We prepared a detailed four-page proposal outlining exactly what would be required to restore the masonry to a consistent historical appearance. A few days later, I received an email from the general contractor that said: "The two other bricklayers were about one-third of your price for the same scope. Can you get closer to their pricing?" The answer was simple. No. Because they were not the same scope.

One of the most common questions I hear from homeowners is: "Should I be worried about this crack?" Sometimes the answer is yes. Most of the time, the answer is no. Brick is an incredibly strong building material. Many brick structures have survived for hundreds of years. I've worked on buildings that were standing long before any of us were born and, with proper maintenance, will likely outlive us all. So if brick is so durable, why does it crack? The answer is surprisingl

Nobody posts this part. The wrecked car. The broken down truck. The contractor who still has not paid a net 30 invoice after 90 days. I wrote about what construction ownership actually looks like when the highlight reel is off. If you have ever run a business or thought about it, this one is honest.

Worst case scenerio When I was about 16, my family took one of our annual vacations. We didn’t go far; money was usually tight, but that year, we were headed to the Texas Hill Country. The Alamo, a few stops along the way… nothing fancy, just something different. We left around 4 in the morning in our tank of a car, a Ford Granada station wagon. That part matters. We hit I-35 South, half awake, a little excited. And I still remember the exact moment everything changed. The so

I know, this is a little off from my normal construction content. But stick with me, because this actually ties in more than you think. Whether we’re talking about brickwork or blog posts, people can tell the difference between real craftsmanship… and something just thrown together. Let’s Clear This Up Real Quick Do I use AI? Yep. Do I let it write for me? Not a chance. I use it like I would any tool on a jobsite: Organizing my thoughts Cleaning up grammar before publishing O

Downtown Hico Oprahouse Turned Store My husband loves road trips. And by loves, I mean he’d rather just get there than enjoy the journey. But recently he indulged me on one of our trips through the Texas Hill Country. I wanted to prove a point. See, a few months ago, I was reading some of the posts on a couple of Facebook pages for my hometown. It seemed to be a trend that most of the posts were complaints. Around that same time, I had also been reading a lot about how the en