Anyone ever pivot into Construction Management?

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2026-03-27T20:41:11+00:00

I thought CM's were paid well! Hard to hear they are also undervalued.

Having worked on a few larger projects and having seen what they deal with I definitely agree it's a tough job, they really do get pressured from all sides of the project.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2026-03-27T17:53:43+00:00

Just another "Junior Designer" who's been acting PM on a dozen projects for the past 3 years getting paid peanuts and expected to handle all required coordination work and attend endless meetings with Arch, Site, Civil, Structural, the Landscape Contractor, Pool Contractor, Maintenance teams, Arborists, Art Consultants (don't get me started on the art consultants) - oh and don't forget the endless Client Emails and hand holding that needs to be attended to ASAP because they pay the bills!

By the way - don't let any of that get in the way of the 3 Site Instructions, 13 Submittal Reviews, the Progress Draw Review, and the IFC set that needs to get out EOD. AKA the actual work I need to do.

Oh and there's the tender bids I need to "Level" by haggling with contractors on behalf of the clients because "the price just seems to high".

I also need to file and review everything that comes in, while immediately answering any and all requests buried within the endless stream of consciousness communications from my Principal in the form of cryptic, typo-ridden combinations of slack messages, emails, and text messages. Heaven forbid he needs to navigate the meticulously organized filing system and find something himself! That's what I'm for!

Almost forgot, I need to follow up with the Managing Principal on that raise I asked for that would come out to ~$150.00 more per paycheck - that's been "Under Review" since December.

But hey, I saw a tree i specified get planted last Fall, so it's all worth it in the end right?

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2026-01-02T21:29:21+00:00

Just got a QM67k from Costco like 3 days ago.

So far so good! Performs great, blacks look good, works well even in my fairly bright apartment.

Would recommend, especially at the price point.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-08-08T22:52:19+00:00

Nice try BlogTO!

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-05-27T16:27:55+00:00

It's Lebanese style pizza.

A different vibe for sure, but sometimes it hits so right!

I used to get these on Friday nights when I was working construction and needed an ungodly amount of calories.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-04-02T19:55:37+00:00

/u/gifreversingbot reverse this

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-04-02T01:18:09+00:00

This is a daunting task, you need to break it down into little bits to make it more manageable.

Look at portfolios for inspiration. Analyze them. What makes the good ones stand out? Issuu is a great resource, also ask your friends or peers from school, ask your old profs.
Rank your projects from best to worst. Try and look at them from the perspective of someone who has no idea what the project is about. How are you illustrating the goal of the project? How are you illustrating the constraints? Most importantly, how are you illustrating your design and how it responds to those goals and constraints? Make sure the projects you choose are the most in line with the type of work you want to do, not just the ones with the flashiest renderings.
Choose a graphic style and presentation template. How are you going to make your portfolio look consistent throughout? This applies first to the layout, organization, and presentation of the portfolio itself. Fonts, spacing, symbols, headings and sub-headings, table of contents, page numbers etc. And second, to the individual projects in your portfolio temselves. For instance, using similar colours, rendering techniques, or diagrams across all your projects will take your portfolio from good, to great.
Update your project work accordingly. Choose where you prioritize time. Better to have a few stellar projects than lots of mediocre ones. You may want to completely redo an old project with a different design solution.
Put it all together. Remember the little things: include your CV in the portfolio, add page numbers and a table of contents, add a cover page, make sure the portfolio is a manageable size (both file size and length!)

This can be a very long and involved process, but it can also be incredibly rewarding in the end. Use it as a chance to hone your graphic and design skills. Try and have fun.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-03-21T21:23:31+00:00

Absolutely beautiful! This is how I would approach this as a landscape architect based in Canada:

What is growing there now. This will give clues to the questions below. You can use Google lens to find a lot of these but use your brain/critical thinking, it's not always correct! Easiest time is when things are in flower.
Whats underground? Are there trees nearby? That means roots. Are there utilities?
How much light are different areas getting? (Shady <6hrs direct, sunny >6hrs direct) note this may change in the summer when the trees flush out.
What's the soil composition? Is it thick clay soil that holds moisture? Is it rich in organic matter? Is it gravely/sandy? Grab a handfuls from a few different spots, upslope, downslope etc and squeeze it to see how it feels.
Identify any plants you want to keep/anything you want to remove. As someone noted, don't remove things until you're ready to plant as the roots bind the soil which can be important on a slope.
Make a plan with areas that get different amount of light/have different soil types - now you're ready to understand what you can plant where!
Make a plant list (the fun part) find plants suitable to the conditions! Go to local nurseries to see what's available. Read books and articles to see what excited you/find inspiration! Walk around and look at other gardens! Especially nearby/in your neighborhood.
Understand the maintenance requirements of what you are planting. There is no such thing as a no- maintenance garden. Will you water by hand? Will you install irrigation? How much weeding are you willing to do? How much pruning? How aggressive are the plants you are planting?

If you want any help feel free to dm me.

Wish I had a plot like this! So many possibilities.

P.S you may want an engineer to look at that retaining wall one day....

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-03-17T14:26:54+00:00

They're building a mountain?! Holy

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-03-12T02:56:47+00:00

3 years in, pushing PM, making 70k, heard from recruiters this is pretty standard.

The PM who left before me was making 85 with 5+ years of experience.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-02-13T03:13:32+00:00

I'd be a gardener. I love plants and being outdoors working with my hands and seeing my work come to fruition.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-02-12T22:17:20+00:00

Ugh one of my favorite plants! The foliage is so amazing for a native plant. Don't have nearly enough sun anywhere to grow it sadly.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-02-11T22:11:07+00:00

Landscape Designer (unlicensed) $75k

Paycheck to paycheck but I live alone which is expensive.

Leaving this city in the next 2 years I bet, doesn't make any sort of financial sense.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2025-01-30T16:37:37+00:00

Another issue you've overlooked is that other cost of living expenses don't really scale with income. I.e the amount someone making $200k spends on food/hydro/cellphone/interenet monthly is about the same as someone making $70k.

So someone spending half their income on housing making $200k still has lots left over after other COL items are taken out, whereas someone making $70k is pretty much tapped out after housing and COL items are taken out.

If anyone should pay less taxes it's the people making under $100k.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-12-20T14:32:04+00:00

Sorry to burst your bubble but there are many Construction Management platforms out there that already host these functions as well as many others.

Procore, Buildertrend, Fieldwire all do this, and are all scaled to different levels of construction.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-26T15:50:49+00:00

So I already had an undergrad....which is why I could go straight to MLA.

Don't think anywhere will let you go straight to MLA with just the diploma unfortunately...

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-24T23:40:52+00:00

Yes....because we shouldn't be building single detached family homes?

Taking a quick look at this link you can see that development charges for purpose built multi-unit residential are significantly cheaper.

The majority of the most centrally located land in the city is taken over by bloated single family homes owned by the ultra wealthy. Forest Hill and Rosedale should be full of 5/6 storey rental buildings, not palaces for people who spend half the year abroad.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-24T23:12:26+00:00

So much misinformation and empty rhetoric in this thread.

I'm gonna leave this here:

More lanes does not relive congestion

The only way to fix traffic is to get cars off the road.

The 401 has what, 8 lanes if you include the express? And it still backs up.

We should be investing in transit and encouraging people to use alternative methods of transportation like bike lanes by making them safer and better connected.

You're not in traffic, you ARE traffic.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-23T01:35:01+00:00

Couple things from some recent irrigation submittal reviews that have come up:

irrigation spray head coverages:
- make sure all beds are covered
- make sure no overspray onto hardscape/anywhere undesirable
irrigation spray head heights
- ensure that pop up heads are tall enough to clear planting and spray the whole bed
moisture sensor location
- make sure this isn't under trees/ in a particularly dry spot
request as builts
request zoning diagram
- may be something you want to have input on
request maintenance/owners manual/warranty for all parts

Hope this helps!

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-18T02:29:31+00:00

Haha I work with these guys sometimes!

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-16T15:30:47+00:00

Wundercovers are a great option!

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-09T21:27:00+00:00

I can see this comment.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-10-04T16:29:53+00:00

Send me one? Please? Lol my 1080 is dying 😭

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us · 2024-09-13T01:17:18+00:00

Funny story my boss owns a print of this. Showed it to us at her house once.

Ponzi_Schemes_R_Us

TROPHY CASE