Another new guy from Jersey - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

giantfan · 10-16-2009, 11:18 AM

Hello all,

My name is Ted and I am from Monmouth County NJ.

Started with summer jobs doing some clean up around jobsites in the neighborhood as a kid, then moved on to doing block out for a framing contractor when I decided that college wasn’t for me.

Worked as a framer for a few years both working for someone and doing my own thing, we did a lot of track work back in the mid 80’s and then moved on to the higher end stuff in the Princeton area. I switched gears and decided to do some wood siding. I worked with a bunch of guys that came down to Jersey from Northern New York. We did nothing but wood siding as there was a large demand for it and not many guys that did it.

From there I started my own deck company for a couple of years with some siding mixed in when necessary to pay the bills.

After getting married, I moved to Jersey City and Manhattan for the next 10 years and did a bunch of high end residential in the city. I started as a trim carpenter and quickly moved to foreman and then to PM. It was pretty funny as I remember my first day going to work in the city… I was scared to death thinking that all the guys around me were going to be the bee’s knees and I would have no idea how to do anything right….. that wasn’t the case. On my first day I had to stop the so called carpenters that were working on the job from hanging doors totally wrong.

I switched companies that I worked for in the city and still doing high end residential we mixed in some light commercial (sports clubs) After 9/11 things were pretty tough working in the city and I just wasn’t feeling it anymore. I was given the opportunity to go around the country building some big box retail stores. It was a lot of fun at first but living out of a suitcase got old pretty damn quick.

My wife was working outside the city at the time and I was all over the place, so we decided that we didn't need to live up in the city anymore and decided to move back down to Monmouth County to be closer to the boat which I keep in Keyport.

I hooked up with a builder thru another contractor friend that I have known for years. We build custom homes on the beach in Monmouth County. These are very high end summer homes that our clients use for two months out of the year. I am doing all of the estimating, and keep track of 4 PM’s that I have out in the field. Life is good!!!!

I stumbled across this website a couple of weeks ago and it looks like a great place to share and learn. I hope to contribute in the future.
My Hobbies include fishing, fishing, and fishing….. that’s why I work.

giantfan · 10-16-2009, 11:24 AM

Here are a couple of pictures of a house that we are just finishing up.

shanekw1 · 10-16-2009, 07:02 PM

Welcome to the site, Ted.

**genecarp** · 10-16-2009, 07:07 PM

Nice project, welcome Ted. G

Mellison · 10-16-2009, 07:14 PM

Welcome,
One hell of an intro. And some nice work as well.
Post some pics of the boat and the fish you catch in the off topic section.
Would love to see both.
Mike

giantfan · 10-17-2009, 07:57 AM

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Mellison.... I will post up some shots of the boat on Monday. I have most of my pictures on my computer at work.

WarriorWithWood · 10-17-2009, 10:03 AM

Welcome to CT.

tomstruble · 10-17-2009, 10:07 AM

very nice very nice welcome