Continuing our 20th Anniversary celebration, Atlanta Design & Build honors the great skills of our Lead Carpenter, Bill Brown, who has been a part of our team since July 28, 2015.

Bill grew up in Rhode Island and studied at Toll Gate Vocational-Technical school there. An ambitious young man, Bill was cutting lawns for extra money after school when one of his customers offered him a job with his construction company. After he graduated, at age 17, Bill took on a job as a beginning laborer with another construction firm. His initial tasks involved carrying wood around and picking up items for other guys as he learned how to frame houses. Early on, the company he worked for was building custom homes and then switched to remodeling after the market crashed in the 1980s.

In 2003, at 34 years old, Bill moved to New Hampshire where he began working again for a company that built custom homes. He did the framing, roofing, window and door installations, and exterior trim on $12-18 million homes.

After several years in New Hampshire, Bill decided to move to a warmer climate because he disliked the cold weather he was experiencing on the job. He and his wife relocated to Atlanta where Bill signed up with a temp agency. As a self-proclaimed workaholic, Bill was nervous about moving to a new city without a job already in his pocket. The agency got him into contact with Atlanta Design & Build in July of 2015, and he’s been with us ever since. “I’m absolutely loving the weather,” exclaims Bill. “I get to work outside in a T-shirt from early spring through late fall!”

Working as Lead Carpenter with Atlanta Design & Build

As a Lead Carpenter, Bill does a little bit of everything, including siding, framing, roofing, sheet rock, tile work, and finished carpentry on the exterior and interior. Typically, the ADB team performs demolition and build out of necessary framing. They then manage the plumbing, HVAC specialists, electricians and the trades required. ADB professionally completes the project. “We’re hands-on through the entire project,” says Bill.

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We are excited that remodeling activity is now back in high gear in Atlanta and around the country. Atlanta Design & Build has been blessed with several major projects this year, and we hear similar reports from our NARI peers.

In conjunction with booming business, one of the issues that often comes up at NARI meetings is the shrinking labor pool. Many busy remodeling companies are faced with concerns that there aren’t enough skilled tradespeople to complete their projects. During the economic downturn several years ago, the construction workforce thinned dramatically as the recession impacted the construction industry. Talented workers often went back to school and/or sought new careers.

As National President of NARI, H. Dale Contant is having the opportunity to attend local NARI chapter meetings in several different states this year. He has learned how NARI chapters are encouraging and supporting the efforts of high schools and community colleges to attract new students to the construction field. Students are beginning to understand that remodeling can be an enjoyable, creative, lucrative and lifelong professional career.

Sydney speaks to the MAGIC group at Gwinnett Technical College

Continue reading ADB Supports Mentoring a Girl in Construction at Gwinnett Tech →

Our recent ADB Employee Rib Extravaganza put our official Grill Dome to good use!  Surely you’ve heard of the Grill Dome—the incredible new ceramic grill with a round kamado shape that gives the best heat distribution ever.  Check out Grilldome.com, a NARI Atlanta partner who ADB proudly represents.  These beauties are perfect for your outdoor kitchen and even come in your favorite ‘school colors’!  WE proudly display Red & Black … go Dawgs!

Dale, Steven and Jamie did the honors preparing ribs for the entire ADB team.  What good cook doesn’t first test an amazing new cooking tool….on a chicken? Just to make sure it’s working properly, right? The office team enjoyed this taste test at lunchtime while the ribs were cooking.

Later in the afternoon, Dale applied the final basting to the ribs and distributed them to the entire team. Yum!! Dale commented that at the end of that long day—7am-6pm—the guys were too busy receiving and eating their ribs to take any photos.

Atlanta Design & Build has reached a wonderful milestone this year; our 20th Anniversary! We also celebrate Steven Roberts, Sales and Design Consultant, who joined our team April 14, 2015.

Construction and how things work has always been an interest

Steven moved when he was twelve from upstate New York to Atlanta with his dad and, except for a brief sojourn in North Carolina, he has lived in this area ever since. He grew up in a family that was active in the construction industry. His paternal grandfather was a master carpenter, and his mother spent some time working for a commercial construction company.  Construction is in Steven’s DNA. As a child, he was always tearing things apart. “I dissected everything to see how it worked,” chuckled Steven.

Steven took drafting classes in high school with the thought of studying architecture in college. His direction in college veered to business and accounting but the drafting skills he acquired as a teen still benefit him today.

While a full-time student, Steven helped pay his college tuition working full-time as an assistant manager for a hotel. Steven left college when he was offered the general manager position of an Atlanta hotel. This is when he got involved in his first remodeling project. Drawing on his natural aptitude for construction, Steven renovated his condo in Marietta. It wasn’t long before he moved to North Carolina to manage the Drury Inn Suites in Greensboro and was soon restoring his own 1926 Craftsmen bungalow in High Point. “I single-handedly tore down walls, added a second bathroom, and remodeled the original bathroom and kitchen,” Steven explained. “I learned construction on the fly, doing projects on my own.”

By the time he returned to Atlanta, construction rather than hotel management had become Steven’s preferred occupation. His official start in construction was as a project manager and estimator for a restoration company. He later worked for three years as an account manager in sales and design with another design/build firm in the Atlanta area. Equipped with sales and design skills, Steven enthusiastically opened his own design/build renovation company in 2009. After several years of owning and managing that business, he realized that to continue being successful he either needed to grow his company or go to work for someone else. He chose to pursue the second option.

Steven begins working with ADB

Continue reading CELEBRATING 1 ½ years with Steven Roberts →