Team Mates Matter: John Chinn

The success here at RIC depends heavily on the members of our team.

We are a small business running a handful of projects at any given time, which means we have to have top notch people on every site, every day. Our lead carpenters play a huge role here, managing projects, interfacing with clients, and ensuring every part of a job is done right.

We have a trifecta of lead carpenters: Seth Scudder, Steve Osberger and John Chinn. Each of these lead carpenters works directly with RIC owner, Matt Warner, to take a design and make it a reality. Each lead carpenter has wide-ranging knowledge and proficiency in building, but each one also has a unique skill set that brings something incredibly valuable to each of our projects. Today, we want to highlight John Chinn, and his particular skill of creative problem solving.

Matt and John first met back in 2003 when Matt took a carpentry job at a local remodeling company while earning his degree in architecture. John was working there at the time and recalls thinking about Matt, “this guy is really going somewhere because he understands that you can’t just create a design - you have to know how it all works in the real world.” From there, John worked at various construction companies, crossing paths with Matt a few times, before starting his own company, III Nails Carpentry which he ran from 2005 until 2011.

After closing his business, John took a job at Paragon Construction doing siding and decks, or what he refers to as “get ‘er done work.” While the jobs were consistent and he was still using and growing his carpentry skills, there was no room in the work for creativity and problem solving. The day to day tasks became a grind, so in 2014 when John and Matt crossed paths again, it was perfect timing for him to join the RIC team where Matt was more than willing to offer him the creative outlet he was looking for.

One of the ways that RIC allows John’s creativity and problem solving skills to shine is through the challenges we often have of making older, even historic homes, match up with the new additions or renovations we are working on. While much of this is handled in the design phase of a project, there are always details and issues that pop up throughout the construction process that require a carpenter to think outside of the box.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are just a few illustrations of the creative ways John has solved a problem while salvaging, upcycling or improving aspects of a home.

Window Weight Gets Second Life

For this attic access, expandable stairs were installed on the access panel, but John figured out a way to recycle old window weights as the counter-balance to raise and lower the stairs. Anyone who has worked with older homes or windows knows these window weights have basically zero reusable value, but not to someone like John.

IKEA storage hacks

The same creativity that fuels the upcycling of old materials also fuels John’s ability to take less-than custom pieces, such as IKEA cabinets, and create unique features for our clients. In this kitchen renovation, John built a hidden draw in the toekick of this IKEA cabinet for the homeowners to stow their shoes out of the way. This dead space became instant, valuable storage thanks to John’s creative ideas and top-notch carpentry skills.

Light the way

For this dark staircase leading down to a renovated basement, John created a custom-milled handrail that elegantly hides a recessed LED light tape for added lighting and safety. Not to mention, serious cool factor.

Window Savior

One of John’s specialties is salvaging old windows. For a recent Fan District home project the homeowner found historic windows at a salvage yard that he really loved. John was able to repair and restore them, keeping the renovations age-appropriate to this historic home.

The beauty of having three lead carpenters with their own unique skill set is that they can also tag team projects when a certain aspect or issue has them stumped. On a recent April morning, John is out at our West End addition project, working on a handrail installation that needed his specific eye for detail and his ability to deal with difficult angles and issues.

“It’s a puzzle for me - I enjoy it” he says of a task that would have many others frustrated, at the least. “What I love about RIC is that we are all peers and we all have a lot of respect for each other. There are things that Seth and Steve can do that I can’t and vice versa, but that’s what makes us a great team.” We (and our clients) agree!