The Build Insite Podcast

A running shower, no fan, and a mirror that won't fog up. That's when the ForeverBreathe system stops being theory.

We're still in Christchurch with Kelly and Andrew from Premium Homes for part two of our New Zealand road trip, made possible by McCormacks Australia. If you missed part one, go back and listen to that first.

This time the conversation moves from the wall build-up to what it's actually like to live and work with the system. Kelly and Andrew unpack where the ForeverBreathe specification came from, why HealthBased Building owning it takes risk off the designer, and what the air quality monitors in their homes are picking up. A box of door handles, a courier bag, a bench being wiped down: all of it sends TVOC readings spiking, which raises the question of why we keep building with those materials in the first place.

There's also an honest look at the hard part: getting plasterers and painters to follow a process that's slower and less forgiving than gypsum and acrylic, and why they now certify trades before letting them near the product. Plus the bathroom demo, the carbon numbers, and the answer to the question everyone asks: what does it cost?

What you'll learn:
- Why a tested specification shifts risk away from the designer and builder
- What everyday items are doing to the air inside your home, and why Green Star and Homestar don't measure it
- How to get trades on board with a product that won't tolerate shortcuts
- Why a ForeverBreathe bathroom stays warm and dry without the fan running
- How Magnum board and wool insulation keep pulling carbon for years after handover
- The real cost premium over minimum code, and where the payback comes from

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:21 - Where the ForeverBreathe specification came from
01:44 - Performing homes vs healthy homes
02:33 - Live air quality readings inside the home
03:45 - Off-gassing paint and the four-week sore eyes
04:42 - Door handles, courier bags and TVOC spikes
06:05 - Why Green Star and Homestar don't test for this
07:25 - Getting plasterers and painters to follow the process
09:20 - Why trades need certification to work with the system
11:50 - Keeping installation in-house
12:28 - The bathroom test: no humidity, no fogged mirror
16:05 - Why the bathroom is never the cold room
17:13 - Free heat from moisture: 1.4 watts per square metre
18:38 - Homes that keep sequestering carbon after handover
20:40 - What does a ForeverBreathe home cost?
21:53 - Life away from the tools
22:45 - Advice for young builders and apprentices
24:35 - What's next for Premium Homes
25:46 - Wrap up

Hosts: Dean Backman & Luke Callery
Guests: Kelly and Andrew from Premium Homes NZ

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

First time the Build Insite Podcast has left Australian soil. And we've landed in Christchurch for a good reason.

This one's a special episode. Luke and Dean have packed the mics and headed across the ditch for a New Zealand road trip, made possible by McCormacks Australia. Huge shout out to Glenn and the McCormacks team for getting us over here. We're recording inside the Premium Homes display home in Christchurch, and a lot of the products you'll hear about are already available in Australia through McCormacks.

Our guests are Kelly and Andrew, school mates turned business partners who started Premium Homes nearly 20 years ago after Kelly, a sparky by trade, got sick of wiring houses that weren't plumb or square. They walk us through what the Christchurch earthquakes did to the local industry, how New Zealand's leaky home crisis unfolded, and why the push for airtight homes is setting up the next round of problems: sweaty walls, hidden mould and what the Americans have called sick building syndrome for two decades.

Then it's into the ForeverBreathe system itself. Magnum board inside and out, wool insulation in the middle, breathable paint, and no vapour barrier at all. It goes against everything most builders were taught, but the numbers on moisture handling, R value stability and energy performance are hard to argue with.

What you'll learn:
- Why individually approved products can still fail as a system
- How wool insulation holds moisture without losing its R value, and why fibreglass doesn't
- What Magnum board does that plasterboard and building wrap can't
- Why a breathable wall keeps timber drier than a sealed one
- Who carries the risk when a designer specifies a wall build-up, and how a tested specification changes that

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
00:33 - Build Insite lands in Christchurch
01:26 - Meet Kelly and Andrew from Premium Homes
02:42 - How the Christchurch earthquakes changed construction
03:56 - Approved products, untested systems
05:37 - What caused New Zealand's leaky home crisis
07:38 - Sweaty homes, mould and sick building syndrome
09:36 - Inside the ForeverBreathe wall system
11:07 - Wool insulation vs fibreglass: moisture and R value
14:05 - Letting moisture move through the wall
16:16 - Why there's no building wrap
17:28 - Putting Magnum board to the test
18:50 - Where's the education on moisture and mould?
20:26 - Getting designers and builders to change
21:58 - Who owns the risk in a wall specification
23:08 - Wrap up

Hosts: Dean Backman & Luke Callery
Guests: Kelly and Andrew from Premium Homes NZ

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

Two years out of his time and Jake's already running boys on site. Matt reckons the trick isn't finding good tradies, it's giving them a reason to stay.

Part 2 with Matt and Jake from MS Constructions picks up on what happens after the apprenticeship ends. Jake talks about stepping into project management, learning the construction manager's side of the job, and copping the odd older tradie who walks straight past him to talk to someone who looks the part.

Matt gets into the systems side of the business. He's brought WonderBuild and AI into MS Constructions with help from Adam at WonderOps, and his crew are now running site diaries, photos and timesheets from their phones. His reasoning is simple: automate the background so the office team can spend more actual time with clients.

There's also a solid stretch on why builders need to stop hiding. Matt's built a network of builders around Australia he can ring about anything, and both he and the hosts make the case that asking the same question to a different person is often what finally makes it click.

What You'll Learn
- What the first few years after qualifying actually look like on site
- How incentive structures can keep good carpenters in your business
- Why upskilling your trades matters as much as upskilling your own team
- How site diaries, photos and AI are changing rural building operations
- Why Matt says business coaching changed his business tenfold
- What both blokes would tell someone thinking about picking up the tools

Chapters
00:00 – Introduction
00:18 – Life After the Apprenticeship
01:33 – Earning Respect as a Young Leader on Site
02:22 – Incentives and Keeping Good People
02:53 – Building Team Culture Outside of Work
03:51 – The Four Hour Drive and What It Says About Education
05:13 – Upskilling Your Trades, Not Just Your Carpenters
05:51 – AI, WonderBuild and Site Systems
08:28 – How WonderOps Helped Matt Get Started
09:35 – Knowing Your Strengths and Asking for Help
10:46 – Why You Should Ask the Same Question Twice
12:24 – Life Outside the Business
13:52 – The Changes Exciting Them Most Right Now
14:31 – Advice for Anyone Starting Out
15:38 – Where to Find MS Constructions

Hosts: Dean Backman & Luke Callery
Guests: Matt & Jake  from MS Constructions

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
🌐 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

Five carpenters. Four hours in the car. One day off the tools. That's what education looks like when a builder actually means it.

Matt from MS Constructions has driven his team down from the Vic and New South Wales border to the Bowens Rethink Building Hub, and he's brought his qualified chippies and construction manager with him. Joining him is Jake, who did his apprenticeship under Matt and has since watched two major NCC changes land inside his first few years on the tools.

In Part 1, Matt talks openly about scaling the business back, why turnover stopped being the scoreboard, and how hiring for attitude instead of skill changed the way his crew shows up every day. Jake shares what it was like coming through an apprenticeship with no clue what he wanted to do, and what he's learning now about condensation, wraps and passive principles that simply weren't taught a few years ago.

There's also an honest conversation about mistakes. Matt reckons he doesn't trust a builder who says they've never had a problem, and he explains why pulling failed work apart with his team has become one of the most valuable training exercises in the business.

What You'll Learn:
- Why hiring for attitude beats hiring for skill, and how culture holds a small team together
- What scaling back actually did for build quality, client selection and stress levels
- How working across two state licences forces a higher building standard
- Why involving your whole team in code changes takes the pressure off the builder
- How social media has become a client filter and a training tool at the same time
- What condensation, mould and the NCC changes mean for builders who haven't updated their practices

Chapters
00:00 – Introduction
00:42 – Meet Matt and Jake from MS Constructions
01:26 – Building Across Two State Borders
03:28 – Why Matt Brought His Whole Team Four Hours
05:06 – Jake's Apprenticeship Journey
06:53 – How the Business Has Changed
08:44 – Hiring for Attitude and Team Culture
09:54 – Scaling Back and Choosing Quality Over Turnover
11:17 – Using Social Media to Attract the Right Clients
13:00 – Learning From Mistakes and Failed Work
14:28 – NCC Changes, Wraps and Condensation
16:25 – Why Builder Education Isn't Optional

Hosts: Dean Backman & Luke Callery
Guests: Matt & Jake  from MS Constructions

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
🌐 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite

Day one on site, and there's asbestos. What happens in the next ten minutes tells a homeowner more about their builder than anything in the tender.

In this second half of the conversation at Callery Creek House, Zoe and Andrew get into the part of a build that most people only understand in hindsight: how communication actually works between a homeowner and a builder, and what happens when it doesn't. We recorded this on handover day, with the keys about to change hands, so everything is still fresh.

They share the advice they'd give anyone about to sign a building contract, from working out your own values before you start researching, to visiting an open home and talking to a builder's current client. There's also a warning about builders juggling too many sites at once, and a strong case for getting every site meeting decision confirmed in writing.

It's not all process. Zoe wrote a blessing and had it embedded in the concrete pour, which landed at the threshold by pure chance, and a gum leaf left a perfect stencil in the burnished slab that they chose to keep. We also talk about the night Zoe found herself at the Master Builders National Awards as a current client, watching her own builder go up on stage.

What you'll learn:
- Why the first problem on site tells you more about your builder than the sales pitch
- How to set a communication rhythm before you sign, and why it should be in the contract conversation
- Why documenting site meeting outcomes in writing protects both sides, not just one
- What to ask about a builder's workload and site supervision before you commit
- Why locking in selections before construction takes stress off the critical path

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:20 Advice for homeowners choosing a builder
00:53 Do your research and visit a site
02:42 Why communication makes or breaks a build
03:21 Day one and the asbestos discovery
04:18 Agreeing a meeting rhythm before signing
05:53 Why everything needs to be documented
08:32 A blessing in the concrete pour
12:14 The gum leaf in the slab
13:53 The Master Builders Awards night
16:14 Tips for homeowners starting a build
18:49 Why your builder's workload matters
21:23 What they wish they'd known
22:13 The two week look ahead and the whiteboard
25:13 What they'd do differently
25:50 Getting selections done early
26:49 What this home means to them
28:14 Wrap up

🎧 Listen to the Build Insite Podcast on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
🌐 Explore more at: https://buildinsite.com.au/
📸 Follow us on Instagram: @build.insite