Marcus Cole
Founder & Lead Carpenter, Sawdust & Steel. Twenty years on residential job sites across the GTA. Writes the workshop notes on this site because the stuff we figured out tearing out bad sonotubes and failed chimney flashing is the stuff nobody ever puts in writing.
Two decades of residential carpentry in the GTA.
I started framing houses in Oakville at nineteen. I’m in my forties now and I still run a tape measure on every job we take. I founded Sawdust & Steel with Danny Reeves in 2019 after eight years of running other people’s crews and watching the same five mistakes cost the same homeowners the same money. The shop opened with one truck and a flatbed trailer. Seven years later it’s eight people, four trucks, and a 2,400 square foot shop on Speers Road.
The writing on this site — the scribing post, the helical piles vs concrete post, the drone roof inspection post — is me. I write them between jobs, usually after a homeowner has asked me a question I’ve answered a hundred times in twenty years and I figure it’s time to put it somewhere anyone can find it. If you’ve read one of the posts and want to talk about your own job, reach out. I still take every consultation call myself.
- Custom Decks & Patios
- Kitchen Renovations
- Bathroom Remodels
- Framing & Structural Work
- Finish Carpentry & Trim
- Roofing & Siding
Oakville · Burlington · Mississauga · Toronto · Richmond Hill · Vaughan · Markham · Hamilton
Recent workshop notes from Marcus.
- April 13, 2026Ontario Deck Permit Rules 2026: What Actually Fails InspectionA working contractor's walkthrough of Ontario deck permit rules for 2026 — when you actually need a permit, what drawings the city wants, and the ten things that fail deck inspection most often in the GTA.
- April 13, 2026How Long a Kitchen Renovation Actually Takes in the GTA (Week by Week)Every homeowner asks us the same question on day one: how long will this take? Here's the honest week-by-week timeline for a full gut kitchen reno in the GTA, including the gaps nobody warns you about.
- April 13, 2026The Best (and Worst) Time of Year to Renovate a Bathroom in OntarioEvery bathroom reno has a calendar problem nobody tells homeowners about. Here's when to book, when to avoid, and why the shoulder season is the hidden sweet spot in the GTA.
- April 13, 2026How to Hire a Carpenter in the GTA (7 Red Flags That Mean Walk Away)Every bad renovation story we inherit started with a warning sign the homeowner spotted on day one and ignored. Here are the seven red flags, the five questions, and the Ontario deposit math.
- April 13, 2026Six Months of Living Through a Second-Storey Addition in the GTAThe cost post tells you the numbers. This one tells you what it actually felt like the day the roof came off and the rain started. Month-by-month from a real GTA second-storey build.
- April 13, 2026Signs Your Roof Needs Replacing: An Ontario Homeowner's Field GuideTwelve things an Ontario homeowner can check from the ground to know whether their roof has two more winters or twenty. Written by a carpenter who has stripped and re-roofed over a hundred houses in the GTA.
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