The Carpentry Show with Robin Clevitt, powered by Festal's new innovative eighteen volt cordless
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Discover more at festal dot co dot UK. Welcome to the Carpentry Show
with Festal. I'm your host Robin Clevitt. Now the nights have drawn in
and the weather has become a challenge, I thought we should talk about the
final weeks of the year and our approach to work in during the winter months.
So joining me will be two carpenters that have experience working on site so
they can discuss this and more. Fix Radio time to crack on. I'm
Robin Clevitt on the Carpentry Show and joining me once again is Max Lee from
Pitch Perfect to discuss our approach to working in the final few weeks of the
year. Max, you and the team from Pitch Perfect joined me in the
studio earlier this year and I really enjoyed that, so thank you so much
for coming back on. So how of the months following been for you guys,
and what have you been working on? Yeah, so the months following
they've been good, we've been we've been busy. We've you know, got
some new clients and then obviously also had a nice steady stream of work from
our existing clients. Started a few bigger projects, a few like new builds
and stuff like that that are ongoing. So yeah, we've had We've had
a nice mixture of work, a lot of cut and pitched roofs, a
lot of structural carpentry, and then also a few other things we've been doing
as well, a couple of garden rooms which which have been enjoyable as well.
Yeah, it's a great variation what you guys are doing. I mean,
you know, we've spoke before about you know, your strengths, which
is basically big carpentry. You know you good second fixes as well, but
you love your first fix. You're a bit like me in that respect.
So you talked a bit about new builds there. So are you doing first
and second fixed packages? N So the packages we're doing at the moment for
both of the new bills we've started are both for existing clients. So the
packages we're doing and they vary, but it's basically like that, all the
structural stuff, so we'll go in and do the flaws and the floor in.
Then the brickwork will go up and then we'll come in and do the
roof. We don't. We do it Like I said, we do a
little bit of second fix, but it's not normally tying. We offer as
a package on the new builds. Yeah, it's a good idea to stay
focused on what you like. So we're approaching the final weeks of the year.
Okay, So looking at all of twenty twenty three, how has the
year been for Pitch Perfect business wise compared to twenty twenty two. I think
I think as a company and as a group, we've we've went from strength
to strength. It's been a really good year for us. We've had good
development and it's been you know, a steady, a steady year. We've
been growing nicely. We've been you know, increasing our customer base and brand
awareness hopefully. And yeah, I think we're on the right track. And
it's just about you know, steady growth and not running before you can walk,
you know, inequality, high and good staff, etc. Yeah,
And they're so true. Those things are absolutely absolutely key to running a business,
aren't they. So what's your approach to working around Christmas? As it's
literally around the corner when we you down tools and what have you got booked
in for twenty twenty three, So when it comes to Christmas, we normally
break up the Friday before Christmas and then we go back in after the new
year, so it normally works out we have sort of two weeks off,
which is about right. It's enough to have a rest and then sort of
after two weeks you're looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and
back into routine. So that's normally sort of how we structure things around Christmas.
With regards to twenty twenty four, we've got a lot of work booked
in similar to what we've just spoke about. We've got loads of structural stuff,
roofs again, a few new building in the pipeline. We're offering the
first six package. So more of the same really, which is what we
enjoy and we do it a lot, so we like to think we're pretty
good at it, and you know, and when you do things a lot,
you get assicient and you know you can you can complete working, you
know, quickly, but also to a good standard. So it's nice to
you know, do do similar stuff and get pretty good at it. Yeah,
because you spoke when you're in the studio about you know, you set
up your little teams and you'll go off. Sometimes you'll all come together,
so you're quite well positioned to, as you say, get in and out
quick or spend a couple of weeks doing the job between a few of you,
so you can actually take on more work like that, can't you.
Yeah, it varies. It's strange for us. Some weeks or some months
we've spread thin, and then other weeks we've got you know, bigger projects
on and we've got more of the teams on one job. It comes down
to really what there is to do and often space. You know, this
is a small job. You can only have so many people there before it
gets unproductive, you know, just by like not having the room to work
and stumbling over each other all the time and stuff like that. Yeah,
no, that's so true. So what changes, if any, are you
guys going to make your approach in twenty twenty four? Business wise? I
think the next sort of step for us would be starting to offer some more
turnkey projects alongside what we do now, but potentially going down the route we're
offering some more turnky stuff, So taking it from you know, start to
finish, whether that be lofts or small extensions I spoke about earlier. We
started doing some garden rooms and stuff, so that is the element of that
there. So it's more of the same, but they're also starting to just
diversify a little bit, thinking about growth and how we can sort of find
new streams of work that we still want to do and enjoy doing. So
I think that's probably the next step for us at the moment. That's sort
of on the horizon. It sounds it sounds all good. Just remind me
how old you are again, Max, if you don't mind me asking,
I'm twenty three on Saturday, and do you know what for a twenty three
year old, the way you talk about business and you know, it's unbelievable.
I'm telling you, I wouldn't mind betting that any business which has you
in it you just have. Do you have a real interest in business?
Is this what it is? Do you like the whole thing? That's yeah,
that's where my passion is. I love it. But you know it's
not all me. We've got we've got a good team and we've got Lim
and James with the other two directors. So you know, it's a team
effort. I can't take all the credit, no, but I do think
you speak such good sense and a real good spokesman for Pitch Perfect. Must
say hello to all the guys, wish them a happy Christmas. It's not
too early to wish happy Christmas yet, is it? Definitely not. It's
never too early. Get a Christmas songs on exactly all right, Max,
thank you so much for joining me once again the Carpentry Show on Fixed Radio.
This is the Carpentry Show, and joining me now is Richard Wagner.
Richard, you join me in this udo earlier this year to discuss your experiences
in our trade and the woodworking classes you teach. So how has business been
for you since then and what have you been up to professionally. Well,
it's nice to be back. Thanks for having me, Robin. I've you
know, I've had a really busy year actually, and we've had loads of
students through the door coming to do classes at the River Shop, so that's
been really great. We've loved having that and done a few side projects as
well, which has been nice. So taking on little bits and bobs,
you know, pet projects just for fun. Yeah, I've been following you
on socials and I like the variation of stuff. I especially like the one
that you talked about the festal sustainers and about you know, it was the
way you bought that across to me, I was thinking, yeah, actually
that is a pretty good storage situation. Was that when you're out on site?
Was that one of your site jobs you're talking about. Yeah, So
what I've what I've kind of just grabbed really been realizing, is first all,
first all, just these sort of unsung heroes of organization and even their
all. This sustainer system I think it's called the I don't know, the
original sustainer version one or something is only now being adopted by companies like Makida
and Matabo. Yeah, they're early adopt early adopters, and they could really
see the benefits. So yeah, I saw you out on site. You
had all your sustainers, and it it made me think, actually, they
stuck in the corner and they're just so perfectly neat and tidy. So talking
about your experiences working on site during the winter months in previous years, so
what have you found the most challenging about, say, working in the winter
months. Well, there's a quote I really like. And it might sound,
it might come across as a little bit corny, but there's no such
thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. It's true when it's just unbearably
hot and you don't want to move and every you know, everything is put
down. The worst thing you can do is talk about how hot it is,
right, and it just makes it so much harder to to when it.
So it all comes down to just mindset. And in the summer,
you know, in the summer that's relevant. In the winter, it's a
little bit harder to just put it down to mindset. But the more you
focus on the negatives, the harder it's going to be for you. So
pragmatically, you know, good footwear, good socks, take a bit of
extra time and make a thermos of the hot drink which is good for morale
throughout the day, and enjoy it where you know, we're lucky to get
fresh air during the day and not be blocked down by computer screens. It's
so true. And I often when people ask me the same question after and
say, well, actually, when I'm at work, I'm fine because my
mind is get up in the morning straight out. I want to beat the
traffic. I want to get to work, I want to have a hot
drink, I want to see if the guys are all good, and before
you know it, you're you don't. I don't even feel the cold yet.
At the weekend, Becky will say to me, let's have a nice
walk around the lake. So we'll get up, get dressed, walk around
the lake, and in about half an hour, I'm feeling cold. It's
just because I'm going at a different pace. I'm used to a completely different
pace when I'm at work, and it's all, as you say, you
just get into the zone. I don't even feel the cold. So you
talked about the anecdote about saying there's no such thing as bad weather. It's
bad clothing, so boots and socks. But is there anything or any other
tips that you have to stay warm if you're working outside, especially if you're
doing something where you have to stand still for a long time to mark something
out, set something out before you start doing cutting and fixing for example.
Yeah, of course, I mean movement is key, isn't it, And
so if that's not on your side, you know, just look after your
extremity, you know, get a good hat on, get a neck buff
on. Those are really popular once upon a time, the you know the
buffs, you know, Yeah, just look after your extremities. Nice nice
gloves you're like, you know, have gloves around. I swear it's all
about It's all about your feet. If you've got you know, warm socks,
dry socks in the van and your feet get wet, get get your
feet dry. You know, there's nothing more detrimental to morale than wet feet.
Yeah. And the other fatal thing I always find is if you end
up find yourself sitting in the van for any reason. Let's say you've got
to make a phone call and you put come in the van, turn the
heater on, and before you know, you think, I don't want to
get back out. So that's fatal. I always say, stay outside.
So okay, let's talk about twenty twenty four Richard. You've talked about,
you know, the River Shop, and i'd imagine that's going really well.
So do you have any plans or changes that you're going to make professionally in
twenty twenty four. Well, yeah, we're we're actually growing our workshop,
so we're going to be kind of doubling our footprint. In February, where
our workshop will will double in size. So that's pretty cool, and I'm
really keen to launch more courses, and I think we're in a position now
where the syllabus that we have that's live is really good. It's really popular,
and people are coming to classes and leaving good feedback on those classes.
Where I have an itch that needs to be scratched is that we're not offering
enough, and I want to offer a carpentry one on one joinery one on
one where you can come and just do a short class on routing and we
just get you around two or three different routers of different sizes, using a
couple different types of cutters, and doing a few different basic exercises on using
a router and getting familiar with one. Those classes don't necessarily leave you with
a finished product at the end that you can take home and show your friends.
But I think those those courses will will be of enormous benefit to people
that are are kind of thinking of, Okay, how do I improve?
So that's kind of that's kind of where my mind at is. You know,
routing, drilling, sawing, finishing, even as simple as fastening.
We have a lot to learn and we have a lot to master. How
do we fasten something? How do I drill into brick? How do I
drill into breezeblock? Amazing? How do I fix the plaster board? How
do I fix the ply with I think that you're really onto something, and
the fact that you're already established as well before anyone here listening things, I'm
going to do that. I know that you've taken a long time to set
your place up, establish yourself, and I just think that actually the router
one is perfect because whether you're a tradesman who has never done that work before
once to buy self a router, I think it's really important. I learned
from a book. I mean with routers. There was a when I was
in my early twenties, when I've got my first router, there was a
guy was pretty famous, so I forget his name now he's passed away,
unfortunately, but he was a router expert and he was really well known for
it in the industry. Used to go to all the trade shows and I
got his book and I read everything and I learned so much. So what
you're talking about is brilliant. Yeah, thanks, well, hopefully hopefully can
come make a guest appearance, right, I'd love it, I really would
anyway talking to that. I'll see you soon, I'm sure. So thank
you so much for joining me once again, and we'll catch up with you
next year. The Carpentry Show Monday from three and catch up anytime at fixradio
dot co dot UK the builders station FIGX Radio. You're listening to The Carpentry
Show with Festal. I'm Robin Klevitt talking about the approach to working in our
trade during the winter months. So a question that I asked a bit earlier
on in the show was how much time do we at Christmas? I asked
Max and he talked about finishing on the last friday before and going back into
the new year. And that's pretty traditional that if you ask me what's happened
during my career, most sites will say we're going to work up to the
Friday and we're going to lock up and we're not going to open again until
say after the bank hology in the new year, so the second third or
whatever. So that's pretty typical for the building trade. So the question of
how much time should we take off now that's sometimes dictated to us. For
example, the sitle shut or a client will say I don't. I really
don't want anyone in my house until after the new year. So it's pretty
much forced upon us. And I think that's a good thing because as self
employed trades people or businesses, we tend to not take enough time. I
know that you might be thinking, well, you can't afford to take eight,
nine, ten days off without having any money coming in because the bills
are still going to be there. And Christmas is a really expensive time of
the year. You know, We've got not just the fuel to heat our
homes, we've got obviously buying presents and food and all the rest of all
the nice things that we should be doing. So it is a stressful time
for trades people, I really do. I never underestimate that because hanging over
us in January is obviously got to pay our tax, so our self assessment,
and that has to be paid by the end of January, so all
the way through January, lucky, it's a long month and we can hopefully
get ourselves back into work, you know, and earn enough to cover the
tax and all of the expense of Christmas. So I think that we should
take it as much time as we can off. When I was a lot
younger. We did used to go in between Christmas and New Year. There
was always a couple of days there still is that we go in. But
actually, while we're talking about there, let's not forget all of the people
who can't take time off over Christmas, especially the medical staff, nurses,
doctors, people in public services. So, yeah, if you happen to
have a loved one or you are in that sort of world, you're listening
to the carpentry show, which I would be happy that you did. Yeah,
good luck to you all and thank you for what you do. Okay,
So what kind of work should we avoid taking on during the colder and
stormy a month's Well, in an ideal world, you'd work inside, wouldn't
you. But we're not in an ideal world, and very often we'll take
on what fits in with our schedule. So if you're finishing the job and
you've got a job come up, and it's another roof construction job, you
think, well, I've not got a lot else to do. I'm going
to go and do it. I suppose my thing there is, if you
can pick and choose, you'd obviously choose the inside work because you're not going
to get rained off potentially and you get you know, you can use lighting
inside easier than you can outside. You can get full shift in, so
I would say, obviously try to do the inside stuff. But sometimes it
can be really dry in December October this year is apparently one of the wettest
we've had on record. Normally you'd think you could still be doing a little
bit of outside work in October. So, you know, you just don't
know. In our climate anymore, we're on something like four different jet streams
that meet over the UK and give us exactly what they want when they want.
So yep, it's very hard to predict. So with Christmas coming,
what kind of bonuses or gifts could we give our employees coworkers and Subby's okay,
like a little morale booster to start off twenty twenty four on the right
foot. Well, yeah, in the idea, wor'd be nice to just
hand out loads of cash, say he is a bit of extra and all
the rest of it. And I think that some people do do that.
Or even if it's given a paid day off, say oh you know you
have a day off, surprise them instead of finishing on the Friday, say
nope, we're finishing on the Thursday. I'm going to pay you for the
week. There's so many different ways of doing it. A hamper something like
that, or something for their partners. So quite often I've been working for
people and then they give me a gift, but it's not for me,
it's for my wife. And I always find that really really nice as well,
a little bit of a morale booster. And go out and have a
beer as well. Try to get out when you're all finished on that afternoon,
have a few beers reminisce and I always think that's quite useful as well.
And rest, okay, make sure you rest. Lastly, my top
tip for working on site during winter well, try to keep warm. As
we said earlier in the show, keep warm, keep dry, make sure
you lock your stuff up, don't lose anything because when it's getting darker,
I've actually left stuff outside because I've been putting it away. It's all of
a sudden got dark. Come back in the morning and I've still got a
tool outside in the dark, and I think, oh, I must have
missed that. So yeah, make sure you look out for that. Anyway,
down Tools with Trevor rich Is quickly approaching from four pm, so I'll
be back to wrap up today's show on Fix Radio, the builder station Fix
Radio. So that's about it for today's Carpentry show with me Robin Clevett.
And I've just been sitting here thinking to myself, actually, yeah, we're
talking about the weather here in the UK, and yes it can be cold,
but very rarely is it any lower than minus five or something like that.
I know, if you're listening in the Highlands of Scotland, yes you
can have some really big extremes up there and so yes, but where I
am concentrated down in the south, he's like the Riviera compared to up there,
so yes, we only get sort of you know, we don't get
that many frosts anymore. And I know down in the West Countries there are
some parts of the West Country in Cornwall that apparently don't have a frost.
So if you're from that area, let me know if that's the case,
because I always find that interesting. So while I was away a couple of
weeks ago in Austria, I was in Austria, Germany and Lichenstein. I
was lucky enough to meet a guy called Joe Canning aka the Canadian carpenter on
Instagram, so if you follow him, you'll know who exactly who he is.
He's a bit of an icon when it comes to carpentry. And I
said to him while I was having a chat with him, so tell me
about what it's like working in Canada in the winter, and he said that
quite often it will be minus forty. And when he described what the conditions
of trying to actually operate in minus forty, keeping the tools going, even
keeping the wagon going, the van going, it was really something. So
we have nothing to worry about. In fact, he laughed when I said
to him where he gets down to about minus five and he says, oh,
we're still in shorts and T shirts when it's like that, So yeah,
we don't have it have it that bad. And if you don't follow
him, it's worth going to look at Joe Canning so he's Canadian carpenter and
tell him I sent you. Tell him I said to say hello, because
he is a really good guy worth watching, okay, or listening to.
So you can hear this show again from ten pm right here on Fix Radio
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