#67 Finish Carpentry and Hardwood Flooring with Andrew Prete of @carpenter_on_site

We have another amazing show talking finish carpentry and hardwood with the one and only Andrew Prete of @carpenteronsite An elder millennial that has really taken the industry by the horns and made the business better than most. Andrew isn’t shy about how and why he builds the way he does, the best that he can filled with a lot of passion no matter the size of the project, it is all the same to him.Andrew is different than most contractors, nobody from his family is in construction, no one really influenced him to get into construction, he followed his passion and built a solid and reputable company. Once he touched those first tools back in high school, he was hooked for life.Andrew was a Union member and loved his time there because he learned so much but once he was on the job site he met Nelson Gonzales and boy did Nelson take his skill set to a whole new level. School was very much worth the experience Andrew dives deep into what and why he learned what he did.Of course we get into a lot of techniques, tricks of the trades for trim and hardwood installs and we even get into his fav tools, here’s a hint, BOSCH. We even get into the great debate, van or pick-up truck? We will give you another hint, SPRINTER.Early in his days Andrew would trim out a 2500 square home, around 20 windows, doors and over 300 LF of base in one single day, two guys, boogie and get the work done with next to no deficiencies. At 25 bucks a window, those were the valuable days on site, the knowledge he learned even though there were some days where he made no money. Andrew even talks about the DAPENDERS on site and how he is a part of Respect The Next Trade TM. Andrew talks about hiring and keeping good and bad guys and what he looks for in a tradesperson.We talk about going on his own, pricing out jobs quickly, budgeting, client’s expectations, poplar vs mdf, hardwood installs and so much more. At 30 years old, Andrew is already thinking about retirement, not looking to stop, planning to stop hugely successful. We get talking hardwood flooring install, wax paper, layouts, inlets of details, when to install hardwood and more.Andrew is hungry for construction and during his early days and still today, he will always stop by a job site and offer up a quote, why not, you never know, that GC might be looking for a new guy. Andrew gives Tony and the family @mississaugahardwarecentre a well-deserved shout out and even talks about Collin Clamps and how he tells his clients the clamps are found at adult sex shops.What an amazing show, Andrew thank you so much for being on the show and sharing all of your valuable experiences with us so far. We look forward to watching your business grow even further.Find Andrew @carpenter_onsiteThis is The Construction Lifewww.theconstructionlife.com