Let's Fix Construction

  Co-founder of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier returns to the mic to host episode 10. As a subcontractor that handles floor finishes, Eric commiserates about the month of August, which tends to be absolute hell for installers. Project schedules are being impacted on the front end more commonly due to weather delays, yet the completion timeframe of the buildings aren't being compensated for on the back end. Jobsites aren't ready. They aren't weathertight. Other trades work isn't complete. The HVAC is not on. Eric talks through multiple jobsites that have had water infiltration issues, even though the buildings were supposedly weather tight and ready for flooring. He also talks about the real issues that he is confronted with on almost every job - high concrete moisture rates and concrete planarity and levelness. An 1/8" in 10' radius is the standard in the industry, yet it is getting increasingly more difficult to achieve that. What is the key of a successful flooring project? Be aware of the moisture

Co-founder of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier returns to the mic to host the first episode since September of 2018. Eric eases back into the podcast by reminding the listeners how steeped in the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) that Let's Fix Construction ends up being. Eric attended CONSTRUCT, CSI's National Conference, Annual Meeting and affiliated tradeshow in Philadelphia in 2010. Thanks to the Greater Lehigh Valley Chapter of CSI, Eric got to attend his first full conference of CONSTRUCT in 2011 in Chicago and then went on to return in Phoenix in 2012, Nashville in 2013, Baltimore in 2014, St. Louis in 2015, Austin in 2016, Providence in 2017 and Long Beach, CA in 2018. 2019 will find CONSTRUCT at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, MD on Wednesday, October 9th through Friday the 11th. The Education Advisory Council, that Eric has been a member of for three years now, had a chance to meet in National Harbor in November of 2018 and preview the host re

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside, host the latest episode and start talking about the Summer construction season Summers as a contractor, as Eric's company is, is typically filled with project management and the physical construction of a building. However, this Summer of 2018 was filled with a heavy bidding climate for Eric, as well as many other contractors that he spoke with. Cherise, in contrast, who works in a design studio, found that 2018 has found that projects are not bidding when they would typically bid. Owners are looking for alternative methods to save money and get their projects built, including looking for alternative schedule to build. As a finish trade, Eric bemoans how the construction schedule typically squeezes the Division 9 contractors, especially the flooring guy, who are forced to work with other trades in the room in sub-par conditions such as non-weather tight rooms or with HVACs not running. The skilled labor workforce is discussed briefly

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside, host the latest episode about social media, concentrating on the LinkedIn platform, which was the topic of the latest LFC blog post. Eric's social media history stretches back 10 years, starting on LinkedIn and Facebook and just about as long on Twitter. Cherise has about six years of experience and she was introduced to the benefits of social from Joy Davis, former Marketing and Communications Manager for the Construction Specifications Institute, after attending one of her presentations. Cherise states that social media is "one of the single biggest benefits to her career and her network in the last six years that she could have ever dreamed was possible" Eric's pointer before anyone dips their toes into the water on a social platform they don't use is to listen first and interact second. A 101 level of instruction for even the most common social media platforms is needed, even in 2018, and that is what LFC offers with our 'Social

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside, host the first podcast in five months! Where does the time go? 2018 is half done and we've had the opportunity to speak at numerous locations. This episode looks back at the past five months and the live workshops that Eric and Cherise have hosted since the last episode went live. It started with the 'Communication & Ramifications of Specifications (Part 1) at the FCICA Annual Convention in Biloxi, MI www.fcica.com on March 20th at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, which was the 'Specs 101' workshop renamed. Delivered to flooring contractors, distributors, manufacturers and installers, this presentation was extremely well received. The Specs 101 is needed as architectural specifications are not being introduced to design professionals in architecture school and are certainly not being given or even discussed to industry professionals. More information on Specs 101 can be found at http://www.letsfixconstruction.com/specs101.htm

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside, open by discussing the movie 'Groundhog Day' and its premise of reliving the same day over and over again is much like construction and how we do the same things over and over again and expect different results: the definition of insanity! Cherise kicks off by talking about how one of her major peeves is the lack of coordination with keynotes on the architectural drawings and the disconnect between the design team and the architectural specifier or whomever is taking lead on the standards. Eric's first Groundhog Day insanity is how the typical building product marketer leads off a typical sales call by regurgitating marketing speak: the age of their company, how they've never had a product failure and how wonderful their warranty is. Meanwhile, they aren't achieving what they should be tackling: ensuring that they answer the questions and delivering the answers that the designer wants to hear. Cherise is able to offer the importance

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside discuss CONSTRUCT (www.constructshow.com). CONSTRUCT, which will be held in Long Beach, CA from October 3-4, 2018, is the only dedicated national trade show and educational conference for the commercial building teams that spec, source and purchase building products and coincidentally, is where they met in Phoenix in 2011. Eric and Cherise talk about their past personal experiences at CONSTRUCT, some of the professional benefits they have received in attending and presenting, the people they have met and the value of an event that includes education from many disciplines in the built environment. Learning sessions at CONSTRUCT are selected by an Education Advisory board, which both Eric and Cherise took part in for Providence in 2017 and will again for 2018. https://www.constructshow.com/en/education/Board.html. They close the podcast with a call to the listeners to consider submitting for the opportunity to share their expertise, kno

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside continue the conversation on Division 01: General Requirements that Cherise started on the blog post 'Division 01: The Project Road Map' which you can read at http://www.letsfixconstruction.com/blog/div01. Cherise speaks about creating the Specs 101 class and the rules of the project that are found in Division 01. Eric talks about how obtaining his CSI CDT (http://csiresources.org/certification/cdt) was an eye-opening and enriching education that demonstrated how architectural specifications operated far beyond the Division 09 that his flooring finishes were found in. The architect and their consultant document coordination are a source of conflicting information and Cherise's original presentation 'Architect/Consulting Engineer Coordination: Closing the Gap' was generated as a result of these issues. Read more about 'What ARE specifications?' including the definition of Division 01 from our friend Liz O'Sullivan on her blog here: htt

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside introduce the Young Professionals Day workshop. Cherise speaks about getting involved as a young professional (commonly identified as 35 years old or younger) herself in the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) industry. Cherise was the lead instructor for the official Young Professional's Day at CONSTRUCT (CSI's annual conference and affiliated tradeshow in 2015, 2016 and 2017) and goes into the background of how "YP Day" came about and her involvement. As a former participant in Young Professionals Day, Eric speaks on the speed mentoring session that typically transpires and identifies the need for young professionals to get up speed not only as fast as possible, but faster than possible. Introduction: By Mel Allen www.therealvoice.com Theme: "Let's" is performed by Milton Busker www.miltonbusker.com

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside introduce their backgrounds in the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) industry. Eric and Cherise introduce the rationale behind the Let's Fix Construction workshops and talk about the first few presentations held in Oregon and Providence, RI.   Introduction is by Mel Allen www.therealvoice.com Show theme song "Let's" is performed by Milton Busker http://www.miltonbusker.com 

Co-founders of Let's Fix Construction, Eric D. Lussier and Cherise Lakeside introduce their latest side of LetsFixConstruction.com, their podcast by revisiting their blog post 'Listen in for Our Latest Avenue'. Eric and Cherise briefly reminisce the founding of Let's Fix Construction and quickly discuss what they hope to attain with their new podcast. Show theme song "Let's" is performed by Milton Busker http://www.miltonbusker.com