Why I'm Asking

Hey — I'm Justyn Rook. I've spent 24 years in construction. Renovations, new builds, managing subtrades, pulling permits. The usual.

A couple years ago I started building something different — a network of construction directories across Canada. Not a VC-backed startup. Not a tech company. Just me, building this between real jobs.

It started with Ottawa, then Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and New Brunswick. Five directories, 29 live websites, a Construction Brain AI that answers real building questions, and thousands of contractor listings — all free for contractors to be listed.

The problem is — free for contractors isn't free for me. Two dedicated servers, AI, email, 63 domains — it adds up fast and our costs have almost tripled since we started. I pay for everything out of pocket alongside my regular work. If you've found this useful, even a small contribution helps keep it going.

Where the Money Goes

Total transparency. Here's what it costs to run this every month:

Production Server 8 vCPU, 32GB RAM KVM8 VPS — hosts 29 live sites ~$95 CAD/mo
Backup & National Server Second KVM8 VPS — offsite backups + Canada Construction Network ~$95 CAD/mo
AI Development Tools Claude Code — builds, maintains, and ships features across all 29 sites ~$460 CAD/mo
AI API Construction Brain answers via Claude API — 26 sites with active CB ~$85 CAD/mo
Email Delivery Postmark — transactional email, leads, bounces across all sites ~$70 CAD/mo
Domains & SSL 63 domains across the network ~$75 CAD/mo
Payment Processing & Tools Square fees, monitoring, verification services ~$35 CAD/mo
Monthly Total Everything to keep the lights on ~$900–950 CAD/mo

What You're Supporting

  • Construction Brain AI — real answers to construction questions, across 26 sites in 5 cities
  • ~2,000+ contractor listings — researched and verified, free to be listed
  • 29 live websites — directories, trade-specific satellites, and growing
  • 5 city networks — Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, New Brunswick
  • 63 domains — building the infrastructure for a Canada-wide network
  • Free for contractors — every contractor gets a listing at no cost
  • No VC money — independent, built by one person between real jobs

No Pressure

This network will stay free for contractors regardless. Directory upgrades and paid tiers cover some of the costs. Donations just help bridge the gap — and let me spend more time building features instead of worrying about the bill.

Even $5 helps. Seriously.