Do you sell you products at street fairs?
Yes, beginning in 2016 I sold at over a dozen street fairs around Portland. Keep an eye out for us this Spring and Summer at your local street fairs! I’ll be partnering with other small business too, including a painter and a leather worker!
Do you collect materials before you know what you’re going to use them for? Or do you have a design in mind and select materials to fit the design?
Generally, I don’t. As much as I’d love to buy every last stick of old-growth at the ReBuilding Center, my garage space and budget always have the last word. Instead, I buy my wood after having drawn up a design for commissions.
Do you ever wonder about the previous life of the materials you use?
All the time. But, I usually don’t have access to that information. One day I plan to implement the stories of my materials on my website. Personally, I think knowing where something came from, or who may have owned it or used it, adds huge value to the material.
Do you have any employees?
While I have hired friends and my brother to help me with street fairs, I am the sole designer and builder and business guy behind the operation.
Have you gotten any materials from the ReBuilding Center? What kinds?
Yes! I source around 85% of my materials from the ReBuilding Center. I have bought everything from ship-lap, flooring, rafters, ply-wood, doweling, hand-railing, and once even a 19’ glu-lam beam at the ReBuilding Center.
How did you hear about the ReBuilding Center?
I used to live near N Haight & N Mason, so the Mississippi business district was typically my haunt. When I got into woodworking, even as a hobbyist, I found the ReBuilding Center because I happened to walk by. What a wonderful find!