Every month we feature a contractor, business, or success story. After all, learning from each other is one of the best ways to grow. Up this month: Ryan Sullivan with RI Log Home Restoration in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Keep reading for more details on how he got started and what helped has led to his success.
(more…)Every month we feature a contractor, business, or success story. After all, learning from each other is one of the best ways to grow. Up this month: John Schmitz with Alpine Log & Timber Finishes in Golden, CO. Keep reading for more details on how he got started and what helped him succeed.
(more…)Every month we feature a contractor, business, or success story. After all, learning from each other is one of the best ways to grow. Up this month: Nicole Carr with 888-Log-Guys in Ozark, MI. Nicole is managing 10+ log home finishing and restoration crews across 15 states, all while maintaining a customer-first mindset. Keep reading for more details on how she got started and what’s helped make 888-Log-Guys successful.
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Every month we feature a contractor, business, or success story. Learning from others in the biz is the best kind of learning. Today, Mike Bellevue shares a few of the inside secrets to Chewelah Painting’s success.
This month, we are featuring Mike Bellevue. Mike owns Chewelah Painting in Washington and has recently brought his log home finishing knowledge to Roe Paint in Idaho. Summer busyness is in full swing, so we’re grateful for the insights that Mike was willing to share about his business in the Pacific Northwest.
How’d you get started in the log home finishing business?
I am a carpenter by trade. I had every intention of working as a carpenter in Washington but was pulled into paint. We work in an area with a large number of log homes, and it wasn’t long before we worked on our first log home. The home came out great, but refinishing it was extremely tedious. Fortunately, I stumbled across Zero Failures and was blown away. Hands down the best training out there. I immediately bought a blaster and started marketing log home services. Three years later log homes became the majority of our work.
How big is your crew now?
We have five crews putting on coatings and working with several subcontractors. Our sub-contractors are vetted and are a part of the team.
What advice would you give to a newbie?
Attend Zero Failures training and pay attention…then go back the next year and learn more. Pay attention in the classroom, but also pay attention to your work. You will learn something on every job and refine your process.
What do you love most about log home refinishing?
We are artists, but not in the traditional sense. We take a work of art and make it beautiful again. Each log blasts and stains differently depending on species, exposure, and a number of other factors. We learn something on every job.
Mike, thanks for sharing a bit about your business. Feel free to look him up and pick his brain!
I started Rustic Park City in 2022 after working as the lead project manager for a prominent Park City general contractor for 6+ years. While working as a lead project manager, I learned rather quickly that my skills as a problem solver were well suited for this business. I also learned that I cared about meeting timeline commitments and budgets much more than most others in the business.
I bought a log home in the mountains near Park City and decided to take the restoration job on myself. I quickly realized that despite being a general contractor, I had a lot to learn. A local distributor, Wasatch Timber, helped me learn each step of log home restoration and muster the courage to point a blaster at my own home. As I restored the home, I fell in love with the details: the depth of the wood grain, the way the sun highlights the curvature of each log, the living character, and the rustic feel. I am standing here looking at it now. Sashco products made the home stunning. Living in a log home high in the mountains is the dream.
Our slogan at Rustic Park City is “Locals Building Locals.” We are protective of Park City, but we want others to have the opportunity to live the dream as well.
Don’t devalue yourself. We don’t lower our prices. If at the end of a project you can walk away proud of your work, then the homeowner will be proud of it too. Work with dignity and integrity. You are an artisan.
We are builders by trade, not business owners. To start a business, you have to go out there and face your fears. Do one thing each day that moves your business forward. Face one fear each day.
I am legitimately scared by how quickly we are growing. I have built a team around me to support our growth. I have hired multiple accountants, business managements, and legal counsel. Without the team around me I am nothing more than a guy with a truck.
Michael, thanks for sharing a bit about your business. Feel free to look Michael up and pick his brain!
Sashco is proud to feature Dynamic King Log Home Services as this month’s Contractor Who Cares.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Learn why one veteran contractor says “If you can only have one tool in your toolbox, make it Lexel.”
Every month we feature a contractor, business, or success story. Learning from others in the biz is the best kind of learning. This month, we’re featuring Tony Christensen with Kbartee Renovations.
Spring is upon us, which usually means business picks up. Tony with Kbartee Renovations has been in full swing through the winter, too. We’re grateful for the time he spent with us, sharing more about his business here in Sashco’s home state of Colorado.
I graduated college with a degree I wasn’t going to do anything with and was looking for work. Scott Stropko (Sashco’s Western Territory Manager) was a good family friend and he asked if I liked working outside. I said yes. He hooked me up with Jim Davis out of Wyoming and I started four days later. I worked with Jim for 3½ years and decided that I didn’t want to travel as much anymore, so another business partner and I broke off on our own. I worked with my business partner here in Colorado for 11½ years. Then, about 18 months ago, I decided to split off on my own. Life. is. great! Every day I pinch myself to make sure it’s real. I have an incredible job and I get to work in some incredible places. When I decided to be sole proprietor, it was a little scary. I never thought I’d be this busy. It’s mind blowing. I’m so grateful. There wasn’t a day during COVID that I didn’t work.
Restoration. I like working on older homes. I like it when homeowners haven’t liked their home for a while, but didn’t know they could get it the way they wanted. I simply apply expertise and elbow grease. I love taking a home, transforming it, and seeing how happy the homeowner is at the end. We’re restoring their dream. Their smiles make it all worth it.
Weather: It’s hard to work around the weather. But then, I had more working days in January and February of this year than I have in March and April because of spring snows. It’s also difficult to manage expectations for people who don’t know that we’re booked so far ahead. They call in June wanting their home done by end of the summer.
I wish Sashco offered the Zero Failures Business Focus class when I started out 13 years ago. I’d be so much further ahead. I would tell people that your word and your reputation are everything in this industry. You better have an incredibly good work ethic and be able to work with lots of different personalities. Be willing to learn. Soak up everything. It’s paramount to do good work and maintain high-quality relationships in this industry. If you get a bad rep with homeowners, that’s also a bad rep with distributors and others in the industry. When you screw up (not if, because it will happen), be willing to fix things and learn from it. Don’t just cut and run. You learn who you don’t want to be before you learn who you do want to be.
I’ve had opportunities recently to merge with another company or purchase another company, but I really like where I am now. I like having the smaller crew. It’s part of the appeal with homeowners, too. I’m the owner, I will be on the jobsite 85-90% of the time, they’re dealing with me from A to Z. I’ve gotten really good at selling that. There are people who I know want to grow. That was me at first. I have two guys working for me and they’ve caught on really fast. Eventually, I know I will need to ease back and let those guys take some things over. In 5 to 10 years, maybe they’ll want to buy me out and I can go buy my cattle ranch.
Kbartee is a brand my wife’s grandmother sewed into her wedding dress. It’s a K, a Bar, and a T. As a gift for our first wedding anniversary, my wife registered it. I wanted something different for a company name and this just fit. It will be the brand for our cattle ranch someday.
Thanks again, Tony, for the time. Hit Tony up to talk shop!
Tony Christensen
kbarteerenovations.com
Follow Kbartee on Instagram
Capture the Timeless Beauty of Natural Grain
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.
Available in 11 popular colors.
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.
Available in 8 popular colors.
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.
Available in 7 popular colors.
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.
The Easiest Stain to Maintain Transformation Siding & Trim is the no-peel, easy-to-maintain stain for your siding, trim, and decks.
Restore What Nature Destroyed
Bring old, damaged, gray and weathered logs back to life with this flexible oil-based semi-transparent stain
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.
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.
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
The Serious Fix for Concrete Cracks Just say no to cracks
Textured like mortar - stretches like rubber
It's easy, it's fast, and it works.
Available in 5 popular colors.
The sealant that integrates into your design.
No mold. No mildew. No scrubbing needed!
Mold is gross. Stop feeding it.
Available in white and almond.
Won't Crack...It just stretches
All homes move - Big Stretch moves with them.
Available in 12 popular colors, and clear.
Seals leaks that asphalt can't
Stop leaks now!
The Tough Elastic Sealant For Every Job
Sticks To Most Anything
Available in clear and white.
