“From Framing Summers to Full Builds: My Path to Construction”

Early Beginnings in Cambridge and Paris
I was raised in Cambridge, ON and moved to Paris after getting married. Paris has grown exponentially since I was a kid, so much so that it wasn’t until after living here for a few years that I realized my very first framing project (which was then in the middle of a field) is not far from my current home. I worked on this project on a framing crew the summer I turned 16.

I didn’t get the job entirely on my own merit – my uncle had worked with this company for years and often joked that he would get me a job when I turned 16, to show me “what a hard day’s work is like”. Let me tell you – he was not kidding. I don’t think there were many days I didn’t fall asleep on the ride home.

Learning the Value of Hard Work
What tuckered me out is what I have come to enjoy most about framing – it is an athletic event. On the best days, you are in a race against yourself and the other guys on the crew to get as much done, with the most precision possible. The walls you stood up, or the roof you sheeted, or the trusses you set are the scoreboard at the end of the day. The summers I spent working as a carpenter during high school undoubtedly taught me the value of hard work.

Apprenticeship and Craftsmanship
Fast forward through a university degree in geography (where I realized I preferred carpentry to an office job), and I began work full-time for a custom home builder based in Cambridge. I apprenticed under a highly skilled craftsman on a series of high-end projects. The work there on foundation, framing, and siding was invaluable because they set the quality bar so high. Framing on top of the foundations I had built, then siding on top of our own framing, I learned how important it is to do a good job for the next trade. The man I learned from used to say that framing is important because “it sets the tone for the whole job.” When other trades come to a well-built, neat and tidy new frame, chances are they will do a good job as well.

A Day for the Books
On one of my most memorable days with this builder, we erected a shoring wall to keep the earth from caving in on a foundation excavation. Two guys would carry a twelve-foot-long 8×8 timber (at least 200lbs each) and place it between vertical steel beams. We must have installed close to 100 of these timbers that day, in pouring rain and on ground that was pure clay. The mud was so sticky, even the excavator got stuck. My socked feet kept popping out in the deep mud as I left my boots behind, to ensure the giant timber we were carrying wouldn’t get stuck or lose momentum.

This was a day for the books – but not, for me, the bad books. This was one of my favourite moments in construction, because we accomplished what we set out to do and didn’t let miserable circumstances ruin our day. It’s a lesson I’ve taken to heart: don’t let circumstances dictate the flavour of the day.

Building Across Canada
I’ve since done numerous projects across Canada, from large and complex new homes to basement renovations and wooden decks. However, I still consider myself fortunate in how my apprenticeship worked out. I’ve learned how to build things well from many great carpenters. Just as importantly, I have worked alongside many people who taught by example how to work hard, be humble, and find joy in things we were doing.