The Construction Life

On our first podcast from The Buildings Show 2019 in Toronto we have Michal from Tilt Wall talking about old school concrete building. We are excited to hear what Michal has to tell us about this 100 year old technique of forming and pouring walls on the ground and then tilting them up into position.  Michal and Len are passionate about bringing this technique to the Canadian market and proving th...

We are in the Ciot North Toronto location talking about natural stones, porcelain, tiles, lots and lots of tiles and the tile industry in general over the last 70 years. Our special guests are Jack and Sonya and after a great duet intro we get right into the humble beginnings of Ciot in Montreal all the way to the new locations in New York city, Detroit and Atlanta. We discuss the trends, what's m...

Mike Moll from Social Media House joins the talk today and we get right into everything digital and online for construction and tradespeople. Mike walks us through all of the social media platforms and why Instagram is playing games with construction content, everyone's content.  Mike tells us why Google has the IQ of a 6 year old when it comes to context.  Mike tells us the best ways to actually...

On this show, we have Danny Tseng an Architect from the Toronto area talking to us about contractors, clients and changes. Danny gets right into it with a very big intro piece of music that most of us will reconize, well done Danny. Carlito and Manny get right into the questioning about the Architect and Contractor dynamic. What to expect frome ach other? How to work with each other? And the most...

Roberto Fraschini (Rob) from Galaxy Plumbing Inc. joins TCL Podcast and nearly 2 hours later Rob dives deep into the fascinating world of pipe.  We get Rob's perspective of nearly 20 years of union work and then another 5 years on his own. Rob talks to us about what and who drove him to be the best plumber, the lessons he learned over the years and still learning to this day, standing his ground a...

John Morra from Craft & Clerk is our special guest and we hear how he began with his Uncle in bricklaying in his teenage years to building his own successful Mason and Landscaping business to giving back to the industry with his new renoventure Craft & Clerk. John shares so many stories that every contractor can relate to on and off site.  He gets right into his teenage years and learning...

We have a very special guest on today's show John from McLennos Landscaping get's right into the dirt of things, from starting his own business to dealing with clients, drug use from trades and weather.  Get a very realistic view on starting your own landscaping business, John talks us through his highschool years to some 20 years later working outside.  The ups and downs of one of the hardest tra...

Josh from OnHive is here to talk about anything and everything to do with your Custom Smart Home Automation, we dive deep into cyber security, web, entertainment, network and data systems. Hold on to your carpenter pencils and open you notebooks because on today's show we get very tech heavy.  We talk about 5G, WiFi 6, Cyber Security and cameras, Network set ups, Home Theater / Entertainment Syste...

Let's talk personalities and sales in construction with Sunny from Tubs, one of the founding owners who is determined to take the business to new heights and Frank Cone of Cone Construction, Frank has 50 years in the construction business and has seen his fair share of highs and lows. We get right into misname calling from the first minute and then we get right into personalities and how to connec...

On this episode of The Construction Life we are on location at the new home of Aria Vent, right here in Toronto. We have Paolo and Roberta Mantenuto from Aria Vents and they tell us how this little family business has changed the construction industry. We get right into the origin of the invention, the family better known as The Board, the many and we mean many "no's" they heard when they first la...

We have the man himself, Mark from Skyluxe Roofing and Metal on the show again and we are talking all kinds of construction, from roofing all types of roofing, metal cladding all types of cladding to millennials and more. In this episode, we finally had to censor a few things that were expressed about crappy products and brands.  We are not interested in talking about the bad materials, let's focu...

Sean a "younger" but very experienced commercial concrete "voodoo doctor' joins the show and we get the inside on big concrete projects, from bridges, skyscrapers and airports. Sean gives us the load down on how big concrete projects are handled, from the plant, to the trucks, to pouring, to all of the political red tape along the way. We get into the concrete stereotypes, the mafia, the technique...

Jorge from DGR Concrete Forming joins the show and in this 84 minute long show we talk about residential concrete and more, lot's more.  Jorge, with nearly 4 decades of experience walks us through the ups and downs of concrete, clients, trades people and the industry in general.  We even get into radios on site, smoking on site, smoking weed on site and more. Jorge has some amazing information to...

Gary Mares is our guest and plenty to talk about reagrding Trim Carpentry. In the next hour we go old school and new school and has the construction industry changed for the better or worse? We also get into the some very cool trim techniques, tools and what a typical day on and off site is with Gary and his Old Man. Dealing with clients, other trades and the industry in general. Once again we don...

What a great podcast on Windows, Doors and Garage Doors, we get right into what's the norm, how to install and the clients. We have Joe Fernandes from @Joerf1 as our guest, with decades of experience we get ritght into everything to do with these openings in your home. Why most go one style over another, what are the good, bad and ugly truths about installing windows.  Why clients always go cheap...

Manny and Carlito have a very special guest on today's podcast, Matthew from e6 Analytics talking about how to run your construction better. We get right into how you as a tradesperson, contractor and general contractor should get organized.  From contracts, to scheduling to progress to closing out the job no matter if it's a powder room or a complete new build. Plenty of great ideas presented in...

Manny and Carlito have Omid @thetileguy.gta and Flo @procustompainting both of them being 24 years old as guests on today's show.  A couple of 47 year olds vs a couple of 24 year old trades.   What could go wrong? We get right into it, no BS here and you will be surprised what Omid and Flo have to say about their generation.  Sorry Eddy, you made your own bed. We might have to do a follow up to th...

Manny and Carlito are back in the saddle without Mikey.  The Construction Life podcast will go on as Manny and Carlito have a lot to share since the last time these two contractors have been recorded.  Its a funfilled show talking a little bit of everything to do with construction. Hold on to your butts cause we don't hold back and with Carlito on his own proffesionally speaking, there doesn't see...

Manny is on location at Skyluxe Roofing workshop and breakroom talking roofing with Mark and Jordan and we have Ben from Soprema join us too.   We get talking about everything to do with roofing and that trade and the business.  We get talking about safety, regulations and how other countries handle roofing, unfortunatley, North America is behind and we really need to be better.   What an amazing...

Join Manny as he talks with Todd from Schluter and Omid The Tile Guy himself as we get very orange and talk all things Schluter. We don't stop there, we get into the history of Schluter, all of their products and what to expect for the future of tiling and Schluter. This talk has been one Manny has been waiting for a very long time. Recorded in one of many Schluter training facilities, we get talk...

Manny invites Joe and Ben from Soprema and we get right into the building envelope and what's really important. This has always been an amazing topic for Manny and the information in this podcast is super valuable. Listen along as Joe and Ben educate Manny from the foundation up. We talk about all of the nessesary steps regardless if they are "pretty" or not. By spending a little bit more money an...

The Construction Life hosts talk about using social media to build your construction brand, attract clients, find subtrades, teach and learn from others and deal with Trollaholics out there. Yes, social media can consume a lot of your downtime, and work time but social media can also be a great tool in your business. Listen in, as the boys share a few secrets that have worked for them, and they wi...

We have a very special guest, Tony and we are on location at his store Mississauga Hardware Centre just outside the Toronto core. On today's show, we talk about Mom and Pop Shops, Big Box Stores, the Construction Industry and what makes Mississauga Hardware Centre, a shop that has been around for 28 years a great place for laughs and deals. We can't stop talking about the store, the staff, Mom and...

In our 13th podcast, The Construction Life crew talks about Time, managing your professional and having more personal time. How can we get ahead of our renovation businesses and still have a personal life for our family and ourselves? Too often renovators and tradespeople spend way too much time on their businesses, neglecting their families. We offer up a few "Time" suggestions after a few intere...

Join The Construction Life crew as we have another guest, the amazing Natasha from @naturalcarpentry as we continue the women in construction conversation. From trade school to running her own business in 15 years, Natasha shares a few stories about being a female construction business owner. We discuss anything and everything with Natasha including a bleeding penis. Don't forget to give her a fol...