What happens when two tradesmen build an audience online, lose the business behind it, and have to start again? For Brad and Sam, better known as The Bald Builders, the answer involved getting back on the tools, learning a new side of the trade and finding a different way to make people laugh.
In Season 1, Episode 6 of Off The Job: A Tradesman Podcast, they join Keiran and Pete for a conversation that goes well beyond viral videos. They talk about their routes into construction, an ambitious online builders’ merchant, the reality behind their social media success, Sam’s recovery from gambling problems and the practical skills they want young people to value.
In this episode
- How Brad and Sam moved from work in the trades into online content and radio.
- Why their online builders’ merchant ended and how they rebuilt through site work and flow screed.
- What viral views can, and cannot, do for a business.
- Sam’s account of gambling, recovery and the support of his friends and family.
- Why they want children to value building and other practical skills.
Who are The Bald Builders?
Brad and Sam are tradesmen and content creators whose comedy grew out of the building industry. Brad describes leaving school young, working in roofing and scaffolding, then starting a plastering apprenticeship. He later worked for himself on jobs including extensions and loft conversions. Sam talks about beginning an electrical apprenticeship, moving into plumbing and eventually working in sales.
Their working relationship developed when Sam joined Brad’s online builders’ merchant project. The idea was to connect customers with multiple suppliers through one ordering system, with materials for different trades delivered to the same job. Brad says the team spent years developing it, but keeping merchants’ product information and prices up to date was a major obstacle. The project eventually ended, and the pair went back to site work.
That background matters. The sketches might be what many people recognise, but the jokes started with two people who knew the trades first-hand.
From building sites to social media
The Bald Builders began posting sketches about life on site, taking the mick out of familiar situations involving plumbers, electricians and other trades. Their early following grew, but so did the pressure that came with attention.
Brad and Sam are frank about getting carried away with it. They stepped away from social media for around a year and a half, hiding the page without deleting it. At the same time, the loss of the business left them in a difficult financial position. Brad recalls living with his family in a caravan in his mother-in-law’s garden and trying to find the money for a van so they could work again.
One job led to another. They saved money from building work, invested in training and equipment for flow screed, and found a way to spend part of the week on the tools while making videos on the other days. It was a deliberate gamble on content, but they say it took around two years before social media paid them anything.
When they returned online, the tone shifted. There was still trade humour, but more of their friendship and family life came into the videos. A sketch about Brad going out for a pint of milk became their comeback, followed by the food prank videos that introduced them to a much wider audience.
The work behind a viral video
It is easy to see millions of views and assume the rest happened automatically. Brad and Sam describe a lot of filming, posting and working out what their audience enjoyed. They also explain that a video reaching huge numbers does not necessarily turn viewers into followers or build a lasting business.
That distinction runs through the episode. Viral content helped open doors, including brand work and their show on Fix Radio, but they had to decide what to do with the attention. They talk about the challenge of working with larger brands while keeping the humour that made people follow them in the first place.
Their advice to other tradespeople making content is refreshingly straightforward: know what you are good at, show your personality and keep at it. They have tried different formats, and some ideas worked better than others. Their children’s books and cartoons, for example, gave them another way to celebrate practical skills, although making hand-drawn animation proved expensive and time-consuming.
For another Season 1 conversation about tradespeople making content, read our interview with The Home Improvement Channel UK. Master tiler Ken Hudson also talks about the reality of being a trade creator.
Friendship through the hard bits
The episode also gives Sam room to speak about a much more personal period. He explains that gambling left him in debt and seriously affected his mental health. He took several months away from appearing on camera while Brad kept the page going and brought more family content into it.
Sam describes paying off his debts and getting his own place. Brad talks about helping him plan for that while he recovered. Neither tells the story as a neat, overnight turnaround. The point is how much work, time and support sat behind it.
Their friendship has survived changes in business, family circumstances and money. Brad remembers the days when they could spend hours cleaning gutters, split a small payment and still turn up together the next morning. That history explains why The Bald Builders feels like more than a double act made for the camera.
If gambling is affecting you or someone close to you, GamCare offers confidential support in the UK.
Why they want children to value the trades
Brad and Sam also talk about creating books and cartoons for children. Their idea is to make building and DIY interesting and to explain everyday problems, such as damp, in a way younger audiences can understand. They are clear that working on a building site is a worthwhile path, not a fallback to be dismissed at school.
It leads to one of the best discussions in the episode: practical skills give young people confidence, whether or not they choose a trade as a career. Their own careers have moved through building work, business, video and radio, often because they were willing to learn and try something new.
Listen to The Bald Builders on Off The Job
Keiran and Pete get the laughs you would expect from an episode with The Bald Builders, but they also hear the story behind them. It is a conversation about trade careers, taking risks, losing your footing and building something again with the people who stick around.
Watch the full Bald Builders episode on YouTube to hear Brad and Sam tell it in their own words. Browse more conversations on the Off The Job podcast page.
Frequently asked questions
Who are The Bald Builders?
The Bald Builders are Brad and Sam, two tradesmen who built an online following through comedy videos drawn from construction work, friendship and family life.
What did Brad and Sam do before making videos?
Brad worked in roofing, scaffolding, plastering and general building. Sam talks about an electrical apprenticeship, plumbing and sales. They also worked together on an online builders’ merchant before concentrating on site work and content.
What do The Bald Builders discuss on Off The Job?
They discuss working in the trades, their online builders’ merchant, stepping away from social media, rebuilding through flow screed work, viral videos, radio, Sam’s gambling recovery and their ideas for encouraging children to learn practical skills.
