Tad Starsiak on Growing Two Chicks and a Hammer with Buildertrend

Show Notes

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).

Good Bones on HGTV
Two Chicks and a Hammer
Two Chicks and a Hammer Instagram

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Transcript

Tom Houghton:

Youโ€™re listening to โ€œThe Building Code.โ€ Iโ€™m Tom Houghton.

Paul Wurth:

Iโ€™m Paul Wurth.

Tom Houghton:

And joining us on our episode today, weโ€™re going to take a behind the scenes look at Two Chicks and a Hammer. And weโ€™ll 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. Weโ€™re calling it BTU on the road for short. Thisโ€™ll be taking place in Dallas, Texas on October 3rd, 2019. Itโ€™s 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. Heโ€™s the project manager over there at Two Chicks and a Hammer. Welcome, Tad.

Tad Starsiak:

Hey guys. So glad to be here. Iโ€™m really excited to talk to you guys. Just attended your Buildertrend University. So Iโ€™m still pumped and jazzed about it. I think weโ€™re 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, weโ€™re going to talk about the show-

Paul Wurth:

But the show โ€ฆ

Tom Houghton:

โ€œGood Bones.โ€

Paul Wurth:

There.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah.

Paul Wurth:

Good bones is a show, so-

Tad Starsiak:

Yep. โ€œGood Bonesโ€ is the HGTV show that we work on. Weโ€™re currently in our fifth season. Itโ€™s wild to think that much time has passed. And as weโ€™ve grown, itโ€™s been more and more important that we mainstream the things that weโ€™re doing construction-wise, and keeping track of information. And thatโ€™s when you guys came into our life, like a year and a half ago. So itโ€™s 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. Thatโ€™s everything. Very nice. Yeah. So โ€œGood Bonesโ€ is a TV show on HGTV. Full disclosure, Iโ€™ve 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. Whoโ€™s a 5โ€™2 fiery redhead. Takes no nonsense, deals out justice left and right. And her mom, Karen, whoโ€™s a very free soul, very hippy energy, and kind of counteracts Minaโ€™s somewhat normal taste with some wild, crazy taste. And theyโ€™re 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 itโ€™s a great to see them empowered by it, so.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s awesome.

Paul Wurth:

Iโ€™m sold.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah.

Paul Wurth:

Iโ€™m going to start watching it.

Tom Houghton:

You better start watching it.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah.

Tom Houghton:

Itโ€™s 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 sheโ€™s like, โ€œYouโ€™ll 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 hadnโ€™t started yet. And then yeah, about my freshman year of college, the show got going.

Tom Houghton:

Okay. So, letโ€™s talk about your role in the company. Youโ€™re a project manager there.

Tad Starsiak:

Yes.

Tom Houghton:

I am curious, so I want to know more about Bobcat though, and whyโ€ฆ Do you have a nickname too?

Tad Starsiak:

About that, yeah. No, I donโ€™t 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 heโ€™s like 6โ€™3, and his shoulders are just immensely wide. Heโ€™s a huge human being, and usually it goes like, I try to get something and if I canโ€™t get him rip it off, then Austin will try. And Austin like heโ€™s got like bear claws. So he just rips everything off. So, heโ€™s like a piece of equipment himself. And just whatever, I canโ€™t 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. Itโ€™s like, โ€œWhoa, dude, thatโ€™s wild.โ€

Paul Wurth:

Austin is Bobcat, Bobcat is Austin?

Tad Starsiak:

Yes. Austin is Bobcat. Bobcat is Austin.

Paul Wurth:

Wow.

Tad Starsiak:

Itโ€™s his alter ego during demo, so.

Paul Wurth:

Not for nothing. I donโ€™t know Hollywood. This is Tomโ€™s game, but you should have a nickname, because everybody should have a good nickname on TV like Bobcat.

Tad Starsiak:

I think youโ€™re right.

Tom Houghton:

Well, we should talk to me about your goingโ€ฆ 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. Thereโ€™s for sure something there. Yeah, most people know me as Tad, because thatโ€™s what my name was on the show. But people whoโ€™ve met me post-high school call me Thadeus.

Tom Houghton:

There you go.

Paul Wurth:

Right on. So, the show is โ€œGood Bones.โ€ Itโ€™s 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 itโ€™s Two Chicks and a Hammer. But somebody, it was either the production company or HGTV themselves wanted to buy the name, and we didnโ€™t want to sell the name. So then, we ended up settling on the name, โ€œGood Bones,โ€ which has really done well for us and people like it a lot. And now fifth season of โ€œGood 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, itโ€™s actually not much you yourself getting there. Itโ€™s almost more of them coming to find you. So HGTV basically tells production companies, โ€œHey, weโ€™re 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 โ€œGood 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. Theyโ€™re 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. Weโ€™ve made a sizzle video. Thatโ€™s where I got to come into play. I made all these crazy vines of me doing demo. And weโ€™d 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, โ€œLetโ€™s do a pilot episode.โ€ And then, the pilot episode did really well, and then it was season one. And now itโ€™s season five, and itโ€™s crazy how time has flown by, and all the opportunities that have come out of it.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s 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 Iโ€™m the hammer. Yep, yep.

Paul Wurth:

Nickname.

Tom Houghton:

The hammer, thatโ€™s your name.

Paul Wurth:

There you go.

Tad Starsiak:

That is a good nickname. Thatโ€™s a good nickname.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s true.

Tad Starsiak:

Iโ€™ll take that all day long. Yeah. For the first year.

Tom Houghton:

For the first year, good. Letโ€™s 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 teamโ€™s grown, because obviously, itโ€™s 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. Didnโ€™t 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 donโ€™t 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 isnโ€™t great, because weโ€™re 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 weโ€™re doing 10 houses. Instead of doing like one or two, weโ€™re now doing 10, and the company had to grow quickly. Itโ€™s 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 couldnโ€™t be more thankful for it. Buildertrend is so immersive. I feel like itโ€™s like another world. Itโ€™s like a Narnia or a Middle Earth. Like thereโ€™s so much to explore in that stuff. And the biggest thing is, itโ€™s like a CYA for me. So when my sister whoโ€™s, like I said, 5โ€™2 redhead comes at me. Itโ€™s like, โ€œNope, 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. Iโ€™m winning, and I stay winning, because Buildertrend which is-

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s good.

Tad Starsiak:

โ€ฆ itโ€™s really helpful.โ€ And even a year and a half later weโ€™re still learning, and thereโ€™s so much more to learn. And yeah, itโ€™s an incredible project managing software. Really glad we use it.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s 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:

Letโ€™s go on our website.

Tom Houghton:

That is-

Tad Starsiak:

My favorite is to like send her an email, be like, โ€œPer my daily log. Go check it out.โ€

Tom Houghton:

Very โ€ฆ 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 havenโ€™t even seen them yet. Theyโ€™re just the cheapest ones, which usually means that the foundations are completely rotten. Lots of dead animals. The most famous thing thatโ€™s in every one of our houses is some sort of poop, whether itโ€™s animal or human. And we actually have a running joke where we say, โ€œWe like our houses to have had a fire and then kind of burns some of the pool away, because thereโ€™s so much in it.โ€

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s an interesting problem to have there.

Tad Starsiak:

Oh my gosh, itโ€™s crazy. Yeah, we take the worst of the worst houses in our area, and we make them the most beautiful. And like Karen says, โ€œWhen we get into these houses, theyโ€™re like really sad homes.โ€ You can feel the energy of the house, and itโ€™s like, โ€œOh, this sucks that Iโ€™m this now.โ€ And then after a few months, you can really feel the uptick and the energy and the place. And itโ€™s like, โ€œWow, this place is going to be somewhere that a family is going to move in, and theyโ€™re going to have really great experiences. And theyโ€™re going to go through things together, and have a happy life in our homes that we built.โ€

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s awesome.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. Jinx.

Paul Wurth:

No, donโ€™t do that. Too many podcasts together. So, all these things have like conflict, right? Or thereโ€™s like this imaginary clock you have to likeโ€ฆ Whatโ€™s the conflict or like the pressure โ€ฆ

Tom Houghton:

The drama.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. Whatโ€™s the drama in your show?

Tad Starsiak:

Well, yeah. So the drama is really, because itโ€™s 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 didnโ€™t see. So itโ€™s not like we really are creating the drama. We donโ€™t set something up, but itโ€™s like finding out that the foundation is much worse than it was before. And then, because the areas that weโ€™re building the homes in are just now being pioneered. Thereโ€™s 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 itโ€™s going to work with our ability to make a profit. And are we going to lose money? That Iโ€™d 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 donโ€™t know, like dadโ€™s strengths. Iโ€™m not like a dad. But just like, the piano is about to fall on my sisterโ€™s mom, and kind of like my mom. My mom passed when I was younger and Karen took me in for a few years. So itโ€™s like a piano is about to fall on her. It was legit 600 pounds. It was the heaviest thing Iโ€™ve 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 Iโ€™ll be clear, thatโ€™s Bobcat heโ€™s asking.

Tad Starsiak:

Yeah, thatโ€™s Bobcat. Yeah. Weโ€™re not even sure, man. Sheโ€™s in three of them.

Tom Houghton:

And weโ€™ll put like a special appearance by Bobcat โ€ฆ

Paul Wurth:

Show note ofโ€ฆ

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 youโ€™ve 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 weโ€™ve 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. Theyโ€™re not very big. Itโ€™s usually a main street and inside streets. So what makes us different is thereโ€™s a lot of people who have moved in to do construction as investors. So youโ€™re getting people from California and Florida who are coming in to rehab these homes. And then, the money that they make off of it, isnโ€™t coming back to our Indianapolis community. Itโ€™s going back to California or Florida or somewhere else.

Tad Starsiak:

So the really cool thing is, weโ€™re established in the Indianapolis. Our business model is we care about our neighborhood, and constantly weโ€™re 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. Weโ€™re not out just to make a buck. Weโ€™re out actually to make a difference.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s awesome.

Paul Wurth:

Youโ€™ve been to Indianapolis?

Tom Houghton:

I have not, actually.

Paul Wurth:

You havenโ€™t?

Tom Houghton:

But itโ€™s on my list now.

Paul Wurth:

Itโ€™s great. Downtown, super cool.

Tad Starsiak:

Iโ€™m one of the proudest finishers there are. I love Indianapolis. So some fun facts about Indianapolis.

Paul Wurth:

Letโ€™s 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. Thatโ€™s another cool thing. We have the seventh largest city park. Itโ€™s called Eagle Creek Park. It used to be privately owned, but now itโ€™s just owned by the state. And itโ€™s an incredible place. Thereโ€™s a whole bunch of native animals that come back there, that they donโ€™t go back to anywhere else in Indiana, because itโ€™s 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 didโ€ฆ Iโ€™m embarrassed.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s alright.

Tad Starsiak:

I love the Indy 500. No one could see me at the Indy 500 though. Itโ€™s like, I go full Indiana mode. I wear shorts, so some cutoff. Jean shorts or wear boots like a bandana. And itโ€™s like, go time. Like when the planes fly over and theyโ€™re singing the Star Spangled Banner, is just like this woo America moment.

Tom Houghton:

America.

Tad Starsiak:

And thereโ€™s like 400,000 people there, so.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s crazy.

Paul Wurth:

Itโ€™s awesome. Yeah.

Tom Houghton:

You have to check that out.

Paul Wurth:

Itโ€™s a cool place. Also, whatโ€™s the steakhouse downtown like St. Elmoโ€™s Fire or something?

Tad Starsiak:

Yeah, St. Elmoโ€™s Steakhouse.

Paul Wurth:

Okay. So weโ€™re 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 canโ€™t guarantee youโ€™ll make it back.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. It might be a one way trip.

Tad Starsiak:

It gets so wild here.

Paul Wurth:

Letโ€™s get in the book.

Tom Houghton:

I think this would be a great little YouTube series that weโ€™re going to do.

Paul Wurth:

Paul and Tom on the Road?

Tom Houghton:

Paul and Tom on the Road. Weโ€™re going to stop by Indianapolis. You heard it first. Stay tuned, watch your YouTube channel.

Paul Wurth:

I love it.

Tom Houghton:

Itโ€™s happening. Producer Brooke is panicking, and weโ€™re shuffling papers, but weโ€™ll make it happen.

Paul Wurth:

Itโ€™s done. Put in the books.

Tad Starsiak:

Yeah, it will be a thing

Tom Houghton:

Letโ€™s 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 youโ€™re building on TV and for TV?

Tad Starsiak:

Right. So the biggest challenge we face for TV is the fact that for a season, weโ€™ll have up to 13 to 15 episodes. So that means we have 13 houses weโ€™re usually taking down to the studs. So these are full-fledged projects. This isnโ€™t like weโ€™re renovating a room here or there. Itโ€™s the whole thing. 15 foundation, new mechanicals, all the way through. And thatโ€™s 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 itโ€™s 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, thereโ€™s been a massive amount of money each week just to have these guys here. So itโ€™s really a fight against the clock. Thatโ€™s the biggest challenge. And when the cameras step in, usually construction slows down a little bit because thereโ€™s 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 weโ€™re trying to film a footer scene, and maybe at the front of the house the song in the siding or something like that, itโ€™s too loud. So weโ€™ll go up to the siding guys and like, โ€œHey, 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 itโ€™s 10 minutes, it really means like itโ€™s 30 to 45. So, if I have a call time where theyโ€™re like, โ€œHey, 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 Iโ€™m still good.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah. You definitely have extra padding.

Paul Wurth:

Itโ€™s good.

Tom Houghton:

I want to talk about your Buildertrend experience a little bit too.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah, thatโ€™s good.

Tom Houghton:

I know that you talked off air about this. That youโ€™ve 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? Whatโ€™s your favorite feature?

Tad Starsiak:

Yeah. So, when we first gotโ€ฆ Iโ€™m 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 arenโ€™t 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 paymentโ€™s coming up. So the schedule has been immensely helpful. The ability to shift, keep track of days where theyโ€™ve missed days that theyโ€™ve 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 didnโ€™t 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, โ€œWell, hey, we busted our butts. Weโ€™re still going to miss our end day.โ€ I can look back and be like, โ€œI can go through my tags and type in bad weather.โ€ Okay, we had 14 days of bad weather where it rained, and you couldnโ€™t 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 doesnโ€™t 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 itโ€™s 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. Thatโ€™s 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 Iโ€™ve conquered that job site for that first morning rotation of going to the job. And then, Iโ€™ll come back in the afternoon and do the same thing. And itโ€™s 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 Iโ€™d have to write it on paper. Now I have Buildertrend where all of that information is there. And itโ€™s just so great to just be able to be like, โ€œYeah, itโ€™s in there. Itโ€™s in the comments. Itโ€™s in the daily log.โ€

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. And youโ€™re not having to wait to the end of the day. Youโ€™re doing it with your natural flow of your day, right?

Tad Starsiak:

100%. And-

Tad Starsiak:

And even thereโ€™s 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 itโ€™s not so much Gmail or calling or texting, because we use the Messages in the comment section in Buildertrend.

Paul Wurth:

Yeah. Weโ€™ve 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:

Donโ€™t 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 weโ€™ll 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:

Letโ€™s go.

Tad Starsiak:

โ€ฆ weโ€™re winning people over, over here.

Paul Wurth:

We respect that.

Tad Starsiak:

Weโ€™re spreading the good word of Buildertrend.

Tom Houghton:

Thank you.

Paul Wurth:

Thatโ€™s 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 youโ€™re already doing. Incorporated in your life organically instead of like just trying to bolt it on.

Tom Houghton:

Yeah.

Tad Starsiak:

Yeah. Itโ€™s incredible.

Paul Wurth:

Tom does our videos. Letโ€™s get Tad on video.

Tom Houghton:

Thatโ€™s what Iโ€™m saying.

Paul Wurth:

Obviously heโ€™s 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 youโ€™re 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:

Iโ€™ll embrace it. Thatโ€™s asking for a lot. Iโ€™m quite the character, thatโ€™s for sure.

Tom Houghton:

Well, we love your character. Weโ€™re big fans.

Paul Wurth:

Big fans.

Tom Houghton:

Bring your t-shirts. Iโ€™m team Ted.

Paul Wurth:

Donโ€™t tell Bobcat.

Tom Houghton:

Donโ€™t tell.

Tad Starsiak:

Yeah, I wonโ€™t.

Paul Wurth:

But Iโ€™m 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. Weโ€™ve really enjoyed talking to you, Tad, and getting to know you and more about Two Chicks and a Hammer. Obviously, weโ€™re going to put a lot of stuff in the show notes, so make sure you go there.

Paul Wurth:

I donโ€™t if we can handle. The show notes canโ€™t even handle us right now.

Tom Houghton:

Sure, exactly. This can be a great podcast.

Tad Starsiak:

This was a great podcast. I donโ€™t know what youโ€™re 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 weโ€™ll 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:

Theyโ€™ll listen to the whole thing though. Theyโ€™re listening to it. Theyโ€™re getting it.

Paul Wurth:

When you listen to the show you know.

Tom Houghton:

Itโ€™s 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 โ€œGood Bonesโ€ on HGTV. Thatโ€™s 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:

Iโ€™m 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, weโ€™ll be talking again soon.

Paul Wurth:

For sure.

Tom Houghton:

Definitely.

Paul Wurth:

Weโ€™ll 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? Donโ€™t 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 weโ€™ll see you next time on โ€œThe Building Code.โ€ We appreciate you.

Tad Starsiak | Two Chicks and a Hammer


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