August 16, 2025 • 31 mins
The long-awaited "Big Beautiful Bill" has finally passed, and it's reshaping America's construction and housing landscape in ways both expected and surprising. Donnie and Eric dive deep into this massive legislation to unpack what it really means for contractors, developers, homebuyers, and the future of housing affordability.
As rain continues to plague construction schedules across the Carolinas, Donnie shares invaluable insights about an unexpected side effect – widespread bathroom ceiling mold caused by malfunctioning vent fans. This practical advice alone could save homeowners thousands in unnecessary roof repairs when the real culprit is a simple damper issue.
The heart of the conversation examines the BBB's most impactful provisions. Contractors will celebrate the 100% equipment deduction that's already enabling business expansion, while developers gain advantages through increased Low Income Housing Tax Credits and streamlined permitting processes. The hosts thoughtfully debate whether these benefits will ultimately reach homebuyers or remain primarily with developers.
Perhaps most forward-thinking is the provision allowing 529 savings accounts to fund skilled trade education. With associate degrees in construction technology costing just $1,400 per semester at North Carolina tech schools, this opens crucial pathways into trades desperately seeking qualified workers. As Donnie notes, "You have no idea how far you're separated from the rest of the construction population just by being able-bodied, smart, having a valid driver's license, and showing up on time."
For those discouraged by the seeming lack of direct assistance for first-time homebuyers, the hosts point listeners toward valuable resources through the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The conversation concludes with cautious optimism that while the initial benefits favor developers and production, a stronger construction sector will eventually create more affordable housing options.
Ready to navigate the changing construction landscape? Visit thecarolinacontractor.com to explore past episodes and submit your housing questions directly to Donnie.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Well, there's been so much rainlately we decided to come
inside and record a show.
It is the Carolina ContractorShow.
My name's Eric Smith.
Mr Donnie Blanchard, how's theweather affect you?
Because I work inside.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I wish I did some days, but the workload is not
the problem.
The dry days to get it done iswhat we're up against right now,
so pleased to say that we'rebooked out for months.
We just can't get a dry two orthree days to do anything.
So I had a mixture of insideand outside work with the
roofing company.
Of course, you can't open upsomeone's roof when there's rain
in the forecast every singleday after noon.
Anyway, we're getting there.
(00:38):
We got some dry weather ahead.
I'm crossing my fingers andjust hoping that we can make
some progress.
You coming across anything weirdwhen you have days and days of
rain, oh, yeah, Other than theleak calls coming in, you know
anything that could be made toleak during this historic rain
that we had?
What five, six weeks ago?
The week after the 4th,everybody came back from
vacation and that Sunday, I wantto say, the statistic that I
(00:59):
heard was it was a one in 1,000year rain and then there was ath
of 1% chance that it wouldactually happen and it did.
So I'm hoping that we're goodfor another thousand years
because I don't want to livelike this for the rest of my
life.
It's just, it's not sustainable.
I can work around the clock fora couple of weeks at a time,
but man, it's been hard andfunny situations that we've
encountered.
To answer your question,Several things.
(01:21):
We get the call.
When anything shows up on aceiling, everybody points the
finger at the roofer.
So you kind of got to go outand I have a little bit of an
advantage on most of the roofersin saying that I was a building
science major and then I'm alsoa general contractor, so I kind
of understand how your houseworks top to bottom.
And when they point the fingerat the roof and I go into their
(01:44):
bathroom, for instance, and Isee, you know there's mold all
over the ceiling and veryconsistent.
It's not like you couldpinpoint a place where it
started.
What I found is in bathroomsand toilet rooms, which are, you
know, the little single toiletoff of a bathroom with its own
door and own vent fan.
A lot of people have beenexperiencing mold on the ceiling
, and when I see it I knowexactly what it is, because
(02:07):
basically it's been a widespreadproblem, and heating and air
guys will tell you the samething.
They said that they've gottenseveral calls with the same
diagnosis, and what's beenhappening is your bath fan
basically has a damper right onthe top of the fan and it also
has another damper that eithergoes out of the roof or it goes
out of the soffit, meaning theoverhangs on the house, and so
both have to work in conjunctionwith one another to make that
(02:30):
thing operate like it's supposedto.
What's been happening is eitherone of the two or both have
been getting stuck, and they'reusually just a cheap piece of
plastic.
When you buy it from the bigbox store, or even some of the
plumbing supply house orelectrical companies sell it
with a cheap damper.
What's happening is it'sallowing that hot, moist air,
and it's been.
There's been more moisture inthe air recently than we I can
even think of in recent years.
(02:51):
So it has a straight path intothat bathroom, because if you're
not running the fan, you knowit's just stagnant there and
that hot, moist air is basicallysitting on that ceiling.
You know heat rises, so thatair being hotter than what the
condition is inside.
It's a perfect recipe.
And I tell people all the timethat mold spores are everywhere.
The recipe for mold growth isyou have to have moisture, mold
(03:12):
spores and a cellulose or somekind of backer, and that
cellulose is the paper on thedrywall.
So perfect recipe on theceiling of a bathroom toilet
room.
And that's exactly what's beenhappening and I've seen mold
patterns that look likebeautiful tattoo art.
But uh, the side note there, ifyou're pretty handy and you want
to fix it yourself, you'regoing to have to squirrel
through the attic.
You know, get over there andthey make a spring loaded damper
(03:33):
.
That's pretty universal, It'llfit most bath fans and you can
get that pretty darn cheap andfix it yourself.
Otherwise, I recommend callingan HVAC guy because that's his
world for duct work and theventilation out of the bathroom.
So, um, but yeah, definitelysomething that we haven't seen
this much of that problem everreally, and uh, pretty easy fix,
but it usually gets bad beforeyou even see it.
(03:54):
So, uh, definitely something toaddress.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And I was just thinking, donnie, if, uh, the
motor can come on and the fanand you can hear it running, but
it doesn't mean it'sventilating properly.
So you could do a simple testif if you're a smoker, I guess,
or if you get a, a candle andblow it out, or if you're
addicted to the chronic, youjust need a little smoke, little
smoke trail or something rightunder that vent to make sure you
see that vent is pulling it upand out, to verify, because I
(04:22):
never knew, until you juststarted talking about it, that
the culprit of mold on a ceilingcould be a faulty venting
system from a ceiling fan,because we assume they work easy
and simple.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yep, yep, and I think you talked about that one time.
You had a scenario where youhad a vent fan in a bathroom
that blew the opposite direction.
Am I remembering that?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
right, it was a replacement because an old one
started chattering and I put itin and it was a plug and play,
basically.
Another simple way to test itis take a single ply of toilet
paper and just lay it across thevent and if the fan's strong
enough it's going to hold it upthere.
And it blew it straight downand I realized that one in a
million chance, I guess it waswired reverse so it was blowing
(05:01):
down even though it wasinstalled in the correct
direction.
So I returned it, got anotherone and used the um.
I used the stick of likeincense or something from I
don't know my wife's hippie daysUm, and it took it right out.
So I knew it was going theright direction, cause it's not
a huge thing.
You notice like it's not goingto blow down on you, but smoke
will definitely show what theplace that steam would go and
(05:24):
moisture would go to.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I'm glad you said that A lot of people confuse the
function of a bathroom fan forsmell and those are made for
removing moisture from that airbecause you know it's a wet area
, showers, sinks, it allgenerates too much moisture to
be trapped in that bathroom.
But people think that they'reused for smell and that's not.
I mean it helps with the smellbut not the primary function.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, let's just be honest.
If you want to help alleviatethat secondary problem of smell,
two words courtesy flush,courtesy flush, and then that
solves so many problems.
Have you heard of a productcalled Poo-Pourri?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yes, I've heard of that Go ahead tell them.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I'll get right back off of it, but it works like
it's supposed to.
It does.
I highly recommend A coupledrops and you're ready to get
out of the bathroom and notoffend anybody.
All right, let's jump intotoday's show, donnie, it is the
Carolina Contractor Show, and Iwant you to go into the Wayback
Machine by going to our website,thecarolinacontractorcom,
because back in November of 2024, we did a show where we talked
about who would win the election, what would they have
effect-wise on, especially notjust the country, but especially
(06:29):
construction and housing, andwe addressed what Harris might
do and what Trump might do.
And, of course, donald Trumpwon the election.
So we really listed a lot ofthings he was saying he would
like to do to help housing,construction, the economy.
Well, now we have the bigbeautiful bill.
It's now the big beautiful actbecause it got passed in July
(06:52):
and we've gotten to see a lot ofthings that are in this that
could have a positive impact.
Well, is it big, is itbeautiful?
We're going to find out.
Some of it sounds really good,some of it we talked off the air
.
Donnie, I think people aregoing to have to be patient for
things to happen.
I mean it just passed in Julyand it's going to take some time
to really get rolling.
(07:13):
But hit the website,thecarolinacontractorcom.
We've got all our shows inpodcast form, including that one
If you want to listen to that.
You can also find us on YouTube.
We record the shows and putthem up there, so there's a
direct link to the YouTube page.
If you have a question aboutyour house, maybe you want to
know if your ceiling fan or yourvent fan in your bathroom is
working, or something about yourroof, as Donnie was talking
(07:35):
about, or wet spots on theceiling, whatever it is.
Click on the ask the contractorbutton and Donnie will answer
those questions.
The reason Donnie is qualifiedto answer them is because he is
a general contractor.
He also owns SureTop Roofing.
That's why he talks about howbusy he is in the roofing
business.
So if you have a question aboutyour roof, another perfect guy
to contact, same one in the same.
(07:57):
And again, anything you need toknow about your house and need
to know about the show you canfind it there carolinac,
carolina contractorcom.
What do I do here Aside frommake smart ass remarks?
Uh, I do inside sales for homebuilders and uh, wilson and
Greenville, so I sell tosuppliers or sell to builders
like Donnie as a supplier.
I do not have a business,though, with uh Donnie at all.
(08:18):
We just do the show together,so I don't scratch his back and
vice versa.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think it may be only a matter of time.
E because man like you wentfrom radio DJ station engineer
to building supply.
Guy slash know it all.
You're getting well-versed inthis area.
I wouldn't put it past you tobuild a house out in Wilson for
anything.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So I can't divulge everything.
Our company is moving Wilson'sgetting that baseball stadium
and they're basically kicking usout.
So we're getting a brand newfacility on a bigger piece of
land in Wilson and a much betterlocation.
Our business is going to expandon things we will offer and I'm
going to be heading up one ofthose as a manager, so that'll
come out later, but lots of bigthings happen in that.
(09:00):
So, to address your direct point, donnie, would I, five years
ago, seen what I'm doing today?
No, not at all, not at all.
It's weird how you just let Godtake control of the reins and
where he'll put you.
God is good, my friend All thetime and all the time.
God is good, my friend All thetime and all the time.
God is good.
All right, so let's jump intothis.
I'm going to do a quick overview, if you don't mind, donnie, of
(09:21):
the Big Beautiful Act, the BBA.
It was passed again in July andit's massive, as is every
federal government bill andprogram.
It addresses, among otherthings, taxes, spending, housing
shortages, construction,homeowner and renter benefits.
It's between 2.4 and 4.1trillion over 10 years.
(09:42):
One thing it does is it aims toboost affordable housing and
construction.
But the first half of this andthis is why I said people want
to be patient.
Is it kind of favors developersand higher income home owners?
But what we're going to dotoday is focus on the big
impacts it's going to have onbuilding construction and people
looking to buy a home.
(10:03):
I like it.
I'm going to nerd out a littlebit here, so I want people to be
patient with me and that wouldmean you also be patient with me
, donnie.
It's going to increase a thingcalled the low income housing
tax credit.
The LIHTC increases it by it by12.5%.
Here's the definition I foundfor the nerds out there.
Developers use the Low IncomeHousing Tax Credit by applying
(10:25):
for credits through statehousing agencies, which allocate
them based on competitivecriteria.
Once awarded, developers claimthe tax credits annually over 10
years to offset federal incometaxes, reducing project costs.
That's a good thing.
The credits covering up to 70%of eligible costs for new
construction or rehabs willattract private investment,
enabling developers to financeaffordable housing projects for
(10:48):
low-income tenants whilemaintaining financial stability.
In layman's terms benefitsdevelopers who can build low
income housing without theircompany going into the red and
having to close down thenegative.
The developers get the benefitit would be on the developer to
give that benefit to the homebuyer.
(11:09):
I'm not saying this is bad, butmost developers are going to do
what Donnie.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Most developers are cold-blooded dude and they
aren't going to pass the savingsdown to what would end up being
the renter or the buyer of atownhome or an apartment or
whatever these things end upbeing.
And so, yeah, that's just myspeculation.
There may be something ifthey're smart, they may put a
requirement in the contract thatmakes them pass the savings on
(11:36):
to the people.
But then, if that's the case,what's the incentive for the
developer to take the project onin the first place?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And if we've got a shorting housing shortage easy
for me to say we need the housesbuilt so that spurs developers
to do it Now.
They can't build it in thesefrou-frou developments with
names that sound like you're ina European city.
It's designed to benefitbuilders and developers who are
going to build in areas that aremore impoverished or not as
(12:04):
well off, so it's not going tobe also just downtown or urban
or suburban areas.
A third of the opportunityzones is what they call them are
in rural areas, so that wouldbe houses out in the country,
out in the sticks, like whereDonnie lives.
So I personally think if it'sgoing to help boost home
(12:25):
building and construction,that's going to also create more
jobs and benefit the economy.
So I do see it overall is aplus.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah, same here.
I think the only takeaway thatI saw as a negative.
It's not really a negative, butI was just hoping for something
a little different.
Personally speaking, we've gotyounger folks in the family who
are right on the cusp ofhomeownership or building their
first house ever and wanting tostart families, and I was kind
of hoping that there would be abetter avenue for homeownership
(12:57):
versus the rental approach.
And so I think what this doesis it just makes, it puts a roof
over a lot of people's headsand for for an affordable price.
But back to your point.
If it doesn't pass the savingsof the of the big beautiful bill
incentive down to the end user,then you know, like you
mentioned before, the developersare the only one reaping the
(13:18):
benefits.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
But I do want to say I think we're expecting a lot of
things to happen quickly.
The bill just passed, as I saidearlier in July.
The president's only been inoffice seven, eight months,
right, so I'm hoping there'sgoing to be a second tier to
this later on.
That will help homebuyers,especially younger homebuyers,
because we've got to get thehouses built, then we can get
(13:40):
the people in them.
I would love it to happenfaster, but the wheels of
government move slowly Now.
One thing that might speed itup and you've definitely got a
position on this, donnie isregulatory relief.
It makes it easier to fundaffordable housing by cutting
the required bond financing forit and speeding up permits.
So when you apply for a permit,it could save days or weeks of
(14:04):
time to get that project going,and that's got to be good for
you.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, less red tape is always better.
But I will say that I watched adocumentary I think it was on
A&E, about the Trump family andjust how they got started land
acquisition.
On A&E about the Trump familyand just how they got started
land acquisition.
And you know, donald Trump,when he basically got the reins
to the family fortune, he took afew swings for the fences and
which I thought was very bold.
You know nothing crazy.
But part of the documentaryhighlighted the fact that he
(14:29):
went round and round with themunicipalities as far as just
getting permits and a lot ofpeople trying to shut him down
and get in his way.
You know, everywhere he turnedhe had a blockade.
So I want to say that there maybe something personal behind
that part of the bill, becausehe's just been through it as a
real estate developer and I'llsay that if that trickles down
to the little guy, then I'lltake it all day long because
(14:53):
less red tape is better, lessred tape is better.
Personally, I will say that myexperience with the local
municipalities that we deal within central North Carolina it
has gotten exponentially harder.
All love to my inspector,listeners and office staff at
the municipalities, at thecounty and the city, because,
depending on where you pull inpermits, some places have a very
(15:14):
streamlined approach and someplaces are just all over the
place and they're allincorporating a portal system.
So you have to go through aportal, you have to upload all
these documents, and some peoplejust take the documents as a
JPEG or a PDF, just whatever youcan get, because they
understand that.
You got a bunch of good oldboys out here and you know,
imagine a 70 year old contractorwho's having to submit
everything online and he's notthat good with the computer.
(15:35):
I think that there needs to be.
There needs to be a level ofinternet experience, and it's
not that crazy for us.
We're we're pretty savvy, butyou could shut a lot of people
down because they can't even geta permit from not being able to
operate through your, youronline system.
So, um, but, but they've alltried to go that route in a two
to three year span.
(15:56):
So I just think that, um, thisis a good thing for them and
this will help out a lot ofpeople who are not comfortable
with all the online systems.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
You know, donnie, I have some contractors that will
call me up and say, hey, can youget a price on metal roofing,
or I got to get some custom cutlumber, can you get me a quote?
Just call me back and leave amessage and I'll call their cell
phone and their mailbox isn'tset up and or it's full and I'll
tell them later when I see themin person and they go.
Yeah, I can't even figure outhow to set up my cell phone.
So you're exactly right, theyhave trouble navigating the bond
(16:27):
process of a government.
They don't.
If they can't work their cellphone, they ain't got no chance
with a red tape.
Yeah, all right, let's skip thepermit part and go to the
contractors.
I'm not well if you own yourown construction company.
I think this is huge and I wantto address it real quick.
(16:47):
This is huge and I want toaddress it real quick 100%
deduction for equipment andbuildings starting this past
January 19th 2025.
And here's how it works Abusiness can deduct the full
cost of eligible equipment, likemachinery and vehicles and
computers and software and cellphones and certain real estate
improvements, like the qualifiedimprovement property, which
I'll explain in a second.
They can deduct that in the yearthey are placed in service,
(17:08):
rather than depreciating themover time.
This applies to new and usedassets and you have a recovery
period of 20 years or less ifyou bought it January 19th of
this year and the QPP, thequalified production property,
is non-residential buildingsthat are used for manufacturing,
production, refining, like afactory, qualify for full
(17:28):
expensing if construction beginsbetween January 20th of this
year, which is obviously monthsago, and the end of the year
2029, and it's placed in serviceby 2031.
You can't use office space orhotels.
But basically it's saying wewant you to build manufacturing
which is mobile home parts, wewant you to build manufacturing
which is mobile home parts.
Or if you're an LVL builder andyou have inside facilities or
(17:52):
the trucks and the vehicles todo things, I think that's a
great thing.
And you're somebody who doesdeductions, do you see that as a
really good positive to be ableto deduct immediately?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Oh for sure.
And did you mention the partabout did I hear that right?
You consolidated to theequipment write-off as well as
the production facility.
Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah.
So on the equipment rentaltrucks, skid steers, trailers,
anything that helps improve orfurther your business is
deductible all at once, versusover time a little bit every
(18:27):
year, and so that's a big help.
As a matter of fact, we tookadvantage of that when we found
out about it.
I've been flirting with buying anew skid steer, so I just took
the plunge and bought a newBobcat.
So it's been a big help already.
And you know it's a littleextra work to haul that thing
from job to job.
But not having to rely on asubcontractor to come move a
(18:48):
cube of brick or a pallet ofmortar or just kind of tidy up
things on the job site, it'sbeen a big help, makes your job
sites look a lot better, and Ithink that a lot, of, a lot of
contractors are always on thefence about that.
Do you buy that skid steer, doyou?
You know, do you, do you just,do you just, you know, rely on
other people?
And in terms of a companyexpansion, it's definitely
changed the game for us becausewe just added an extra tool to
(19:11):
our arsenal.
But the other part about theincentive to if you have a
production facility where youbuild LVLs, like you said, or
maybe not even LVLs I knowthat's a big to do to take on
most of the trust companies, orthey have the production
facility to build the LVLs onsite, and so that'd be a big
undertaking.
But just from a smallerstandpoint, if you were doing
(19:32):
something that contributed toanother phase of the
construction process on asmaller level, that is, for
somebody to have a foot in thedoor just to be able to do that
and the government get behindthem, I think is all attributed
to them.
Encouraging domestic production.
That's probably my favoritepart of the bill.
That he's saying hey guys, wegot your back, you want to
(19:53):
produce it here?
You know we're going, you knowAmerican made all the way and
we'll help you get the facility.
You put the qualified peopleand equipment in place and we
will do.
I think it's more than help.
I don't think it's just alittle nudge.
I think that's half the battle,what they're offering to do.
So out of everything that Ilike about the bill, that's
probably my favorite and thatpushes.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That doesn't push you over to the fence, it just
kicks your butt over it to makethat decision and go.
I'm going to build this Now.
This is what I think.
I'm going to build this Now,this is what I think.
I'm married to a teacher, soI'm a little biased in this.
But there's something else thatI want to get into.
So a lot of people out thereknow who Mike Rowe is.
He's the voice of Dirty Jobs.
He was on the show.
He's the voice of DeadliestCatch.
(20:37):
A lot of people don't know this, but I don't know.
Maybe two every three months,donnie, we hang out with Mike
Rowe and we have a couple beersand we just talk shop.
Mike pointed out something amonth and a half ago that I
thought was brilliant.
He said back in the BarackObama era of the presidency.
He basically said you need toget out of manufacturing.
(20:58):
Those jobs aren't coming back.
You need to learn to code.
It became a left-wing thing tosay to a manufacturing company
or the evil blue-collar workercompany that shut down well Bish
, you better learn to code, wetold you.
Well, mike Rowe pointed outguess what?
Now we hear AI is taking overall the coding jobs because the
(21:19):
majority of people can't work asfast and they need to take up
blue collar jobs because AIcan't do it.
Well, after you and I flew backfirst class thanks to Mike Holm,
we find out in the bigbeautiful act, 529 savings
accounts, which are what you putmoney into and then can use for
educational expenses, are nowgoing to be allowed to fund
(21:42):
skilled trade training likecarpentry, plumbing, electrical
certifications, things like that.
So if you're a kid coming out ofhigh school and your parents
have been saving up a 529 fundfor you and there's $10,000 in
it and you're like but I don'twant to go to a four-year
college, I want to become anelectrician and then own my own
company, or you can now use thatmoney.
(22:03):
So I did a little legwork verycursory, not in detail, but I
looked at associates in appliedscience for building
construction technology degreefrom the average tech school in
North Carolina.
It's just 1400 bucks a semester.
That's 230, some dollars amonth.
You're done in no more than twoyears.
So, all that being said, you'redone in no more than two years.
(22:25):
So, all that being said, donnie, how in demand would a young
guy or girl coming out of a techschool with an associate's
degree in constructiontechnology be valuable in your
world.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Very much so.
I think the most popular topicthat I hear across the board is
that you can't find good help.
You can't find people that wantto work.
And you know I have wonderfulguys.
They've been with me for almosttwo decades and I have
somewhere for them to go everysingle day, every week, every
month, every year, and they geta paycheck every single week.
(22:57):
So there's value in that and Iknow they stay with me because
I'm loyal.
I pay them well, but noteverybody's like that and a lot
of people aren't like thatbecause they can't find the
qualified help.
What are you going to do?
Pay a guy more than he's worthjust because you need somebody
there you know to to hold theirhand, and so they have a
heartbeat.
They have a heartbeat and adriver's license, and that's sad
.
That that's I will.
(23:18):
I don't mean to get off subject,but I told buddy you have no
idea how far you're separatedfrom the rest of the
construction population.
All because you're able-bodied,you're smart, you have a valid
driver's license and you're alegal citizen.
Boom, right there, and you showup to work on time.
Oh, he's the first guy at theshop every morning.
(23:39):
I love it.
He works for my dad still, andhe beats everybody to the shop
almost every morning.
I'd say he's I don't know,batting over 900 with that and I
love to rub that in that theyoung new guy is setting the
example for the older guys.
But no, I think that that is agreat incentive and any way to
get more experiencedtradespeople in our world is
(24:02):
only going to help, because Ifthey're increasing the demand
for the construction, there'sgot to be the qualified people
to actually do the work.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, we've always said blue collar jobs are
treated like the redheadedstepchild.
But my how the turns havetabled, because now those are
the guys that are making upperfive figures to one hundred
thousand dollars just a coupleof years into the job, because
it's so in demand.
And I ain't going to putshingles on a roof or put
(24:29):
plumbing under a house.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Exactly, you just went back to your DJ days.
By the way, you said my havethe turns have tabled.
You were thinking of turntables.
Yeah, I liked it.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, I never you know, I never used turntable.
I was straight into, uh, whatwas called carts and CDs and
then computer but but but we'renot going down that road.
So there is a not beautifulthing about this bill.
Before we wrap up and I want toget some of your opinions on
something when it comes tohousing, energy credits are
going to get phased out.
These are tax credits foreco-friendly construction like
(24:59):
solar insulation, and they'regoing to be phased out by 2028.
That could increase the costfor energy efficient homes and
we've done many shows at thewebsite thecarolinacontractorcom
you can listen to about theadvantages of energy efficient
appliances and devices to saveyou money.
But the OBBA terminates theenergy efficient home
(25:20):
improvement credit afterDecember 31st 2025.
That's $3,200 for upgrades forqualifying items like heat pumps
and windows.
That's going to go away, butyou still have several months to
do this.
So if you've got a heat pumpthat's over 10 years old or
something that's going toqualify for this deduction we
talked earlier about making adecision get off the fence.
(25:44):
This is the time to do it.
Go get that new system.
Get the tax break.
Need new energy efficientwindows If they qualify, do that
now, because those things aregoing away.
I kind of wondered if it was astab at Elon Musk when he and
Trump had their little sissygirl slap fight and separated
like he was.
Like, I'll show you and get ridof those.
But I think overall for thisbill, is it big?
(26:07):
Yes, it's massive.
It's going to affect housingand construction.
Is it beautiful?
Developers seem at least thefirst leg of this to get the
advantage.
I don't think you're going topass it down to home buyers.
Higher income homeowners alsobenefit from this.
But construction jobs shouldpop up.
More domestic building that'salways a good thing.
(26:29):
The trade-off I think you getmore housing done, but the eco
credits hurt and if the pricesstill don't come down enough and
we don't get enough rate cuts,younger home buyers are going to
kind of be stuck in that and Ithink you've got a few ideas
because you're kind of in thatsituation.
It's closer to you right nowabout younger people trying to
(26:51):
buy a house today and you did alittle legwork on that.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, because it hits home.
Man, I'd say that that's that.
That was what I was reallyhoping for when I was, when I
thought we would do the show.
I said I'm going to dig intothis big beautiful bill stuff
and there's going to be so manythings that are going to help me
and my family personally,because you know my kids are we
got the first wave of them thatare all you know, starting
families needing houses and and,of course, kicking them out of
the nest is a real thing.
(27:15):
So, um, you know, uh, stay athome kid is, is, um, not
something anybody wants to hear.
Stay at home mom's one thing,but stay at home teenager or
stay at home adult is not cool.
So one thing, but stay-at-hometeenager or stay-at-home adult
is not cool.
So there's some good informationand all this pertains to North
Carolina homeowners orhomebuyers, because I thought
that would be pertinent to ourlisteners.
(27:37):
And basically there's a website, the North Carolina Housing
Finance Agency, so it's nchfacom.
It's not a gov website throughthe government, but they have a
collection of all the mostpopular programs that are still
available.
So the big beautiful billdidn't cut out these programs,
(27:58):
especially on a state level.
So, as discouraging as some ofthe points sounded, as far as
not having incentives for homebuyers, more so for renters, and
putting roofs over the masses'heads.
You know there's still a lot ofprograms out there and we did a
show with a mortgage broker, Idon't know, a couple months ago.
That was very content, rich.
(28:18):
But they have so manyincentives out there that will
give you they have I'm sorry,not incentives they have
programs out there that willgive you help with down payments
, and I mean to the tune ofthousands and thousands of
dollars, and as long as you'reable to maintain that home loan
for 15 years or so, a lot ofthose down payments are forgiven
.
So you know thousands ofdollars up front.
(28:38):
They have um, uh programs outthere for veterans and uh,
things that that it's just worthlooking into.
I would, I would suggest goingto that website and seeing if
you fit any of the criteria.
Again, it's nchfacom and youcan just do a simple Google
search for first time buyerincentives in North Carolina and
it'll lead you all to all that.
(29:00):
But I think a bigger pointthat's probably more helpful to
people listening is that we andwe talked about this off the air
we encourage people.
If you're thinking about buyinga house and home ownership is
something that you're interestedin, contact a mortgage broker
and contact a realtor.
It doesn't cost anything to dothat and they're so as far as
(29:21):
not being a lot of inventory outthere.
The realtors are hungry, sothey'll talk to you and a lot of
those realtors are in cahootswith different mortgage brokers.
So while I have my favoritesout there, you know I encourage
people to talk to a couple ofdifferent people.
Not everybody is a good fit foryou, but I'm sure there's
somebody out.
Better option had the electiongone the other way.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
To be quite honest, I think the building of domestic
warehouses and giving them taxbreaks, and encouraging domestic
workers and getting rid of redtape.
(30:01):
All those things are just goingto be coming to fruition in the
next few months and coupleyears and I assume you would
agree, being in the field.
Donnie, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, I want to give it time to play out.
I've seen a lot of these thingspolicies that have been real
controversial be put in place ina hurry and given just a few
months later they seem to beshaking out in a positive light.
So I'll give it a chance.
Maybe he'll make an amendmentand sprinkle something in there
for first-time homebuyerincentives?
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Boy, that'd be nice.
I'd love to see it.
All right, we'll put the showup on the website, also up on
the YouTube page.
Best place to start isthecarolinacontractorcom.
Again, if you want to listen towhat we were predicting back in
2024 before the election, thatshow was up there and we were
right on some things.
Some things we weren't wrong.
We just didn't know what wasgoing to be happening.
(30:52):
But it's all up there atthecarolinacontractorcom.
We thank you for tuning in andwe hope to hear from you and we
hope you see and hear us nextweek on the Carolina Contractor
Show.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit thecarolinacontractorcom.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, general ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
Well, there's been so much rainlately we decided to come
inside and record a show.
It is the Carolina ContractorShow.
My name's Eric Smith.
Mr Donnie Blanchard, how's theweather affect you?
Because I work inside.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I wish I did some days, but the workload is not
the problem.
The dry days to get it done iswhat we're up against right now,
so pleased to say that we'rebooked out for months.
We just can't get a dry two orthree days to do anything.
So I had a mixture of insideand outside work with the
roofing company.
Of course, you can't open upsomeone's roof when there's rain
in the forecast every singleday after noon.
Anyway, we're getting there.
(00:38):
We got some dry weather ahead.
I'm crossing my fingers andjust hoping that we can make
some progress.
You coming across anything weirdwhen you have days and days of
rain, oh, yeah, Other than theleak calls coming in, you know
anything that could be made toleak during this historic rain
that we had?
What five, six weeks ago?
The week after the 4th,everybody came back from
vacation and that Sunday, I wantto say, the statistic that I
(00:59):
heard was it was a one in 1,000year rain and then there was ath
of 1% chance that it wouldactually happen and it did.
So I'm hoping that we're goodfor another thousand years
because I don't want to livelike this for the rest of my
life.
It's just, it's not sustainable.
I can work around the clock fora couple of weeks at a time,
but man, it's been hard andfunny situations that we've
encountered.
To answer your question,Several things.
(01:21):
We get the call.
When anything shows up on aceiling, everybody points the
finger at the roofer.
So you kind of got to go outand I have a little bit of an
advantage on most of the roofersin saying that I was a building
science major and then I'm alsoa general contractor, so I kind
of understand how your houseworks top to bottom.
And when they point the fingerat the roof and I go into their
(01:44):
bathroom, for instance, and Isee, you know there's mold all
over the ceiling and veryconsistent.
It's not like you couldpinpoint a place where it
started.
What I found is in bathroomsand toilet rooms, which are, you
know, the little single toiletoff of a bathroom with its own
door and own vent fan.
A lot of people have beenexperiencing mold on the ceiling
, and when I see it I knowexactly what it is, because
(02:07):
basically it's been a widespreadproblem, and heating and air
guys will tell you the samething.
They said that they've gottenseveral calls with the same
diagnosis, and what's beenhappening is your bath fan
basically has a damper right onthe top of the fan and it also
has another damper that eithergoes out of the roof or it goes
out of the soffit, meaning theoverhangs on the house, and so
both have to work in conjunctionwith one another to make that
(02:30):
thing operate like it's supposedto.
What's been happening is eitherone of the two or both have
been getting stuck, and they'reusually just a cheap piece of
plastic.
When you buy it from the bigbox store, or even some of the
plumbing supply house orelectrical companies sell it
with a cheap damper.
What's happening is it'sallowing that hot, moist air,
and it's been.
There's been more moisture inthe air recently than we I can
even think of in recent years.
(02:51):
So it has a straight path intothat bathroom, because if you're
not running the fan, you knowit's just stagnant there and
that hot, moist air is basicallysitting on that ceiling.
You know heat rises, so thatair being hotter than what the
condition is inside.
It's a perfect recipe.
And I tell people all the timethat mold spores are everywhere.
The recipe for mold growth isyou have to have moisture, mold
(03:12):
spores and a cellulose or somekind of backer, and that
cellulose is the paper on thedrywall.
So perfect recipe on theceiling of a bathroom toilet
room.
And that's exactly what's beenhappening and I've seen mold
patterns that look likebeautiful tattoo art.
But uh, the side note there, ifyou're pretty handy and you want
to fix it yourself, you'regoing to have to squirrel
through the attic.
You know, get over there andthey make a spring loaded damper
(03:33):
.
That's pretty universal, It'llfit most bath fans and you can
get that pretty darn cheap andfix it yourself.
Otherwise, I recommend callingan HVAC guy because that's his
world for duct work and theventilation out of the bathroom.
So, um, but yeah, definitelysomething that we haven't seen
this much of that problem everreally, and uh, pretty easy fix,
but it usually gets bad beforeyou even see it.
(03:54):
So, uh, definitely something toaddress.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And I was just thinking, donnie, if, uh, the
motor can come on and the fanand you can hear it running, but
it doesn't mean it'sventilating properly.
So you could do a simple testif if you're a smoker, I guess,
or if you get a, a candle andblow it out, or if you're
addicted to the chronic, youjust need a little smoke, little
smoke trail or something rightunder that vent to make sure you
see that vent is pulling it upand out, to verify, because I
(04:22):
never knew, until you juststarted talking about it, that
the culprit of mold on a ceilingcould be a faulty venting
system from a ceiling fan,because we assume they work easy
and simple.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yep, yep, and I think you talked about that one time.
You had a scenario where youhad a vent fan in a bathroom
that blew the opposite direction.
Am I remembering that?
Speaker 1 (04:40):
right, it was a replacement because an old one
started chattering and I put itin and it was a plug and play,
basically.
Another simple way to test itis take a single ply of toilet
paper and just lay it across thevent and if the fan's strong
enough it's going to hold it upthere.
And it blew it straight downand I realized that one in a
million chance, I guess it waswired reverse so it was blowing
(05:01):
down even though it wasinstalled in the correct
direction.
So I returned it, got anotherone and used the um.
I used the stick of likeincense or something from I
don't know my wife's hippie daysUm, and it took it right out.
So I knew it was going theright direction, cause it's not
a huge thing.
You notice like it's not goingto blow down on you, but smoke
will definitely show what theplace that steam would go and
(05:24):
moisture would go to.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I'm glad you said that A lot of people confuse the
function of a bathroom fan forsmell and those are made for
removing moisture from that airbecause you know it's a wet area
, showers, sinks, it allgenerates too much moisture to
be trapped in that bathroom.
But people think that they'reused for smell and that's not.
I mean it helps with the smellbut not the primary function.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, let's just be honest.
If you want to help alleviatethat secondary problem of smell,
two words courtesy flush,courtesy flush, and then that
solves so many problems.
Have you heard of a productcalled Poo-Pourri?
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yes, I've heard of that Go ahead tell them.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I'll get right back off of it, but it works like
it's supposed to.
It does.
I highly recommend A coupledrops and you're ready to get
out of the bathroom and notoffend anybody.
All right, let's jump intotoday's show, donnie, it is the
Carolina Contractor Show, and Iwant you to go into the Wayback
Machine by going to our website,thecarolinacontractorcom,
because back in November of 2024, we did a show where we talked
about who would win the election, what would they have
effect-wise on, especially notjust the country, but especially
(06:29):
construction and housing, andwe addressed what Harris might
do and what Trump might do.
And, of course, donald Trumpwon the election.
So we really listed a lot ofthings he was saying he would
like to do to help housing,construction, the economy.
Well, now we have the bigbeautiful bill.
It's now the big beautiful actbecause it got passed in July
(06:52):
and we've gotten to see a lot ofthings that are in this that
could have a positive impact.
Well, is it big, is itbeautiful?
We're going to find out.
Some of it sounds really good,some of it we talked off the air
.
Donnie, I think people aregoing to have to be patient for
things to happen.
I mean it just passed in Julyand it's going to take some time
to really get rolling.
(07:13):
But hit the website,thecarolinacontractorcom.
We've got all our shows inpodcast form, including that one
If you want to listen to that.
You can also find us on YouTube.
We record the shows and putthem up there, so there's a
direct link to the YouTube page.
If you have a question aboutyour house, maybe you want to
know if your ceiling fan or yourvent fan in your bathroom is
working, or something about yourroof, as Donnie was talking
(07:35):
about, or wet spots on theceiling, whatever it is.
Click on the ask the contractorbutton and Donnie will answer
those questions.
The reason Donnie is qualifiedto answer them is because he is
a general contractor.
He also owns SureTop Roofing.
That's why he talks about howbusy he is in the roofing
business.
So if you have a question aboutyour roof, another perfect guy
to contact, same one in the same.
(07:57):
And again, anything you need toknow about your house and need
to know about the show you canfind it there carolinac,
carolina contractorcom.
What do I do here Aside frommake smart ass remarks?
Uh, I do inside sales for homebuilders and uh, wilson and
Greenville, so I sell tosuppliers or sell to builders
like Donnie as a supplier.
I do not have a business,though, with uh Donnie at all.
(08:18):
We just do the show together,so I don't scratch his back and
vice versa.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think it may be only a matter of time.
E because man like you wentfrom radio DJ station engineer
to building supply.
Guy slash know it all.
You're getting well-versed inthis area.
I wouldn't put it past you tobuild a house out in Wilson for
anything.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
So I can't divulge everything.
Our company is moving Wilson'sgetting that baseball stadium
and they're basically kicking usout.
So we're getting a brand newfacility on a bigger piece of
land in Wilson and a much betterlocation.
Our business is going to expandon things we will offer and I'm
going to be heading up one ofthose as a manager, so that'll
come out later, but lots of bigthings happen in that.
(09:00):
So, to address your direct point, donnie, would I, five years
ago, seen what I'm doing today?
No, not at all, not at all.
It's weird how you just let Godtake control of the reins and
where he'll put you.
God is good, my friend All thetime and all the time.
God is good, my friend All thetime and all the time.
God is good.
All right, so let's jump intothis.
I'm going to do a quick overview, if you don't mind, donnie, of
(09:21):
the Big Beautiful Act, the BBA.
It was passed again in July andit's massive, as is every
federal government bill andprogram.
It addresses, among otherthings, taxes, spending, housing
shortages, construction,homeowner and renter benefits.
It's between 2.4 and 4.1trillion over 10 years.
(09:42):
One thing it does is it aims toboost affordable housing and
construction.
But the first half of this andthis is why I said people want
to be patient.
Is it kind of favors developersand higher income home owners?
But what we're going to dotoday is focus on the big
impacts it's going to have onbuilding construction and people
looking to buy a home.
(10:03):
I like it.
I'm going to nerd out a littlebit here, so I want people to be
patient with me and that wouldmean you also be patient with me
, donnie.
It's going to increase a thingcalled the low income housing
tax credit.
The LIHTC increases it by it by12.5%.
Here's the definition I foundfor the nerds out there.
Developers use the Low IncomeHousing Tax Credit by applying
(10:25):
for credits through statehousing agencies, which allocate
them based on competitivecriteria.
Once awarded, developers claimthe tax credits annually over 10
years to offset federal incometaxes, reducing project costs.
That's a good thing.
The credits covering up to 70%of eligible costs for new
construction or rehabs willattract private investment,
enabling developers to financeaffordable housing projects for
(10:48):
low-income tenants whilemaintaining financial stability.
In layman's terms benefitsdevelopers who can build low
income housing without theircompany going into the red and
having to close down thenegative.
The developers get the benefitit would be on the developer to
give that benefit to the homebuyer.
(11:09):
I'm not saying this is bad, butmost developers are going to do
what Donnie.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Most developers are cold-blooded dude and they
aren't going to pass the savingsdown to what would end up being
the renter or the buyer of atownhome or an apartment or
whatever these things end upbeing.
And so, yeah, that's just myspeculation.
There may be something ifthey're smart, they may put a
requirement in the contract thatmakes them pass the savings on
(11:36):
to the people.
But then, if that's the case,what's the incentive for the
developer to take the project onin the first place?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
And if we've got a shorting housing shortage easy
for me to say we need the housesbuilt so that spurs developers
to do it Now.
They can't build it in thesefrou-frou developments with
names that sound like you're ina European city.
It's designed to benefitbuilders and developers who are
going to build in areas that aremore impoverished or not as
(12:04):
well off, so it's not going tobe also just downtown or urban
or suburban areas.
A third of the opportunityzones is what they call them are
in rural areas, so that wouldbe houses out in the country,
out in the sticks, like whereDonnie lives.
So I personally think if it'sgoing to help boost home
(12:25):
building and construction,that's going to also create more
jobs and benefit the economy.
So I do see it overall is aplus.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yeah, same here.
I think the only takeaway thatI saw as a negative.
It's not really a negative, butI was just hoping for something
a little different.
Personally speaking, we've gotyounger folks in the family who
are right on the cusp ofhomeownership or building their
first house ever and wanting tostart families, and I was kind
of hoping that there would be abetter avenue for homeownership
(12:57):
versus the rental approach.
And so I think what this doesis it just makes, it puts a roof
over a lot of people's headsand for for an affordable price.
But back to your point.
If it doesn't pass the savingsof the of the big beautiful bill
incentive down to the end user,then you know, like you
mentioned before, the developersare the only one reaping the
(13:18):
benefits.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
But I do want to say I think we're expecting a lot of
things to happen quickly.
The bill just passed, as I saidearlier in July.
The president's only been inoffice seven, eight months,
right, so I'm hoping there'sgoing to be a second tier to
this later on.
That will help homebuyers,especially younger homebuyers,
because we've got to get thehouses built, then we can get
(13:40):
the people in them.
I would love it to happenfaster, but the wheels of
government move slowly Now.
One thing that might speed itup and you've definitely got a
position on this, donnie isregulatory relief.
It makes it easier to fundaffordable housing by cutting
the required bond financing forit and speeding up permits.
So when you apply for a permit,it could save days or weeks of
(14:04):
time to get that project going,and that's got to be good for
you.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Yeah, less red tape is always better.
But I will say that I watched adocumentary I think it was on
A&E, about the Trump family andjust how they got started land
acquisition.
On A&E about the Trump familyand just how they got started
land acquisition.
And you know, donald Trump,when he basically got the reins
to the family fortune, he took afew swings for the fences and
which I thought was very bold.
You know nothing crazy.
But part of the documentaryhighlighted the fact that he
(14:29):
went round and round with themunicipalities as far as just
getting permits and a lot ofpeople trying to shut him down
and get in his way.
You know, everywhere he turnedhe had a blockade.
So I want to say that there maybe something personal behind
that part of the bill, becausehe's just been through it as a
real estate developer and I'llsay that if that trickles down
to the little guy, then I'lltake it all day long because
(14:53):
less red tape is better, lessred tape is better.
Personally, I will say that myexperience with the local
municipalities that we deal within central North Carolina it
has gotten exponentially harder.
All love to my inspector,listeners and office staff at
the municipalities, at thecounty and the city, because,
depending on where you pull inpermits, some places have a very
(15:14):
streamlined approach and someplaces are just all over the
place and they're allincorporating a portal system.
So you have to go through aportal, you have to upload all
these documents, and some peoplejust take the documents as a
JPEG or a PDF, just whatever youcan get, because they
understand that.
You got a bunch of good oldboys out here and you know,
imagine a 70 year old contractorwho's having to submit
everything online and he's notthat good with the computer.
(15:35):
I think that there needs to be.
There needs to be a level ofinternet experience, and it's
not that crazy for us.
We're we're pretty savvy, butyou could shut a lot of people
down because they can't even geta permit from not being able to
operate through your, youronline system.
So, um, but, but they've alltried to go that route in a two
to three year span.
(15:56):
So I just think that, um, thisis a good thing for them and
this will help out a lot ofpeople who are not comfortable
with all the online systems.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
You know, donnie, I have some contractors that will
call me up and say, hey, can youget a price on metal roofing,
or I got to get some custom cutlumber, can you get me a quote?
Just call me back and leave amessage and I'll call their cell
phone and their mailbox isn'tset up and or it's full and I'll
tell them later when I see themin person and they go.
Yeah, I can't even figure outhow to set up my cell phone.
So you're exactly right, theyhave trouble navigating the bond
(16:27):
process of a government.
They don't.
If they can't work their cellphone, they ain't got no chance
with a red tape.
Yeah, all right, let's skip thepermit part and go to the
contractors.
I'm not well if you own yourown construction company.
I think this is huge and I wantto address it real quick.
(16:47):
This is huge and I want toaddress it real quick 100%
deduction for equipment andbuildings starting this past
January 19th 2025.
And here's how it works Abusiness can deduct the full
cost of eligible equipment, likemachinery and vehicles and
computers and software and cellphones and certain real estate
improvements, like the qualifiedimprovement property, which
I'll explain in a second.
They can deduct that in the yearthey are placed in service,
(17:08):
rather than depreciating themover time.
This applies to new and usedassets and you have a recovery
period of 20 years or less ifyou bought it January 19th of
this year and the QPP, thequalified production property,
is non-residential buildingsthat are used for manufacturing,
production, refining, like afactory, qualify for full
(17:28):
expensing if construction beginsbetween January 20th of this
year, which is obviously monthsago, and the end of the year
2029, and it's placed in serviceby 2031.
You can't use office space orhotels.
But basically it's saying wewant you to build manufacturing
which is mobile home parts, wewant you to build manufacturing
which is mobile home parts.
Or if you're an LVL builder andyou have inside facilities or
(17:52):
the trucks and the vehicles todo things, I think that's a
great thing.
And you're somebody who doesdeductions, do you see that as a
really good positive to be ableto deduct immediately?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Oh for sure.
And did you mention the partabout did I hear that right?
You consolidated to theequipment write-off as well as
the production facility.
Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah.
So on the equipment rentaltrucks, skid steers, trailers,
anything that helps improve orfurther your business is
deductible all at once, versusover time a little bit every
(18:27):
year, and so that's a big help.
As a matter of fact, we tookadvantage of that when we found
out about it.
I've been flirting with buying anew skid steer, so I just took
the plunge and bought a newBobcat.
So it's been a big help already.
And you know it's a littleextra work to haul that thing
from job to job.
But not having to rely on asubcontractor to come move a
(18:48):
cube of brick or a pallet ofmortar or just kind of tidy up
things on the job site, it'sbeen a big help, makes your job
sites look a lot better, and Ithink that a lot, of, a lot of
contractors are always on thefence about that.
Do you buy that skid steer, doyou?
You know, do you, do you just,do you just, you know, rely on
other people?
And in terms of a companyexpansion, it's definitely
changed the game for us becausewe just added an extra tool to
(19:11):
our arsenal.
But the other part about theincentive to if you have a
production facility where youbuild LVLs, like you said, or
maybe not even LVLs I knowthat's a big to do to take on
most of the trust companies, orthey have the production
facility to build the LVLs onsite, and so that'd be a big
undertaking.
But just from a smallerstandpoint, if you were doing
(19:32):
something that contributed toanother phase of the
construction process on asmaller level, that is, for
somebody to have a foot in thedoor just to be able to do that
and the government get behindthem, I think is all attributed
to them.
Encouraging domestic production.
That's probably my favoritepart of the bill.
That he's saying hey guys, wegot your back, you want to
(19:53):
produce it here?
You know we're going, you knowAmerican made all the way and
we'll help you get the facility.
You put the qualified peopleand equipment in place and we
will do.
I think it's more than help.
I don't think it's just alittle nudge.
I think that's half the battle,what they're offering to do.
So out of everything that Ilike about the bill, that's
probably my favorite and thatpushes.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
That doesn't push you over to the fence, it just
kicks your butt over it to makethat decision and go.
I'm going to build this Now.
This is what I think.
I'm going to build this Now,this is what I think.
I'm married to a teacher, soI'm a little biased in this.
But there's something else thatI want to get into.
So a lot of people out thereknow who Mike Rowe is.
He's the voice of Dirty Jobs.
He was on the show.
He's the voice of DeadliestCatch.
(20:37):
A lot of people don't know this, but I don't know.
Maybe two every three months,donnie, we hang out with Mike
Rowe and we have a couple beersand we just talk shop.
Mike pointed out something amonth and a half ago that I
thought was brilliant.
He said back in the BarackObama era of the presidency.
He basically said you need toget out of manufacturing.
(20:58):
Those jobs aren't coming back.
You need to learn to code.
It became a left-wing thing tosay to a manufacturing company
or the evil blue-collar workercompany that shut down well Bish
, you better learn to code, wetold you.
Well, mike Rowe pointed outguess what?
Now we hear AI is taking overall the coding jobs because the
(21:19):
majority of people can't work asfast and they need to take up
blue collar jobs because AIcan't do it.
Well, after you and I flew backfirst class thanks to Mike Holm,
we find out in the bigbeautiful act, 529 savings
accounts, which are what you putmoney into and then can use for
educational expenses, are nowgoing to be allowed to fund
(21:42):
skilled trade training likecarpentry, plumbing, electrical
certifications, things like that.
So if you're a kid coming out ofhigh school and your parents
have been saving up a 529 fundfor you and there's $10,000 in
it and you're like but I don'twant to go to a four-year
college, I want to become anelectrician and then own my own
company, or you can now use thatmoney.
(22:03):
So I did a little legwork verycursory, not in detail, but I
looked at associates in appliedscience for building
construction technology degreefrom the average tech school in
North Carolina.
It's just 1400 bucks a semester.
That's 230, some dollars amonth.
You're done in no more than twoyears.
So, all that being said, you'redone in no more than two years.
(22:25):
So, all that being said, donnie, how in demand would a young
guy or girl coming out of a techschool with an associate's
degree in constructiontechnology be valuable in your
world.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Very much so.
I think the most popular topicthat I hear across the board is
that you can't find good help.
You can't find people that wantto work.
And you know I have wonderfulguys.
They've been with me for almosttwo decades and I have
somewhere for them to go everysingle day, every week, every
month, every year, and they geta paycheck every single week.
(22:57):
So there's value in that and Iknow they stay with me because
I'm loyal.
I pay them well, but noteverybody's like that and a lot
of people aren't like thatbecause they can't find the
qualified help.
What are you going to do?
Pay a guy more than he's worthjust because you need somebody
there you know to to hold theirhand, and so they have a
heartbeat.
They have a heartbeat and adriver's license, and that's sad
.
That that's I will.
(23:18):
I don't mean to get off subject,but I told buddy you have no
idea how far you're separatedfrom the rest of the
construction population.
All because you're able-bodied,you're smart, you have a valid
driver's license and you're alegal citizen.
Boom, right there, and you showup to work on time.
Oh, he's the first guy at theshop every morning.
(23:39):
I love it.
He works for my dad still, andhe beats everybody to the shop
almost every morning.
I'd say he's I don't know,batting over 900 with that and I
love to rub that in that theyoung new guy is setting the
example for the older guys.
But no, I think that that is agreat incentive and any way to
get more experiencedtradespeople in our world is
(24:02):
only going to help, because Ifthey're increasing the demand
for the construction, there'sgot to be the qualified people
to actually do the work.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
Yeah, we've always said blue collar jobs are
treated like the redheadedstepchild.
But my how the turns havetabled, because now those are
the guys that are making upperfive figures to one hundred
thousand dollars just a coupleof years into the job, because
it's so in demand.
And I ain't going to putshingles on a roof or put
(24:29):
plumbing under a house.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Exactly, you just went back to your DJ days.
By the way, you said my havethe turns have tabled.
You were thinking of turntables.
Yeah, I liked it.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, I never you know, I never used turntable.
I was straight into, uh, whatwas called carts and CDs and
then computer but but but we'renot going down that road.
So there is a not beautifulthing about this bill.
Before we wrap up and I want toget some of your opinions on
something when it comes tohousing, energy credits are
going to get phased out.
These are tax credits foreco-friendly construction like
(24:59):
solar insulation, and they'regoing to be phased out by 2028.
That could increase the costfor energy efficient homes and
we've done many shows at thewebsite thecarolinacontractorcom
you can listen to about theadvantages of energy efficient
appliances and devices to saveyou money.
But the OBBA terminates theenergy efficient home
(25:20):
improvement credit afterDecember 31st 2025.
That's $3,200 for upgrades forqualifying items like heat pumps
and windows.
That's going to go away, butyou still have several months to
do this.
So if you've got a heat pumpthat's over 10 years old or
something that's going toqualify for this deduction we
talked earlier about making adecision get off the fence.
(25:44):
This is the time to do it.
Go get that new system.
Get the tax break.
Need new energy efficientwindows If they qualify, do that
now, because those things aregoing away.
I kind of wondered if it was astab at Elon Musk when he and
Trump had their little sissygirl slap fight and separated
like he was.
Like, I'll show you and get ridof those.
But I think overall for thisbill, is it big?
(26:07):
Yes, it's massive.
It's going to affect housingand construction.
Is it beautiful?
Developers seem at least thefirst leg of this to get the
advantage.
I don't think you're going topass it down to home buyers.
Higher income homeowners alsobenefit from this.
But construction jobs shouldpop up.
More domestic building that'salways a good thing.
(26:29):
The trade-off I think you getmore housing done, but the eco
credits hurt and if the pricesstill don't come down enough and
we don't get enough rate cuts,younger home buyers are going to
kind of be stuck in that and Ithink you've got a few ideas
because you're kind of in thatsituation.
It's closer to you right nowabout younger people trying to
(26:51):
buy a house today and you did alittle legwork on that.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, because it hits home.
Man, I'd say that that's that.
That was what I was reallyhoping for when I was, when I
thought we would do the show.
I said I'm going to dig intothis big beautiful bill stuff
and there's going to be so manythings that are going to help me
and my family personally,because you know my kids are we
got the first wave of them thatare all you know, starting
families needing houses and and,of course, kicking them out of
the nest is a real thing.
(27:15):
So, um, you know, uh, stay athome kid is, is, um, not
something anybody wants to hear.
Stay at home mom's one thing,but stay at home teenager or
stay at home adult is not cool.
So one thing, but stay-at-hometeenager or stay-at-home adult
is not cool.
So there's some good informationand all this pertains to North
Carolina homeowners orhomebuyers, because I thought
that would be pertinent to ourlisteners.
(27:37):
And basically there's a website, the North Carolina Housing
Finance Agency, so it's nchfacom.
It's not a gov website throughthe government, but they have a
collection of all the mostpopular programs that are still
available.
So the big beautiful billdidn't cut out these programs,
(27:58):
especially on a state level.
So, as discouraging as some ofthe points sounded, as far as
not having incentives for homebuyers, more so for renters, and
putting roofs over the masses'heads.
You know there's still a lot ofprograms out there and we did a
show with a mortgage broker, Idon't know, a couple months ago.
That was very content, rich.
(28:18):
But they have so manyincentives out there that will
give you they have I'm sorry,not incentives they have
programs out there that willgive you help with down payments
, and I mean to the tune ofthousands and thousands of
dollars, and as long as you'reable to maintain that home loan
for 15 years or so, a lot ofthose down payments are forgiven
.
So you know thousands ofdollars up front.
(28:38):
They have um, uh programs outthere for veterans and uh,
things that that it's just worthlooking into.
I would, I would suggest goingto that website and seeing if
you fit any of the criteria.
Again, it's nchfacom and youcan just do a simple Google
search for first time buyerincentives in North Carolina and
it'll lead you all to all that.
(29:00):
But I think a bigger pointthat's probably more helpful to
people listening is that we andwe talked about this off the air
we encourage people.
If you're thinking about buyinga house and home ownership is
something that you're interestedin, contact a mortgage broker
and contact a realtor.
It doesn't cost anything to dothat and they're so as far as
(29:21):
not being a lot of inventory outthere.
The realtors are hungry, sothey'll talk to you and a lot of
those realtors are in cahootswith different mortgage brokers.
So while I have my favoritesout there, you know I encourage
people to talk to a couple ofdifferent people.
Not everybody is a good fit foryou, but I'm sure there's
somebody out.
Better option had the electiongone the other way.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
To be quite honest, I think the building of domestic
warehouses and giving them taxbreaks, and encouraging domestic
workers and getting rid of redtape.
(30:01):
All those things are just goingto be coming to fruition in the
next few months and coupleyears and I assume you would
agree, being in the field.
Donnie, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, I want to give it time to play out.
I've seen a lot of these thingspolicies that have been real
controversial be put in place ina hurry and given just a few
months later they seem to beshaking out in a positive light.
So I'll give it a chance.
Maybe he'll make an amendmentand sprinkle something in there
for first-time homebuyerincentives?
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Boy, that'd be nice.
I'd love to see it.
All right, we'll put the showup on the website, also up on
the YouTube page.
Best place to start isthecarolinacontractorcom.
Again, if you want to listen towhat we were predicting back in
2024 before the election, thatshow was up there and we were
right on some things.
Some things we weren't wrong.
We just didn't know what wasgoing to be happening.
(30:52):
But it's all up there atthecarolinacontractorcom.
We thank you for tuning in andwe hope to hear from you and we
hope you see and hear us nextweek on the Carolina Contractor
Show.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Have a great day everybody.
Thanks for listening to theCarolina Contractor Show.
Visit thecarolinacontractorcom.
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