Home Design Trends for 2022: An Interview With Paul Struharik
Note: this is a transcript from our recent AHA interview. If you would like to watch the video, check out our content studio page. This interview is also available as a podcast episode – find it here.
Steve Stack:
Brought to you direct from Studio 3B at Baird Brothers Fine Hardwoods, American Hardwood Advisor is your source for trends, tips, and insights into how the building industry has evolved.
Join me, Steve Stack, along with guest builders and industry leaders, as we talk shop and go in-depth on what it takes to be the best of the best.
Dive into topics like architecture, industry trends, project plans, historical tools, tricks of the trade, and life lessons from more than six decades of experience in the hardwood lumber business.
Home Design And Builds With Master Plan Builders
Steve Stack:
Welcome, everybody. I’m Steve Stack coming to you live from Baird Brothers Fine Hardwoods’ Studio 3B. Today, I’d like to welcome Mr. Paul Struharik of Master Plan Builders, one of the principals. We’re going to talk a little bit about residential building and a little bit of commercial. We’re going to go through the process and I’m going to pick your brain, Paul. We’ll talk about home design trends for 2022, home decor trends, the process that you take your customers through, and even maybe jump into the financing of projects.
But, first and foremost, thanks for being here this morning, Paul.
Paul Struharik:
Glad to be here. I appreciate the opportunity to converse with you.
Steve Stack:
You know, talking from Studio 3B is a little bit different for us. Who would’ve thought? 33 to 35 years ago, we were looking at blueprints on the hood of a pickup truck, right? Now, we’re doing this.
Paul, you know, that takes me back. I remember pulling onto your job site, where you still call your home, and we were younger then.
Paul Struharik:
We both had a lot of hair, I think. A lot more hair, but yeah. I was coming here when the showroom was about the size of this studio.
I mean, honestly. We started business in 1983, and you were the only salesman back then.
Steve Stack:
We were starting families.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah. Exactly.
Steve Stack:
We were starting families. Now, my son is creeping up on 33, and yours-.
Paul Struharik:
Mine’s 31 this August, yeah.
Steve Stack:
Yeah. It was always fun, and Studio 3B is a reflection of fun. I know you went head first into the waters when your boys got into baseball, and my son was going through it. We always had conversations about that, you know?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, I did. We did a lot of traveling. He ended up actually playing baseball in college, which was fun. I wouldn’t miss work for anything but baseball. I guess that was one of my big things. I still do a lot of it today, but you have to balance it with work. It was a tough deal when we were going through it at the same time. I was doing a lot of coaching, too.
Steve Stack:
Oh, yeah. We coached and had fun. And folks, if you’re out at the ball diamonds, pay attention to the guy behind the plate with the mask on.
Paul Struharik:
That’s why I wear a mask, so no one knows who I am. Yeah, I still umpire locally.
Steve Stack:
You umpire a ton.
Paul Struharik:
I do, yeah. I’ve been slowing down a little because I’ve got two grandkids that I might start coaching here soon. I can’t get away from coaching, you know? I go to sporting events and I think, “I can coach better than that.”
Steve Stack:
It’s hard standing outside of the fence, right?
Paul Struharik:
Exactly. Yes.
Steve Stack:
Right?
Paul Struharik:
Right. It really is.
Steve Stack:
I experienced it, I know. And when the kids get into high school ball and you’re outside the fence, you’re saying, “What are they thinking!?”
Paul Struharik:
Right, yeah. Actually, that’s part of why I got into umpiring because I used to give the umpire such a hard time. I thought, “Well, maybe it’s time to give back.” So now, I let the fans and coaches yell at me.
Steve Stack:
How fun’s that, though?
Paul Struharik:
If I do have you out on the field, come up and say hi to me and I’ll give your kid a ball instead of a strike, maybe.
Steve Stack:
Oh, shoot.
So, hey, you mentioned 1983. You and your brother, what were you thinking?
Paul Struharik:
My mother still asks me that question. She’s 86 and she says that. You know, I went to college for four years at Baldwin Wallace and earned a business degree. I came home and went into the building business. It was a win.
My brother, Bob, always did it. He loved it. He worked for a commercial roofing contractor and we started remodeling and doing some little additions here and there. Then he said, “Let’s start a business.” I was in tobacco sales at the time. I didn’t smoke tobacco. I didn’t like tobacco. So I thought, “Why am I here,” you know?
So, that’s kind of how we started it. We did additions and we spent late nights. I missed weddings, rehearsal dinners, and different events because I was trying to finish up a remodel when I should have been at the wedding with my wife, you know? But, when you’re in somebody’s house Friday at nine o’clock, you want to finish. You don’t want to come back Saturday morning, you know?
We did a lot of that over the years. In our first couple of years, we built maybe one or two houses. It was 1983-1984. Interest rates were probably 18%, you know? I thought, “Well, I’m young. I could always go back to selling tobacco or selling something if this didn’t work out.”
Steve Stack:
Well, you know what? You look back to 1983, ’84, ’85 and the investment of time that you and your brother put towards the business.
Now, here we are today, and I enjoy seeing it. We’re having conversations like this. And, I know your company is very strong on the social side. I mean, whether it’s projects that you have going on, past projects, upcoming projects, you guys are staying busy, no?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, we are. We’ve been really blessed in the up markets or down markets. I mean, we’ve weathered a storm. As you know, me and Bob did everything when we started in the field. We did roofing. We did framing. We learned it on the way up. We insulated. We hung drywall in houses. I mean, we did things that I wouldn’t recommend for anybody to do. But, we did it, and we had fun with it.
But, as we got older, our sons came into the business. Rob, my nephew, is head of our blueprint drawing area. My son does the design work. We’ve got a young guy, Adam, that does a lot of our IT stuff for us, and he’s the guy that’s out there with the social presence.
Those three young guys really keep us out in front of the public, I guess. While Bob and I are on-site all the time. We love building and we don’t want to do the marketing. I don’t want to do this stuff, but you talked me into it so that’s okay.
Steve Stack:
Hey, buddy. You know, I have trouble calling you Paul, because I’ve always known you as Smiley. It’s changed, but you hit on something.
I ran into your brother last week. He was walking out of the showroom. You guys are still out, beating the pavement. You’re running between job sites. You’re meeting homeowners, your customers. And, you’re still out running around, picking up materials.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah. Well, I’ll tell you what, there’s nothing we like more than seeing our job sites, so we know what’s going on with them. We can see what stages they’re in. If they’re clean, how the material’s being put together. I love coming out here and seeing the guys in the shop. I mean, as I mentioned earlier, I harass them, you know? I say I’ve been here for a lot longer than any of them have. You know, you’re the only guy that’s got seniority on me, you and maybe some of the office people.
Steve Stack:
Right!
Paul Struharik:
So I enjoy it. When I’m sitting in the office, I don’t get interaction with the guys in the field. So, we love what we do. That’s what keeps us going, honestly.
Building A Business Through Generations
Steve Stack:
You know, the neat thing about our relationship is the fact that Baird Brothers is family-owned. You alluded to it earlier, Master Plan Builders (like Baird Brothers) is multi-generational now.
Paul Struharik:
Correct. Yeah, we are.
Steve Stack:
So, there’s you and Bobby, your brother.
Paul Struharik:
Yes. Zach is my oldest son and Rob is Bob’s oldest son. And then, Adam. Adam is one of our main guys there. Rob’s boys have been out and they’ve helped us on job sites, which is our third generation. My youngest son was with us for a couple of years, but he moved on to other avenues. Bob’s wife, Patty, is still involved right along with the design work and color palette coordination. Now, Rob’s new bride is also involved in the business. So, we’ve kept it pretty much a close-knit family, really a lot like you guys.
I mean, when I think back and look, Steve, I think that Baird Brothers is probably the only company that we’ve started within ’83-’84 that we’re still with, you know? The lumber yards have changed over, changed names. Painters, plumbers… Everybody has come and gone along the way. But for 35-37 years, we’ve been dealing with you guys locally, and we always have. You know, we like the products and we like what you have here to offer us.
Steve Stack:
First off, thank you. Thank you for that. That speaks volumes. Master Plan Builders and Baird Brothers have paralleled one another throughout the years, as far as growth and bringing in, in Baird Brothers’ case, second generation, third generation now. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s taken time. It’s taken a lot of hard work.
I mean, I’ve been fortunate to meet you on job sites. Your brother, Bob, on job sites over the years. It’s been a fun ride. Still to this day, you put tireless hours in because you are so hands-on on your projects, right?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, we do. I was in Florida for a week over the holidays, and I had more phone calls and interaction with you and with other people that have called, because it’s hard to turn it off. When there’s something you’ve been working on for 3, 4, 5 months, or for 35 years, you just can’t stop that. You want to answer the questions that need answering. You want to get back to people.
But, it’s part of our life. Albert says, “You need to get away from that thing.” I said, “Well, it’s almost impossible sometimes because it’s bred in us, you know? We love being a part of it.”
Steve Stack:
Your product is not a cookie-cutter product, per se.
Paul Struharik:
True.
Custom Home Decor Made From Natural Wood
Steve Stack:
You know, I have been blessed to have been involved in some fantastic products. Some of my coworkers, Derek Donatelli, you’ve worked with for years. We had a project a few years back just around the corner here in Covington, right? You know the project I’m referring to. Was that the biggest project you guys have undertaken?
Paul Struharik:
Yes, that was. That was about a three-and-a-half-year project for us, and that was one residence. I look at the pictures that you guys still have on your website. We have videos of them. The project was so much fun because we got to interact, design and go through various stages with them. And, it was five floors of different products. We used a lot of Brazilian cherry, solid cherry doors. I mean, it was really interesting. It was our biggest project and our longest project, but it really was a nice feather in our cap when we were done. I think interior-wise, it is probably one of the nicest homes in the area. It has to be.
Steve Stack:
We’re referencing the Kopatich project. We supplied material to that project. With you guys and your team of fantastic craftsmen, we did things in that house that we’ve never done before.
Paul Struharik:
You’re right. Yeah, we did. We did a lot of prototypes to get there. We used you as a supplier and some other companies that you worked with before. Some of the moulding companies had not been around, but we had to pull them in with the architecture.
Steve Stack:
Oh, we had one of our partners… White River, right?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, and they’re very good. Right.
Steve Stack:
You used a lot of White River products in that project, along with Baird products. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you and your homeowners… Tony and Patty, right?
Paul Struharik:
Correct. Right.
Steve Stack:
Right?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah.
Steve Stack:
They came up with a design idea for a casing and baseboard, and we ran that specifically for that project.
Paul Struharik:
That’s correct. Right. We made our own. You guys made it nice for us. We did it because we wanted something a little bit different. I think Tony has them hanging in his man cave.
Steve Stack:
How big was that project?
Paul Struharik:
That project was about 30,000 square feet under roof.
Steve Stack:
Between the primary residence and the guest quarters.
Paul Struharik:
It has a tunnel to the theater area and bowling lanes. They made a really neat diner. You just can’t embellish on what they did because it was so unique. There was so much attention to detail.
Steve Stack:
I have to ask, and I don’t believe we’ve ever talked about it, how did they come to find Master Plan?
Paul Struharik:
Well, actually, we had built them a house earlier in the neighborhood. We were the developers of Covington Creek, so we built their first house. So we already had a relationship. They knew they wanted to upscale a little bit and knew we were quality. So, we moved down the street and started negotiating for lots.
Actually, the house sits on about five acres. There’s three lots there that we had to combine to put it on. But, I sat down with Tony. I could remember the day like it was yesterday, you know? We started talking. We probably started with ten thousand square feet and went to thirty, I think, because we added so many rooms to it, so many floors, as we were building.
That was kind of the fun of it. Plus the intrigue was that Tony and Patty were open to letting us have some free hand in design work. So every day, they’d come down. For three and a half years, I don’t think they left town. We camped out there. With all the neat detail to the products you guys offered, we made special doors. I think the doors were one of a kind that we had never used before. And, I’m not sure if they were made before or not.
Steve Stack:
You brought up some of the products used in there. You mentioned the doors. If I recall, there was a boatload of Brazilian cherry flooring, right?
Paul Struharik:
Correct, yes. Almost the entire house was Brazilian cherry.
Steve Stack:
The custom casing and baseboards.
Paul Struharik:
They were all solid cherry. It was a five-and-a-half-inch profile that we had detailed with that knife, and I think a nine-and-a-half-inch cherry baseboard that we had.
Steve Stack:
If I’m not mistaken, we actually produced a couple different custom crown mouldings for that project.
Paul Struharik:
We did, yeah. Patty’s home office had about an eight layer crown moulding in it with a coffered ceiling once we were done. It was all cherry. I think the whole entire house was cherry except for one bedroom. We painted her granddaughter’s bedroom. But, other than that, the whole house was stained cherry.
Steve Stack:
You refer to that project as a nice feather in your hat. It surely was, and you got it done. But, take me through your product range. That’s not the only house style that you built. Take me through your design styles, square footage, and some of your projects. You mentioned that you guys developed Covington Creek, right? And there are other developments with your names on them. Take me through that.
Paul Struharik:
Sure. So, our very first one was where I still live. I’ve been there for 28-29 years, I guess. That’s when we were talking about building our same houses together at the time.
So, we were really green at the time, when me and Bob went in there and started that.
Steve Stack:
You just threw me back. I remember asking when you were building your home. I said, “Smiley, what are you thinking? You’re building your house in your subdivision and you’re building all the homes on the street. You’re never going to get away from your problems.”
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, you’re right. Everybody asked me that question. And, at that point I thought, “Yeah, maybe I should sell it.”
But, no. I thought, “You know what, we stand behind our product and we believe in it so much that if I can’t drive past you as my customer, then I shouldn’t be building your house.” I mean, honestly. And, that’s what we believe today. We’re not afraid of customers. Although, we still joke that I don’t want to get stopped daily on my way home, especially when I’m late for a five o’clock baseball game.
So I still live there. There’s a lot of us that are the originals and we laugh about that. But, we’re still there because it’s a nice neighborhood. We try to build neighborhoods with quality. We believe that when you drive through one of our neighborhoods or developments, you can notice a difference between somebody that is selling lots or doesn’t have a lot of building experience. You don’t have to be an expert to see that, but you can drive through and notice there’s a little bit of difference. We take pride in a lot of things we do.
Steve Stack:
There’s the word I was looking for. It’s not just your project, it represents you, Bobby, the second generation now, and everybody involved, and you take pride in that. Living in that subdivision for that many years, if Master Plan Builders weren’t Master Plan Builders, that could have been a miserable experience.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah. The rest of my life, right?
Steve Stack:
Right?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, and there’s another side to that. It’s funny, but when we build in different neighborhoods and we compete next to each other, we look at different things. We’ve had to take our foot off the gas at times because we want to go, go, go. And, there were points where we were going too fast. We just could not keep up the quality that we wanted to.
So, we actually backed off. We have to say no sometimes. No one wants to say no to a $500,000 contract, but you do sometimes because you know you don’t have the manpower to put the best quality out there that people expect from us.
We were doing a lot of different areas. Park Harbor was another one. Now, we’ve diversified quite a bit. We’ve gone down into Columbiana County quite a bit. The city there has a CRA, Community Reinvestment Act, that’s really spurred on a lot of buildings. A lot of our developments have taken us that way. We built Old Saybrook, which is a multi-unit. We have some carriage homes, some rental units. We have custom homes there, too. We did a lot of work in Back Bay at Arrowhead. We’ve just recently bought the old Lake Front Golf Course, and it’s about a 54-acre development that we’re going to get started on there.
Steve Stack:
What type of project is that going to be? Single family?
Paul Struharik:
Yes. We’ve got some commercial property on the borders because it borders 164 and Route 46. So, we’re going to do some commercial, maybe some retail on the exterior, and then we’re going to nestle homes on the interior with some nice green space. We’re going to do a lot of green space there. We hope to.
Steve Stack:
You mentioned the town of Columbiana. They’ve really been proactive and forward-thinking with incentives to get people to come down to Columbiana. And, it’s a beautiful village.
Paul Struharik:
You’re right, they really have been proactive. The council there and the City Administrator of Lands have really worked well with us. We have a good relationship with them. And, they want to see growth. I mean, they want to keep quaint and the nicest city in America, but they do want it to grow. It’s a good secret. It really is, with Homestead Kitchen and all of Firestone Farms on the other end of town (our development is on the western side). There’s a lot to offer right now.
So, we’ve been really busy there and it’s been good for us. But from a product range, again, we go from probably 250,000 to 300,000-dollar carriage homes or standalone villas. We have some duplexes. The homes in Old Saybrook range right now between 400,000 to close to 900,000. So, there’s a range there for everybody.
Minimalism: Don’t Favor Budget Over Quality
Steve Stack:
So, in that range, you use the whole scope of Baird Brothers’ products. We can go from the Masonite-style doors, hollow core, solid core, to the more economical casing and baseboards. Then, in a case like the Kopatich project, you just blew the doors off.
So you use baseline entry product, and then the extreme product.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, we do. Then, we do some exterior stuff with the cedar. We use a lot of cedar products. We don’t discuss trends very much but with the craftsman look, there’s a lot of cedar accessories we’re doing with columns and beams. A lot of the solid products we’ve been ordering are eight-by-eight columns and two-by-twelve headers and port roofs. It really does a nice accent job. It’s expensive, so that’s when that price category starts creeping up.
But, you can’t replace the look of that cedar entranceway or cedar columns, that type of thing. And, that’s where you’re a one-stop-shop for us as far as the wood product.
Steve Stack:
That’s greatly appreciated. But, you were talking about the exterior entryway, and that’s one thing about you guys. There’s curb appeal, and a lot of people live on that curb appeal. But then, you go inside and it’s plain Jane. You guys don’t stop on the outside. You take our products inside.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, you’re right. We’ve all been through those developments where the houses look like a million dollars on the outside, and then look like a hundred dollars on the inside. Exactly.
And, we don’t. We give the people what they want, but sometimes we’ll give them more and try to nudge them that way because a solid door, obviously, is a little bit nicer than a hollow corridor. It’s a little better for sound, wear and tear and that type of thing.
I can say it. To this day, we have never used a product that wasn’t solid wood. I’m talking about using poplars and oaks. There are products out there that are called “solid wood” but it’s not. You know what I’m trying to allude to. I had somebody who was building a new home tell me one time, “The builder told me I was getting solid wood, but the corners keep chipping off.” Well, that’s because it was MDF (medium-density fiberboard). And, it is a wood product, but it’s not like a poplar.
So we, to this day, have never used an MDF product for interior trim, and we won’t. We believe that if you’re going to build a house with us, then we’re going to give you good quality material that will last for your home.
Natural Wood’s Role In Interior Design Trends
Steve Stack:
That’s it. Relating it to the construction industry, just like building a house, you start with a foundation. You guys build on a strong foundation. From top to bottom, whether it be the siding material, whether it’s the interior doors from Baird Brothers, the roofing materials, you’ve been doing it. You’ve got the experience. You mentioned it already, but it’s important to have conversations with the customer. We’ve met on job sites countless times.
Paul Struharik:
Oh, yeah.
Steve Stack:
You would ask me, Derek Donatelli, Dick Ferguson or other sales reps from Baird Brothers over the years, and they would make a suggestion, “Maybe this would work better for your application.” You guys were always open to that because you’re thinking, “Oh, yeah, that’s going to give us a nicer end product in the form of a home.”
So, forget the past 33, 35 years, whatever it’s been. Moving forward into the new year, the world has changed but people still need homes. They need housing. Do you see any trends coming forward in 2022? Interior design trends, square footage? Do we need the 3,500-square-foot home? Or, can we get by with a 2,500-square-foot home? What are your thoughts on that?
Paul Struharik:
We’ve come a long way from 38 years ago. We were talking about how we didn’t have cell phones when we started. They rang a horn in our truck. We’d have to run down and answer. Some days I want to go back to that. I got more exercise.
We see a lot of the craftsmen-type feel. That look is really coming through right now. Darker windows, blacks and grays and different colors you didn’t have before. When we started, there was a white window. Then, there was the sand tone. Then there were three colors. Now, there might be ten or 12. But, dark windows with a lighter exterior are really popular right now.
The square footage is a good point, because back in the day, we were at 3,000-3200 square feet. That was just standard. When you drive around Boardman-Canfield, you see a lot of those homes.
But now, even on Old Saybrook, we’re in a niche. There are a lot of ranch homes because our clientele is maybe moving on a little bit. They’re empty-nesting, maybe. With two-stories, they want to put more quality into them and stay in a 22-2500-square-foot. You can get a nice house for that and still not over price yourself, while still putting granite countertops with solid wood cabinets and interior trims.
That’s the thing we talk about with people. Don’t over budget yourself where you’re going to have to start skimping on items or allowances. I always tell people, “I don’t give you a price to start your home. I give you a price to finish your home.”
There’s a big difference. With some builders out there, you’re checking your mortgage before you’re finished because somebody missed their homework on the way through the process. So, going through the process, too, is another thing we do with customers, one on one.
Steve Stack:
So, on the interior, you mentioned the craftsman design. I know Master Plan has done homes from strict contemporary interiors to the ultimate traditional interiors. What do you see yourself doing? Are you using natural wood products, stained and varnished, varnished, or do you see the paint color trends catching on?
Paul Struharik:
We’re seeing a little bit of both. The paint trend is a little bit faster-growing market right now. We’ve done a lot of painted interiors, but some of the highlight areas (like built-in cabinetry and staircases) are using the stained product. There’s kind of a mix, so you don’t get all stained.
The white oak is really popular. I wish I would’ve bought stock in white oak a couple of years back.
Makeover Your Living Room, Dining Room, Mudroom, and More
Steve Stack:
It’s funny you mentioned that because one of our other partners that we greatly appreciate is This Old House. We’ve completed nine projects with them over the last four years. Every project where we’ve supplied hardwood flooring has been white oak. Whether it was quarter-sawn white oak or plain sawn white oak, we’ve used it. Here at Baird Brothers, we’ve seen the demand for white oak go through the roof.
I mean, it’s a fantastic hardwood floor. It really is. What are you seeing as far as floor coverings? Are people leaning towards hardwood floors?
Paul Struharik:
Yes, they are. We’re not seeing a lot of carpet. We’re seeing a lot of hardwood floors. We’re seeing a lot of the LVT (luxury vinyl tile) floors that simulate hardwood when you can’t afford the natural material or don’t want the maintenance of it. We do a lot of staircases in white oak or poplar with the stain to pick up some accents and wood tones along the way.
White oak is probably our biggest one, but the traditional oak is still out there. We use a lot of poplar on staircases, too, if it’s a little bit more economical.
Steve Stack:
I’ll call myself old before I say it. Looking back, it’s a cycle. Whether it’s driven by the cabinet industry that has a large influence or the interior designers. You and I can remember back when the blonde maple was it.
Paul Struharik:
We put in cabinets with that a couple times. “How long until this loses its appeal?” I guess, right?
Steve Stack:
Exactly. Now, we don’t dive into kitchen cabinetry, but we offer custom cabinet doors and all the components to build those. But, you’re seeing a neat trend and I’ve been in some of your homes where I know you guys have used it. The mix of the natural hardwood cabinetry and then the kitchen island or an accessory cabinet is painted.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah. That’s really popular right now, too. We’re doing a lot. It’s a nice look because, again, you can introduce different products with the all-white-painted trim or off-white type of trim. It’s a nice look. But, you’re right. I remember when we were talking about naturals. The natural maple was really big back in the day, remember? I don’t remember the last time we used a maple as a trim. It’s not there right now.
Steve Stack:
Then we went from that stage into the red oak. I mean, red oak; it’s the core American hardwood, whether it be doors, flooring, moldings. We went through that.
Now, it just seems like people, builders, and homeowners have expanded their horizons, saying,”No, let’s do this, let’s do that.” I’ve witnessed it. With natural hardwood products, it’s like a blank canvas. You can create and do whatever you want inside of your home. And, it doesn’t have to be mono. It’s a mix and match to give each living space its own identity.
Paul Struharik:
Correct. You’re right. We have done more mix and match this year than we have ever, probably, with cabinetry and stained and painted products. So, you hit it on the head, I think, when you said give each room its own identity because that’s what people are creating. More custom rooms as opposed to a custom house.
Steve Stack:
From my office view, I look out over the parking lot and I see Master Plans’ vehicles in and out of here quite often, thankfully. You’ve experienced the last two years the same way we have experienced the last two years in our pandemic situation. You guys had to shift gears too and adjust to try and keep your job on time. How did you guys fight your way through that?
Paul Struharik:
That’s why you see my trucks here so often. Usually, I get it delivered at one time.
But, it’s been tough. I was just telling a guy the other day. I said, “We have to shift gears.” We work on this house until we run out of material or until something doesn’t come in. Then, we’re on another project, just because we’re waiting for garage doors, appliances, flooring products.
So, we started some lease units down in the Back Bay and we’ve had to switch floors probably three or four times since we started them because of delays with shipping and supply chain issues.
Bob and I both said that it’s been our two toughest years as far as juggling everything goes. I feel like I’m a clown sometimes. I mean, I need to pick up some bowling pins and juggle them because-
Steve Stack:
Project management.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah. That’s all we do. We spend a lot of time on moving subs. We have our own employees, which is different from a lot of contractors. We have our own trim carpenters and our framers. It’s nice we have multiple projects going where we can move them and shift them when the product doesn’t show up.
Steve Stack:
Hold on to them.
Paul Struharik:
That’s why my vans are here all the time. It’s when I have to move and start a job I wasn’t planning on.
It’s been tough. Hopefully, and I’m not a supply chain guru, but boy, I hope something gets figured out next year. Honestly, and it’s not just because I’m doing this interview right now, but the one consistent has been Baird Brothers because you guys do a lot of your stuff locally here, maybe all of it. I’m not waiting for your stuff to come in from California like I am with appliances or whatnot.
Steve Stack:
We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve been blessed in the sense that the natural resource in our hardwood lumber, the supply chain, as you reference, is local, whether it be Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, down into West Virginia. We’ve been able to maintain that even while demand has increased.
We mentioned the white oak. Of our product line, we’ve seen the price of white oak escalate, but not nearly like the framing. We might be talking 30 to 35%. The framing lumber, what did it do to you?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah. It went over a hundred percent at times.
Steve Stack:
We’ve been fortunate that way. Just like you guys, we retain a fantastic workforce in our guys. They’ve stuck. They’ve stuck with Baird Brothers through the tough times like two years ago in March and April. That’s who Bairds are.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah. I can’t say enough about our guys. They’re loyal, they’re true to us, and they’re local. Everybody we use, like you guys, were local guys where we see what’s going on and we can help out a family in need if we need to.
The other thing about us, as far as having our own subcontractors and employees, is that when we have a situation where we need to get somebody in because they sold their house or something came up and they need to move, we can move on a little bit faster sometimes because we’re able to move employees around a little bit.
So, our employees have been a big blessing to us. They really have.
Steve Stack:
So, going back to Master Plan and the building process. We have folks come in (you and I have both experienced and done it) and scratch a door design down on a napkin and bring it in. We’ll run it through engineering and come up with drawings and this and that, and take it through production.
At Master Plan Builders, it’s the same scenario. You have prospective homeowners come in and they’ll give you the menu. “I like this. I like that. I like this. I like that. Can you accomplish it?” Take me through that process real quick.
Paul Struharik:
Oh, sure. We get the variety. I mean, we get from A to Z, you know how that works. But, I tell people, too. If you’re out looking for property, a lot of people come to us and say, “Well, I just bought this lot.” I’ll take a look at it and I’ll say, “Man, if you would’ve called me before you bought this lot, maybe you could have done something different.” Sometimes property is deceiving. There could be high tension wires or underground transmission easements. You can’t do septic because some people will buy out in the country. You can’t get septic approval on that lot because of whatever reason.
So now they’re in a real pickle, you know? So, I always say that if you’re thinking about buying property or a lot, maybe call first. Call us first and see if we can find anything out on it because most of it’s public knowledge. You know that.
Then, we usually sit down with them and fill their needs out. Rob is our architect design guy inside. He’s really good, as far as setting up the meetings and trying to clarify budgets, size, what are the hot buttons — because everybody has a hot button. So, it’s master bedroom space, closets, basements or what have you.
Then, we try to get that preliminary design going before we start pricing. As we’re putting it all together with the preliminary design and the blueprint, then we can get a feel for where they’re going to end up price-wise, you know? And I tell people a lot of times when they call us cold and they come in and they say, “Well, I’m looking at five different builders.” Well, then, we’re probably not the builder for you because it’s hard. I mean, we want to be the best builder. I don’t want to be the cheapest builder. I tell people that all the time. “I’m going to build you the best home. I guarantee you that. I don’t know if I’ll be the cheapest. No one’s ever called me cheap.”
Steve Stack:
No. We try to maintain that same philosophy. We put out, what I feel, is some of the best hardwood products across this country. We’re not the cheapest. We’re very competitive, but we’re not selling price. We’re selling quality, just like Master Plan Builders.
Paul Struharik:
Exactly. That’s exactly right. But, as we’re putting that blueprint together, it really helps because then I have Zach in the home design center. I’ll have him look at the kitchen plan we’re looking at and say, “What do you think? What kind of budget do we need here?” And, he does our flooring selections and ceramics and all that stuff, too. So, he can look at that and give me budgets that are attainable.
When you go in cold to the Home Depot or some of these other retail places, you don’t get the same quality and the same pricing that we’re going to give you because we’re buying as distributors. We’re buying our kitchen cabinets as distributors. We install our own products, so we know what it takes to get things done. We’ll give you allowances that are attainable, also.
Then, we try to put that package together. Usually, we’ll go to the bank after that, if somebody is financing.
Steve Stack:
It’s a process. Like our guys, whether they are our field sales guys, our outside reps, the guys on the phone, the guys at the counter (especially at the counter), we still like to think that when you walk in the door, we can take you by the hand, go out to the trim building, right? You’ve experienced it tens of thousands of times. We’re paying attention to your needs. Together, we can achieve that. You know cabinetry, you mentioned cabinetry. Interior doors, you know our range of interior doors. We have entry-level doors or we have the creme de la creme. And, we can accommodate that range like you folks.
Looking back over the years, individually, we’ve had fantastic careers. Together, we’ve shared a fantastic relationship. Does anything pop out in your head? A project, a builder-supplier relationship. What stands out? You mentioned a little bit earlier that you’ve been coming through these doors forever. All of our careers, right?
Paul Struharik:
Right. Yeah.
Steve Stack:
Thinking back.
Paul Struharik:
You know, it’s funny. As you’re saying that, I’m laughing because, after so many years, you don’t have… Sometimes, some days, you don’t have a lot of fun, let’s put it that way, right? Because I’m old and I’m bald now.
So, you look for some of the fun things to do. It’s so funny when I come flying up the steps to your showroom, again, because the upstairs is off-limits, so I’m not supposed to be up there. People that haven’t been here a long time look at me like, “Who the heck are you?” And then, I come in and I can catch Scott, Tim, you, Derek and Matt all at one shot. So, I could BS with Michael, be with all you guys at one time.
It’s fun. It takes me back those 35 years ago when it was just me and you. So now, there’s more. You don’t get that camaraderie anywhere else, because I haven’t been here so long. We’ve had so much fun over the years, just passing through, whatever it may be. Even Jerry Paul. I mean, he’s a relic.
Steve Stack:
You guys dealt with Jerry in his previous life.
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, exactly. And he’s still here. I mean, it might be one day or two days a week.
It’s fun to see those relationships. I mean, I used to send them invitations to my kids’ graduation parties. So, that’s how the relationships have gone.
Even with my subcontractors now, we still get invited back and forth to different things, because a lot of them I’ve been with for a long time. It’s just that you guys have been the one constant over the years for so long that I’ve had a great relationship with and have fun interacting with.
Steve Stack:
We’ve been fortunate in that this relationship has been nurtured, developed, and transformed into something very special over the last 30+ years. We greatly appreciate it here at Baird Brothers. You guys have been a steadfast customer of ours, and more importantly, we love seeing you come up those stairs because you’re our bud. You’re Smiley, right?
Paul Struharik:
Yeah, exactly.
Steve Stack:
We really do appreciate how you’ve supported us over the years. We don’t have problems; we have a challenge. Something comes up, “Okay, how can we get through it? How can we fix it?” It’s always been that way, and it will continue to be that way.
So, I have to thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule. Thank you for stopping into Studio 3B today and spending some time sharing some stories.
We wish continued success to you guys over at Master Plans, to you, Bobby and the family. If you want to learn more about Master Plan Builders, go to masterplanbuilders.com. Visit their social. They do a fantastic job on their social side.
And continue to follow Baird Brothers. We’ve got more exciting stuff coming up. We’re going to talk to some of your buddies, some other builders from the valley here, and it’s going to be fun.
Paul Struharik:
Just remember, people always say, “Well, I talk to your competitor.” I said, “I don’t have any competition.” I say, “They want to be my competition, but they really aren’t.” I’ll leave you with that.
Steve Stack:
That’s a statement there, friend. That’s a statement there.
Well, hey, guys, pay attention. Follow Baird Brothers, bairdbrothers.com, visit our content studio right off of our homepage now, and see what we’re up to. Until next time, we’ll see you later.
Stay Tuned For More Natural Home Design Trends
Steve Stack:
For all you folks listening, thanks for talking shop with Baird Brothers Fine Hardwoods. If you’ve enjoyed this episode and wanted to stay up-to-date with the American Hardwood Advisor podcast series, give us a like and subscribe. For more tips, projects, and inspiration, check us out on Facebook, Instagram, read our tweets, or visit bairdbrothers.com. Until next time.
