With the loan in-hand, for construction to begin the next hurdle is permits. In my case, I received a combined shop/home permit, rather than separate permits for our house and then our shop. Even the building commissioner said I had put the cart before the horse, but we needed to build the shop...

Homeowners usually have to deal with obtaining a mortgage when buying a home, but they seldom need to convince a bank to loan them the same amount on a piece of dirt, with promises to make a home worth a mortgage. As the Homeowner/General Contractor, I not only had to qualify for the loan, I had...

With an 8-acre property in Southern Indiana, I’ve begun the process of building a home, shop, and needed infrastructure so that Beth and I can put down roots again and have our forever home. The process has been a challenge, even for someone who has been involved with building many...

Attic truss with 7 feet room height – should it be designed for 20 psf (pounds per square foot), 30 psf or 40 psf room live load? IRC (International Residential Code) defines Habitable Space as a space in a building for living, sleeping, eating, or cooking. Per IRC 2018 Table...

Seeing so many flat roofs early this year made me wonder if the future of truss building will be flat. During the January SBCA Phoenix Open Quarterly Meetings, some of us saw Truss Fab Components’ yard loaded with flat trusses, and others saw the flat roof lines of Frank Lloyd...

It wasn’t very long ago, so many of us remember the Great Recession and fear we are going to see a repeat. Hopefully not. It seems regional right now, like it did early in 2007, after the job market had raged in 2006 and the good times rolled! Like in 2006, the 2022 hiring season...

Working as a recruiter for 30 years, I have seen everything from no jobs to no candidates, and everything in between. Now, with single family slowing and multifamily still strong, what do I expect recruiting will look like in 2023? Competitive yet manageable, especially if you understand the...

I remember the Great Recession and how many displaced candidates we had. Some stayed active but many went their way, finding new industries and career paths. From where I sat, it was 5 years of trying to find jobs for folks, knowing it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Single Family was...

As many communities and potential homeowners struggle with housing affordability, tiny houses have emerged as part of the solution. Assuring these tiny houses deliver the same level of safety and efficiency of other permanent housing solutions is essential. Local building codes and the...

When the 52-page Webb Analytics’ 2022 Construction Supply 150 Report was released on May 3, the top headline was: Report Shows Lumberyards’ Revenues Soared Far Above Gains for Specialty Dealers, Big-Box Stores. Indeed, high-flying lumber prices helped drive a 19.2% revenue increase...