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I've been making custom cabinets for about 25 years now, both residential and commercial. My dad owned and operated Bert's Cabinet Shop, a custom cabinet and millwork shop, in Galveston for 35 years. I mostly ignored the business until a few years after college. A liberal arts education was great for the mind and spirit, but the life of an abstract painter in Texas was too close to "starving" for me (don't get me wrong, I still paint -- but mostly digital now).
So, I fell back on what came natural to me ... making cabinets. I eventually returned to the family business and learned the essentials of making custom cabinets from the best: my dad Bert, my brother Wayne, and shop foreman Ray Powell. Bert's Cabinets did things the old-fashioned way (no nail guns), and emphasized quality construction. I was never urged to hurry any task. The important thing was to do it right ... speed would come with repetition and practice.
I still don't own a nail gun. I'm just not into assembly line production work. I want to be able to take the time to choose the best piece of wood for an application, then carefully build a strong, well-built, cabinet. I learned how to stain and apply a lacquer finish on cabinets at my dad's shop, but I only thought I knew finish work. I subsequently worked for seven years at one of the best refinishing shops in Austin, Boone's Refinishing. There I refined my lacquer spraying technique to a fine art. But even more importantly, learned many of the secrets of professional touch-up and finishing, that help provide a high-quality finish for my cabinets.
I try to make good-looking, long-lasting cabinets that we can both be proud of, and that will last your lifetime.
 photo of me building shopphoto of shop exterior
  
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