Welcome back to The ProSource Podcast. I am sitting here with Jeff Roesner. He is a trade pro member at ProSource of Huntsville, Alabama. He's also the owner and founder of Artisan Wood, Tile and Stone. Artisan Wood Tile & Stone is a wood and tile contracting company that works with both homeowners and contractors to design and build amazing spaces, from full kitchen for bathroom remodels to small repairs. They do it all. Jeff, thank you so much for joining me today.
Thanks for having me today. I just want to spend some time, like talking with you, getting to know your business and what you do. So first I want to just, like, know a little bit about your story of Artisan Wood Tile and Stone. I know you've been in the construction industry for over 25 years. And you have many certifications and classes within that experience. If you don't mind just sharing, like how you got started and how the business has grown or changed over time. Sure.
It really started at, shop class in school. So once I found out that something like that you could get paid for. So it was fun and everything. And other guys in my classes were branching off from building trades and actually going to work doing that kind of a thing. That was very exciting for me. So my very first job was working as a house painter on a summer in 1990. And so after graduating, I end up working for another crew that did a little bit of everything.
It wasn't just house painting, it was probably work in the flooring side of it and seeing the specialization that was needed for some of the trades, instead of just being a jack of all trades. I end up starting my own business in the late 90s, and then here we are in sort of just a culmination of trying to specialize and be the correct person for that job.
I'm not the right person for every job, but I am that one that has the years behind the talent and see the problems before they happen, and also be able to solve them after they have. I know you talked about when you first started being at a position where you wanted to branch out and get certified and a lot of different areas. When would you say it was like that turning point for your business where you ended up, like growing exponentially?
It is really during specialization because much like my all the career I was working for, I learned a lot of this. Originally, I tried to market myself as that guy who does everything, but when it comes down, you're not going to hire a roofer. That also plasters you want a plaster or you want a roofer. And so the year I started just saying I did one thing and at the time was flooring I my business tripled. So. Oh, cool. And it's one of those things too that I also started.
That's about the time I started going to class and just taking those accreditations so that I was learning the right way of doing things, not someone else's bad habits. Yes, absolutely. And throughout having the business, just curious, when did you get in contact with ProSource or where did that? When did that partnership start?
I was actually contacted the ProSource, a local company, had bought the flooring store we were working out of years ago, and I didn't have a great I didn't work with them very well. And I moved to Huntsville years ago, and I had a bunch of different contractors say I need to come over and say hi to Prosource. And finally, one contractor just told me, like, what do you got to lose? So I went and then it turns out someone I knew worked there from another store.
And so I'd been with Prosource for 3 or 4 years now and it's been fantastic. Oh that's awesome. That's good to hear. Have you used any strategies that has helped bring in new clients or keep the business growing? Has there been anything with your business that you've seen work for it? Yeah, so I've been doing this work on my own for just almost 20 years. Well, yes, almost five years. And I've seen things come and go. You don't know if advertising works. You never really know.
How can you really prove that? I end up having a contractor that I went to high school with recommended the man named Tom River with contractor flight that does contractor counseling, spoke with him. And there's another, guy down in Florida, Luke Miller, with tile money that tries to help you manage the business side of everything.
And with their help, like getting a getting a website, getting it, you know, be on social media, have a website presence that can actually drive people to your even your social media. You can have all your photos, you can upload your photos all the time. But it's good to have in this day of mobile, phones, being able to find someone at the drop of a hat, especially during a Google search and then dumb things like lettering your truck.
I never wanted to have my truck cluttered, and then Tom told me he's like, what are you doing? You're wasting your time. What if the neighbor wants something done and they see that they're getting it done there? I've gotten a lot of projects just from hanging from clients. So yeah, absolutely. It's, like a mobile advertising, you know, wherever you go, you're advertising yourself. That's a good point. I can see why. Maybe you didn't want to do that at first, though.
Was there, like, a specific reason why you didn't want to have your truck with you? What if you cut somebody off and also, like, I don't look, I mean, my clients know where I live, even though I know where they live. And just having that set outside all the time. But once I got over that, it's huge.
I mean, I I've gotten jobs specifically, they said that they have this neighbor, that everything's well put together and impressive, and they saw that I was working in there and that's how they got my number is off my truck. Yeah. That's interesting. It works. Have you ever. Just out of curiosity, I know, like, my parents just had their roofing done and the roofing company that they worked with offered them a discount if they put their sign, like, their yard sign, in front of their house.
Have you ever tried anything like that? We put the yard signs out. I haven't got a big response from that. Usually it's the doors on a project. I'm usually there for as much as long as a month. And so my truck is out there, people see it, so then they end up it's kind of the same thing. They know what's going on. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of times I there's a project right now, we had a yard sign on and we just finished in March, and I need to go pick that up, but who knows?
It's good for brand awareness. No, absolutely. I really didn't realize that businesses did that until that happened to my parents. And I'm like, wow, that's actually really smart. And my parents were so quick to say, yes, because you're giving me $500 off to keep it out here for, I don't know, however many months, like, totally. I'll do it. Yep, yep. And also going off of your website, your website does look good. This is where I found a lot of information.
Going into this podcast, I was I know sometimes with contractors it's hit or miss because obviously like it's not at the forefront of maybe what you're thinking about from your business. It's kind of like an afterthought, but your website looks really good. Well, thanks. That is because it's built by a floor installer. So someone that actually came from that industry knows what we need. So I had a website in the 2000s that got no traction.
And so even when this came up again to have another one, like I just don't know. And so within a month of having it sold my first job that was able to pay for that website website. So I get a lot of interaction with that. So it's totally worth it. Yeah, absolutely. And like you said, having someone that's also not just, savvy with the design of the website and coding it, but also someone that knows the industry. I think that's a huge help to. And he does another one.
There's another guy in town that has a similar website and he keeps our separate. It makes it look separate so that he's don't have it, you know, a cookie, a cookie cutter situation of we do the same thing. Here's what I do. We have both have one office for our. So it's not like you're going through and having something that someone else has. No. Absolutely. So your name says it all. Wood, tile and stone. I'm curious. Out of those three.
Do you have a favorite that you like to work with, or maybe one that challenges you in the best way? I'd rather work with wood. I love woodworking, but challenging wise is definitely art and stone because that's just there are no the rules are constantly changing with that, especially in the building. Requirements today, wood has not really changed much outside of to talking about the refinishing and things that chemicals with that.
But actually building with wood has not changed for very long time. Whereas tile ed is constantly changing where they have shower systems or stonework outside, the masonry side of everything is constantly changing. The mortars that we're allowed to use and stay to code or different. And a lot of guys that are doing this all the time don't even realize the codes have changed in the last couple of years. We've talked about this already. You do a lot of everything.
Is there anything that you don't do or anything you've had to say no to recently that you can share about? We don't do plumbing. We don't do anything that's not in our, you know, Hvac, those things we don't do that. Mostly because it's not we can't sign our business license and also have that professional that does that for a living. Do that. And that way if there is a leak, you have someone that's going to show up at 3:00 in the morning and fix it.
It's not really me because I don't know what the problem is. And so knowing your place, but being that I started out a house painter and drywall or I do, I do do a little bit of everything, but I don't advertise, I do everything. Gotcha. Yeah. I think it could be difficult to if you are someone that does everything, being well-versed and all of those different areas, I feel like that could be very overwhelming and and maybe having to correct credits for all that. Yes.
And it could even discredit maybe some of the services you provide because they are so specialized. I feel like homeowners are like, are you sure you know everything about everything? But having some specialized niches can probably help your credibility in that sense. Yep. What are clients asking for the most these days? Are you saying? Well, here. Shower building and up, snowballing into a whole bathroom and shower repairs. We are, plagued with improper shower building here.
Even with brand new homes, the housing market has boomed here, and houses are going up so fast. And there are guys that shouldn't be installing showers, basically, or trusting your tile installer to build a plumbing fixture that's water tight and their failings in the beginning. And so we are coming in and signal showers and they're in a brand new house. And so yeah, I would say 30% or more of my business is doing repairs on already built showers, especially with houses coming up so quick.
I always see all these like cookie cutter homes and they all look the same in the suburbs. But it's crazy how fast they pop up. Like I think all the time the quality can't be. Obviously it's not the same as it was 30 years ago when you were building a home. That's interesting. Yeah, I could definitely see that happening. You actually just mentioned it. Bathroom remodels are huge. What kind of challenges you typically see in those outside of the showers?
And how do you help homeowners work through them? Are you seeing anything else that's kind of a struggle for them? Well, something that homeowners don't even think about. Every major system is all inside that room. So you've got your you've got plumbing, you have electrical, and then you're going to all of that and usually a small space.
And then you're trying to keep all of that under control, and then trying to keep all that warm air out of that room as fast as you can, get it out as fast as possible, and then try to make it pretty. Depending on the needs of the client, we can do zero entry if they're trying to do a, stay at or, age at home situation, or they just don't want a more luxurious walk in for their, their shower. We can redo layouts, we can move walls and things.
It just kind of depends on every project has its own challenges. It kind of depends on how bad the house is. We did one a couple years ago. I was talking to my plumber and I was talking to him. I just fell straight through the floor. And so that was a challenge. And so every now and there are, there are issues with every house, but usually we can. And a newer house, it's more of a we're doing a facelift. We're not doing a gut and rebuild situation.
Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's immediately a challenge when you fall to the floor. We were talking about your website. I also saw on your website that you offer radiant, heat systems, which I was intrigued with. I don't really know anything about that. But I know I've seen them online. They're increasingly popular. Can you break down, like, how those systems work? Just maybe surface level and then whether homeowners usually ask for that upfront?
Or is that something that after working with you, they learn more about them and they're eventually asking them throughout the project? Well, there's two there's two types. There's the one that has a water and a boiler, and then there's the other that it's it's wired so it's electrical. We don't offer the work with the water. We do the electrical. So you got two different types. You've got 240 and 120. So depending on how the amperage is with that, you can tie into the electrical box.
And then you essentially have a glorified toaster under your wood or underneath your tile floor. Some customers are love them and they're looking for them. And so I get that call. But also we'll bring them up in the middle of, of a remodel, because while everything's tore up this is the time to add it. And we had a client that was a great client and we just added to it.
We were already doing everything, and they have come back several times saying we didn't think we wanted this, and now is our favorite part of the house is having that warm tile floor. So that is really cool. They're fantastic and it's one of those things even if you don't use it, it's a selling point when you sell the house that you got heated floors. Yes, absolutely.
It's definitely it seems like a luxury item, but I feel like as technology improves and how popular they're getting, it's becoming a little bit would you say it's becoming more normal or. Yeah. Yeah. You're seeing a lot. Yeah, yeah. And we've we've been installing them for over 20 years and we're doing a lot more of them now than we did 20 years ago. It seemed like it seemed like an extravagance 20 years ago. And now.
Yeah, you know, like everything with larger TVs, everything just gets a little cheaper and a little easier to access. And so, yeah, everybody can have it. That's cool. So when I'm thinking about trends in home design, how do you keep up with the changes in the industry and how quickly those pivot? Have you seen any trends or innovations that have changed how you work with your business? Continue education. Taking classes is huge. Going to expose that.
When I was early in my career, I wasn't going to go to the national hardware show and just seem like a fish out of water, like there's just so many vendors and so like, the vendors didn't want to talk to me, but now, like, I just attended coverings a couple weeks ago, which is the biggest tile expo in America. Get to network with all those guys. It's nice to see people and know you're not an island, what you're doing, and then had all that contact.
But seeing the trends homemade or the handmade tiles are getting huge right now. So you've got that variance of like a craftsman old, old world look, but things and also like I work with Scotty at Prosource and we work hand in hand. So she is on top of that way more than I am. I'm aware of it. But that's her job all day. So she's she keeps me in line with some of that. And so it's difficult some of the new trends trying to keep tile look looking correct.
Yeah. Trying to make it look less manufactured but still not having issues where the tiles are sticking out with slippage and everything, and or two bigger grout lines. And so it can be a challenge sometimes even with new trends, come and go. Yeah, I could definitely see that when you're working with a client on the design side of things, what's that collaboration look like? Do you help them with picking out materials and laying out the space? Do you, bring them into prosource?
Do you send them into Prosource without you, or how does that look? It depends on the customer. Some customer wants me to do everything and then they'll go like, I saw you do this one bathroom, I love that. Let's do that. And so we can mimic that. Otherwise I'll send a customer to Prosource and tell them to talk to my client or my to my contact, Scotty. And she sets up everything and walks them through everything. And it's very seamless that way. Sometimes they want me there to hold their hand.
I can do that as well. It's not a big deal because I always want to know, especially even when Scotty goes through and picks things out with them. I want to be able to give final approval because I can foresee issues like for, say, if someone really likes Penny around tile, they may not know how big of a pain it is to keep that tile clean, because that's a lot of grout.
So it's just things that, as awesome as it sounds, think about five years after that decision with the maintenance and everything. Yeah. So kind of just gauging how the client is and if they can be we can be as hands on as they want. Yeah. That's cool. You're a trade pro member at Prosource of Huntsville. Can you share a bit about, like, what that relationship has been like? I know you have a good contact. Now.
When you first started with Prosource, was it with, Scotty right away or did that relationship kind of evolve? Have you, as you got more comfortable with Pro Source? So actually my contact there, the first person I met at our store was Chris, that was the former manager. And so he was my go to guy. And then he had to move away due to family issues. And so he hand me off to Scotty. And then we got talking and realized we've known each other from a decade ago.
And so everything went very well with that. So, it helps when you're so comfortable with someone that your work. Yes, makes it even much easier. The shorthand of everything is great. And she knows what I need to know. Like she's fantastic.
It helps to have someone who's been doing it this long because having done this for 30 years, dealing with a salesperson that could have been selling cars or copiers last week and then will not be doing will not be in the flooring industry a year from now, is really annoying. And then knowing that the who I'm talking to old is in this industry is not going anywhere is fantastic. What is one project that you've done recently that stands out to you?
One that maybe was like rewarding for you or just fun to do? The craziest one we've done lately? We did a 1930s private detective office for a local author, and so we turned his his writing room into a detective's office. And so we had to make everything because you just can't buy all of the trim we needed off the shelf. We had to make the parquet floor. We had to make the inserts for everything. We actually had to trim.
I had to mill in our shop, and then, he sourced all of the hardware, like the uranium glass and everything and the light fixtures and things. But that was a labor of love. It is insane. And then he found this antique door from a college. We went and got it. We had to modify it to fit the space and everything. And then we had it lettered just like a private detectives office for him. So that was really fun. That is very unique.
I'm sure that really was fun to do, especially as you're just working with, some of the more cookie cutter designs. And, and that's a totally different ballgame, looking at your website and just searching you on Google, I noticed you have amazing online reviews. How do you continue with being in this business for so long? How do you continue to keep that level of satisfaction across all the different types of projects and clients that you have?
I know that can be a struggle to, but the biggest thing, someone told me this a few years ago and it didn't really resonate until I never really thought about it this way. Managing expectation, letting people know what's going on, knowing what they're what they're expecting, and just trying to sign that space so we're trying to meet or exceed their expectations.
And so the idea is that if you're going to tell them you're going to be there at 9:00 today and I'll text you a half hour before do that, like just your worries, you're bond. And so you hire me. I was at your house. I'm the one doing the work at the house. There's not a lot not a lot of miscommunications outside of other trades. We have to hire. And usually we all show up on the job to make sure that, they're not there alone so that there's that that level of, I don't know, these people.
And so a lot of it is and also being available when people hire me, a lot of times I'm six months out. And so we've had conversations for months before the job even starts. And so we all used to have a rapport. And so that helps a lot. But the managing expectation thing is that the littlest thing no one talks at all. But that is the secret sauce to keeping a happy customer. No. And I think that's even across all industries and services.
I mean, I remember when I was a server at a restaurant, nine number one thing I always did was with the person sitting at my table. I would walk them through like, hey, your appetizer is on the way by, you know, just keeping that constant communication. Because if you're at a restaurant and you don't talk to your server and you're wondering where you're food that you're going to, you're going to get like anxious, you're going to get mad, you're going to get impatient.
And I imagine it's kind of the same thing with, what you do is just keeping that communication. Communication is key. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. So if any homeowners that are listening to this, if they're thinking about starting a tile or stone project, what is your best piece of advice to make sure things go smoothly for them? Get a lot of pictures. Especially the nice thing with being online, you can find all sorts of examples.
We have a lot of success with people finding those on our own Instagram or something like that. But if they bring photos, bring bring in contradicting photos like tell me you like this and also like this, because once we show up to take a look at everything, something may not work, or we can still echo those design cues. That helps. Also be patient construction. The mantra with construction is hurry up and wait. Things will get behind schedule. Getting on someone's schedule takes time.
And then once the job starts, especially with remodeling, once everything gets open, you're going to find something. And then the best case, you don't find anything and everything goes very, very smooth. But just being, knowing you'd be patient and, if you hire the right guy, they'll be very, committed. They'll use good communication skills and keep everything clean.
That's the other thing, keeping things clean. So, yeah, I think, like word of mouth to finding other people that have worked with certain contractors. Absolutely. They recommend because I know, like we talked about Google reviews, but I know in recent years it's it's like maybe it's with AI, but sometimes it's hard to trust what you see online now. Like just because someone has a good review, you're like, is this a real review? Is this a bot that made this review?
Is this the contractor, whoever that made this review themselves? So I think going back to word of mouth or going to a local pro source and saying who they really meant is a good is a good starting point too. Last question I have for you, Jeff, is looking ahead at the rest of this year and at your business. Do you have any like big goals or exciting projects that you maybe not have started on yet that you're looking forward to starting on? Well, we've got more continuing education this year.
I have to do more, classwork for my inspections side of my business. But also I've joined the Artisan Revolution and Tile Movement, which is a bunch of tile installers that are trying to bring art back into tile setting. And so we recently passed a class last year on mosaics.
And so I hope to take another mosaic class this year and start getting more into that with we've got a repair job in the city of Huntsville that wants to have something fixed, and we're trying to figure that out right now, and they're planning on using me, so I'm hoping to do that with them. But just moving forward with the super specialty niche of that, I'm looking to do that this year.
Yeah. Mosaics are are huge right now and a lot of people are trying to be bold and different while also still being functional, not being. Some people don't want to be too bold, but they still want to dip their toes. And the trend of being bold, which I think mosaics are perfect for. That's very exciting. Thank you so much for joining me today. It was great having you on and just learning about your business and everything you do.
If anyone wants to work with you and if they're in the Huntsville area, how can they find you? Go to our website, artisanwts.com. There's a contact page because then I can get all of your information in the event that you call the office and then just leave a message. Otherwise our phone numbers (256) 697-0001. Thank you so much. You have a great rest of your day. Thank you for carving out time for this. Of course. Thanks for having me. Thank you.
Thank you for joining us today on The ProSource Podcast. Please like and subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast. Also, follow us on social media. Check out our website at prosourcewholesale.com and visit your local ProSource Wholesale showroom for all of your home remodeling needs.