May 18, 2006. It had been three days since Diane Pinkins’ husband, Ron, brought their only daughter, Rita, to the ER at Ascension St. Vincent hospital in Indianapolis.   The 27-year-old single mother of four had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. Now she was in a critical care unit fighting for her life. “It was very devastating. Prayer was just the constant thing that held us all together,” Diane recalls. While on chemotherapy, Rita continued to deteriorate and ten days later...

A day after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, authorities are trying to figure out why a couple would embark on a deadly killing spree.

Few of us can say we were planning on the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdowns of 2020. Let’s be honest—the coronavirus pandemic was unexpected. I know I speak for most when I say we weren’t planning on the heightened health protocols and stay-at-home orders that ensued. One of the consequences many encountered in the months of the pandemic was closed churches. Instead of the regular Sunday morning family outing to our local parish, we grew accustomed to the intimate setting of our...

I came back with more lessons than souvenirs during my trip to the Emerald Isle this past summer. One of them I learned from a local Irish family who welcomed me and other members of my tour group into their home.  Seated around a beautifully laden dining table, we all joined in a riveting discussion on the intricacies of Irish culture over homemade shepherd’s pie. At one point during the evening, our hosts—a wonderfully hospitable married couple—asked their 17-year-old daughter to play the...

Defense is a familiar concept for sports fans. Many of the most popular sports require defensive strategies to be successful. Teams even have defensive coordinators dedicated to developing their defensive game plan. However, there are still rules and guidelines that a team’s defense must adhere to. If they don’t, there will be consequences for the team! If a defensive football player makes a dangerous hit on an offensive player, an official throws a flag and penalizes the defensive team. In...

Creating a successful product is not as easy as people think.

The troubling term that has many implications in regards to the green building movement in construction.

Is the remodeling/restoration market untapped by the wall and ceiling industry?

Employers, manufacturers, distributors, contractor services, and career seekers with entry-level to advanced experience are all invited to attend the 2022 Insulation Career Fair & Training Expo. 

One-Step Trowel-On Membrane is a self-gauging trowel-on membrane that acts as both moisture/air barrier and adhesive. One-Step Trowel-On Membrane produces a level surface of approximately 1.5 mm thickness of membrane and adhesive and allows simultaneous installation of drainage insulation. This feature makes waterproofing applications fast and easy, saving labor costs of 25% or more in efficient application of drainage insulation over vapor/air barrier membrane.

Winners will be announced at the official awards ceremony to be held Wednesday, March 2^nd at 1:00pm onsite at the convention in San Antonio, Texas. 

Wall and ceiling spray texture application has traditionally been a frustrating, inefficient and messy experience for professionals and DIYers alike. This year, DAP is reinventing wall and ceiling spray texture in formula, function and finish with the launch of a consistent and reliable product line that delivers a fast-drying, excellent texture match for maximum coverage and professional results.

IMCD, a leading distributor, formulator and solutions provider of speciality chemicals and ingredients, announced June 1 the relocation and opening of the new IMCD Coatings & Construction Laboratory serving customers throughout North America.

Building on the Titan Impact 440, the best-selling airless paint sprayer in its class, Titan announces the launch of the Impact X 440 electric airless sprayer. This next-generation compact sprayer boasts new technologies as well as performance and productivity features that have only been available on larger sprayers – until now.

If you are involved in the EIFS business, are you concerned with insurance? The guess is it depends on who and where you are.

Where does one start? How about right around 7,500 B.C. when individuals in Jordan began using a form of plaster on interior walls?

As more Baby Boomers enter retirement, the need for skilled workers is increasing across the American economy. The construction industry is not immune. Add on the struggle with convincing young people that a college degree isn’t always the ticket to a good life and skilled trades are a viable career choice. How can the construction industry recruit good talent?

As a college student in the early ’90s, Erik Santiago thought his construction degree would lead him to work for a general contractor.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a well-documented impact on the U.S. economy, the construction industry and real estate.

Using more technology in business spending has led to breakthroughs in B2B payments.

Advice for women in the construction industry to keep in mind.

Are credit cards the right path for subcontractors to buy materials for a project? Here’s a breakdown.

Building departments and the hardworking professionals working within them are the silent defenders of our communities. By overseeing the permitting, inspection and occupancy authorization processes for new construction, renovations and repairs, your local building department plays a vital role in ensuring that projects are built to applicable building safety codes and standards.

The newest advancement: resin-cast shapes.

The International Fire Code requires annual visual inspection of all fire-resistance-rated assemblies and the protection features – firestopping included. Fire doors can be the entry to building owners to help them satisfy the annual visual inspection requirement in NFPA 80 and the International Fire Code.

Meeting code without sacrificing design

What is the purpose of fire prevention construction? Read on to find out.

3A Composites USA announced that its ALUCOBOND FaceFastened system successfully passed third-party NFPA 285 testing on a wood-framed assembly, which is commonly used in low-rise, multifamily and mixed-use market segments.

Batteries are increasingly being used in a vast array of applications, from consumer products and micromobility devices, known as e-bikes and e-scooters, to electric vehicles and utility-grade energy storage systems. As use of these devices has grown, so too has the number of fire incidents associated with them.

Specified Technologies announced that its SpecSeal LC Endothermic Firestop Sealant is now being offered in three colors: deep red, gray and white. Customers have been asking for both the white and gray for gypsum wallboard and concrete block spaces.

Before you hurt yourself jumping out of your Barcalounger so you can dial up the editor to launch complaints about this piece, a thread on the Walls and Ceilings bulletin board regarding "Box Marts" struck a nerve in yours truly and was the motivation behind this month's diatribe.

The year was 1977 and yours' truly was trying desperately to hold the end of a 12-foot sheet up while trying to finger a nail into the edge of the board and hit the nail instead of my fingers with a roofing hatchet. If memory serves, back then we were using blue ring shank nails. The heads were barely larger than the circumference of the rings, so it was virtually impossible to drive one without ripping the face paper under ideal conditions, and these were not ideal conditions.

Once upon a time, long before there were ads for lawyers on every corner, television, radio station, billboard and listed on 72 pages of every phone book in the country, job-site practical jokes were commonplace.

Being on the front line of the drywall trade allows this reporter a unique perspective into the everyday trials and tribulations of a broad spectrum of drywall dogs.

When a blues music aficionado uses the term “old school,” he may be referring to artists such as Muddy Waters, Etta James, John Lee Hooker or B.B. King. When old school country music artists are discussed, names such as Bob Wills, Hank Williams Sr., Jimmie Rogers and Patsy Cline will certainly be mentioned. In this instance, old school is used in a positive way. The inference is that these artists were pioneers in their field and that their contributions have stood the test of time and that their art is still considered relevant, even though it was produced decades ago.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Specialties of the Drywall Trade Instructor Seminar held from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 at the IUPAT facility in Baltimore. It was obvious that a lot of planning went into setting up this building, with classrooms on the upper level and a lower level that is wide open, allowing plenty of room for the attendees to hone their skills on miles of drywall.

We had dodged more than one nor’easter up to that point, and were enjoying the effects of global warming, so when a friendly competition between three friends materialized into the Rock-Off for Michael’s Way, weather was not even a consideration.

By always being willing to do work that was specialized and making sure that it was done right, I kept busy. I have suggested this idea in previous articles. And when I hear guys complaining that they can’t compete against the 30-man crews, I wonder if they have considered doing specialized work.

Everyone who grinds it out day after day in the construction trenches, has at least one story of “stupidity unbecoming a human.” Some stories have tragic endings, while others generate belly laughs for years to come.

In May 2000 some of the features and benefits of building with steel were discussed in an AID article co-written with my old pal Bill entitled “Life After Wood: Steel Studs on the Rise.” Like anything else, along with the benefits there are challenges.

When times are good, people become complacent. Riding in gas guzzling land-yachts and dwelling in cavernous McMansions tends to dull the senses and lulls people into a false sense of security. The scale that was once used to measure the distance between wants and needs became dangerously off-kilter.

I once witnessed a contractor mixing red chalk into a bucket of mud, and when I inquired what he was doing, he responded, “I’m making firestop.”

Well folks, it’s been awhile since I have felt whole enough to pen anything meaningful for these pages. The economic issues surrounding the collapse of the construction industry that is such a big part of my life and yours made anything that I may have had to say seem meaningless. After much soul searching and a little prodding from John Wyatt, I have decided to end my self-imposed exile from these pages. 

The preceding is the beginning of a song performed by Styx that was a hit in the ’80s. It describes the trials and tribulations that many people faced during that time by misusing a certain illegal white substance.

As some of you know, I grew up in a little town in northwestern Nebraska. Chadron was your stereotypical Andy-of-Mayberry town with only one stoplight and still only has one to this day. Frankly, it was a great place for a kid to grow up.

OX Tools announced that it is working with Royd Tool Group on a potential acquisition of its Tracer Tools business.

Milwaukee Tool has once again expanded its presence in the United States with the opening of its newest manufacturing facility, which is located in Grenada County, Mississippi.

The National Center for Construction Education and Research has been recognized as a DEWALT Grow the Trades Grant recipient for its efforts to provide career and technical education programs and industry-recognized credentials to students through the High School Builder Program.