The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2006-10-19, Page 14Wooden it be nice? JOHN D. PENNINGTON HEATING & COOLING LTD. OIL - NATURAL GAS - PROPANE CLEANING - SALES - SERVICE- INSTALLATION • Hi-efficiency oil and gas furnaces • Oil and gas hot water heaters • Gas fireplace sales and installations • Sheet metal • Furnace cleaning and repairs • Air Conditioning Systems Serving Brussels, Wingham, Goderich, and surrounding areas Brussels 519-887-9233 Fax 519-887-9654 Licensed Professionals Box Furniture & Floor Coverings PEERLESS COMFORT DEALER HUNTER DOUGLAS BLINDS SIMMONS MATTRESSES ACCESSORIES Visit Our Website: www.boxfurniturc.ca rotessiona Installation Free estimates Free delivery & set up In't our trading area 20 Main Street, Seaforth 519-527-0680 Making your house a home since 1876 eit ua hdp you el,..44,sthi, kitchm, 4 gout &two I Come see Gina today for your professional design. If you purchase your kitchen before November 30, 2006 we'll throw in the kitchen sink! (Maximum value $400.) GODERICH TIM-BR MART 295 Bayfield Rd. Goderich, Ont. N7A 3G8 519-524-1778 GODERICH PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2006. Fall H VEM Need creates niche for family wood business show off some of the moudlings electrical work and installed the dust collector himself, and moved the equipment in. Later he added a small sawmill and a kiln to dry the wood. The new business was supposed to be a sideline, something the Hamiltons could grow into while Rob continued as a builder. But•in six months, business started to take off and they found themselves running two businesses. Days were-- tied up with construction, and nights and weekends Rob, his wife Leanne and their kids operated the woodworking business. Rob and Leanne Hamilton, made at Hamilton Wood P By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher In an area where many people live in Victorian-era homes, getting wood trim and period flooring to match the original woodworking can be a challenge. That need has created a niche that has helped an Atwood family business prosper. Hamilton Wood Products produces trim, flooring and many other wood products. For rural residents with trees on their property, they can take the wood all the way from sawing logs delivered to them through kiln drying the lumber and processing it to meet their needs. In just five years, with little advertising but word of mouth and a few magazine articles, Hamilton Wood products has grown to the point where Rob Hamilton doesn't really 'want to get any bigger. along with Henry Giesbrecht, right roducts. It was Hamilton's love of working with wood, plus a sore back, that prompted him to look at the idea of a shop to make woodwork. A third-generation builder, he had • operated a construction company for 13 years. He took his greatest pleasure in trim work. In one project, an addition to an historic Atwood home renovated as an insurance office, he spent hours using a router to recreate the woodwork of the original house in the new addition. In one case he cut and shaped 20 pieces to create one door. "I was very proud of that," he said of the addition. So, increasingly hobbled by chronic back problems, he thought about finding a moulder to make trims and moulding. When he answered one ad, he found the seller wanted to sell his entire operation. He built a 5,000-square-foot addition to the shop he'd used for his construction company, did the "If someone had told me a business could grow too fast I'd have said 'no'," says Rob. "We went from scratch to $400,000-plus in two years. We could not keep up." It was a steep learning curve, he recalls learning how to operate a saw mill, a kiln and the shaping equipment. The equipment was dropped off and he had to learn by trial and error. "There was a lot of kindling produced," he recalls with chagrin. On the other hand, "I wasn't long learning. It cost a lot to make mistakes." After two years of an increasingly stressful life keeping two businesses going, they quit construction and turned to wood working full time in 2002. They hired their first employee in 2003 and a second employee in 2004. Their customers range from people who have one or two logs to be sawn and turned into flooring or trim,. to larger customers, and from farmers to contractors. They do everything from building historic- looking wooden garage doors to a swing seat. They also work with some custom cabinet builders who are looking for something unique. Continued on page 15 1 ii: u f Q ) 1 1? ° f I MIKE BOVEN'S CARPENTRY • AGRICULTURAL • RESIDENTIAL • NEW CONSTRUCTION • RENOVATIONS Tarion Home $j . *gig Warranty"rif Builder n 519-527-1538 FAX 519-527-2270 R.R.#1 Blyth