Shows / The Good Builder Podcast
The Good Builder Podcast
This week in home building news! Catch up with Az and a colourful array of guests, to hear about who's killing it, who's innovating, and who's getting into strife in the world of new home construction.
Episodes
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #330 | The Right Person For The Job | Alex Harris (Wattyl) and Bec (Adapt Modular)
Alex Harris from Wattyl on the couch for the first time, and Bec from Adapt Modular back for a second run.They join Az to talk about what the construction…
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The Daily Dose #329 | The Love Bomb, The Fluff And Three More Red Flags
Az unpacks five red flags to watch for before entering a business partnership.As The Good Builder has grown, the partnership approaches have grown with it…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #328 | Josh Tyrrell: Ten Years, 250 Homes. The Journey From Builder To Businessman
Josh Tyrrell signed with GJ Gardner Homes at twenty nine, opened in October 2016, and has since built around 250 homes across Warragul, Drouin, Morwell and…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #327 | Xero Economist Louise Southall on Productivity, Cash Flow and Why Construction Is Holding Up
Construction is one of the strongest performing sectors in the Australian economy right now. Louise Southall has the data to prove it.Louise is the Xero…
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The Daily Dose #326 | Marketing for Builders: Where to Actually Start | Paul Viva Digital
Most builders were never taught marketing. For most of the last decade they did not need to be. Orders came in, the phone rang, and whatever budget existed…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #325 | You Can Teach Anyone to Build a House with Rod Gibbs from Bold Living
Rod Gibbs has had three jobs in construction. He has done almost everything inside them.He started out tiling, switched to carpentry, and served his…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #324 | Care Factor is the Whole Job With Phil from WD Constructions
Phil runs WD Constructions in Melbourne. He started in 2018 with one week of work at a mate's house and a first child on the way. Six years on he has never…
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The Daily Dose #323 | Your AI doesn't know your business. The 10-minute solution for you.
Most builders open an AI tab, type into it like it's Google, close it, and get back the same generic content everyone else is posting. Hard hat emojis. Crane…
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The Daily Dose #322 | Zoning, Pathways And Pipelines: Reading The State Housing Targets
Az runs through the week that was.Every state is quoting a big housing number. Queensland says 100,000 homes. New South Wales says 150,000. Victoria says…
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The Daily Dose #321 | State of the Land: Queensland Doubled, Victoria Didn't
Two states. Same data. Same method. Queensland doubled and Victoria did not. That is the headline from the first State of the Land reports, and it is close to…
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The Daily Dose #320 | The biggest problem with communication is thinking it happened
Most builders treat a communication breakdown as a people problem. Dan Okart says it is a clarity problem, and it starts at the top.Dan from A Thousand Feet…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #319 | Aaron Applefield: Mindset, Stoicism and What Actually Makes a Good Builder
Aaron Applefield has worn nineteen different hats in twenty years at Brett's. Ask him what he does and he reframes the question. His core, he says, is simpler…
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The Daily Dose #318 | Winter Sucks giveaway, Pulse goes live, and Dreamworld's master plan gets the nod
A big week at The Good Builder. Az runs through three announcements and three headlines moving the residential building industry right now.The announcements…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #317 | Leadership and Culture: What's Really Breaking Builders with Dan from 1000 Feet Deep
Burnout. Staff churn. Chasing defects. A team that only works when you're standing over it. Dan from One Thousand Feet Deep says none of those are the real…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #316 | The Only Franchise in the QLD Top 100 That Grew: James Stroud on Kaizen, Quality & Listening to the Client
While the rest of the industry went backwards in FY26, Stroud Homes was the only franchise in our Top 100 report to grow — in both revenue and numbers. So we…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #315 | The FAFO Tax: Why Cheap Paint Jobs Cost You Twice
Brendan and Hayley Kelly have spent two decades building XP Finishes into one of the Gold Coast's most respected finishing trades — named Trade Business of the…
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The Daily Dose #314 | Fewer Homes, More Money: The QLD Top 100, a Land Report Sneak Peek & Why Customer Experience Wins Jobs
Fewer homes, more money...that's the Queensland building market in one line. In this Monday episode, Az runs through what's just dropped, what's coming, and…
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The Daily Dose #313 | Michael Hopkins: Why Australia Is Decades Behind on How We Build Homes
Australia tends to think it has home building figured out. Michael Hopkins isn't convinced.A bricklayer by trade, Michael learnt the trade in Wales, worked…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #312 | Building homes like cars: Pryda's Truss House, with Adam Dawson from Pryda
Every builder is up against the same question right now. How do you build more homes, faster, without dropping quality or blowing the margin?This episode makes…
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The Daily Dose #311 | Fewer Homes, More Money: Inside the Top 100 Queensland Builders Report
The Top 100 Queensland Builders report dropped on Friday. Most builders will scroll past the first 30 pages to see if they beat the bloke down the road. This…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #310 | Margins are won or lost before the job begins with Owen Chambers
Most builders think margin disappears on site. Owen Chambers says it disappears earlier than that.Owen joins Az from The Professional Builder, the coaching…
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THe Daily Dose #309 | Builders say quality. Customers say communication. With Increase Construction
Builders think their customers care most about build quality. Customers say it is communication. Az and the team from Increase Construction dig into where AI…
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The Daily Dose #308 | 1 July: Every Change That Hits Your Building Business
A new financial year lands on 1 July, and it brings more than the usual housekeeping. In this solo Monday episode, Az runs builders through every change…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #307 | The Youngest Builder in NSW, 30 Years On | Brad Acheson Stroud Homes Dubbo
Brad Acheson had his builder's licence before his 21st birthday. Possibly the youngest in New South Wales at the time. He spent the next two decades building…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #306 | The Builder and the Designer: Where It Works and Where It Breaks With Vicky Cutler
Most builds get into trouble long before anyone picks up a hammer. They get into trouble in the design.In this episode of The Good Builder, Az sits down with…
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The Daily Dose #305 | What Do You Do That Only You Can Do? With Dan from A Thousand Feet Deep
Most leaders stay flat out doing work that someone else on the team could do, while the work only they can do never gets touched. That gap sits at the centre…
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The Daily Dose #304 | Your People Are the Business | Julie Bolitho on Hiring, HR and Workforce Planning
Ask most builders who runs their HR, and the answer is "me."That's the problem.In this episode, Az sits down with Julie Bolitho, a recruitment and HR…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #303 | Honesty Builds the Business | Matt from Vanstyn Constructions
Matt was never the classroom type. He left school without much love for books or essays, and for years he moved through job after job trying to find his…
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The Daily Dose #302 | Why Builders Get Stuck Wearing Every Hat With Josh Pierpoint
This week Az is back on the Monday couch with Josh Peapoint from Elevate Estimating.Josh has just returned from two weeks in Bali with his family. No phone. No…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #301 | The Grim Reaper Who Tries to Keep You Alive First
When an insolvency practitioner walks into the room, most builders assume it is the end. Hand over the keys. Pack it up. Game over.But that is not how Chris…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #300 | Building Twice the Code: Dan Saunders on Healthy Homes, EcoPanel and the Super Home Movement
Our first New Zealand builder steps onto the couch, and Aaron reckons he summed up everything TGB stands for in about thirty seconds.Dan Saunders started…
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The Daily Dose #299 | The Live Map Tracking Every Property Price Drop in Australia
Existing property prices are starting to move. And it matters more for builders than most people realise.In this Monday episode, Az is joined again by Emily…
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The Daily Dose #298 | Where AI Actually Helps Builders (And Where It Quietly Hurts)
Most builders have tried AI by now. A lot of them have also quietly pulled it back.In this episode, Az sits down with Anisha and Nayan from ScaleUp Smart to…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #297 | Why Your People Are the Whole Business With Luke Cotterrell
Most builders know recruitment matters. Few understand it the way Luke does.Luke spent more than a decade inside building businesses before he placed a single…
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The Daily Dose #296 | Who's Going to Build These Homes?
The government has committed $2.4 billion to housing and infrastructure.The intent sounds right. More homes. More support for first home buyers.But there is a…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #295 | Why 1 in 25 Builders Don't Survive a Decade With Rod Frampton
Most builders can swing a hammer. Far fewer can run a business. And the gap between those two things is exactly why, by Rod Frampton's own count, roughly one…
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The Daily Dose #294 | The OGs of Prefab: Kersten Gentle on Timber, Carbon and Why Builders Need Their Manufacturer
Everyone talks about "modern methods of construction" like it's something new. Kersten Gentle has a different take: the timber frame and truss industry has…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #293 | Nagy Mourad: Why We Need Better Builders, Not Just More of Them
The housing conversation in this country is stuck on one word: more. More homes. More tradies. More builders. Nagy Mourad thinks we're missing the word that…
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The Daily Dose #292 | The Marketing Trap That Catches Busy Builders With Drew & Sean From Increase Construction
Most builders don't lose their marketing because they're bad at it. They lose it because they get busy.In this episode, Az sits down with Drew, Sean and the…
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The Daily Dose #291 | Big Week at TGB: The Advisory Board, FTMA, AVID's Melbourne Land Grab & the Trust Tax Change Builders Need to Watch
Happy Friday, and what a week. One of the biggest we have had here at The Good Builder.In this Friday wrap, Aaron runs through everything that happened inside…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #290 | Philip Livingston, Vital Ease Home Modifications, Duty of Care, and the Sector Builders Are Missing
Phillip Livingston is a trades coordinator at Vitaleese, a Melbourne-based home modification specialist working across aged care, NDIS, and private clients…
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The Daily Dose #289 | Building a brand without the bullshit with Emily Pollard
Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers flips the script this week and puts Aaron in the hot seat. The brief: how does a young, blunt, female broker market a…
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The Daily Dose #288 | The Federal Budget From a Builder's Point of View
The 26-27 federal budget has landed, and there's plenty in it that builders, tradies, and construction businesses will feel on the ground before they ever read…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #287 | The 22-Year Old Apprentice Rewriting What's Possible In The Trades | Lewis Italiano
Every now and then a guest walks onto the pod and you walk away genuinely fired up about the future of this industry.Lewis Italiano is one of those guests.He's…
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The Daily Dose #286 | The Market Is Splitting: Modular, Mansions and the Squeeze in the Middle (with Emily Pollard)
Aaron is back with Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers for another Monday breakdown, and this week they dig into something Aaron has been watching in the…
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The Daily Dose #285 | Why "Quality, On Time, On Budget" Is Killing Your Margin
Quality, on time, on budget. If that's how you sell yourself, you sound exactly like every other builder in Australia. And in a market this tight, sounding…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #284 | From Tree Lopper to Stroud Homes Franchise Owner — Tom Sachs on Building the Right Way
Tom Sachs didn't take the traditional path into building. He left school early, started lopping trees, discovered a love for working with timber in a mate's…
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The Daily Dose #283 | Is What Reddit Is Really Saying About Builders Right Now True?
Reddit doesn't lie. It's where clients go when they don't know where else to turn. And right now, it's full of confusion, frustration, and questions that the…
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The Daily Dose #282 | Big Changes at TGB, the Market Splits in Two, and Master Builders Take It to the Senate
A big Friday Daily Dose...and a couple of important changes coming at The Good Builder.From next week, the Daily Dose is moving to three episodes a week…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #281 | MyConstruct x BuildGrid: The Partnership Opening Up Australia's Builder Supply Chain
This one was completely off the cuff.Toby from BuildGrid flew up from Melbourne to visit us at The Good Builder Studio, and Jake from MyConstruct happened to…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #280 | Dan Urquhart on Seasons, Leadership & Why You Can't Build Alone
Dan Urquhart from 1000 Feet Deep is back on the podcast, and this one gets real.Az opens up about the season he's in right now...fired up, frustrated, and…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #279 | Future-Proofing the Industry with Toby Loft from BuildGrid
Productivity isn't a buzzword. It's the thing quietly costing builders more than they realise.In this episode, Az sits down with Toby Loft — co-founder of…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #278 | Why Clients Choose a Builder (And What They're Really Looking At)
Emily Pollard is back for her third Monday co-host session, and this one goes deep on something every builder needs to understand — how clients actually choose…
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The Daily Dose #277 | 5 Questions Every Builder Is Asking Right Now
This week's episode, we go straight to the source.Five of the most common questions coming in from The Good Builder community right now, answered in one hit…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #276 | The Quiet Builder: Trust, Standards, and the Art of Saying No with Ash from Glenvill Homes
Most builders will take any deal they can get.Ash doesn't.In this episode, Az sits down with Ash, State Sales Manager at Glenvill Homes, inside their new…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #275 | What Builders Were Never Taught About Healthy Homes with Zara D'Cotta
Most builders know materials, margins and project management. Very few know what the materials going into their homes are doing to the people living inside…
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The Daily Dose #274 | AI On Your Website Is Working. That's The Problem.
Az is back from Melbourne with something every builder using AI on their website needs to hear.The AI isn't broken. That's actually what makes it dangerous.In…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #273 | What Your Building Contract Is Costing You (And You Don't Even Know It)
Your contract could be killing deals before they even start.This week on the Monday episode, Az is joined again by Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers —…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #272 | What Builders Don't Know About Underpinning | Nicole Rosenthal, Foundation Solutions
Most builders don't talk about underpinning. Most homeowners are scared of the word. And most of the industry doesn't understand what actually causes a…
The Good Builder PodcastThe Daily Dose #271 | Know Your Market, Know Your Numbers, Know What You Don't Know. Matt Hope | Wattle Court.
Today's guest is Matt Hope, former master franchisee of GJ Gardner in NSW, ACT, and WA, and now co-founder of Wattle Court, a residential building franchise…