Tad Starsiak on Growing Two Chicks and a Hammer with Buildertrend
On this episode of The Building Code, we feature Tad Starsiak – Project Manager at Two Chicks and a Hammer (Indianapolis, Ind.), the company behind the HGTV show Good Bones!
Tad, the Hammer
Where does Tad fit between the dynamic duo of Mina and Karen, who you see on the show? You might see him taking part in demolitions when he’s not managing projects (and he’s Mina’s brother, if you want specifics). When he was only in eighth grade, Tad started demolition work for Two Chicks and a Hammer to make a little side money; he kept on doing it throughout high school, back when the show wasn’t even on the roadmap!
About Two Chicks and a Hammer & Good Bones
How did Two Chicks and a Hammer come to be? In 2007, Mina and Karen wanted to revitalize their surrounding neighborhoods. They started with one home, then moved to two homes per year until 2012-2013 when things took off. Shortly after, Good Bones premiered and their business took off, increasing their home renovations to around 10 per year.
So, how do the Two Chicks and a Hammer crew they find their next projects? “… we pick the nastiest, most disgusting houses in the area,” explained Tad. They pick the cheap ones, the ones nobody else wants because the foundations are completely rotted and everything is run down. When your focus is on revitalizing a neighborhood, profit doesn’t matter … it’s all about improving as much of their city as they can.
Business Can Be Messy …
With crazy business growth, some form of messiness usually enters the equation, which is where Buildertrend came into play for Two Chicks and a Hammer almost two years ago. Once the construction project management software was fully implemented, Mina and Karen’s business and processes gained clarity and efficiency. Today, Mina can confidently check on something with Tad, and he’ll always be the first to tell her that if she had checked the Daily Logs she’d know the answer to her question (no sibling sass happening here, clearly).
Links and more
Good Bones on HGTV
Two Chicks and a Hammer
Two Chicks and a Hammer Instagram
The Better Way, a podcast by Buildertrend:
Looking to improve how your team plans projects with the top residential construction management platform this year? Pick up Buildertrend project planning pro tips on the newest season of โThe Better Way, a podcast by Buildertrend.โ Subscribe and stream all six bingeable episodes on your favorite listening app now.
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Tom Houghton:
Youโre listening to โThe Building Code.โ Iโm Tom Houghton.
Paul Wurth:
Iโm Paul Wurth.
Tom Houghton:
And joining us on our episode today, weโre going to take a behind the scenes look at Two Chicks and a Hammer. And weโll dive into that in just a second. But first I want to tell you about an exciting opportunity we have called Buildertrend University on the Road. Weโre calling it BTU on the road for short. Thisโll be taking place in Dallas, Texas on October 3rd, 2019. Itโs a one day event for you and your team to learn more and how to optimize your usage of Buildertrend. So make sure you sign up for Buildertrend University if you want to continue to grow your business. We have Tad Starsiak joining us. Heโs the project manager over there at Two Chicks and a Hammer. Welcome, Tad.
Tad Starsiak:
Hey guys. So glad to be here. Iโm really excited to talk to you guys. Just attended your Buildertrend University. So Iโm still pumped and jazzed about it. I think weโre going to have a pretty good conversation.
Paul Wurth:
Yes, we are. Now, you said behind the scenes. What does that even mean? What are you talking about?
Tom Houghton:
Well, weโre going to talk about the show-
Paul Wurth:
But the show โฆ
Tom Houghton:
โGood Bones.โ
Paul Wurth:
There.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah.
Paul Wurth:
Good bones is a show, so-
Tad Starsiak:
Yep. โGood Bonesโ is the HGTV show that we work on. Weโre currently in our fifth season. Itโs wild to think that much time has passed. And as weโve grown, itโs been more and more important that we mainstream the things that weโre doing construction-wise, and keeping track of information. And thatโs when you guys came into our life, like a year and a half ago. So itโs been exciting ever since.
Tom Houghton:
There you go.
Paul Wurth:
Everybody knows Tom was in Hollywood for a time, worked for a movie company. So, like enter Buildertrend is that like a script kind of thing?
Tom Houghton:
Yeah, script note. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Paul Wurth:
Yeah, there you go.
Tom Houghton:
Enter Buildertrend.
Paul Wurth:
Buildertrend in the third act.
Tom Houghton:
Smash cut too.
Paul Wurth:
There. Thatโs everything. Very nice. Yeah. So โGood Bonesโ is a TV show on HGTV. Full disclosure, Iโve never seen it, but when I told my wife and other individuals here at Buildertrend, big fans.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah. Big following here.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. The show is really done well. The dynamic duo that it stars is my sister Mina. Whoโs a 5โ2 fiery redhead. Takes no nonsense, deals out justice left and right. And her mom, Karen, whoโs a very free soul, very hippy energy, and kind of counteracts Minaโs somewhat normal taste with some wild, crazy taste. And theyโre also two women who just dominate in construction. They know how to-do so much. And I think the reason why people love the show so much is because you see the women doing the work, and women are loving that. And itโs a great to see them empowered by it, so.
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs awesome.
Paul Wurth:
Iโm sold.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah.
Paul Wurth:
Iโm going to start watching it.
Tom Houghton:
You better start watching it.
Paul Wurth:
Yeah.
Tom Houghton:
Itโs good.
Tad Starsiak:
It is very good.
Paul Wurth:
Do you make an appearance, Tad?
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. So, I actually started doing demolition for Mina and Karen in eighth grade as a football player. And I was ready to go into freshman year, and sheโs like, โYouโll make some side money like $10 an hour.โ So yeah, totally did. So started doing demolition for an eighth grade. Did it throughout high school. The show hadnโt started yet. And then yeah, about my freshman year of college, the show got going.
Tom Houghton:
Okay. So, letโs talk about your role in the company. Youโre a project manager there.
Tad Starsiak:
Yes.
Tom Houghton:
I am curious, so I want to know more about Bobcat though, and whyโฆ Do you have a nickname too?
Tad Starsiak:
About that, yeah. No, I donโt really have a nickname. Bobcat originated from the first episode we did for season one. It was House of Barth. And the thing about Bobcat is heโs like 6โ3, and his shoulders are just immensely wide. Heโs a huge human being, and usually it goes like, I try to get something and if I canโt get him rip it off, then Austin will try. And Austin like heโs got like bear claws. So he just rips everything off. So, heโs like a piece of equipment himself. And just whatever, I canโt really tear off, he for sure can. So, he started demoing with me in high school, and it was just evident that he needed to be a part of the show too. Because he rocks it out for us, and he lifts a washers and dryers up and dishwashers just by himself and casually walks them out. Itโs like, โWhoa, dude, thatโs wild.โ
Paul Wurth:
Austin is Bobcat, Bobcat is Austin?
Tad Starsiak:
Yes. Austin is Bobcat. Bobcat is Austin.
Paul Wurth:
Wow.
Tad Starsiak:
Itโs his alter ego during demo, so.
Paul Wurth:
Not for nothing. I donโt know Hollywood. This is Tomโs game, but you should have a nickname, because everybody should have a good nickname on TV like Bobcat.
Tad Starsiak:
I think youโre right.
Tom Houghton:
Well, we should talk to me about your goingโฆ Because your name is Tad, but your real full name is Thadeus.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, Thadeus.
Paul Wurth:
We could do something with that.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. Thereโs for sure something there. Yeah, most people know me as Tad, because thatโs what my name was on the show. But people whoโve met me post-high school call me Thadeus.
Tom Houghton:
There you go.
Paul Wurth:
Right on. So, the show is โGood Bones.โ Itโs on HGTV. The company is named Two Chicks and a Hammer.
Tad Starsiak:
Correct. So they started the business called Two Chicks and a Hammer. And then, our pilot episode aired itโs Two Chicks and a Hammer. But somebody, it was either the production company or HGTV themselves wanted to buy the name, and we didnโt want to sell the name. So then, we ended up settling on the name, โGood Bones,โ which has really done well for us and people like it a lot. And now fifth season of โGood Bones,โ and a lot of people know it.
Paul Wurth:
How does one get themselves in HGTV show?
Tad Starsiak:
Right. So what happens, itโs actually not much you yourself getting there. Itโs almost more of them coming to find you. So HGTV basically tells production companies, โHey, weโre looking for this kind of talent.โ And then, those production companies, they go out and search for that talent. So High Noon Entertainment who produces โGood Bones.โ They produce Fixer Upper. They do the Boise Boys. They got their hands in a lot of home renovation shows. They actually reached out to Mina. And at first, Mina thought it was a scam. Like this is nonsense. Theyโre just trying to get something. But then, the president of High Noon actually gave her a call.
Tad Starsiak:
It was legit. They did Skype interviews. They gave us a GoPro. Weโve made a sizzle video. Thatโs where I got to come into play. I made all these crazy vines of me doing demo. And weโd throw like a window up, and then I chuck a hammer at it and break everything, and that made it to the sizzle. And then after the sizzle, they said, โLetโs do a pilot episode.โ And then, the pilot episode did really well, and then it was season one. And now itโs season five, and itโs crazy how time has flown by, and all the opportunities that have come out of it.
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs incredible. I guess I need to get a clarifying question in here too. So we know about the two chicks. So does that make you the hammer? Are you the hammer here?
Tad Starsiak:
I will for sure say Iโm the hammer. Yep, yep.
Paul Wurth:
Nickname.
Tom Houghton:
The hammer, thatโs your name.
Paul Wurth:
There you go.
Tad Starsiak:
That is a good nickname. Thatโs a good nickname.
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs true.
Tad Starsiak:
Iโll take that all day long. Yeah. For the first year.
Tom Houghton:
For the first year, good. Letโs start with just like a background of the company. We kind of been dancing around, but I want to try to formalize it up here a little bit. So, can you give us a background on Two Chicks and a Hammer and then also just tell about how the teamโs grown, because obviously, itโs more than just Mina and Karen.
Paul Wurth:
Two Chicks.
Tad Starsiak:
So, Two Chicks and a Hammer began back in 2007 with Mina and Karen. Mina graduated with a general studies degree. Didnโt know what she wanted to do. She renovated a home, found that she really liked it. They did one or two homes a year till about 2012, 2013. In the business model, that really came out from Two Chicks and a Hammer was revitalizing our neighborhoods. So, we donโt really go further than like 10 minutes outside of where we currently live, which is about five minutes South of downtown Indianapolis. So we really stay in our neighborhoods, and obviously, we have to make a profit on these houses. But the margin of profit isnโt great, because weโre more concerned about making this a beautiful area again, and having beautiful people move in to the area. And so with that, you have the shows starts, and then weโre doing 10 houses. Instead of doing like one or two, weโre now doing 10, and the company had to grow quickly. Itโs been messy.
Tad Starsiak:
And that brings us back to you guys. Like a year and a half ago as a project manager, I got introduced to Buildertrend. And at first, it was kind of this resistance to change, worried about how it was going to affect my process and such. But now, I couldnโt be more thankful for it. Buildertrend is so immersive. I feel like itโs like another world. Itโs like a Narnia or a Middle Earth. Like thereโs so much to explore in that stuff. And the biggest thing is, itโs like a CYA for me. So when my sister whoโs, like I said, 5โ2 redhead comes at me. Itโs like, โNope, check my daily log. Look, this is what I tagged. There were workers on this site, X amount of days. Look, I just pulled that report. Iโm winning, and I stay winning, because Buildertrend which is-
Paul Wurth:
Thatโs good.
Tad Starsiak:
โฆ itโs really helpful.โ And even a year and a half later weโre still learning, and thereโs so much more to learn. And yeah, itโs an incredible project managing software. Really glad we use it.
Paul Wurth:
Thatโs great. Stay winning.
Tom Houghton:
Stay winning.
Tad Starsiak:
Stay winning.
Paul Wurth:
Nope. Check the daily log.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah, I like that too. Yeah, check the daily log.
Paul Wurth:
Letโs go on our website.
Tom Houghton:
That is-
Tad Starsiak:
My favorite is to like send her an email, be like, โPer my daily log. Go check it out.โ
Tom Houghton:
Very โฆ Sneak that in there.
Paul Wurth:
I like that.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah.
Paul Wurth:
So, what is the premise of the show? Do you pick a project? Obviously, remodel it. And like, what-
Tad Starsiak:
So we pick the nastiest, most disgusting houses in the area. Probably about 60 to 70% of the houses we buy, we havenโt even seen them yet. Theyโre just the cheapest ones, which usually means that the foundations are completely rotten. Lots of dead animals. The most famous thing thatโs in every one of our houses is some sort of poop, whether itโs animal or human. And we actually have a running joke where we say, โWe like our houses to have had a fire and then kind of burns some of the pool away, because thereโs so much in it.โ
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs an interesting problem to have there.
Tad Starsiak:
Oh my gosh, itโs crazy. Yeah, we take the worst of the worst houses in our area, and we make them the most beautiful. And like Karen says, โWhen we get into these houses, theyโre like really sad homes.โ You can feel the energy of the house, and itโs like, โOh, this sucks that Iโm this now.โ And then after a few months, you can really feel the uptick and the energy and the place. And itโs like, โWow, this place is going to be somewhere that a family is going to move in, and theyโre going to have really great experiences. And theyโre going to go through things together, and have a happy life in our homes that we built.โ
Paul Wurth:
Thatโs awesome.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah. Jinx.
Paul Wurth:
No, donโt do that. Too many podcasts together. So, all these things have like conflict, right? Or thereโs like this imaginary clock you have to likeโฆ Whatโs the conflict or like the pressure โฆ
Tom Houghton:
The drama.
Paul Wurth:
Yeah. Whatโs the drama in your show?
Tad Starsiak:
Well, yeah. So the drama is really, because itโs TV, you have to make some of that drama, right?
Paul Wurth:
Totally. We get it.
Tad Starsiak:
So we have real problems, right? Like the foundation. Usually, our problems arise from things that we didnโt see. So itโs not like we really are creating the drama. We donโt set something up, but itโs like finding out that the foundation is much worse than it was before. And then, because the areas that weโre building the homes in are just now being pioneered. Thereโs not a lot of money to be made, and our profit margin is really small. So, the drama per se, would be finding all of these issues, and figuring out how itโs going to work with our ability to make a profit. And are we going to lose money? That Iโd say is the drama. And then like, we did crazy stuff. Like Karen almost had like a 600 pound piano fall on her. And I had to dive underneath and grab it. We found snakes.
Paul Wurth:
Is that real?
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. It was like one of those just, I donโt know, like dadโs strengths. Iโm not like a dad. But just like, the piano is about to fall on my sisterโs mom, and kind of like my mom. My mom passed when I was younger and Karen took me in for a few years. So itโs like a piano is about to fall on her. It was legit 600 pounds. It was the heaviest thing Iโve ever moved in my life. And I caught it. And it was crazy. So much in general.
Paul Wurth:
What episode was that? Season?
Tad Starsiak:
That was season three. Austin, do you know what episodes from season three, all it was with?
Paul Wurth:
Yeah. And Iโll be clear, thatโs Bobcat heโs asking.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, thatโs Bobcat. Yeah. Weโre not even sure, man. Sheโs in three of them.
Tom Houghton:
And weโll put like a special appearance by Bobcat โฆ
Paul Wurth:
Show note ofโฆ
Tom Houghton:
Bobcat in the description.
Paul Wurth:
Oh, yeah. The description for the podcast, yeah. Bobcat.
Tom Houghton:
Bobcat just wanted to get onto the podcast.
Tad Starsiak:
Right, exactly.
Paul Wurth:
Same.
Tom Houghton:
It sounds like you got a really good team there, and it sounds like you guys are doing a lot for the community. Maybe we could talk briefly about just kind of your impact that youโve had there in your local community a little bit more. And maybe how that sets you apart from other builders, maybe in the area.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. So, in the Indianapolis area right now is booming with revitalization. New homes being built, rehabs. So, today weโve done about 70 to 80 homes in the Fountain Square, Bates-Hendricks in the Old Southside. Those neighborhoods are within a half a mile of each other. Theyโre not very big. Itโs usually a main street and inside streets. So what makes us different is thereโs a lot of people who have moved in to do construction as investors. So youโre getting people from California and Florida who are coming in to rehab these homes. And then, the money that they make off of it, isnโt coming back to our Indianapolis community. Itโs going back to California or Florida or somewhere else.
Tad Starsiak:
So the really cool thing is, weโre established in the Indianapolis. Our business model is we care about our neighborhood, and constantly weโre using local artists, local welders. Everything we do really stays local. Our t-shirts are made by the Indie Shop. So that money gets poured back into the community. It stays here in Indianapolis. And I think people would say, this feels very wholesome. Weโre not out just to make a buck. Weโre out actually to make a difference.
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs awesome.
Paul Wurth:
Youโve been to Indianapolis?
Tom Houghton:
I have not, actually.
Paul Wurth:
You havenโt?
Tom Houghton:
But itโs on my list now.
Paul Wurth:
Itโs great. Downtown, super cool.
Tad Starsiak:
Iโm one of the proudest finishers there are. I love Indianapolis. So some fun facts about Indianapolis.
Paul Wurth:
Letโs do it.
Tad Starsiak:
We have the second most monuments to Washington, D.C. Downtown, we have the Circle Center Monument. It is only nine feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty. Thatโs another cool thing. We have the seventh largest city park. Itโs called Eagle Creek Park. It used to be privately owned, but now itโs just owned by the state. And itโs an incredible place. Thereโs a whole bunch of native animals that come back there, that they donโt go back to anywhere else in Indiana, because itโs not preserved anymore. And then, we got the Colts. We had Peyton Manning. But-
Tom Houghton:
And the Indianapolis 500.
Tad Starsiak:
Oh my God, come on. Why didโฆ Iโm embarrassed.
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs alright.
Tad Starsiak:
I love the Indy 500. No one could see me at the Indy 500 though. Itโs like, I go full Indiana mode. I wear shorts, so some cutoff. Jean shorts or wear boots like a bandana. And itโs like, go time. Like when the planes fly over and theyโre singing the Star Spangled Banner, is just like this woo America moment.
Tom Houghton:
America.
Tad Starsiak:
And thereโs like 400,000 people there, so.
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs crazy.
Paul Wurth:
Itโs awesome. Yeah.
Tom Houghton:
You have to check that out.
Paul Wurth:
Itโs a cool place. Also, whatโs the steakhouse downtown like St. Elmoโs Fire or something?
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, St. Elmoโs Steakhouse.
Paul Wurth:
Okay. So weโre kind of friends already. Can I come to Indianapolis? Hang out with you. Go to the bar and get free drinks. Go to the Indianapolis 500 in your car, and wear Jean shorts?
Tad Starsiak:
Dude, that can 100% happen. I just canโt guarantee youโll make it back.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah. It might be a one way trip.
Tad Starsiak:
It gets so wild here.
Paul Wurth:
Letโs get in the book.
Tom Houghton:
I think this would be a great little YouTube series that weโre going to do.
Paul Wurth:
Paul and Tom on the Road?
Tom Houghton:
Paul and Tom on the Road. Weโre going to stop by Indianapolis. You heard it first. Stay tuned, watch your YouTube channel.
Paul Wurth:
I love it.
Tom Houghton:
Itโs happening. Producer Brooke is panicking, and weโre shuffling papers, but weโll make it happen.
Paul Wurth:
Itโs done. Put in the books.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, it will be a thing
Tom Houghton:
Letโs talk about. I think a lot of our audience would like to hear kind of the behind the scenes of what you do. I think the whole TV aspect of it fascinates people. Would you mind shedding some light on some of the biggest challenges you face, because youโre building on TV and for TV?
Tad Starsiak:
Right. So the biggest challenge we face for TV is the fact that for a season, weโll have up to 13 to 15 episodes. So that means we have 13 houses weโre usually taking down to the studs. So these are full-fledged projects. This isnโt like weโre renovating a room here or there. Itโs the whole thing. 15 foundation, new mechanicals, all the way through. And thatโs a four to six month project all day long. And as anyone who will have listened to this podcast knows construction never goes the way you think itโs going to go.
Tad Starsiak:
So trying to accomplish getting 13 to 15 houses done as quickly as possible. We try to get them done in seven months, because like having the production team here, most of them are from out of town. So they live here in a hotel. Their food gets paid for. Their equipment, gets rented by High Noon Production Company who we use. So, thereโs been a massive amount of money each week just to have these guys here. So itโs really a fight against the clock. Thatโs the biggest challenge. And when the cameras step in, usually construction slows down a little bit because thereโs things that they need to be able to do in order to capture some of the stuff, so.
Tom Houghton:
Sure. Extra challenges. It sounds like on the job site.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, 100%. Sometimes weโre trying to film a footer scene, and maybe at the front of the house the song in the siding or something like that, itโs too loud. So weโll go up to the siding guys and like, โHey, can you guys stop working for like 10, 15 minutes?โ But in the TV world, if you worked on a movie set, you probably know like, if anybody tells you itโs 10 minutes, it really means like itโs 30 to 45. So, if I have a call time where theyโre like, โHey, you need to be at this house at 10:00 a.m.โ I know to be there at like 10:30 to 10:45, and Iโm still good.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah. You definitely have extra padding.
Paul Wurth:
Itโs good.
Tom Houghton:
I want to talk about your Buildertrend experience a little bit too.
Paul Wurth:
Yeah, thatโs good.
Tom Houghton:
I know that you talked off air about this. That youโve really enjoyed the Buildertrend experience in terms of just using the software. Obviously, you came to BTU. You shared that as well. I want to know more about your usage of it. What do you guys get out of it? Whatโs your favorite feature?
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. So, when we first gotโฆ Iโm going to try to remember chronologically how I got used to Buildertrend. So the first thing I noticed is like, you can have a bunch of projects at once. You can have a list of like, for example, our 13 houses. And in that, I think the first thing that we went to was the scheduling ability. You can do so much with the schedule. You can shift it, you can set a baseline, you can create phases, you can create tags. You can create to-do list based off of that. So, for maybe some of the listeners who arenโt incredibly knowledgeable on the schedule aspect. For example, when mechanicals get done, that triggers the second draw for our contractor. So I can create a to-do and assign that to mechanicals finished.
Tad Starsiak:
And I can set a reminder to remind me days before, so I know that paymentโs coming up. So the schedule has been immensely helpful. The ability to shift, keep track of days where theyโve missed days that theyโve been on. Using the filter option. So schedule favorite. Second favorite is my CYA, the daily logs. So I can timestamp. My sister, when I first started project managing understandably required me to drop my location when I did a daily log, because she didnโt always trust that would be there. So, you can drop the location and you can attach the weather. And I think the most useful thing for us is we have very hard timelines, where we have an end day that has to be met.
Tad Starsiak:
So the ability to put a tag in there where it says like no workers on site. So if the contractor comes back and says, โWell, hey, we busted our butts. Weโre still going to miss our end day.โ I can look back and be like, โI can go through my tags and type in bad weather.โ Okay, we had 14 days of bad weather where it rained, and you couldnโt do what you needed to do. Oh, well you also had like a month and a half of no workers onsite. So I hear you, but the data doesnโt reflect that you guys actually busted, but get it done.
Tom Houghton:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Nice.
Paul Wurth:
Using tags is great.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah.
Tad Starsiak:
And you can take pictures. For example, we actually had one of our houses fall down. The contractor did not brace the house, which is crazy. But I go in there, I take pictures of the house every day for progress. So he said he braced it, and I have pictures of it not being braced. So nice try buddy. Nice try, and that saved us a lot of money, because Buildertrend let me put in a day log with a picture. So itโs easy. I go to a job site. So for other project managers, go to the job site, check out your job site. Do a quick walk around, check your comments, check your messages, address them, and then check your to-dos. If you have to-dos, take care of them. And then fill out your daily log. Thatโs my process right there.
Tad Starsiak:
So I go to the job site, and it takes me about 10, 15 minutes. And I feel like Iโve conquered that job site for that first morning rotation of going to the job. And then, Iโll come back in the afternoon and do the same thing. And itโs a really good routine that works out. It really speeds things along. I used to have to do a daily report at the end of every day via email, or Iโd have to write it on paper. Now I have Buildertrend where all of that information is there. And itโs just so great to just be able to be like, โYeah, itโs in there. Itโs in the comments. Itโs in the daily log.โ
Paul Wurth:
Yeah. And youโre not having to wait to the end of the day. Youโre doing it with your natural flow of your day, right?
Tad Starsiak:
100%. And-
Tad Starsiak:
And even thereโs times where I need to reach out to a contractor, but we have a contractor using Buildertrend. So, we really have, probably these past three months really started using it to be our main grain of conversation where itโs not so much Gmail or calling or texting, because we use the Messages in the comment section in Buildertrend.
Paul Wurth:
Yeah. Weโve got a great community of Buildertrend users in Indianapolis. We had our friends from Mergent on one of our first episodes of the podcast. You know the boys from Mergent?
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. Yep. We sure do.
Paul Wurth:
We should get all the Indianapolis. This is how we get there.
Tom Houghton:
This is it.
Paul Wurth:
This is it.
Tom Houghton:
This is our trip.
Paul Wurth:
Donโt tell anybody, although it will be recorded on the podcast.
Tom Houghton:
It will be on, yeah.
Paul Wurth:
We get a user group there and weโll go by people beers.
Tom Houghton:
Perfect.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, there we go. Our favorite contractor that we use for the majority of our houses that we have contractors, they actually just started using Buildertrend. And they were actually out there in Nebraska with me. So-
Paul Wurth:
Letโs go.
Tad Starsiak:
โฆ weโre winning people over, over here.
Paul Wurth:
We respect that.
Tad Starsiak:
Weโre spreading the good word of Buildertrend.
Tom Houghton:
Thank you.
Paul Wurth:
Thatโs awesome. Quite honestly, that was a really good sort of like day in the life picture of, Buildertrend is not this thing you have to do. Buildertrend is this thing that take care of seven things youโre already doing. Incorporated in your life organically instead of like just trying to bolt it on.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. Itโs incredible.
Paul Wurth:
Tom does our videos. Letโs get Tad on video.
Tom Houghton:
Thatโs what Iโm saying.
Paul Wurth:
Obviously heโs super cool guy-
Tom Houghton:
Tad and Bobcat.
Tad Starsiak:
Yes.
Paul Wurth:
Oh yes. Tad and Bobcat series.
Tom Houghton:
A mini series.
Tad Starsiak:
I love it.
Paul Wurth:
He could be holding you while youโre talking in air.
Tad Starsiak:
Oh, for sure. He could.
Tom Houghton:
Just bench pressing you in the background.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah. I think he could still do that.
Paul Wurth:
He probably could. All right. This has been awesome. As one of the co-stars of the Paul and Tom show, this I promise you. If you go on our show, you can be yourself.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah. You can bring it.
Paul Wurth:
You can send it.
Tom Houghton:
Yeah.
Paul Wurth:
Send it.
Tad Starsiak:
Iโll embrace it. Thatโs asking for a lot. Iโm quite the character, thatโs for sure.
Tom Houghton:
Well, we love your character. Weโre big fans.
Paul Wurth:
Big fans.
Tom Houghton:
Bring your t-shirts. Iโm team Ted.
Paul Wurth:
Donโt tell Bobcat.
Tom Houghton:
Donโt tell.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, I wonโt.
Paul Wurth:
But Iโm team Tad.
Tom Houghton:
Until he listens to the podcast.
Tad Starsiak:
Keep it secret.
Paul Wurth:
Yeah, I like that.
Tad Starsiak:
Yeah, I might distract him during this part.
Tom Houghton:
Okay, good. Weโve really enjoyed talking to you, Tad, and getting to know you and more about Two Chicks and a Hammer. Obviously, weโre going to put a lot of stuff in the show notes, so make sure you go there.
Paul Wurth:
I donโt if we can handle. The show notes canโt even handle us right now.
Tom Houghton:
Sure, exactly. This can be a great podcast.
Tad Starsiak:
This was a great podcast. I donโt know what youโre talking about.
Paul Wurth:
Yeah, this was fun.
Tad Starsiak:
It was a great time.
Paul Wurth:
We got to have him on a recurring visitor.
Tom Houghton:
Sure.
Paul Wurth:
Talking with Tad
Tom Houghton:
And maybe weโll bring a little Bobcat in the next time.
Tad Starsiak:
Tad talks.
Tom Houghton:
Tad talks.
Paul Wurth:
Tad talks with Bobcat.
Tad Starsiak:
Yes.
Tom Houghton:
Special appearance by.
Paul Wurth:
People are very confused by all of that, but listen-
Tom Houghton:
Theyโll listen to the whole thing though. Theyโre listening to it. Theyโre getting it.
Paul Wurth:
When you listen to the show you know.
Tom Houghton:
Itโs true.
Paul Wurth:
Okay.
Tom Houghton:
All right. Thank you so much, Tad, for joining us on the podcast today, we really appreciate your time. And again, sharing your experience with building and also with using Buildertrend as well. So thanks for being a part of this.
Paul Wurth:
Yeah. Check out โGood Bonesโ on HGTV. Thatโs awesome.
Tad Starsiak:
Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m.
Paul Wurth:
Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m.
Tom Houghton:
Nice work, Tad.
Paul Wurth:
Iโm going to go benchmark.
Tad Starsiak:
Thank you guys so much. Appreciate this opportunity. Grateful that I got to talk to you guys and maybe, weโll be talking again soon.
Paul Wurth:
For sure.
Tom Houghton:
Definitely.
Paul Wurth:
Weโll see you in Indianapolis.
Tad Starsiak:
Yes, come to the Indy 500.
Paul Wurth:
All right. Done and done. Thanks, Tad.
Tom Houghton:
Love what you heard? Donโt forget to rate and subscribe to our podcast, so you can hear from more guests that will benefit your business. Also, please check out our show notes page for more information on what we discussed on this episode. You can find it at buildertrend.com/podcast. Thanks for listening, and weโll see you next time on โThe Building Code.โ We appreciate you.
Tad Starsiak | Two Chicks and a Hammer
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