Imagine you walk into a one of our Laundry Spot stores. You’re greeted with a friendly attendant who is holding the door open for you as you carry in your laundry basket. The store is clean and well lit. Seems like a nice place to spend the next hour doing laundry. The fresh smell of ozone grazes your nose as you walk to an open washer. You’re greeted with another attendant who offers their assistance at the machine. You’re taken back at how kind the staff is. You’ve never experienced this before in a laundromat. You notice a little robot in the back folding clothes. You’ve never seen that before either. You move your clothes to the dryer. A manager walks by and you ask “is that a little laundry folding robot behind the counter?” The manager replies with: “Yep, that’s our Laundry Spot Bot! He folds most of the laundry for our commercial customers. It frees up our amazing staff to greet customers, offer assistance, and be more present on the store floor.” You take your clothes out of the dryer and head to your car. The attendant that greeted you helps you on the way out as well. On the drive home you feel impressed by the technology in the store. It felt nice to be spend time at a laundromat that cares about the customer experience. You plan to come back next week. ———————————————— This short story displays what our mission is at Laundry Spot. Elevate the customer experience from all angles and invest in good people and technology to accomplish this goal. We don’t have any Spot Bots™ quite yet but mark my words. It will happen. In the meantime, we’ll continue executing the great customer experience portion Robot-less.

No way these dudes are hanging drywall this fast day in and day out.

House flipping culture has gotten out of hand. “Let’s come in at 200k, cover the kitchen with stickers and sell for $500k.” Lipstick on a pig big time.

If CAT sold tickets to their live demos I bet wives would be without husbands and children would be without fathers. All men would just go hit the CAT demo for happy hour every night. It’s probably better this way.

Make cars analog again. I want knobs, switches, latches, catches, and the sounds and enjoyment that go with it. I want less screens in my life and more buttons. How do we make this happen?

In the Midwest, if your parents made $100K when you were growing up, you were loaded. Now, making $100k barely allows you to shop at Aldi. Inflation 101.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Watching masters at their craft never gets old.

Guys, it’s happening.

Every single thing in the video is life goals. - Family - Mountains - Projector - Classic truck - Custom truck bed table.

If you own a Home Services business and you’re pricing by the hour STOP. In home services there is a pricing paradox that occurs when quoting a job for a customer. Customers want the work performed to high quality standards and also done in a timely manner. Often as quickly as possible. Signaling that they value time. However, the second a plumber, electrician, HVAC contractor, etc gets the work done in less time that the customer anticipated, they have a problem with the price. Assuming they should be charged less because it took less time. That’s now how things work. You’re paying for experience and craftsmanship not an hourly rate. Contractors should be incentivized to maximize adding value to their customers. Not drag things out (or cut corners) because they need to hit a labor target. You’re holding back your talented team who could get the job done more efficiently if they were incentivized properly. You’re also backing yourself into a corner with customers by anchoring them with a labor allowance. Price by the job not the hour.

What’s stopping you from getting a heard of goats and charging people to feed them? It’s impressive how much they can clear in a short period of time. They even eat poison ivy.

Some background. Still roasting him 4 weeks later.

You go over to a friends house burger night. It's you and your wife, the hosts, and 3 other couples. You have a great time per usual. The next morning, the host hits you with a $100 venmo request. You don't mind chipping in but think it's a lot for burger night. You're suspicious they divided their entire grocery bill for the week amongst all couples who attended. What's your next move?

I received a call today that stripped us of $300-500k in annual sales. A $15M/year General Contractor in our area made a decision to bring cabinetry in house. The owner called me, first time I had ever spoken directly with him. Here’s what he told me…

This phenomenon happens where parts and labor to repair/replace stays the same but the value of the sum of parts goes down.

This is Russ. Russ is a licensed underground utility contractor. Russ’ dream was to build a timber frame home but the price from a builder shocked him. So what did Russ do? He took an online timber framing course and built his own house…🤯 We need more people like Russ to teach younger generations about problem solving and work ethic.

The sounds of a 1978 Ford F-150 Ranger. What happened over the last 47 years? My truck just sounds like plastic now.

We refer to that night as $500 burger night.

How much do ironworkers make? These guys are nuts.

Somebody talk me out of buying this 1972 Starcraft Starcruiser and turning it into the ultimate family road trip vehicle. Listed at $18k with 48,000 original miles.

I’m thinking of starting a side hustle where you can call me up to write up absurd quotes for any work your wife wants done. New kitchen cabinets: $125,000 New deck: $78,000 New dining room table: $23,000 Pretty sure I can scale this to $20k/MRR pretty quickly.

If not, then maybe we’ll cross paths again down the road and I want him to have a great memory of how we handled this. Moral of the story for young guns in sales and SMB (and my younger self), be authentic, add value, and play the long game. People don’t fail. They quit.

I put on my big boy pants and stopped doing major DIY projects in my house. First contractor I needed was a drywall guy. Got 2 quotes and went with the second guy. Confirmed he could do the work Wed-Fri this week. Texted him today now that we're inside 24 hrs. He was sick yesterday and forgot he was going out of town on Thursday and can't come by. 🤦‍♂️ When was he going to tell me that? He apologized and said he could come the following Wed-Fri. I said let's go for it but if that falls through we're calling the next guy. Managing this dysfunction is in part why I always resorted to DIY. Why is it so hard for people to pick up the phone and communicate? These days, you don't even have to pick the phone up all the way to your face. You could stop at hip level and shoot me a text. If you're in the trades, this is your competition. You have no excuse.

Guy math is spending $3,000 on tools so you can save $1,000 to do it yourself. Meanwhile it will take you 5x as long. It makes sense if you don’t think about it.

Here is an all white oak kitchen we did a while back. Yay or nay?

A lot of guys out here trying to work towards getting that Ferrari or Lambo. All I want is a restored 1970s or 1990s Ford F250. That, and Cirrus SR22. Will start with the truck and go from there.

I would like to submit my application to become a vintage boat deck grouter.

This plumbing job is a work of art. I’m a believer that true craftsmen will produce quality work all price points they can deliver on. However, I also think there is a direct correlation to budget and craftsmanship/creativity. Meaning lower budgets simply don’t allow for the time and materials to produce work like this in most cases.

I love to see other people take pride in their work and master a specific craft. This dude does the cleanest onsite oil changes. Has a dialed in work van, all the tools, and does super clean work. Pulling a vacuum until you’re ready to drain the oil is genius. Much respect.

This guy is on drugs. This kitchen sucks.

I will report back on this later this year to see what comes of this altered relationship. If you want to hear more about my pivots consider following @alexforbes__ liking, and a share would be appreciated.

The crazy part is, he is super clean with his cuts. Guy needs ti get into a different trade. Follow me @alexforbes__ if you appreciate quality craftsmanship. I have some cabinetry for ya.

They get a bonus for covering them.

Such a wonderful community you’ve built. I can see the children riding their bikes to Circle K for vape pens and monster energy.

Do they detail your car too while watching the movie??? This is nonsense.

Most people’s gut reaction is (as coined by Mr. Wonderful) “You’re dead to me.” Instead, a more productive response is to continue finding ways to add value in the face of defeat. It took me years to learn this in practice, but this is the secret to sales.

Is power washing your advertisement into a dirty public sidewalk genius level marketing, vandalism, or both? Bonus points for creativity while also dancing on the line of the law.

I mowed the lawn today while my wife and 2 yr old daughter were outside hanging out. When I finished mowing I sat down in the chair next to my wife to take a load off. 3 seconds later my daughter runs into the garage, fetches a beer out of the fridge and brings it over to me. I don’t know if I should be proud or concerned that she thinks I need a beer after mowing the lawn.

Just about sums it up. 😂

It was a hard debt to pay.

The result of this call was that he wanted my opinion on what software and machines to acquire for his new venture. We set up a meeting next week for him to visit our shop. The plan is to impress the hell out of him and hope the other 50% of demands is up for grabs.

Want to know a trade secret when finishing hardwood flooring? Mix up a batch of Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie Mix for the perfect walnut wood filler match. You can lick the trowel when you’re done!

Imagine, Trump exempts the $10,000 Toyota Hilux Champ from tariffs and begins importing to the US. I bet this little utility pickup would become the most popular vehicle on the road within 12 months, guaranteed. They would be the first car to many kids, farm trucks, campers, and off-road enthusiasts would populate the trails with them. Companies would purchase fleets of these trucks by the shipload and other auto makers wouldn’t be able to compete. It could help stabilize the economy giving people an affordable, capable, and durable vehicle to own with low payments. Think about it.

Imagine months of planning and weeks of fabricating this custom curved staircase and then delivering it and it not fitting. That’s not what happened here but just imagine the feeling. Anyway, excellent work by LHS on this custom curved pre-fab staircase. A+ planning.

Instead, be resourceful, be helpful, and recognize that the opportunity has pivoted, and exploit the new opportunity. All in real time. If there isn’t an obvious pivot, stay the course as it’s great to have friends in the industry.

Natural wood cabinetry is on trend right now. What do you think of this combo?

You want a bench in your shower. Contractor builds this. You don’t notice fails 1-2 years later. What’s your next move?

As a woodworker, I absolutely hate this. Instead of bringing the original top back to life, they decided to go with brand new walnut that probably cost $2000 and decided to beat the shit out of it to create the same effect. If you have an old antique piece, you should keep it as original as possible, and not put lipstick on a pig, especially with a completely different species of wood.

Lifting homes to rebuild foundations is a fascinating business to me. Very niche, very needed if you have structural issues, and very expensive. I imagine the planning and execution is intense. These guys in New England look like true pros. Anybody know the economics?

No sense in making a deal. Either sell to somebody else or give it to him saying he can pay you once he gets things moving. However, expect nothing.

Who is ditching their sander for a laser to strip old finish from wood surfaces?

Headed home with a crispy 2023 Tundy today. For everybody who wanted me to get a Sierra. My condolences. P.S. This VIN was not on a part of the engine recall.

“Alex, we may become somewhat of a competitor of yours. We’re building out a shop to produce 50% of our cabinetry demand in house as our current vendors can’t keep up.” I replied with, “I completely understand, what can I do to help?”

This old firehouse in Hamilton, OH is for sale for $100,000. It’s got the character, the charm, and the history to be a one of a kind home. I would assume you would need to be prepared with $1M for the build out. Would make for a great primary residence, airbnb, or mix use.

There comes a time in every man’s life where he must decide which tool brand he will form his entire identity around. The drill you decide determines your fate. Choose your fighter. 🫵

Is mowing your own lawn a poor man’s task or something to take pride in? Having your lawn look like mine right now makes me look poor either way.

If you ever find a painter, finisher, or trim carpenter who is an expert at burning in wax touch ups. Hold on to them for dear life. This is a lost art.

Breakfast Club.

Thoughts on waterfall countertops? Are they still cool or becoming outdated? Would you pay the premium to have this in your kitchen?

If you told your employees they could leave early for the day, would they? A year ago, my team would have cut out early without hesitation. Context: We work (4) 10 hr days M-Th and Thursday we do a deep clean of shop, offices, and bathroom. We hit an awkward point between projects and told the guys they could leave an hour early on Thursday. 4:30p hit (when we expected them to head out), then 5:00p, and then 5:30p, which is our typical day’s end. I asked Jason, “what is everybody still doing here?” He replied, “I guess they decided to wrap up a few loose ends and clean and organize more thoroughly than normal.” 🤷‍♂️ We were both amazed because historically, we were the ones who had to push the “above and beyond” mentality. We were witnessing the result of 24 months of practicing daily continuous improvement. 2 seconds improvements that we learned from Paul Akers at FastCap. The crazy part, these were the same people that would have left early a year ago. Building culture and growing a business in general is 100% about developing your people. Provide them guidance and resources to grow as an individual and the rest will follow. The mindset shift hasn’t been easy for me but becoming a servant leader is beginning to bear fruit and it’s a beautiful thing to see. Here is how the team left the shop at the end of this week instead of starting their weekend early. 🤯

I’m ready to get a new truck. I’ve narrowed it down to a Toyota Tundra or GMC Sierra. These are the exact trucks I’m looking at. Are you team Tundra or Sierra?

What does custom mean? How about a false 3 drawer pantry cabinet that opens as a single door into a walk-in pantry?

I’m going to tell you why you should spend $300-500 on a @BlackstoneGrid. My biggest complaint as an adult is the time it takes to grocery shop and prepare food. We’ve tried meal prepping but it took longer to clean up than to make the food. Our entire Sunday afternoon gone to shopping and meal prepping. No thanks. Hear me out, I was already intrigued by flat top cooking, hence why I testing it out with my little griddle over the grill. I loved it on a small scale and knew I needed more surface area to become a Meal Prep Pro™. So I pulled the trigger on a Blackstone 36”. So far I have made: - BBQ chicken and italian sausage - Chicken stir fry - Smash burgers - Eggs, bacon, pancakes. It takes 30-45 mins to fire it up, cook a heaping pile of food, and clean up. Enough for 2 more meals worth of leftovers for the 3 of us plus giving some to my Father in law as he watches my daughter once a week. I love this thing and do not have the slightest buyers remorse. My only issue now is that we’ve run out of Tupperware.

In 2025 there is zero reason to not obtain the knowledge and skills to be able to perform basic home repairs. Today’s DIY project was addressing a temperature issue with our shower. It would get scalding hot and wouldn’t level out. My tech stack for diagnosing home repairs: - Describe the issue to Grok - Grok provides the likely outcome in seconds. Pointing to the shower valve cartridge. - YT This Old House (or other videos) on how replace a cartridge. - Get part from Home Depot. - Replace worn cartridge and problem is solved. I did this with an allen wrench, screw driver, and pliers. Took 1 hour including my drive time to HD. Anybody can work on their own house to maintain it if they are the slightest bit interested and resourceful.

All about communication. But $500 worth of burgers, come on.

I would agree with you. We get together a few times a month and we have a pretty large group with kids now. Does that change your if we typically go to the same 1-2 houses?

What’s your best guess on $/sf to install and finish this herringbone white oak flooring? Hard wax oil finish. Exclude material cost. Just labor/sf charged to the customer.

My truck used to cost $35 to have washed. Now it’s $65 + tip at my local Waterway. The do exterior, wheels and interior. As a result, i’ve started washing it myself. Which has me thinking… Is washing your own car a poor man’s task or something to take pride in?

From a small garage soda business to Shark Tank to a $1.95B exit to Pepsico. Poppi is one of the coolest/most inspirational entrepreneurial journeys in recent years. The American Dream is alive and well in this video.

I got a call from the new home owner of a previous project we completed 3 years ago. She said the doors and drawers were falling off… At first, I was irritated because it was another problem I had to deal with. I went onsite and left with a polar opposite feeling.

If you dig posts celebrating the trades (or calling out shoddy work) give me @alexforbes__ a follow!

Is spray foam insulation the best form of insulation in a home or is it application dependent? I feel like you don’t see it in many homes. What does the cost difference look like? Regardless, I’m not sure this would ever get old spraying this stuff.

As a fellow woodworker, my brain 100% knows how to build this piece of furniture but simultaneously knows 0% of how you would even begin to produce a video like this. Incredible woodworking and completely mind bending video editing. 🤯 Craftsmanship never loses.

He was pissed.

My friends and family have paid me $105,000 over the last 5 years. They all were buying/renovating their houses and I just so happened to have a business making cabinetry. They could have bought cheap "off the shelf" cabinets but chose to pay more to support me at the time. One friend got a $25k kitchen, their parents got a $40k kitchen and laundry, another friend bought a $23k kitchen and laundry + a $2k coffee table, and my own mother added $15k worth of cabinets to expand her kitchen. It's a little different supporting your friend or family member when being their customer equates to spending $100-200 or less. Spending 10s of thousands is another story. At the time, we were just figuring out the whole cabinetry thing so their faith in me meant a lot. This is the first kitchen we ever did and still one of my favorites to date. My friends who trusted us helped launch us into doing $1M+ annually in multiple states across the country. Shout out to the ones surrounding you in the early days of your SMB journey doing what they can to support!

I was just charged $375 for 30 minutes worth of work from a garage door company. They removed a broken remote receiver on one of the overhead doors in the shop. Is that normal?

The American mind cannot comprehend this cabinetry. - Laminate interiors on a particle board substrate. - Pocket hole plywood drawer boxes. - No hardware. These materials get a bad rap in the States because of poor manufacturing quality from mass producers. Not because of the material alone. When sourcing from suppliers serving custom cabinet shop there is absolutely nothing wrong with these materials. The particle board is more dense, true to thickness, and the laminates are of a higher grade and quality. The problem is, it takes too much education to get this through to most clients and all they demand is plywood interiors, dovetail drawer boxes, etc. Nothing wrong with that other than you completely isolate certain aesthetics and sometimes price point.

I can agree. We always have each other over and the venmos fly around but there is no way that grilling burgers at home was $400-500. 😂

Here I was being told that we were likely not going to be awarded 300-500k/yr in business from a lead I was working on for 2 years as we were just getting projects underway with them. I could have written them off immediately after the first sentence of the call.

I don’t want a beach house. I want a 1997 Ford F250 with a 8’ bed. That’s all.

How many carpenters do you think are left in the country who can achieve this level of quality? Erin Stetzer and her crew is a force to be reckoned with. She is one of the most knowledgable and precision home builders I follow on social media (IG).

We’re up in Maine this week visiting family. I’ve been coming up here each summer for 30 years. Most things are as they were in the 1960s when my Gramps bought the first camp and started a multi-generational family tradition and gathering place. Now, there are 3 camps on the property. The Big Camp The Little Camp The Bunkhouse. The little camp was built 50-60 years ago and I think it may be the most cherished building in my life. I woke up this morning to enjoy the lake views with Nora and made breakfast in the kitchen that is stuck in time. Hand crafted cabinets built in place, solid pine tongue and groove, no toe kicks, window off center on the range, 40 yr old electric range that works like a charm, and my favorite little crooked lamp to tie it altogether. My absolute favorite place to be.

Custom cabinetry requires a lot from our clients. So many decisions need to be made. We strive to be the best vendor they work with and make things feel easy. Just gotta trust the process.

A whole other dimension can be built under these stairs.

𝕏 seems to be enjoying it.

The refacing and modifications will total $15k+ and she was happy they could get what they wanted. I fixed all the hardware and alignment issues and didn’t charge for the 2 hours I was onsite. It was a pleasant reminder that solving a customers problems always wins.

Have you considered just being in business longer?

Be honest, when was the last time you went on a legitimate date with your spouse? Not a trip to Costco. A get dressed up, grab drinks before, and hit the town kind of date? My wife and I realized it had been since before our daughter was born 14 months ago… So I’m going to put on that nice shirt that only fits when I don’t move my arms past 30° and take my wife out for a nice dinner. This is your signal to do the same. 🍻

AMEX Bros. Convince me why Amex is better than Chase Ink Premier? What is so great about Amex?

What light temperature should you go with in a basement? My wife and I are choosing between 3000K and 3500K. There isn’t any natural light in this space so does that mean we should go warmer or cooler?

If you’re a DIY guy/gal you may find yourself repainting your doors and replacing the hardware at some point. In doing so, the screws might strip out during the install. Pro Tip: Use golf tees to plug the holes, break off, and give you more material to screw in to.

We have an opportunity to bid on the last Frank Lloyd Wright new construction home. The client owns the original plans and spec book written by Frank himself. As you can imagine, everything is super precise down to the parcel of land it could be built on. The design is heavy on cabinetry and only the highest quality craftsmanship is expected. The problem... We are way overloaded right now. Throwing in a once in a lifetime project could bring the whole thing crashing down. What would you do in this situation? Take the job and scramble for the rest of the year or pass on it to not jeopardize the business?

Somebody explain what is going on here. What is the point of a 20’ foundation. Do they have a basketball court in their basement?

Regarding DIY. How many trips to Home Depot do you think you’ll make vs. how many trips you actually make? I’m 6 weeks into a basement remodel. I figured I’d go 3-5 times for different phases of the project. I’m up to 12 so far…

Something happened that I never thought I'd do. At least not for another decade. I sold my business. I started Lane 17 Cabinet Co. in a 1-car garage nearly 10 years ago. I only did $5,000 in the first 3 months of business. (Thanks Mom for letting me live at home at 24 yrs old.) Fast forward to today and we were on track to end 2025 at $2M. I feel like I gained 20 years of life and business experience in half the time by intentionally placing myself in the trenches to learn and absorb everything I could. I'd say mission accomplished on that front. While it came with plenty of sleepless nights, I am grateful I chose such a complicated business to scale. It forced me to learn about people, culture, systems, Lean, and continuous improvement. Most importantly, how to problem solve complex issues. I went in as a wide-eyed 24 yr old kid and left a 33 yr old business owner that successfully got an idea off the ground, scaled it, and sold to somebody else to take the reins. I feel fully equipped for the next chapter and hungrier than ever. 👊

Even if money is no object, what is the point of a 20’ tall door? My guess is it was $50k+ 🤷‍♂️ If it ever needs adjustment or gets damaged there is likely only a few people who know how to work on it. Seems completely unnecessary.

What sphere should I venture into to see Argentinians (per the OP) hang drywall?

I need help. How do you and your significant other decide on a movie when you never agree on movies? I’m buckling up for another wasted Saturday scrolling endlessly for a movie and then just deciding to go to bed.

If you’re a potential client who wants stained furniture, cabinetry, or millwork, please ensure that you actually appreciate wood for what it is. My fellow professional woodworkers will appreciate this video.

If you’re broke, you live and die by DIY. If you have money, you overpay for contractors. Which one is worse?