The construction manager who quit his 9-to-5 to build something for himself

Brennen Waldron, a carpenter by trade, quit his full-time job this year to focus on renovating a 100-year-old home for his family of five.

“Prior to this renovation, I was working in construction management,” said Waldron. “Very good work, very steady income, but I honestly kind of got burnt out on it.”

Around the same time, he was also getting high remodel quotes for a home he had purchased for his family to live in. He’s not alone — Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies expects remodelling growth will slow in the coming year as families tighten their budgets.

“I was looking at the numbers, and I was like, ‘I kind of feel like I'm gonna be missing out,” Waldron said. “Like, why am I gonna pay somebody to have all the fun?”

That's when he paused his career to work on the project himself. “I estimated that I would be saving anywhere from 40% to 50% of the total cost,” he said.

Click the audio player above to hear Waldron’s story.