Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Well, good day, everyone, and welcome to the Cutting Edge Install podcast brought to you by Omni Cubed, where innovation meets installation. And quite typically and literally in these podcasts, it can be anything in between. We've even had times of karaoke.
We've had people do things on here that you're like, wow, that's on a podcast. But, hey, it's all good.
I'm your host, Merv Campbell, and it's an absolute pleasure to have you with us. This podcast is about celebrating pros, it's celebrating installers, experts, game changers. And we have got a game changer this morning for you.
So we're going to dive into stories, we're going to share insights, and we are going to have fun.
It was asked if I was Irish or Scottish.
I'm actually both because I'm an Ulsterman who came from Scotland to Northern Ireland. So, you know, it's all there, it's all good.
So whether you're on the job, whether you're on the road, or you're just looking to stay sharp, you're in the right place.
So this morning, let's get cracking. I'm going to leave it open to you, my friend. Introduce yourself, kind of tell us how you got started in the industry and we'll take it from there.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: My name is Ty Klim. I'm with Window Outfitters. We do mostly commercial glazing. I got started in 04 down in Dallas with my older cousin who'd been in the trade and his older uncles and cousins were. So I'm kind of a third generation glazer. But, yeah, I mean, I went to college briefly, figured out it wasn't for me, and so my cousin said, hey, get your butt down here and get it. Get a job and start learning how to do something.
I never thought, you know, ever that I would be a glazer.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: So that's awesome. That's cool. So you're in the industry, you're working hard, we're kind of now where you are today, but you've been on both sides, you've done the installation, now you're kind of stepping into, like, manage things and take care of things maybe when they go wrong. But in looking at both sides, what's kind of made you change in regards to how you look at things,
[00:02:32] Speaker B: really, you know.
So, yeah, I worked my way up the chain, got into a field superintendent position and that's really what I do right now on a larger scale.
Managing manpower and just a lot of different areas is what I did before.
It's you know, Sometimes we had 50, 60 guys on 17 different projects at the same time.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Now that was all in one city.
Now we're in nine different states.
Sometimes running, you know, 100 guys.
So now I have to get on airplanes and. And do. Yeah. I mean, I'm doing the same thing that I was doing before, just on a larger scale.
[00:03:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
Oh, that's awesome.
That's cool. Yeah, the old.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Sounds fun.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Having to. Having to hop on planes is.
That's a fun one to do.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: It was at the beginning. I like being at home, but it's just part of it. You know, I'm in a hotel room right now in Ohio.
I can actually see my job site out the window.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Wow.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: Down the road over there, that, that Carvano, we're. We're getting ready to do.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: Uhhuh.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: I'm after I run out here and take some more measurements in a couple hours.
Hopping on a plane to go to Memphis to rent a car and drive to Wynn, Arkansas. Yeah.
To check on that high school job. We've started. Put. Started putting glass in the suite.
Gotta go pull some more curtain wall dimensions and then fly home.
Then get downtown to another job we got. And next week I'm going to probably Georgia and maybe North Dakota. So.
[00:04:28] Speaker A: Dang, dude, you're definitely getting the. The miles gathered up. The fly miles.
[00:04:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I should be due. I should be due a free flat
[00:04:40] Speaker A: here soon somewhere nice for sure. Hey, so the. The glazing industry, in my opinion, and probably yours too, doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
It's. You know, you talk there about a carvana.
We don't appreciate those, like the work that's involved, everything that's involved with those, because it's just. Yeah, we. You see, you look through it. Basically. That's what we've been kind of.
You know, a lot of people that's been on these podcasts, that's what they say. But what's one thing or what's something about the glazing industry that people outside of it just don't get? Like they don't fully understand?
Maybe even people inside it don't fully understand it either.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Well, we're tying into the structure and the facade.
You know, we've got to keep, you know, we've. We've got to keep the elements out of the building and, you know, tying into the structure is a big deal. I'm a big fan of jei I follow all their stuff.
Just architects and building engineers and everybody communicating better now. On movement and joint gaps and stuff like that.
So, you know, to hit, to answer your question, just tying, you know, tying into the structure and the facade and making it pretty, you know, all at the same time.
[00:06:15] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it kind of goes back for me for my writs off.
Like any old building that's in Ireland is all stained glass and you can appreciate it. It's beautiful. When the light comes through it, there's nothing like it. It's just gorgeous.
Nothing's really changed. Because in one way it's keeping out the elements, it's letting light into a building. Yes, there might be a little bit of color, but it's the same principle we have today. And yet we don't appreciate what we have.
And so I think it's important even for young people to realize, like the beauty that's in some of these buildings with glasswork is just phenomenal.
I'm going to just ask the next question because we'll just keep rocking and rolling.
So kind of thinking upon your cruise, you've got very large numbers of people, you're looking after a lot of people.
And this is kind of a bit of a silly question, but it's also one that I think we need to highlight for patients.
Do you see a difference between guys who've been in trades for ages and kind of newer crews, like newer people, not just their kind of, what should we say, wetness behind the ears, as the Irish would say, but more their attitude and even their willingness to go above and beyond.
Oh, yeah.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: So, I mean, I, I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings here, but.
Yeah, I mean the. Luckily, and I've said before that when I went into the trades in 04, I was, I was getting taught by those guys that, you know, are coming out of the 80s and 90s through it.
You know, the old school guys that were still in there.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: You know, in the 2000s, those guys were getting up there in age and. And you know, most of them were starting to retire, moving in the office, stuff like that.
But yeah, I mean, so when I started, it was.
It was, you know, we don't care about your feelings and you know.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:37] Speaker B: Get your tool belt on. Better be at your spot. Get her done now.
Man, these kids are showing up in skinny jeans and, you know, and, and one wanna get on their phone and, you know, when. With Tom's lunch, you know, you just got here, man.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: Yeah, pretty much.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: So there's definitely a big difference in the guys coming into the trades now, but there's obviously a trade issue with getting people to come in, which is a whole other topic.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Yeah, that is a whole other topic. But in regards to the young people coming in, they're new, they're wet behind the ears.
What is it, in your opinion that would make that young person become a great installer?
Like, what are the, what are kind of some of the key metrics that are like you look for or even, you know, I don't know, like for me, work ethics, number one. Like I, I'm a, I'm a CEO. I've got a lot of people under me.
If I've got a young guy coming in who's got a good work ethic, I will work with that a hundred times out of a hundred just because she can train and teach. But sometimes like installers, they have to have that something extra. What, what would those things be, do you think?
[00:10:04] Speaker B: Well, the, the young people that are interested in trades, you know, I don't know disqualify anybody, but most of those people have grew up with a dad or something that had them out working, you know, in, on the farm or you know, just on cars, whatever, working with their hands growing up.
Yeah, you know, that's the kind of kids you'd see coming into construction more than others.
And if you want to retain or get somebody to want to come work at your company, you've got to start them off at a livable wage, which I beat this door down.
I'm trying to explain, you know, I'm trying to, you know, I came from the bottom, you know, making the $5 an hour and the $9 an hour running rubber and glass. At the beginning, you know, you've got, this is the problem.
These, when McDonald's and the gas station are paying the same amount as the, as the glass company for the guy coming into work, you know, why go hang off a building 100 degree heat and pick up 100 pound glass all day when you can go, you know, to the quick trip, get the same pay?
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: It doesn't make sense. Who, you know, why would you do that?
So companies, if they want to interest, interest younger people into the trades and they better, they've got to lay out a long term plan showing them that, hey, if, if you start here and you show up, we're gonna give you this. Now this beginning pay right here is gonna make sure you can pay your rent, pay your cell phone bill, pay your insurance. You know, you've got to be able to pay your basic bills or why would you work at that company, you
[00:12:10] Speaker A: know, the first place. Yeah.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: I mean, you're already behind if you're not least paying the bills.
So.
And then after that you've got to say, you know, hey, next year you've learned this, this and this, you know, we're gonna bump you up to that. And, and then in four years of being here, you know, you're gonna be right here making this, which is a, you know, a good, you know, a good way to provide for your family. So if, if you've got, if that's the problem, you know, I've been through IT companies, you work there, you know, three years goes by and you've worked your ass off and you got to worry about going into the man's office and asking for a dollar.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: I know.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: And that's the problem.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: You know, that is the problem.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: So until they fix that problem.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Young people are not going to come into this trade.
[00:13:09] Speaker A: No, they're not. So, yeah, you're 100% right. It's.
You don't want.
Another aspect of that is you don't want the young person too to be worrying about their money, their financial situation, like debts that are paying while they're on the job. You want them to be able to focus and learn while they're actually at work. But sometimes if they're not earning the money and they are sensible, they genuinely worry about those things and their mind's not always in it. So at least relieving that one burden off them is a huge benefit.
And you're 100% right.
There's a real dearth, there's a real void coming with a lot of different trades, not just the glazing industry.
And it's because a lot of the people at the top, they want to hold on to all the money and then the people at the bottom are like basically living paycheck to paycheck. And I get it, things at the minute are more expensive. Like we're in California and gas is what, 6, 40 something this morning.
So, you know, it's like, let's all buy a couple of tandem bicycles and bring them together and do that. But it's, you gotta live, you gotta get to work. So yeah, that's, that's definitely one that needs to be addressed with a lot of higher up people and really think, hey, because it's the higher up people that'll always come back with, well, there's a void.
We're not getting workers, we'll do something about it. Change your mentality, think about it.
Look after sometimes we have a couple of people here, our workforce is superstars.
But I'm thinking of one young guy in particular who came in and it was like, this guy's a gold nugget. We've got to hold on to him whatever it takes.
And he worked hard, he was diligent, he self taught himself a lot of stuff at home he'd be like doing things and programming things and learning. And when he came into work, you could be like, wow, where the heck did you learn that at? And he's like, oh, I watched a couple of YouTube videos last night. And you're like, that's special.
Any young person listening to that, do that go over and above. Don't just do the clock in at 7, clock out at 4:30. And you know what, I'm done. Like, you gotta do a little bit more and push yourself. And that's, that's where it's, that's where it's at.
[00:15:37] Speaker B: Yeah, that's most of them.
So, you know, when I, like I said, I grew up with, I call him the Obi Wan and glass Rob Kurtz.
We were in his kitchen for two, three years almost every night after work looking at shop drawings, architecturals, going over dailies.
And you know, he beat the, the work ethic and the whys and what fours into my head. And I took that with me the last 18, 20 years now.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: And I've got a stable of guys that we've accumulated over the three, four years now. I've kept about 80 of them busy for a few years and I've got four or five foremen everywhere they go, the companies, I've literally had some of them, you know, hey man, what's it going to take for me to take that guy off your hands? You know, like, yeah, yeah. I'm like, you can't afford him.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: No chance.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: I mean, you can't afford him. Like what I pay him, I take care of the guys that take care of me.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: So that's good.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: We give guys raises before they ask.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Awesome. That's the way it should be. And you hit on something there.
The why.
Everyone wants to know the why.
And so if you take that elephant out of the room to begin with, it's actually a great benefit and a blessing.
It's the same as like selling our tools.
You know, we can rant and rave about all the different features that are on it and how cool it looks, but unless you tell people the why, why do you need this tool?
People don't buy it. And so teaching them the why is like same as buying something, same as your employees telling them the why. Why do we do this? Why is it this way? Being open and honest, I think that that was, that's a gold nugget. So young people, if you're listening, go ask the why. If you're not told, yeah, you got it. Now to be a, not to be a peeing, but to learn.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: Yeah, you, if you're just going through the motions and you're not figuring out, well, why do I put a half inch join in here? Or why do I use bomb breaker tape right here? Or why does this, you know, you know, if you're not asking and figuring that out, you're not learning. And how you gonna move up?
[00:18:14] Speaker A: You know exactly how you gonna grow.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Unfortunately. I've seen guys, man, that have been in the field, I don't know, you know, 20 years, some of them, and still haven't taken a foreman position. I asked him why, you know, they're like, man, I just want to work from the neck down.
And nothing can hurt your career or your finances worse than having a mentality like that.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Like that. Totally.
[00:18:42] Speaker B: So you will be check to check your whole life doing that.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
I think people are, people are afraid of taking responsibility, but that's what we were made for. We're made to take responsibility.
Like, that's why we're here.
And so, yeah, we got to put some brawn into what we're at and just like, hey, you know what, there are going to be hard days. We're going to mess things up. But you know what, we'll learn by it and we'll not do it again.
And I think a lot of it's down to pride and ego.
Sadly, if you're not proud of what
[00:19:24] Speaker B: you're doing, then, you know, what are you doing?
[00:19:27] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Big time. So working on a job site yourself, obviously one you can look out your window right now, but is there any sort of initial first red flags that like you've learned over the years to think, ah, this job might go sideways or we might have some issues here that I need to address?
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Absolutely, yeah. I mean, when I like out the gate, if I get some shop drawings that look like my 5 year old could have drew them, you know, that's, that's a red flag.
You know, if it's a Renault, you know, I gotta go to North Dakota here soon on some windows. We're replacing on an old, old school.
You just don't know what you're gonna get into when you tear that stuff Out. Does, does waterproofing needed added? Does more blocking need added, you know, for a new system?
Yeah, so there's a lot, you know, just, you know, when I'm talking to new companies that we're interested in installing for. Yeah, I'm, I try to do a lot of listening and you know, studying who, who they are and you know, what they know. And so I mean that's a, that's a ten hour question really. So yeah, there's a lot of answers to that one for sure.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: So maybe not a job as field, but a job's been kind of difficult and hard.
Is there any examples you can give where you were like, you know what, something's not right here, but you're knee deep in it and then you realize, oh shoot, this is really bad and everything went wrong.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Just here recently, the, I was on a job where all the waterproofing was just hanging off the building. The Tyvek paper, all this stuff and the GCs wanting us to put windows in. I'm like, dude, your waterproofing's not even, it's hanging off the building. Look, even a dodge, like I can't, I'm not accepting that opening stuff like that, you know, you get to the, the, the job, the blocking, you know, just, I've had, I can't tell you how many times I've had a GC tell me, hey, we're ready to measure show up and they barely got the slab poured. You know, this, there's framing up, you know, I mean I literally had a GC the other day. Tell me, hey, man, when, you know, I pulled up, they like, I said they had the slab. And he was like, well, we start framing all this out once you show up, tell me where you want all these windows. And I'm like, I'm not, that's not my job. Like I'm not going to tell you how to build it. Just seems like that's what lasers have to do now. We have to tell.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Everybody how to build their openings. It's like correct. I don't know, it's just getting bad. You don't have gcs anymore either. You got construction managers, you got a bunch of kids coming out of college with no face, facial hair and their email terrorists. Their job is to push the schedule and email you every day. That's their job. You know, they're not going to tell you how to, how to do anything. They're not going to sign off on anything.
So all Those old school GCs are gone? Mostly, yeah. There's a few left out there that'll actually walk out there, make a decision. But you know, that's what makes a building take a long time and makes it harder now because you don't have, you don't have that con that, that general contractor used to have back in the day. It's like, all right, here's the problem. We have the solution. Like, it's so cutthroat now. You got to get your change order signed.
You know, the GC's giving you 72 hours of price. Your change order just, you know, it just, it just seems real one sided right now with the subcontractors and the construction management companies.
And it's not, you know, we've gone in a direction that doesn't help get the building done quicker and better. It just, it's just, you go into these meetings and it's point the finger and cover your ass, you know?
[00:23:55] Speaker A: Yeah, it's exactly what it is.
Yeah, that's, yeah, there's no, there's no, it's hard because there are leaders. So like, you know, we cover stone, tile and glass with omni cube tools.
So we, we know the leaders. So like you're a leader.
There are other leaders in the glazing industry, in the stone industry, there's, there's leaders you can look at. But when it comes to actually the general contractors, there are no leaders anymore.
It's just a bunch of pen pushers who are caught up in the bureaucracy of what's going on. And they're like you said, they're actually afraid to make a decision which trickles down to everybody else. And it's so frustrating. And then if it's a homeowner, say it's just a residential, then they get all mad and all upset and it's like, we're trying to do our job. Go talk to the guy that you hired. Um, and some of them, like. I've heard a couple of horror stories recently of like general contractors and just the shadiness of what's going on.
It's, it's scary. It's really scary. So you know anyone who's building a home or whatever, like, do your homework, try to get a good one. And the hard thing is the good ones are always super busy because they're good.
And so it's.
Yeah, that can be difficult.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
Well, like Kevin Harmon always says, he, he tells Kevin Harmon, he's probably the.
I don't know if you know who he is.
Oh yeah, I know who he is. Yep, it's probably the most knowledgeable experience. I mean, just the. In my, in my opinion, the best glazer in America as far as knowledge and quality and stuff that he does.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: You know, you know, he's always telling everybody, you know, if somebody asks him to, to bid on a job, he tells them right up front, I will be the highest on the bid.
You know, and. But he's taking or leaving, he's gonna, but he's gonna do it right, and it's gonna be beautiful.
Going to work, you know, so you, it's, it's.
That's a big deal. It's like, hey, you know, of course we don't always just try to go really high on anybody, but if you hire us, you know, and we're hiring somebody, there's a reason for it, you know, you know, the low bidders that are really screwing stuff up.
You get everybody's at a million dollars on this job, and then Joe blows down there at 700 grand.
[00:26:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: You know, like, it just, it just screws everything up for everybody, you know, it does.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: We. We even see that in our side of the field here at Omni Cubed, where our tools are expensive, but they're expensive for a reason.
Because they're, they're designed, they're both the qualities. There's, they're made in the U.S.
you know, I can hear our team putting them all together downstairs right now.
Well, how it's hard is you get these Chinese knockoffs and the materials alone are just junk. You put any weight on it and the whole thing falls apart after like two months.
But it's hard when everyone looks initially at that bottom right hand corner. How much is this going to cost me?
And then you gotta educate the why. Like, why are our tools more expensive? Why are you guys more expensive? Well, you're buying a quality product, you're not gonna have issues. And if you are, you're gonna get taken care of. A lot of times these knockoffs are cheaper. Companies that bid, like the 700,000 people, they don't answer the phone when there's a problem, and they get their money and you never hear from them again.
And so you wanna, like, for people listening, you want to do your homework. And customer service is number one.
That. That's got to be like, are you.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Are.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: We will stand by our products, we'll stand by our work, and if there is an issue, we'll fix it. And there's no if, buts, or maybes that'll be done.
So learning that on the outset is so Important.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Like you said, you're the company that's going to pick up the phone, answer the email.
You know, we, we've done a lot of work, a lot of jobs with a lot of different companies.
Unfortunately, I've dealt with scumbags through that and, and good ones. And you know, I, I can tell you that I'll always pick up the phone to take a ass chewing or not. You know, I'll always answer your phone call, you know. Yeah, we'll always try to make it right. That's, I mean, that's part of it.
We don't win them all. You know, I've lost money on some of them.
I've had to try to talk people get, you know, to get past their pride and hey, this is where we are. This is the issue now. Let's fix it together, you know. You know, just stuff like that.
You know, some people are real stubborn. But that's the thing about me, man. I'll try to help anybody anytime I can until they burn me, you know?
[00:29:28] Speaker A: You know, so it's a good way to be. That's a good, if you are young and you're listening to these, that's a good work ethic and a good way to look at things like go the extra mile. It sets you apart.
It really does. Nowadays, it's superb. So you're kind of stepping into jobs perhaps where problems are already there.
What are some of the most common issues that you're being called out to, to fix at the minute?
[00:29:58] Speaker B: Well, we really try to identify most of that up front. Like I, I was just here in Ohio for example, last week we took some measurements, company redrew everything up.
I saw something last week and then the, the re, the, the shops being redone and the size is coming back out on the shops I didn't like. So I hopped on a plane, you know, to get up here to check it again and just part of the beast, you know, I'm not gonna, if the company that hired me to come up here and do the install, I'm not gonna, not gonna let them fail, you know, I'm not gonna. If I see something, yeah, it might cost me a little more money to run back up here. I'm gonna make sure that we get up here and get the right size and stuff like that corrected and fixed before we put it into the fabrication process.
So really identifying all those issues out the gate and then there again trying to deal with contractors that are like hey, measure or install, but their openings aren't ready or the waterproofing's not in. You know, stuff like that. You got to stand your ground. You know, you got. Hey, I am. Like, as soon as you put that window in, you've accepted that opening.
[00:31:19] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: You've got to reject the opening.
Cannot let them bully you into coming out and putting it in. Because. And it just happened to me in El Paso.
I told the gc, do not paint this tilt wall job. We got a. To the. You know, to the building first.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: Come back in a week. The whole building's painted.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: I.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: Unfortunately, I didn't get down there until the day after my crew started. They put a bunch of frames in, Hauling ass got down there, and I told the gc, hey, man, we're gonna have to pull these windows out for you guys to get the paint off, grind it off on the tilt wall.
So you guys are going to pay us. Take these frames back out. And he said, no, you guys put your frame in. You accepted the opening.
I was like, man, that's the kind of person I'm dealing with right here, right now, huh?
[00:32:11] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:32:12] Speaker B: Oh, man. So I had to walk out of that trailer, you know, like, man, I'm. I live in Tulsa. You're on this job every day, and you don't notice. I mean, we made it. We told that. That, you know, that gc, Two of them do not paint this building.
And, yeah, they knew. They knew, and they still did it. And then we. We put the. You know, we put the frame in. I didn't know until I got there the next day to tell the foreman, hey, it. It just didn't occur to me that they would actually do that.
But, yeah, he said, no, you can take your frames out for free.
So.
[00:32:51] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:32:51] Speaker B: You got. You got to watch them.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: Lovely.
[00:32:53] Speaker B: GC amnesia is a real thing.
Yep.
[00:32:57] Speaker A: There you go. Oh, yeah. That's funny.
Kind of talking now about fabricators and installers, is there anything, in your opinion, that a fabricator could do that would immediately improve, like today, say, an install?
You know, you've been around a lot.
A number of guys who I've had on here have been around a lot. And this is kind of a common thing where there's one or two things that the younger guys or the newer guys could learn that would actually help improve, in your opinion? What. What would that be?
[00:33:36] Speaker B: A good one that I recently touched on is use an open back head and seal for your curtain wall.
Instead of using a solid tube at the head and silver, you just notch it out and slide over the shear blocks. They have the open backs now where you can, you can build your whole curtain wall and still get to your anchor points.
That's, that's a big one for, for me and for getting the fabrication done on, on curtain wall. It just makes everything so much easier.
Listen, the, the more you do in a controlled environment, the rubber, the, the sheer, you know, just the zone plugs, you know, we, I have companies, gosh, well, I could hit on this for a while. I, I have companies that have sent me frames out where they, all they did was cut the metal and screw it together.
Okay. And no flat filler, no shim plates, no rubber, no water diverters.
Like, man, you know, I don't, I don't. That's stuff that needs to be done inside the shop. It's a controlled environment. You've got everything you need right there on your table right there. Wheels. You know, it is going to cut down on your install time dramatically. So all you companies out there that are still just screwing your metal and sending it out, you're, you're wasting a lot of time and money. You think the dude dragging the rubber out there on the job through the dirt is going to get it done quicker and faster than the guy in the shop top where it's right there on the tape, like wake up nice and clean and dry.
[00:35:27] Speaker A: Yep, totally.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So I could go all night, man. I'm telling. Yeah.
[00:35:36] Speaker A: There you're like, you're, you're biting your tongue here. Like, do I want to say even more?
[00:35:39] Speaker B: So we'll just leave it at that.
Yeah.
[00:35:43] Speaker A: If we're talking manufacturers, you know, they make things, they produce things. Not always. Right. If there's one thing that you could tell a manufacturer, kind of like piggybacking on the last question to improve things in the field, like, what would it be? Just one thing if they could improve it.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: Making everything elementary. Labeling.
Label that stuff in a way that a five year old understands.
You don't have a sticker on your jam and one on your head. And you know that they're saying like you'll have a, you know, coming out of the Rhino or something, the jam sticker will have S1 on it, then the head will have S4 on. You know, just like now if you, if you need to do that to get it pumped out of the rhino and all that, that's fine. But you know, just, just make, make it to where, when the guy gets it out there in the field.
Okay, this is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
You know, make it elementary because in your head, in the shop. It might make total sense to you. You're like, man, it's, you know. But that guy out there, he didn't put it all together and, and you know, label, you know, so, you know.
[00:37:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: Identifying what, what goes where in an elementary way is really going to help.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Even sometimes when you have like a stick of curtain wall where the top DLO and the bottom DLO are really close, man. You know, you won't believe, you know, how many times that might have saved somebody if you just wrote bottom or top on. On the simple somewhere.
[00:37:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: That idea's like, ah, man, I got that wall upside down up there.
Like, I mean, just as simple as the guy in the shot. Right in bottom.
[00:37:45] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:37:46] Speaker B: You know, so just label stuff.
[00:37:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:50] Speaker B: Make it elementary.
[00:37:50] Speaker A: Not hard.
It's not rocket science. Make it simple.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: But I've seen it happen.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: The KISS principle.
[00:37:58] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:37:58] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:38:00] Speaker B: Oh, man.
[00:38:01] Speaker A: So we kind of talked a little bit about architects before general contractors. You know, we're talking about manufacturers and all the rest. But where do you see the biggest disconnect on job sites, say between the paper that you get, the drawings that you get, and then how it's actually executed in the field? Like, where's the biggest.
The biggest pinpoint?
[00:38:28] Speaker B: Oh, you know, in the glass industry?
Yeah. I haven't really seen big issues with a. The architecture it that way. And I've heard it. I've seen it with some of the other stuff, you know, like, it doesn't work like that, you know. But I think really the disconnect that I've seen mostly is with the architect and the building engineer, with the movement.
Maybe the architect not specking metal that's better than the metal they spec'd.
You know, I'm a big fan of ykk.
You know, I'm. I'd like to see more of that in Oklahoma getting pushed on. You know, we're seeing the old castles and conairs and all that. But yeah, I want to see more YKK on the board in Oklahoma because it's a great product.
[00:39:31] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:39:32] Speaker B: You know, just to hit a couple there.
[00:39:35] Speaker A: There you go, that's cool.
Moving on then, Canada to the. The.
You're on the job site, you've just got out of your truck or your van, the crews are popping out, you look at the job and you go, oh, my word. Seriously, why is it like this? Is there anything you wish general contractors would actually listen, like really listen to you guys about and have done or things that they misunderstand about installs before you even get on that job site, what's one thing you wish they would just like?
[00:40:08] Speaker B: Lesson two, the waterproofing.
Yeah, I can't count how many times the gc, you know, like I said, has told us to come out and measure and it's not ready to measure. Like, hey, man, you know, stop telling me to come out here and measure stuff when the blocking and. And you know, it's not ready. Or don't tell me to come out here and install when you don't have the waterproofing done. Because as soon as I. Like I said, as soon as I put the window in, you know, the waterproofer can't do his job correctly. You know, and here's another one that you might not think of that I like to.
To give GC's crap about is, man, provide a working.
You know, if you're having to walk through mud to get into the building, like, why can't we buy some damn gravel and make some walkways around that job? So, yeah, everybody tools and, and boot, you know, like, it seems so petty and stupid, but like, man, it is such a pain in the ass when you have to walk through a muddy job site to get to the building.
[00:41:25] Speaker A: Oh yeah,
[00:41:27] Speaker B: everybody's scraping their off on my openings, you know, taking their boots over there and I'm. I'm getting ready to pop a line. I just swooped over here and eight guys come over there and scrape their boots off, you know, and I can't tell you how many times I've almost got into a fist fight over it. Like, hey, dude, do you see that line? Right? Yeah, man, but you know, like, this is where we walk through. Like, not anymore, dude. I'm about to put this window in. Like, don't come through here again, you know, like, scrape your boots right here again, man. We're going to have a problem.
You don't wrestle in the mud, so.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: Oh man, that's funny on the one hand, but also really annoying on the other. Yeah, I've seen that.
We had. We helped one guy out one time with a huge. He was bringing in a huge island stone or a marble island, and there was no pathway.
And we've one of our carts that goes through. It'll go through any sort of mud or terrain.
And even it was struggling to get through. It was just thick, like glar. It was like just everywhere.
And when we got to the house, they had already tiled all the flooring and the guy was like, I am not bringing this thing inside. There's no way There was just mud everywhere.
And he ended up having to take and wash the whole thing and wash the cart and wash his shoes. And you're like, what annoying? Is that the amount of time he wasted? He wasted almost an hour before he could get anything done. Yeah, it's so annoying.
[00:43:05] Speaker B: Like, man, I told the GC one time on jobs like, hey, dude, I'll buy the freaking gravel.
Like, I'll buy the gravel, man, if you'll get it put out right here. Make a walkway so all these people stop scraping their boots on the openings. Like, you know, So I know that seems, you know, small, but it makes a huge difference, especially when you have finishes going on inside the building. Like, dude, yeah, put some gravel down, man. Like, you're getting.
What's wrong with you?
[00:43:38] Speaker A: It's not. It's not that much. A couple hundred bucks and you're done.
Oh, dear. Crazy. Well, hey, last question. Kind of wrap this all up.
Okay, Looking ahead, it's 20, 26.
What are some changes that you think the industry needs to make to reduce either failures or how to improve job sites overall?
[00:44:00] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I can't. I can't stress enough, you know, about the long term plan we were talking about to get people interested in coming into the trades.
I mean, we're.
The industry is developing all the time. New things are coming out, you know. Yeah, I think it's headed the right way. It's got a bright future. It just needs. It just needs people, you know, it needs to get a new makeover with bringing people in.
Companies have got to switch up their antics here and like I said, start.
I mean, I see all this stuff. We're going to high schools and job fairs and all that. That's all great, but you go, you go to that kid at that job fair, you tell them, hey, man, you can make 15 an hour coming over here.
[00:45:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:02] Speaker B: And in four years, you'll make 20, you know.
No, thanks. Like, yeah, yeah.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Moving on. Yeah.
[00:45:11] Speaker B: Okay.
So it's it. You know, obviously Latinos play a big factor in building anything.
Them guys like my brothers, I've been in the trenches with them, you know, they do the work, but we still take good care of them, you know?
[00:45:35] Speaker A: Good.
I know, dude. It never stops. Well, Ty, thanks for coming on. I know you're a busy man. That's a wrap on this cutting edge install podcast today.
If you've enjoyed it, go ahead and follow it. Subscribe if you want to be a guest. Hey, leave a comment.
We'll get you on here at some point.
Share these things with your crew. Good information, helpful information even for our young people. Good for them to hear.
Keep an eye out. Every Thursday, Every other Thursday at 8am a specific state time? Well, that's hard to say. Yeah, it's at 8:00am West coast time. That's where I'm at in California. If you want to know more about Omni Cubed, go on our website, omnicubed.com to find out more about our tools, how we help installers, fabricators and all the rest. And until the next time I see you all, Cheerios. Stay safe. God bless you all. Take care.
[00:46:27] Speaker B: Thanks.
