#715: Affordable Tools, Motivating Trade Workers, and Whole-House Dehumidifiers
The Fine Homebuilding Podcast
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
4.6 • 756 Ratings
🗓️ 12 December 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An anonymous listener outlines their company's strategy for attracting and retaining new hires. Josh reminds fellow FHB Podcast listeners about tool-lending libraries. Dan asks about the need for smart vapor retarders. Tim shares his experience dehumidifying his house with a simple system. Randy and Ian describe home projects and help Patrick address listener feedback and answer their questions.
Tune in to Episode 715 of the Fine Homebuilding Podcast to learn more about:
- Advancement and incremental raises for new trade workers
- The utility and cost of smart vapor retarders
- Where to put a whole-house dehumidifier
Have a question or topic you want us to talk about on the show? Email us at [email protected].
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I found this letter very confusing because I was taught that the point was to accumulate |
| 0:11.0 | tools as if they were part of a personal scorecard. |
| 0:15.0 | That's what I thought too, Ian. |
| 0:19.0 | Welcome to the Fine Home Building Podcast, our weekly discussion of building, remodeling, and design topics aimed at anybody who cares deeply about the craft and science of working on houses. |
| 0:28.8 | I'm Senior Editor Patrick McComb. |
| 0:30.4 | Today I'm joined by Green Building Advisor, editor Randy Williams. |
| 0:33.6 | Howdy? |
| 0:34.8 | FHB contributing editor and production manager for TDS custom construction, Ian Schwant. |
| 0:40.0 | Howdy? |
| 0:40.9 | And producer, Carrie Delahanty. |
| 0:42.9 | Hey. |
| 0:43.8 | Please email your questions to FHB podcast at findhomebuilding.com. |
| 0:47.6 | You can find previous podcasts and check out the show notes at findhombuilding.com slash podcast. |
| 0:54.0 | Well, it is good to see you all this morning. |
| 0:55.9 | Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. So, Ian, you sent me a news story a couple days ago |
| 1:04.0 | regarding a trust collapse on a commercial building site. It was what looked like post-frame construction. |
| 1:13.5 | A terrible thing. |
| 1:14.4 | Can you talk about that, please? |
| 1:16.1 | Yeah, so I don't know much about the job site, |
| 1:18.2 | but it was in our local main paper, |
| 1:21.2 | the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, |
| 1:23.3 | which I've been reading since my dad started getting it |
... |
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