Episode Details

737 Bricks in One Hour: Australia’s Bricklayers on the World Stage | DA Bricklaying Team Amuso

Season 1 Episode 61 Published 1 week, 2 days ago

Description

Damien and Tara from DA Bricklaying join Jimmy Talks Construction to talk about taking bricklaying from the jobsite to the world stage.

Damien has represented Australia in major bricklaying competitions in Las Vegas, laying an incredible 737 bricks in just one hour. But behind the competition is a much bigger story about building a trade business, managing a crew, working alongside your partner and trying to make the numbers stack up in today’s construction industry.

Damien and Tara break down how DA Bricklaying began, why a trip to compete overseas helped pull Damien back into the industry, and how they went from running a bricklaying company to developing and launching their own bricklaying tool.

They also get into some of the bigger issues facing Australian trades - falling margins, competing against operators with lower overheads, skills shortages, short-form trade qualifications, licensing and whether enough value is being placed on experienced tradespeople.

Plus, there are a few lessons from Las Vegas… including why going out until 3am before a bricklaying competition probably isn’t the best preparation.

In this episode:

• Competing against some of the world's best bricklayers

• Laying 737 bricks in one hour • Building DA Bricklaying

• Turning a bricklaying tool into a product business

• Recalling a product after a manufacturing issue

• The real cost of running a trade business

• Why competing purely on price doesn't work

• Running a business with your husband or wife

• Australia's bricklaying skills shortage

• Trade qualifications and licensing

• The difference between Australian and US masonry businesses