My Story (Why I Love To Build)

The Summer that I was 14, my mom, sister, and older brother went to see my other brother graduate from boot camp in the US Navy. I got to stay back and work with my dad for about a week building a deck on our house. I had a pretty good relationship with my dad but for many reasons, he wasn’t always around when I was a kid.

That week that we spent together is my fondest memory of my dad and little did I know at the time, that it would be the last time that I would get the chance to spend this much one on one time with him. (I will get in to why a little later in the story) 

Every morning we would get up, eat breakfast and then drive to our local 84 Lumber to get as much material as we could fit in his little truck. This was well before Home Depot and Lowes were around. We would then drive home, listening to Willie Nelson on his portable cassette player, just like we did on the way there.

My Dad’s truck wasn’t this old but it was close!

At first, I kind of hated it. As a long haired kid in the 80’s, I liked Iron Maiden and Motley Crue, but not Willie Nelson or any of the country artist that we listened to all day on the radio while working. After listening to country all day for a week, I started to get to know the songs and actually started to like it. Better than that though, I started to enjoy spending time with my dad, and I started to love building the deck. I thought it was awesome to see what we accomplished at the end of the day. This is something that I still love about building projects to this day, being able to stand back after a long days work, and see what you built.

The best part about this time was how I felt working with my dad. He treated me more like a friend. We talked about life, girls, etc. and he also asked my opinion on how I thought the deck should be built. My dad was a bus driver and I was a 14 year old kid that listened to heavy metal music and thought about girls. Not the most experienced team to build a deck. This was the time before the internet or Youtube where you can basically learn how to do anything so we were winging it basically. In the end, we got it done and almost 30 years later, that deck is still standing surprisingly.

My love for building things grew from that week and my relationship with my dad did too. From that time till I went in to the US Navy, after graduating high school, I would build little things but never really pursued carpentry any further. 

That would come later.

Mom, Dad, I'm joining the Navy!

I joined the Navy and was on a submarine, married my high school sweetheart, and had our first son all by the time I was 19. I enjoyed being on a submarine and serving my country, but it definitely wasn’t my passion. I was young and still really didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I figured it would work itself out, but I wasn’t really too concerned about it. I was young and figured I had all the time in the world. 

Up until then, I never really suffered loss.

That all changed in 1990. I was 21 and My dad was 50. I was living in Georgia and stationed at Kings Bay Naval Base. I got a call from my mom that would change my life forever. My dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given less than a year to live. Without going in to the details, I’ll tell you that the doctors were not inaccurate with their assessment and less than a year later my dad passed away.

I soon developed a medical condition that caused me to lose my qualification to be on a submarine and had the option to either go to the surface fleet or get out. After losing my dad and knowing that my mom was now a widow at 50, I chose to get out of the Navy, and move back home to Pittsburgh. 

I had no plan, no job, and honestly didn’t really care.  

This was a selfish time in my life. I was pissed that my dad was gone. I was pissed that my son wouldn’t have a grandfather, I was pissed at life basically. I spent a year drifting through life. Losing ambition, losing hope, and almost losing my wife. 

Playing a victim can do that to you. 

I ended up getting in to the Carpenter’s Union in 1992. This was a turning point in my life. I loved it. I went through the four year apprenticeship program, worked on the job with some great guys and did side work on the weekends. I learned as much or more from the guys at work as I did at the Carpenter’s school. In June of 1996, I became a journeyman carpenter. I was proud of myself and I know that my dad would of been proud too. 

In November of 1996, I got offered a job to come back to the Carpenter’s training center as an instructor for the apprenticeship program. I was definitely in my element. I loved building stuff and I really loved teaching others to build!

I don’t think the pain ever goes away when you lose someone. I still miss my dad and think about him everyday. I know that the week we spent together in the summer of 81′ or 82′ (not 100% sure what year it was) was one of the best weeks of my life. I will go as far as saying that it defined my life and ignited my passion for building. 

 In 1999, my wife and I started a home inspection business. We started it as a side business and I had no intention of quitting the Carpenter’s Union or teaching. I started out doing a few inspections a week. After a few years, I got so busy and was passing up inspections because I didn’t have time to do them. I made the decision to quit working as a carpenter and do inspections full time. I liked inspections because I was able to teach new homebuyers about their house and give them advice and tips on how to keep it in good shape or even make improvements.

I still worked with my tools either at my house or fixing up my mom’s house. She still lives in the house that I grew up in and still goes out on that deck that we built. I was always working on a project, either fixing up a house that we owned or helping someone else. In 2007, I built the house that we just recently sold and continued to do projects on it, like the deck that I did in 2020.

My Covid Project

Building and teaching other is my passion. I have been building, teaching, or inspecting for around 30 years. I am at a point in my inspection business, where I have three other full time inspectors working for me, so I can take a step back. I can take the time to build more and I can take time to teach others to build more.

This is why I started this website and my YouTube channel. (Full disclosure, my YouTube channel is pretty much nonexistent, but at some point will be a reality!) I want to get my message out there. I want to reach others that have the same passion that I do, but maybe not as much skill or experience. I want to honor my father and the gift that he gave me that week so many years ago. By the way, I listen to country music when I’m working in my shop. My dad would be happy for that. Lol.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this and I want to welcome you. Please check out my blog, my projects, my YouTube channel, and please leave me a comment. Let me know what your interests are, what you would like to learn, and what your biggest obstacles are. 

 I am here to help. Now let’s go build something!

-Kelly Ulm