Meet Our Craftsmen

I am blessed to be surrounded by what I believe to be the best team and, for that matter, the best group of people in general in the industry. This quarter, I want to focus on a few of the guys who have been here over 10 years. 

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I WILL START WITH EDGAR. Edgar has been with us for the past 22 years. He’s been there for the birth of my three kids, and really, the birth of the company. I’m convinced we wouldn’t be where we are today without Edgar.  

He joined our small crew in 2003—the company was barely 2 years old. He had been working with a company contracted by Hartsfield Jackson Airport at $15/hour and would join our crew on the weekends for $10.50/hour. We were working late on a large commercial project and stopped for dinner. I don’t know why he asked to come on full time for less than he was making at the airport, but he did. We have never looked back. He quickly became a trusted lead man who would skillfully innovate and problem-solve on the most intricate carpentry detail. Or he’d grab a shovel and dig for hours in the 90-degree heat. Twenty-two years later, I couldn’t be more grateful for his dedication. 

He quickly became a trusted lead man who would skillfully innovate and problem-solve on the most intricate carpentry detail. Or he’d grab a shovel and dig for hours in the 90-degree heat. Twenty-two years later, I couldn’t be more grateful for his dedication. 

Edgar picked up a chisel at 16 and learned to build beds, chairs and dressers all by hand. The only machine he had access to was a table saw. No nails, no screws—he learned to fit it all together with his chisel and some sandpaper. He is one of the most creative and resourceful craftsmen I know.  Now we have YouTube and Google to help us figure out how to do things. Before that, we had Edgar. Edgar and I have always communicated well.  When we met, I didn’t speak a lick of Spanish, and Edgar didn’t know English at the time.  It didn’t matter. We communicated perfectly with hand gestures, sketches on walls and workbenches, and by building mock ups. This is just another example of Edgar’s versatility and intelligence. He doesn't need to understand the language to understand. 

Edgar and I have done life and business together. I was at his son’s graduation years ago and he will attend my son’s this year. He has seen the company grow and also thin—during the crash of 2008 we dwindled to just Edger, myself and my brother-in-law. We struggled through those years together and rebuilt together. He has welcomed everyone onboard who is here today and is loved and appreciated by our entire team.   

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THERE IS NO ONE LIKE GORDON and we would not have the custom cabinet shop we have without him. This man exceeds the definition of a master carpenter.  He made his way from Missouri down to Georgia and somehow landed in my shop—and for that I am eternally grateful. 

In  2008, we pivoted to a cabinet shop out of sheer necessity. New construction had evaporated, and I had a customer who wanted us to build a very nice kitchen. I signed a short-term lease on a space that we could build in. We needed to add a cabinet builder to the team. I ran an ad on Craigslist and somehow it reached Gordon. When Gordon showed up for an interview, I knew he was our guy. He was answering my questions, but I could see him paying more attention to the shop, the tools and the partially completed projects. It was apparent I was talking to a craftsman who was more interested in the work and shop around him than the interview. Gordon came on board. That short-term, three-month lease turned into eight years and we've been in our current shop for the last seven years. 

Gordon is one of 14 kids, and he was the only one that was drawn to the woodshop. All of his siblings worked on farm equipment or under the hood of a truck. Not Gordon. He spent every study hall in the woodshop. Gordon’s high school shop teacher took note and became his mentor. Gordon still has a dining room table they built with a huge, heavy base he glued and turned on a lathe. Gordon can often be found in the shop after work, refurbishing a piece of furniture he found on the side of the road. He loves his craft and enjoys bringing old discarded pieces back to life and beauty. 

When he joined us in 2008 his cabinet installation background coupled with our designs made for a perfect fit. As our customer base grew, their designs became more complex.  Gordon helped us find different solutions in the building process, enabling us to deliver exactly what each customer wanted. He has an incredible eye for detail - from the drawings, to measurements to project installation. Gordon isn't going to compromise or give up until the build is perfectly aligned to the customers’ specs. If he’s been in your house, you know!

Aside from all the carpentry skills, Gordon is a family guy. He’s going to have your back; he’s going to keep his eye out on your behalf; he’s going to treat your kids like his own; he's going to build and install each project as if the shop were his. And it is.

Should you ever visit the shop, you’ll spot Gordon’s table. There’s a huge pile of loose graph paper filled with marks and measurements. He can dig through the rubble and pull out specs and notes on a job from 5 years ago. It might not be the prettiest organization system, but it is effective! Aside from all the carpentry skills, Gordon is a family guy. He’s going to have your back; he’s going to keep his eye out on your behalf; he’s going to treat your kids like his own; he's going to build and install each project as if the shop were his.  And it is. Our shop isn’t just a building; it’s a place in which we all take pride and ownership. Gordon has set the bar for that. I’ll find him there on the weekends, sometimes building and sometimes cleaning. I am a blessed man to have Gordon not just a part of our company, but a big part of my life.  

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Miriam-Webster defines a Renaissance man as “one who is knowledgeable, educated, or proficient in a wide range of fields.” 

MIKE IS OUR RENAISSANCE GUY. 

After 18 years of working together, I can say he is wildly talented in many areas and continues to challenge himself to keep exploring new possibilities. When I met Mike, he was fresh into the trade. He was also eager to learn, willing to put in the hours, and had a keen eye for detail. 

One of my old friends and colleagues, Lon, hired Mike to help him build decks back in 2006. Lon liked to work alone or with one or two helpers. Mike quickly became Lon’s right hand and they built many decks together. Over the next several years, Mike became an accomplished deck builder. During this time Lon and I would partner on larger projects. Mike and our team worked together well and we built some beautiful decks.  

In 2013 I was given the opportunity to buy Lon’s deck business, TLC Deck Repair. By this time Mike was pursuing another opportunity but I knew we needed him on board. I called him and he was willing to give it a go. It took a little time to put together a deck team but in 2017 we met Fidel and his family of phenomenal craftsmen and it was off to the races!  (More about Fidel in a future newsletter.)

Mike is a critical piece of our team and his willingness and ability to learn and grow are essential to the company's capacity to continue to take on larger and more complex builds. 

For several years I did all the deck drawings by hand. I invested in some classes to learn AutoCAD in order to make our design and drafting process a little easier and more professional. I met Mike at the office one day, eager to show him what I had learned. In about an hour he mastered everything I had spent two weeks (and a couple of private lessons) learning. he was figuring out more stuff as we sat there. It was obvious that he had a gift. Since then he has moved through a few different programs and is now creating beautiful renderings and detailed building plans in Sketchup. His drawings not only look great for the client, but are incredibly detailed for our crews. Having a draftsman/designer on the team who is also an expert deck builder is amazing. His drawings are remarkably precise because he knows exactly what has to be done in the field.    

He can’t and won’t stay behind a desk all the time. He is in the field, helping, training, clarifying and doing whatever it takes to bring the drawings to life. Mike is a critical piece of our team and his willingness and ability to learn and grow are essential to the company's capacity to continue to take on larger and more complex builds.