny was surprised to hear what Matthew had to express. We also get into operating your construction business from registering to incorporating and how it is best to keep the Canadian Tax Revenue off your hard working back. We begin the show with our new format and we share what some of the retirement sta...

Here's a thought...why not have actual clients on the podcast? Let's ask them what they think of us, think of contractors, think of construction, think of our pricing, think of our schedules, think of our rates and more. So many great questions here and we didn't hold back even when they really didn't want to share. These cleints tell us truth when it comes to The Construction Life. We discuss how...

We have the one and only Daniel Vella of Vella Contracting on the show. We get right into finish carpentry, where and how Daniel began, a self taught contractor and trim expert with a love for everything wood, especially crown moulding. This show opens in our new format, all of you know that our guests sing a little tune as our opener, now we get into a little construction history, fact and today...

On the show today, we have Adnan Zabian an Architect and Engineer with a focus on building modular shipping container structures. What a facinating talk as we get into every detail of taking a shipping container and turning it into a home, office or temporary space. The pros and cons of working with these shipping containers and why. We get into all types of cladding options, design options, const...

What an amazing show we have today, we have been waiting for this one for a very long time, let's get right into Demolition, Excavation and Abatement with Michael from MagCor Demolition. We talk about the industry in general and what made Michael get into demo first, excavation quickly followed and then abatement. With only a few years in the business, Michael has been able to carve out a very sol...

In this week’s podcast, The Construction Life team has the opportunity to speak with Rick Clark from Rick’s Mechanical. Rick is a self-employed master plumber with a wealth of knowledge and history, 40 plus years. He is also an Authorized Service Representative for Kohler products in the Toronto area. This informative and interesting conversation will cover the advancement of digital valves, plumb...

On another great episode of The Construction Life, we have Greg Labbe, a Lab Technician from the Ryerson Research Lab. We get right into what we need to know about the air barrier "System" and discuss how these individual types of materials work to maintain a healthy home for decades to come. Where these types of materials should be installed, interior and or exterior applications. Understanding t...

On the show we have Anatol and Tim of Digital Fab, a workshop that is doing things a little differently. Taking woodworking and any other kind of material to new heights by way of computers and CNC's and other machinery. When Manny walked into the Digital Fab shop in 2019 it was the first time the creativity was ahead instead of behind. Digital Fab will never say no to a client or creativity, they...

Frank Cozzolino from DeVille Electric joins the podcast and we get a rough and a no sugar coated version of the electrical industry from the last 25 years.  It all begins with Frank wanting to be an accountant and very early into that career choice he decided to work with his hands instead, left the spreadsheets and trading all of that paper for a set of pliers.  It all begins...

Tyler and Andrew from Stott HVAC Systems join us in the Skyluxe Studios for our 50th podcast and we get right into everything to do with Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning and nothing to do with House Vacuuming And Cleaning as one of the Stott team members kids have expressed. On this show Tyler and Andrew run us through forced air, boilers, radiant, air filters and purifiers, snow melt syst...

We have Evan Jatou from Veracity Group Construction in our Skyluxe Studios speaking candidly about his early self taught brick and stone days, to building a hugly successful commercial construction business, to expanding into custom residential renovations and the proper way to manage and build with clients and crews. On this show we get a lot of great info regarding brick masonry, stone masonry,...

WOW! What a year it has been. We brought The Construction Life podcast back and back in a big way. We recorded 30 new shows in less than 4 months. Wrapping up the 2019 year with a grand total of 47 shows and we figured let's make our 48th show all about our beginning, the last 47 podcasts and all of the wonderful guests. One by one Manny and Carlito discuss what this podcast means to each of them...

Hans Eich joins Manny and Carlito and we have a full tilt show talking about Passive Home Building and the Construction Industry. From air tightness, air barriers, vapour barriers, proper ventilation, phase shifts, diffusion open, to energy consumption and achiveing that Passive rating of 15 Killawatts per hour, per square meter, per year. This is a podcast to listen to carefully. Did we mention C...

Let's talk NextGen Professional and the mindset of construction personnel with Agnes who has started a movement to change the industry on so many levels.  She has coined the phrase, Today's students.  Tomorrow's construction Leaders. Agnes gets right into what the construction industry is like, where it will be in the near future, what employers and employees need to understand and what she calls...

We have Mike Cardoso from Schluter Systems Canada join us and we get talking a lot about this amazing orange company at The Buildings Show 2019. We get right into all the new products and the amazing new finishes. We ask Mike over and over what else is coming in the next year but Mike won't give it up but he does hint at a few ideas and Carltio runs with those ideas. Manny and Carlito have always...

In our first Drywall and Mudding podcast we have a 20 plus year tradesperson from the business, Teddy from Paint Ready Finishing. Teddy has seen a lot over two decades, he has watched and worked in all kinds of drywall and mudding situation, from commerical to custom and unfortunately the business has gotten worse but he feels optimistic the business can get better.   We get right into hand trowel...

Let's get right into stone and brick masonry with Mike Pereira from Greenstone Fine Masonry and a little Yoga while we are at it. Mike dives deep into 20 plus years of masonry work from his first week on site throwing bricks to make a point to jobsite etiquette today.  Mike a student of many schools of masonry and now a teacher has built a solid masonry business. We discuss custom and we mean cust...

We have Andrew from Lusso Design as our special guest and talking how important doors are when it comes to design, fabrication and install. We get right into different types of doors from steel to fiberglass to wood, discuss insert designs, insert failures, insert installs and the importance of the frame and key materials that shoud be used in today's type of doors and frame design and constructio...

Matthew (Matty) from MMC Tiles joins us and we get talking a lot about tiling and the tiling industry in the last decade. It all begins with Matty arriving on a high rise job site on his first day in the construction industry where he finds a couple of trades were actually having a physical fight.  From there Matty got tiling at 2 bucks a square and using mastic for walls, floors, everything.  Wha...

The Construction Life podcast is on location north of Toronto inside Tony Fogarty's garage workshop and we are talking finish carpentry, woodworking, the construction industry and we even get talking about Carlito's brief attendance at gynecology school. Back to Tony, also known as The Timber Tailor on social media he talks about being a bass player in Texas, meeting a Canadian wife, moving to Tor...