Behind the Hard Hat

Directions Website Contact the business

Behind the Hard Hat Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Behind the Hard Hat, Contractor, Toronto, ON.

🇨🇦 Canadian construction workers telling their story
🗣️ modern voice of 🦺

DustiCam app: keep work photos & videos off camera roll https://app.dusticam.com/go/bth-facebook-profile?platform=ios

10/19/2026

The highest paid trade in the business? Elevator mechanics.

Meet Terry, a master carpenter and project superintendent from Toronto with 36 years in the trade. Terry, a master carpenter with 36 years in Toronto construction, says electrical and plumbing apprenticeships are five years, but elevator mechanic is six because the work is so dangerous and they must know everything from steel work to welding. They're the highest paid trade, but they never see the light of day.

What is the highest paid construction trade? Elevator mechanics, says Terry: a six-year apprenticeship, the most training, and the highest pay.

"They're the highest paid trade in the business."

Would you trade daylight for the top paycheque?
Follow Behind the Hardhat () for real stories from the people who build Toronto.

10/19/2026

A plumber says the cockiest trade is... plumbers.

Meet Travis Clark, a 32-year-old plumber from Toronto and owner of HSC Plumbing, with 11 years in the trade. Asked which trade is the cockiest, Toronto plumber Travis Clark says electricians are the most pretentious but plumbers are the cockiest. He says many plumbers act like they've never had a leak.

What is the cockiest trade in construction? Travis says plumbers: many act like they've never had a leak or done anything wrong.

"They be out here acting like they've never had a leak."

Which trade is the cockiest on your site?
Follow Behind the Hardhat () for real stories from the people who build Toronto.

10/18/2026

How much can a plumber actually make?

Meet Travis Clark, a 32-year-old plumber from Toronto and owner of HSC Plumbing, with 11 years in the trade. Licensed plumber and business owner Travis Clark says an owner's income is unlimited and depends how far you take it. He estimates a non-union apprentice maxes out around $30 an hour, and a union fifth-year takes home about $1,200 a week.

How much does a plumbing apprentice make in Ontario? Travis estimates about $30 an hour non-union at the top; a union fifth-year takes home around $1,200.

"If you're the owner, it's unlimited."

What's your take-home in the trades?
Follow Behind the Hardhat () for real stories from the people who build Toronto.

10/16/2026

When the pandemic put kids on computers, the contractor took his son to work instead.

A Toronto renovation contractor has had his son working with him since the pandemic. Now 21, the young tradesperson has about $30,000 saved and handles jobs like disconnecting the kitchen plumbing on this demo. The contractor says he's going to be a plumber and make more money than him.

Are the trades a good path for young people? The contractor's son started working with him during the pandemic and at 21 has about $30,000 saved, with plans to become a plumber.

"He's got like $30,000 saved up. Can you believe that?"

Would you pull your kid out of online school to learn a trade?
Follow DustiCam for real renovation know-how from Toronto job sites.



DustiCam keeps your jobsite photos and videos organized by project and off your personal camera roll. Download it on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

10/15/2026

A dishwasher on the basement lights circuit. A junction box buried in the ceiling.

The Toronto renovation contractor finds two wiring problems while gutting a kitchen: the dishwasher was sharing a circuit with the basement lights, and a junction box was buried in the ceiling. He explains that a dishwasher should be on its own independent circuit because you have water and electricity together, and that in old houses you'd be surprised what's on one circuit.

Does a dishwasher need its own circuit? Yes. The contractor says a dishwasher is supposed to be on its own independent circuit because it combines water and electricity.

"A dishwasher is supposed to be on its own independent circuit for obvious reasons."

What's the worst wiring you've found in an old house?
Follow DustiCam for real renovation know-how from Toronto job sites.



DustiCam keeps your jobsite photos and videos organized by project and off your personal camera roll. Download it on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

10/14/2026

The faucet blew while she was in Las Vegas. The claim was $60,000.

During a kitchen demo in Toronto, the renovation contractor finds a Glacier Bay faucet and tells the story of a homeowner whose Glacier Bay basement vanity tap blew while she was away in Las Vegas for four days. The flood turned into a $60,000 insurance claim, and he handled the repair work.

Can a cheap faucet flood your basement? Yes. The contractor did the repair on a $60,000 insurance claim after a basement vanity tap blew while the homeowner was away for four days.

"She had a $60,000 insurance claim and I was the guy that did the work."

What brand is under your sink right now?
Follow DustiCam for real renovation know-how from Toronto job sites.



DustiCam keeps your jobsite photos and videos organized by project and off your personal camera roll. Download it on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

10/14/2026

65-year-old men walk 30 floors up a tower just to start their day.

Meet Terry, a master carpenter and project superintendent from Toronto with 36 years in the trade. Terry, a Toronto master carpenter and superintendent, says hoists don't run before certain times, so 65-year-old tradesmen climb 30 floors to start work. He's known bricklayers in their 70s who climb scaffold like a monkey and lay 1,000 brick a day.

How physically hard is construction work? Hard enough that 65-year-olds routinely walk 30 floors up a tower before their shift, says Terry.

"I've known bricklayers never quit, they just die on the job."

Who's the toughest old-timer you've worked with?
Follow Behind the Hardhat () for real stories from the people who build Toronto.

10/13/2026

Women in construction? On a Toronto tower, a woman named Michelle ran 60 ironworkers.

Meet Terry, a master carpenter and project superintendent from Toronto with 36 years in the trade. Terry, a master carpenter and project superintendent with 36 years in Toronto construction, worked on the Sun Life towers at 1 York Street, where the 60-man ironworker crew was run by a superintendent named Michelle. He says ironwork is not a question of strength but of your ability to understand complicated things, and that a woman in construction has earned her place like anybody else and is probably the best-protected person on site.

Can women succeed in construction? Yes. Terry says it's not about strength, it's about ability: a woman ran a 60-man ironworker crew on a Toronto tower, and any woman on site has earned her place like anybody else.

"If a woman's in construction, she's earned her place like anybody else."

Tag a woman in the trades who runs the show.
Follow Behind the Hardhat () for real stories from the people who build Toronto.

10/12/2026

People say construction is full of racism. Terry says it's the opposite.

Meet Terry, a master carpenter and project superintendent from Toronto with 36 years in the trade. Terry, a master carpenter and project superintendent with 36 years in heavy ICI construction in Toronto, says construction is the least biased industry he has ever seen. Anyone and everyone works there, and if they're on site it's because they have the ability.

Is there racism in the construction industry? Terry says in his experience it's the least biased industry he's ever met: ability is the only thing that matters.

"In construction, it is the least biased industry I've ever met."

Has that been your experience on site? Keep it respectful.
Follow Behind the Hardhat () for real stories from the people who build Toronto.

08/20/2026

Toronto waterproofing. Homeowners wait for the rain to stop. The leak doesn’t. Then it’s mold in the walls.

Water keeps moving behind the drywall. You don’t see it until it shows signs, and by then the mold is in the walls and the spores are in the HVAC. That is the homeowner mistake that costs thousands on a basement job in this city.

Behind the Hard Hat.

Address

Toronto, ON

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Behind the Hard Hat posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Behind the Hard Hat:

Shortcuts

Share

Category