Everybody's Favorite Excuse

We made two orders in 5 months. They were both custom orders and set us back a hefty sum. They were simple orders, and small, the first being a flat crown mold for the Glenwild home in Park City, about 150 feet of quarter-sawn African Mahogany with funky angles on each edge. The second was a large American Walnut traditional crown for a home in Provo. Wood costs alone per board foot is around the $5 range, and then the special order and knife grinding costs added to the price per foot.

The Mahogany showed up with knife marks along every foot of each piece. I was not happy. I put our $10 an hour guy on it for a few hours anyway and moved on. When the second order showed up in January, I was fed up with suppliers in this "economy".

What a great excuse for any business: "With this economy, we have had to cut back," or "With this economy, we don't offer those options any more," or "With this economy, we let our best guy go." Good idea, nice.

So the quality of craftsmanship and customer service has strait up gone to hell. Our main parts, hardware and finish supplier has toasted any chance of recovery just from their terrible customer service with us and every shop that I know. They couldn't get our stain colors right over and over and told us that is just the way it is. "Just tone it in, it will be okay." Over and over the wrong orders would show up and somehow it is our fault. And, when I found out an order was delivered to another shop, they let me know I could pick it up there. Thanks!

My wife and I visited a restaurant for our 4th year anniversary last week. This particular restaurant was a staple up until now. Done. Never going back. Service was lame, and I couldn't even get black olives on my pasta. I was offended and I even consider myself a faithful patron.

When the trust in the great American economy went south, pops and I decided that we would step it up a little. All we could have going for us is quality. We definitely can't compete with price; the dude in his basement or garage, farming everything out and has no overhead. And, we can't get things done faster than the big guys, it's just a few of us. That's where we are at now, try and keep them pumped on what we send out the door, and maybe they will come back. Or a referral. Or at least a pat on the back.

There is one reason, and one alone we shop the crown from this particular business. Usually, when it shows up, it needs no attention at all and goes straight to the finish room. These folks are more expensive, and 1 hour further away from the closest supplier (who is 2 minutes down the road, literally). These guys have earned their reputation.

After two bad runs in a row, and other suppliers giving us the run-around, I was fed up and made a call. With the manager on the other end, I explained and told him I was at the end of my rope. He asked how long I would be in the shop and if he could come down to sand the crown. I stammered a bit. "Uh, yeah, if you want."

I thought he was driving an hour in his fancy pick-up just to spite me and tell me his crown was just fine, that if I was so picky, that he would take time out of his busy schedule as a top exec and spend 3 to 4 hours to prove that I was an idiot and didn't know anything about how hard it is to mill crown molding, and all you had to do was spend a bit to sand it.

Nope. Dude shows up with his own sand paper dressed in his Patagonia jacket and apologizing profusely about the lack of quality. He couldn't understand how we ended up with 2 orders of junk. Then, he spent the next hour and a half sanding just like I did when I was 14 years old, helping at the shop.

I asked how business was, and he explained how it had hit them like a ton of bricks. I asked if maybe they had let the good guys go and the scrubs had let the crown out of the mill looking like this. Turns out, they let all the scrubs go to compensate and left all the high dollar guys in the shop to ensure quality. He still isn't sure how we ended up with two bad runs, and never offered up excuses. Crown turned out like a gem.

I did not expect this. Kudos to Bringard Mill and their attitude. This attitude may not save Deep Creek, or Bringard or anyone else who might be putting in the long hours doing the scrub work, but at least they can stand up tall and look people in the eye reflecting the integrity and hard work that actually put this nation on it's own two feet.

God bless all those who actually give a crap.

Deer Valley Hut

My favorite thing to do when I was a kid was to build huts in the field next door to where I grew up. We would steal scrap wood from the trash piles at any construction site in town, rip the old nails out and it was as good as anything we could get from Home Depot. My mom would take me to the local hardware store to buy nails and that was all I needed to make my super cool plywood playhouse. But it wasn't a play house, those are for girls. It was a hut.

A while back, someone heard of my hut building skills and we signed on to build this hut. That is what we called it, but my huts were much more cozy, and my huts had several floors. Just a stones throw from Steins lodge up on the Deer Valley hill the real estate is a little more fitting for this hut. It did take a bit more brain work and time, and turned out pretty cool too. Design by David Krajeski and Assoc.






The man, myth and legend Kevin Jo figured this one and made it happen. Permit in hand, he drove out to the old wood choppin spot and scored some of the straightest and longest Lodgepole pines he could find. Back at the shop we had to sort through and figure what went where. The roof structure was the most difficult to figure and build, and we actually looked at bringing in a lift or small crane to drop it on the bench assemblies. We ended up lifting it up in 4 different pieces.

We still aren't sure what it is, but it is good looking. I guess you could sit down on the bench if you got tired walking to the front door.

Hot Coffee Table

Happy Christmas to my lovely wife.

We don't drink coffee, but we should start. A coffee table like this deserves some expensive Columbian or Seattle brewed sippage. Mmmmm, bottoms and feet up.

The adventures of Pepe le Pooh and the Damn Shop Dogs

There I was, 10:30 at night, all by my lonesome with my head down pounding it out. The doors were open with a good little breeze flowing thru the shop. Fall has been thus far, toasty. The pups were out roaming in the field and they know mom doesn't want them out rolling in pooh, or something dead, or the dead somethings pooh. I'm still not sure what it is that makes them roll around in the most awful smells God creates. They love it. Mmmm, dead mouse on the ground. I want it on me. Mmmm, dead cat on the road. Yummy. Mmmm, dead fish, that's the best, get on me fish!

And then it came wafting in, no, streaming in and crawled up my nostrils all the way to the back of my skull. I thought of Loony Tunes and Pepe le Pooh.

This time Elly got a little more than she was looking for. Poor damn dog took one for the team right in the face. There she was foaming at the mouth with a very forlorn look on her face. And Betty who is not the model dog, somehow missed her shot. But, not to be left out, she quickly resolved that sniffing then grinding her neck and shoulder and rolling around in Ellys foam on the ground.

The odor then filled the whole shop, and did not go away. When I got home, it followed me, and when I got in the truck to come to work the next morning, it was there too. And I'm sure it is still on me, just like a turd you can't shake. The vinegar, baking soda and dish soap worked okay but they won't make it home for a day or three. Because, I really don't have anything better to do than wash the dogs.

Hence, my two favorite words to mutter every day: damn dogs.

The Best Stain in the World

18 months. It has been at least that long. I can't remember exactly when we started trying to figure this one out, it has been that long. This photo is missing at least 1 gallon, 3 or 4 quarts and twice as many samples than are here. No kidding. At $28 a pop for the quarts, $75 for each gallon, delivery fees, and weeks of staining, finishing, and staring at the samples and then chatting about tones, hues, shading, muddying, transparency, satin and matte over tea and cake, I think we might have a winner. It looks amazazing. Really.

A few years back, I was working at another shop which I won't mention cause we are in serious competition with them now (their shop is the best shop in the state and we are going for the 2nd best). I told Chris I needed a new blade to cut small trim on the table saw. A few hours later, he showed up with a brand new blade from a brand I didn't know. "Is this a good brand?" I asked. "Not sure, but it was the most expensive" he said. So, the more expensive it is, the better it is. Sure. That will make this stain the best in the world.

I learned something from Lorna and Leslie one day that I will never forget. They asked what hinges I was thinking of using for the office and I said whatever they wanted. They told me that was the right answer. For Leslie, that is the way to go. She knows what she wants, and there is a reason why. She knows her stuff.

Some days I wondered if it was worth it. I have never seen such attention go into one color. If this house doesn't get the blue ribbon, I'm not sure which one will.

Gridwork work

These columns (or pilasters) are one of the first designs Leslie gave us on Kelly's home in Park City. The mantle we built several months ago fits right between these two columns that sit floor to ceiling. I wish I would have taken more shots during the process.

I started with 3 pieces of wood each, with 3 different widths. Marlin set up a program to run the gridwork on his CNC for each panel after they were glued up flat. I made a sample for Lelslie 18 months ago with a router and a few jigs but there was no room for error. I was a bit nervous waiting for them to be done and Marlin ran them flawlessly. That's what you would expect from a $250,000 machine and one smart dude.

We brought them back to the shop and cut the mitres right where each joint on the glue up met, glued them together so each line continued around the mitre. It couldn't have turned out better. Each groove lines up perfect, which could have been a nightmare. We won't make any money on the mantles, they have definitely challenged me a bit, but I can't wait to get finish on this one.

Kevin has been in the finish room all week with the Laundry Room cabinets, and as soon as he gets out and we get our final nod from Leslie for the mahogany finish (which gets its very own post soon) it is finish time for all the parts that have been stacking up since January.

Rules to live by: Don't borrow stuff.

When I was a kid, my pops used to tell me that if I ever borrowed something from someone, I should always return it in the same or better shape than when I got it. I think this is why to this day I do not like to borrow stuff. That's all it really is tho, is stuff. But to some, those things are really important. Pops said if I borrowed a car to go to Mexico, and it broke down, it is my responsibility to repair the car even if it wasn't my fault.

That is crazy and ridiculous some might say. But, how could you ever make it right unless you did repair the car?

I grew up with a lot of things that were exceptionally nice. The burgundy Pinto (yup a Ford) which I always wanted to see how fast would go in first gear, was classy. My XJ-900 shoes from the Shoe Source were sweet in 5th grade. And my mountain bikes were always in less than stellar shape thru high school. But by the grace of our wonderful banking system and the Joneses next door, I learned to take advantage of the nice things in life.

A few years back, a purchase was made that makes life wonderful at the shop. Many folks coveted our new possession and wanted to touch it. It was lent out several times and this investment satisfied well. One day, it was returned in less than stellar shape. The borrowers did not pass the word along, and even tried to repair it with Wal-Mart goods. Not acceptable. You gotta be quick to pull a fast one on me.

Although, I don't harbour any feelings, I learned a lesson. Some people don't view responsibility the way I was taught. I look up to a few people in life who don't believe in entitlement and are high quality examples of responsibility. What I mean to say, is they take care of their shit. I guess you could say their integrity is enough that I would even go into business with them. And you know what, business is funny. It does funny stuff to people. I guess the lure of money does the same thing that money does. It tweeks people out.

My good friend Rob from Dixieland is one of these dudes that is strait. I can say I don't have to watch my back with Rob, and I would lend him my firstborn (and the Tacoma). My grandpa Jo is on this list too. He is the one that passed it down I'm sure. Probably beat it into my dad. And, he gets the nod too. He would have beat it into me, but I never really got caught being irresponsible. I just got lucky. It's funny to see how things change, 3 years after being in business with my pops. I'm sure he would love to take a big stick to me some days, but he has mellowed out. Yah, he even tries to calm me down some days. Good luck with that one.

I say we appoint a Responsibility Czar. He could drive a Pinto and wear XJ-900's. That would be funny.