Trenches

We’re knee-deep in a triplex conversion and the honeymoon’s over. Framing’s done, plumbing’s in, now it’s surprise waterproofing. This is the messy middle—where projects stall and investors panic. We just curse, fix it, and keep swinging. Progress isn’t pretty, but it’s still progress.

Building in public isn’t pretty. We crammed videos between site visits, slapped edits together, and it showed. So we bought time—hired Carl to handle it. Every hour he saves me is an hour building, not faking Instagram. More behind-the-scenes. More real. If it flops, blame Carl.

Your biggest risk isn’t the market—it’s who you hire. I’ve seen great deals tank because someone “knew a guy.” So I built The Rolodex: investor-first pros I’d trust with my own cash. No sponsors. No fluff. Just the people who keep projects alive when everything else goes sideways.

ZA Suites is now licensed for plumbing drawings. Sounds small? It’s not. Cities are cracking down, and anything over 2 units now needs detailed plumbing plans. We cut the middleman. Faster permits. Lower costs. Less bullshit. If you’re scaling, this changes the game.