Steve Ragsdale

This is spot on. Most contractors I know lose margins because homeowners bring Pinterest expectations without understanding scope implications. The real money gets lost in the details - counter flashing specs buried on page 23, coping profiles that don't match drawings, etc. What's the biggest scope creep you've seen from 'just like the photo' requests?

A saved photo can wreck your remodel budget before the project even starts. 📌 I’m all for inspiration. I’m not for homeowners walking into a contractor meeting thinking a Pinterest dream board equals a real-world price. That came up in a big way when I sat down with Brian Lee of Metro Home Improvements. He’s been doing this for over 40 years, and he sees the same thing all the time. Homeowners bring in beautiful ideas, but the price attached to that look is nowhere near what they expected. That gap is where frustration starts. For Metro Detroit homeowners, especially if you’re planning a room addition, kitchen expansion, or major remodel, the smarter move is to bring ideas and stay open to what fits your actual home, timeline, and budget. The episode gets into how to start that conversation the right way without wasting time, chasing the wrong vision, or setting yourself up for sticker shock. If you’re in that planning stage right now, I get into this more in the full episode here: youtu.be/AK_QUijoclM

@sridhar_yalala This is exactly the kind of negligence that destroys lives and careers. In construction, poor quality control and lack of accountability are massive risks. Proper oversight and enforcement protect everyone involved.

A child’s life is shattered. Who is accountable? 👉 Has the minister visited the family? 👉 What support has been provided? 👉 Has a criminal case been filed against the contractor responsible? Negligence cannot go unpunished. Justice for Yuvan must not be delayed.

@waskojo @Profalidu1 Contractor disputes like this happen all too often. Scope creep and change orders eat margins fast. Make sure every modification is documented before it happens. What kind of work was involved?

@Profalidu1 Would you agree a contractor builds this road at your residence? Even at the entrance to your residence? Chale let’s be serious for once

Some inner roads nearing completion👏.

@RicM916_1967 @CrystalHope1979 Interesting approach! Temporary fencing alone adds up fast on construction projects. $15-20 per linear foot for install and removal. When you factor in labor and scheduling, those goats are probably cheaper than a crew. What is the budget comparison look like?

The city I live in in NorCal contracts with a company that does this to clear all field areas around the city… the contractor put up temporary fence and water stations then unloads the goats… they stay in an area 1-2 days while fencing is being setup at the next area to be cleared, then the goats are moved, and so on… weed abatement and fire control with no noise to disturb the community…

Zakary Copeland’s "genius" business plan was born from a simple idea: turn goats into a mobile, eco-friendly land-clearing powerhouse. Instead of heavy machinery and expensive fuel, Zakary drops off his hardworking herd of over 100 goats to tackle everything from overgrown residential yards to massive pastures. What looks like a daunting chore to a homeowner is a high-protein buffet for the goats, who eagerly devour stubborn weeds like cheatgrass and leafy spurge. The speed of the transformation is what truly leaves his clients stunned. A hungry crew of 60 to 80 goats can strip a standard backyard clean in a single day, often arriving at 9 a.m. and finishing by dinner. For larger acreage, they maintain a relentless pace, clearing about half an acre every 24 hours. This natural approach saves customers the back-breaking effort of manual clearing and the high cost of gas-powered mowers, all while skipping the need for harsh chemical sprays. Neighbors gather to watch the herd work its way across the landscape, turning a property eyesore into a pristine field in record time. Clients get a clear pasture without effort, and the goats leave behind a trail of natural fertilizer—happy, healthy, and ready for the next job.

@SilkDiffSlipper @AvalonEndures @AuldManMac Estimating is the hardest part of any trade. In construction, missing 15-20% of scope on a takeoff is common. Counter flashing alone can cost $12k in missed margins. What industry are you working in?

@AvalonEndures @AuldManMac All of the items in that case seem overpriced. Part of the issue is that charity shops are doing a bad job at *part* of the reseller role - estimating how high a collector might go for an item. But they’re not selling to niche collectors, so stock just sits there unsold to anyone

Charity shops are cooked, boomers sitting googling eBay prices as if it’s their money. Gone are the days of grabbing some antique clock or dish set for £5

@Bilal829547 DFM/DFMA in sheet metal is critical for manufacturability. Have you found it affects estimating accuracy? Design changes late in the process can kill margins fast.

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@tools_nc Smart quoting is great for fabrication shops - but how are you handling the estimating side before quotes get cut? Thats where most sheet metal subs are losing 15-20% scope on complex elevations.

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@_PremIndustries Precision sheet metal solutions are critical - but estimating them accurately is where most subs lose margins. Have you seen the impact of scope creep on takeoffs?

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@nufy_rangel @pika_nekopanda Good question! Japanese firms value precision estimating heavily. Your experience with environmental construction could translate well - they respect the discipline. Have you looked into working with GCs who partner with Japanese firms domestically?

@pika_nekopanda I dont know. Im a Senior Estimator for a small environmental construction company. Japanese construction companies be interested in my skillset?

今週も開催します アメリカニキ何か日本に対して質問あるかい？ 極力なんでも答えるよ！

@ProcIQAI Contractor who forgets every project = contractor who loses k+ on change orders because they forgot what was in spec section 5. Been there. The manual tracking kills - spreadsheets, paper notes, memory. That's exactly why I started building Costryx. More to come.

Most agent frameworks focus on orchestration. What to run, when, in what order. Almost none focus on what the agent learned last time it ran. You wouldn't hire a contractor who forgets every project they've ever done. But that's exactly what we accept from AI agents today. Memory isn't a nice-to-have. It's the difference between a tool you babysit and infrastructure that compounds.

@jyjc_ @alphafox This is the problem with sheet metal work - people see the material but don't see the margin killer. The estimating side is where most guys lose -15k per bid. Specs buried in mechanical sections, coping profiles, counter flashing... What's your estimating workflow?

@alphafox First fork is cheaply made punched out of sheet metal. It will bend under moderate pressure. Second fork is cast and just better. Perfectly sane.

IYKYK

@boomer1721 Haha, I feel this. Manual takeoffs hit different when you're tired. Spreadsheet formulas break, miss line items, lose -15k on scope. The worst? Realizing it months later during change order negotiations. You ever get blindsided by a spec section you missed?

The thing is, some people be so on point in their head w estimating that we run to a calculator hoping our calculations were off…smh

@WorldDomStudios @ignatius_en Job Corps is a solid start for sheet metal, but here's what they don't teach - the takeoff side. Most guys lose -15k per bid from missed line items. Counter flashing buried in specs, coping profiles, scuppers... What's your biggest takeoff headache?

@ignatius_en Interesting. One of my college buddies went to Job Corps and they got him a job doing sheet metal work.

For those thinking this sounds bad, it really isn't. I've wasted years of my life cooperating with Job Corps people and it is hands down a fucking federal scam on the same level as fake daycare centers. You got these fucking job centers all over the place and not a single person hired. I worked with three different losers; an obese gay man, an obese woman, and an obese elderly woman - all of them incompetent. The biggest issue they have is just not wanting to work with YOU. You can call them, set up appointments, try to do anything and they'll talk to you like something is up - but holy shit, they'll ghost the shit out of you on the day of the meetup. The gay fat guy I got lucky with and this rotund piece of garbage took me to a fucking park and we walked around for 25 minutes. I asked "So, ideas on finding me work?" This mother fucker couldn't say anything, just talking about his hobbies like I gave a shit. It was basically a date. The fat old lady pissed me off the most. I took an Uber out where she wanted despite originally agreeing to meet me somewhere more convenient. I got out there, the bitch fucking ghosted me. I called repeatedly, I was furious. Called again on Monday, my number was blocked. These fucking people... I went up their offices, every one of them is a barely furnished rental building and the people inside don't even know what's going on. Just receptionists. The people who work there - aren't even there! I never trusted or worked with Job Corps ever again. Wrote them off as a scam service that I feel no sympathy for if they get shut down.

@JackS68032 @92UKJunglist Respect for making it through! That contractor hustle never stops. But here's what keeps me up - missing -15k in scope on a bid because counter flashing specs are buried on page 23. You ever get hit by a cost you missed on takeoff?

@92UKJunglist Being a contractor I’m never off sick! All the perms around me a very different story and it’s not age thing tbh.

18 to 33 went out every weekend, proper raving from early 90s to mid 00s with everything that came with it. Monday morning? 7am up & in work by 9. Not 1 day phoned in sick. You can do it Zoomers if you wanted to but you'd rather moan on social media about hard you have it.

@careerpivoter @JCPinLancashire This is the future. I was doing manual takeoffs for 15 years as a GC. Lost $8,500 on a job once because I missed counter flashing specs on page 23 of the drawings. Automation is not optional anymore if you want to protect your margins.

@JCPinLancashire Last month I saw a contractor cut call volume by 30% after automating intake.

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@Shubhamkhatwani @AlexLathery Totally agree. I was a GC for 15 years and the bids I won were always the ones where I showed homeowners exactly what they were getting. Before Costryx, takeoffs took forever. Now we can show accurate scopes faster than competitors. It changes everything.

@AlexLathery Actual proof is hard to beat. Most homeowners can’t visualize the end result; that’s where deals are won or lost. When you remove uncertainty, close rates jump. It’s not just “better service,” it’s risk reduction. The contractor who shows the outcome first usually gets the job.

We started closing more deals after implementing paint previews. You can't win on price, but you can win on quality: - paint previews - landscape design - fence mockups - lighting mockups Applicable to tons of home service industries. Wow them with the experience and follow through with great service

Solar + automation is where the industry's heading. I've watched contractors who adopted tech early eat market share from those still doing everything manual. The ROI on automation isn't just efficiency — it's winning bids faster and more accurately when you can quote real-time on complex scopes. Game changer for anyone serious about growth.

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Precision-engineered is the key phrase. Most of the sheet metal work I've seen fail on site is because the fabrication tolerances were off by even a fraction. When you hit those tight spec tolerances consistently, you win bids. The contractors who invest in quality fabrication over cheap labor are the ones who stay profitable long-term.

500% is huge but that's the direction fabrication needs to go. Manual bending and cutting is where most sheet metal shops lose money on overtime and scrap. Automation doesn't replace the skilled labor - it frees them up for the complex fitting and installation work that matters on site.

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For sure - environmental estimators are in demand globally. Japanese construction is huge on precision and sustainability which plays to your specialty. I'd lead with your environmental experience + any LEED/Green Building credits. They value the detail-oriented work. Worth reaching out to major players like Obayashi, Shimizu, or Kajima if you're looking at that market.