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.

Over the past three decades I have met all sorts of Drywall Dogs.

The new BoschTools.com is live.

An important part of responsible power tool ownership is to appropriately dispose of rechargeable batteries at the end of their service life. Yes, lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized power tools and other devices by providing long-lasting, reliable power. However, no battery lasts forever.

On Sept. 17, JLG introduced new features for its ES electric scissor lifts, E18 vertical lifts and E18 stock picker, including standard AC drive motors, lithium-ion battery options and a range-extending genset charging option.

Festool released the CSC SYS 50 cordless table saw in 2023 and wants to give customers an opportunity to test it out themselves. Tradespeople can test out the tool and share their product photos and video reviews with Festool and other colleagues in the industry.

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.

MARSHALLTOWN held a ground-breaking ceremony on Oct. 23 at its new distribution center site in Kansas City, Kansas. The state-of-the-art facility will be a key hub in the company’s nationwide logistics network, with operations scheduled to begin in the fall of 2025.

Your wealth is at risk if you do not understand these myths.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

Five critical decisions that can sabotage your exit and retirement.

The purpose of this article is to simply differentiate “exit planning” and “succession” and outline the main points for a CEO to remember when succession planning.

The largest obstacle in executing a management buyout is finding the financial ability to pay for the business.

Early November saw the end of one of the most contentious political presidential elections in quite some time.

The Rainscreen Association in North America announced the launch of the RAiNA Awards, an annual program celebrating outstanding achievements in rainscreen design, innovation and construction. The awards aim to recognize projects that exemplify the highest standards of excellence, technical performance, sustainability and aesthetic design in rainscreen systems across North America.

SOPREMA celebrated the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art headquarters in Wadsworth, Ohio, in September. The event brought together key stakeholders to mark a significant milestone in the company’s commitment to sustainability, innovation and growth in the United States.

It is important to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment.

On Oct. 7, IIBEC sent a letter to the mayor and city council of Wilmington, North Carolina, recommending that they consider establishing a building façade inspection program in light of two recent building failures.

After a year at the Gypsum Association, Technical Services Specialist Greg Woolley is more than ready to answer your questions related to gypsum panel products.

Gypsum panel product manufactures started receiving complaints that drywall screw heads did not seat properly when attaching AR/IR panels to 20-EQ studs.

In late June, the Gypsum Association took its website to the next level with a complete redesign that offers—among other things—more robust search functionality, new content, and both video tutorials and video FAQs.

In late June, the Gypsum Association took its website to the next level with a complete redesign that offers—among other things—more robust search functionality, new content, and both video tutorials and video FAQs.

Passive fire protection is an essential aspect of gypsum construction. Gypsum firewalls of various types (shaft walls, simple partitions, etc.) prevent fire from spreading without relying on mechanical means of control, such as sprinkling.

Modular building concepts—also known as off-site construction—have been utilized for decades. However, the use of pre-fabrication and modular building techniques is increasingly common now. 

The ACI Foundation announced new Trustees and the re-election of an existing Trustee to its Board. The Trustees re-elected Keith Kesner and elected new Trustee David Lange. New ACI Vice President Scott Anderson also joins the Trustees as part of his new role.

The ACI Foundation announced its 2024-2025 fellowship and scholarship recipients.

Registration for the American Concrete Institute’s 2024 Professors’ Workshop is now open. This year’s event will be held in three stages on July 15, 23 and 24.

The ACI Foundation’s Concrete Research Council selected eight research projects to receive grants this year.

Registration is open for the fourth 24 Hours of Concrete Knowledge, a free, virtual conference organized by the American Concrete Institute that will begin at 2 p.m. EDT on July 9.

The American Concrete Institute announced the formation of a new committee whose mission is to develop and report information on concrete made with brackish, saline, brine water and sea aggregates.

The American Concrete Institute is excited to host the ACI Concrete Convention on Nov. 3-6 in Philadelphia. Known as the world’s gathering place for advancing concrete, the convention will take place at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.

The Portland Cement Association, representing America’s cement manufacturers, announced the winners of its Energy and Environment, Chairman’s Safety and Safety Innovation Awards at its 2024 Cement Fly-In in Washington, D.C.

The ACI Foundation is now accepting applications from graduate and undergraduate students for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Big changes are coming to adhered masonry veneer codes with the 2022 updates to TMS 402 and 602, soon to be adopted in the 2024 building codes. The revisions introduce two design approaches — prescriptive and engineered — giving more flexibility to architects and engineers.

The ICAA Convention & Trade Show is your one-stop-shop to learn, network and discover the latest insulation industry products and services from the best in the business.

Knauf has been awarded a $3.28 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve its Life Cycle Assessments and Environmental Product Declarations. The grant will allow Knauf to provide accurate and reliable information, helping industry professionals make informed, eco-friendly choices and contribute to a more sustainable built environment.

Barricade Building Products announced that its products will now be available at all Building Products Inc. locations throughout the Midwest. The expansion allows customers in the region to easily access Barricade’s comprehensive range of high-quality building materials, ensuring their projects are safeguarded from the ground up.

Imagine training employees with a virtual reality, audio-visual headset that puts them on the job, inside a realistic house, with saws buzzing, hammers tapping and birds chirping. That is the concept behind an industry-leading virtual reality training program sponsored by Owens Corning.

Barricade Building Products announced its partnership with BIMsmith, which will enable architects, engineers and designers to access Barricade’s extensive product information and seamlessly integrate it into their projects.

Offsite construction methods like prefabrication, modularization, preassembly and offsite multi-trade fabrication have been around for decades.

Prefab construction is here, and it’s happening. The combination of a severe labor shortage and extreme shortfalls in housing supply is driving a renewed interest in prefabricated construction as a more cost-efficient alternative to traditional building.

I’ve been using natural cements and natural hydraulic limes in the traditional plastering craft for many years. However, I never had the opportunity to visit a quarry where the unique limestones used to produce them are mined.

If you’re like a lot of busy contractors in the walls and ceilings industry, every day can be bid day if you’re working up multiple bids at the same time. 

Summer is a great time for construction work, but a brutal time for construction workers. Excessive heat and sun exposure pose significant dangers, such as sunburn, dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Every year, construction workers become ill on the job and some even lose their lives due to heat exposure.

Without question, the building and construction industry has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Approximately 1.1 million construction jobs were eliminated in the first two months of the pandemic prior to the industry’s designation as “essential.” While the industry has recouped nearly 80 percent of its workforce since then, companies will need to hire another 1 million workers over the next two years to meet the country’s insatiable demand for new home construction and improvement.

One of the most prominent offsite construction award programs, the Building Excellence Awards showcase the projects that best demonstrate the design flexibility, long-lasting energy performance and resiliency of SIPs.

How spray foam can fight climate change and help companies achieve their energy goals.