May 16, 2014 AsktheBuilder Weekend Warrior Part II

Please read this. It's very important.

I'm a little upset. I'll apologize up front, but I feel the following needs to be said. You may not care that I'm upset. I get that.

I received two reply emails in the past two hours about my earlier blast to you about the Deck Railing Video you need to watch.

Both of them asked me if I got paid by Simpson Strong-Tie to do the video. One of the emails, I've pasted it below, went on to suggest the video was "shallow" and "sensationalist".

First, I didn't receive a penny from Simpson Strong-Tie to make that video. I didn't even ask their permission to show you images of their copyrighted literature.

I sent them two different email requests a week ago that have to date gone unanswered. I'm very disappointed in the fact that Simpson doesn't respond to requests by the media - but that's a separate issue.

Second, my 99.99% is a gut feeling based on the number of decks that are in existence around the USA that undoubtedly do not have railings built this way.

The one individual, who'll I'll not give out his name, felt that I should have created a video showing you the complete installation, how to do it, etc. and not just point you to a professional technical bulletin.

I sent back a blistering response to him about how frustrated I am about how some / many expect all this FREE information he requested in his email below.

What's more, I went on to mention that the Video Fairy doesn't descend upon my house and wave a magic wand creating the videos. The video I created for you yesterday took one hour of work in total.

That's an hour I could have spent on doing some work that would have produced revenue to pay my bills.

To produce a series of videos showing you step-by-step how to put in the hardware would take at least eight or ten hours of total work in video production and post production. Realize I get NO MONEY to do this.

At the current rate my videos are watched on YouTube, the video I shot yesterday will take TEN YEARS of ad revenue for me to just break even in the time I spent taping it for you.

I wondered if the person below who sent the email has a YouTube channel and how many videos he makes each week where he shares his life-journey information.

I'll end my rant now.

Here's the email that pushed me over the edge after a tough week:

"Dear Tim,

I really look forward to reading your mails, but this week I will say that I was disappointed with the video on Deck post safety.

I heartily agree that proper installation is truly important, not only for safety but also to ensure it is up to code.

That being said, you have pointed out the problem "99% of deck posts are UNSAFE" (even that statistic I would wonder out loud if it isn't being sensationalist", but also don't provide examples of "PROPER" solutions in place.

It seemed to be good intentions blanketing a shallow shill for the product placement? For which you didn't even show examples of "proper" method, even a cursory view. You only refer to a link to "get the technical bulletin" from a product provider.

By the way, have your received any type of compensation from "Simpson" as it really does appear as a very shallow product promotion.

AND in the video you discount the use of Lag Bolts as just "unacceptable" but again don't explain why they are unacceptable. Almost all of the plans that I have ever seen for these types of connections use Lag Bolts, but if they are "unacceptable" then what is, BUT not ONLY the SIMPSON DECK TIE product sell?"

An appreciative follower, NAME WITHHELD BY ME

More News and Tips on Tuesday.