How’d you get started in the log home finishing business?
I fell in love with log homes when I was in fourth grade. I had always wanted to own a log home and bought one outside of Bozeman a few years ago. When the home needed work, I struggled to find a contractor.
After this experience, I slowly transitioned DKS from general contracting to log home restoration and maintenance. We were working on log homes full-time by the end of 2021.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced running DKS and how have you overcome it?
The biggest challenge has been finding quality employees that mesh with our team. We have overcome this by including DKS employees in the interview process. We treat employees like family which is especially important when we travel for jobs. I worked in the oil fields for 17 years before starting DKS, which taught me a lot about team comradery.
I fell in love with log homes when I was in fourth grade. I enjoy preserving the natural beauty and history of our area’s log homes, while also ensuring their longevity for generations to come.
What do you dislike most about log home refinishing?
Sanding. Ensuring you have removed all the dead wood cells on a log can be very time-consuming. It’s an important process and a labor of love. We take the time to teach our employees the importance of proper prep.
What’s the future hold for your business?
We have grown substantially over the last year and are currently booked through 2023. We are planning to add a second crew soon.
Donnie, thanks for sharing a bit about your business. Feel free to look Donnie up and pick his brain!
Watch Matt Risinger discuss eXact Color at IBS 2023.
Watch Matt Risinger of The Build Show discuss the incredible features and benefits of Sashco’s eXact Color Tintable Caulk! Whether you’re a professional contractor or a DIY enthusiast, this premium caulking solution is designed to revolutionize your projects. Get ready to learn how this innovative product can enhance your sealing and finishing needs while providing a beautiful, long-lasting finish.
Features:
Tintable Versatility: Sashco’s eXact Color Tintable Caulk offers unparalleled flexibility with its unique tinting capability. Choose from a wide range of custom colors or match it precisely to your desired shade, allowing you to achieve seamless integration with any surface or décor.
Superior Adhesion: This advanced caulk formula ensures exceptional adhesion to various materials, including wood, metal, vinyl, concrete, and more. It forms a strong bond that withstands movement, weathering, and expansion/contraction, making it ideal for both interior and exterior applications.
Long-Lasting Durability: Count on eXact Color Tintable Caulk to deliver outstanding durability. Its robust formulation resists cracking, shrinking, and crumbling, ensuring a lasting seal that stands the test of time. Enjoy peace of mind knowing that your caulking job will maintain its integrity for years to come.
Easy Application: Designed for hassle-free use, this caulk features excellent workability, allowing for smooth and effortless application. Its smooth consistency and non-stringing properties make it easy to control, resulting in clean lines and professional-looking finishes every time.
Benefits:
Enhanced Aesthetics: With the ability to precisely match any color, this tintable caulk elevates the overall aesthetics of your projects. Seamlessly blend or highlight architectural details, trim, baseboards, and other surfaces, enhancing the visual appeal of your space.
Energy Efficiency: The outstanding adhesion properties of eXact Color Tintable Caulk help create an air-tight seal, reducing air leakage and heat transfer. By effectively sealing gaps and cracks, you’ll enhance energy efficiency, lower utility costs, and contribute to a more comfortable indoor environment.
Versatile Applications: From windows and doors to siding, baseboards, crown molding, and more, this caulk is suitable for a wide array of applications. Its versatility makes it an ideal choice for residential projects, providing reliable performance across various surfaces.
Time and Cost Savings: The long-lasting durability of this caulk minimizes the need for frequent repairs and reapplication. By investing in eXact Color Tintable Caulk, you’ll save time and money in the long run, reducing maintenance and replacement expenses.
Experience the transformative power of Sashco’s eXact Color Tintable Caulk and take your sealing and finishing projects to new heights. Try it today and unlock a world of possibilities!
We’re here to help see your project through to the end.
Not sure which sealant, caulk, or other product is right for your job? Looking for the nearest location to buy products for your next home project? Don’t know exactly how to tackle your repair? We’re here to help.
Industry expert, Matt Risinger demonstrates how to use Mor-Flexx to seal mortar for a perfect match on his own home.
Building sustainable, long-lasting buildings with high-quality products that are still environmentally responsible is possible, according to industry architect interviewed at the 2022 JLC Show.
Learn why one veteran contractor says “If you can only have one tool in your toolbox, make it Lexel.”
Nate discussing the importance of using high-performance products with Fine Homebuilding at IBS 2023.
Give Your Customers
Confidenceto Weather the Storm
Stocking Sashco high-performance sealants in your hardware store gives you a clear (pun intended) advantage in the market and attracts more professional contractors to your store. Our sealants are designed to provide superior performance in a variety of applications, making them a valuable addition to any contractor’s toolbox.
One of the key advantages of Sashco sealants is their durability and longevity. These sealants are formulated to withstand extreme temperatures, UV rays, and harsh weather conditions, ensuring that they maintain their seal over time. This means that contractors can use them with confidence, knowing that they will not have to reapply the sealant.
Another advantage of our sealants is their versatility. They can be used on a wide variety of surfaces, including wood, metal, vinyl, masonry, glass, and more. This makes them an ideal choice for contractors who work on a variety of projects and need a sealant that can adapt to different materials.
In addition to these benefits, Sashco sealants are also easy to use. They are formulated to be easy to apply and clean up, which saves contractors and DIYers both time and effort. This is especially important for professional contractors who need to be efficient in order to meet deadlines and stay competitive.
All these factors combined make Sashco sealants a valuable addition to any hardware store. By stocking these high-performance sealants, you can attract professional contractors looking for reliable, versatile, and easy-to-use sealants that are also environmentally friendly.
In conclusion, Sashco high-performance sealants are a premium brand that provides durability, versatility, ease of use, and environmental-friendly features. It would be a great advantage for your hardware store to have them in stock and attract professional contractors who are looking for quality sealants to use on their projects.
We’re family run and having a ton of fun!
We’re an 84 years-young family company that geeks out over a better way to caulk and stain. Making a ‘Good, Better, Best’ product range just doesn’t turn our crank. We’re passionate about making the highest performance product possible for each project.
We’re here to help see your project through to the end.
Not sure which sealant, caulk, or other product is right for your job? Looking for the nearest location to buy products for your next home project? Don’t know exactly how to tackle your repair? We’re here to help.
Support high school students and building industry leaders who are working together to help solve the trades crisis.
It’s a new time!
The past decade brought extraordinary change to our country. An unprecedented shortage of skilled workers that’s resulted in a trade crisis is undoubtedly one of the most significant. While supply chain challenges and raw materials shortages left their mark, a lack of human resources is perhaps the most critical impacting our country. The need for people is particularly evident in skilled trades. Recent 2022 data shows there are a whopping 650,000 open construction jobs.
With so much opportunity and a generation of graduates reexamining traditional educational paths and corporate avenues, it begs the question, what’s keeping young people from pursuing skilled trades?
A recent article from Tech Education Magazine describes how “Stanley Black & Decker spoke to high schoolers, their parents, and professionals to learn more about the perceptions of trade careers. The data revealed key drivers of the skilled trades gap:
Misunderstanding of long-term financial security
Incorrect knowledge of required skills
Lack of exposure to those in trade skills careers
Observation of trades as a “male-dominated” industry
The survey results reveal a lack of education about the trades – in fact, less than half of young people have ever had a conversation about skilled trades careers with someone working in the trades. The findings uncover an important opportunity to close the perception gap and, hopefully over time, the trade skills gap as well.”
What’s Being Done?
A high school program in Taylorville, Illinois, is taking full advantage of that opportunity. The high school’s Build, Learn, Teach program aims to put trades in schools, teach high-performance building science and create hands-on experiences that give high school students the foundation for a career in skilled trades ranging from HVAC and plumbing to carpentry and building codes. While the program has existed since the 1960s, it has recently gained massive with the help of Building Trades Instructor Matt Blomquist.
Students showing a commitment to character and academics enjoy an opportunity to spend three hours per day on job sites outside of the traditional classroom environment. Matt explained, “Sometimes shop classes get a fluffy reputation. It doesn’t take long for these kids to realize that the work is often hard. It’s muddy. It’s cold. It’s hot. It’s not easy. They must learn that sometimes you do uncomfortable things before you see the reward or the ‘fun’ part.”
How to Help!
Despite earning a more rigorous reputation, the program is growing hand over fist. The Build, Learn, Teach program continues to gain momentum with students. It’s also caught the attention of industry leaders and organizations, like Sashco, who want to help champion the cause. “We’re so excited about this innovative and cool program not only because it gives students a hands-on opportunity to try out every aspect of a residential build, but it also propels the industry as a whole by helping to teach good, solid, building science that will benefits generations ahead of us,” said one Sashco team member.
The #SkipLunchChallenge is one example of how Sashco and others in the building industry have partnered philanthropically with Build, Learn, Teach to help further the program’s mission. The idea behind the #SkipLunchChallenge is to simply skip lunch out for one day and instead directly donate those funds to support an organization like Build, Learn, Teach. To learn more or to contribute to the Build, Learn, Teach initiative, visit our webpage at sashco.com/skiplunchchallenge/.
Do you know of an exceptional program helping to grow the skilled trade or construction industry? Nominate them for our next #SkipLunchChallenge here or on our Facebook or Instagram page.
Don’t compromise at the end of a long and arduous journey by using an inferior stain not designed for logs. Capture and Cascade deliver performance worthy of the journey that got you here.
Moves with your logs and timbers
Won't hide the wood grain
Easy clear coat maintenance with Cascade(R) exterior clear coat
Backer Materials that Seal Things Right the First Time Backer Rod, Grip Strip, and Log Gap Cap all help you create the ideal joint desing for a long-lasting, durable seal
Logs are in constant dynamic motion. That's why there's Log Builder®, the sealant made for log structures. Stretches up to 500% of original size, while still maintaining tenacious adhesion to the wood.
When other chinking pulls away, Log Jam holds its seal With Log Jam chinking, you can keep the cozy feel and rustic look of a log home without compromising comfort and performance.
Easy to Use - Hard to See Keep out weather, bugs, and moisture without seeing it. Conceal disappears into the woodwork so you don't know the wood starts and the caulk begins.
It's Music to the Eyes Symphony works in harmony with the unique character of your logs and wood to reflect an atmosphere or cozy warmth and elegance while creating and scuff-resistant and durable surface that's easy to dust.
Right Color. Right Quantity. Right Now. Never run out of stain at the jobsite again. Stock exactly what you need in your truck or trailer at the jobsite.
Easy to mix
The same color, durability, and application you've come to expect from Capture Log Stain and Transformation Log & Timber
Maintenance Made Easy Now that Capture® Log Stain is applied, it’s time for Cascade® Clear Topcoat to bring out the depth and character of your unique woodgrain while protecting it against moisture, mildew, and algae. Predictable and affordable routine maintenance with Cascade throughout the years means your home stays protected and beautiful. Easy!
Keep the Color the Color Colorfast delivers the ideal canvas for stain application and leaves behind the strong foundation necessary for long-lasting color. It’s color confidence for your log home.
Rot, weather, insects, fungi all pose a serious threat to your logs. Protect your investment—treat your logs first to make them last. Tim-bor® helps protect your home from the costly damage caused by rot and insect infestation.
Bugs don't stand a chance
Easy to mix and apply
Prevents decay fungi
Costs 5 times less than glycol-based borate products
Remove Wood Felting and Raised Grain Remove wood fuzz (called felting) after power washing or media blasting, and knock down excessive raised grain with Sashco's finish sanding tools
Clean and brighten bare logs and wood, remove surface dirt, pollen, and kill mold for maintenance, and keep your logs looking fresh with CPR Log Cleaner and Brightener
