
For a builder who, a decade ago, traveled from southeastern North Carolina more than 1,400 miles to Kansas to construct a deck for clients with the help of his 12- and 15-year-old sons, Aubrey Faatz of Aubrey Faatz Home Crafters is incredibly thankful when he reflects on his current position in the construction arena.
A “Best of Brunswick” winner in New Builds and Remodeling, and one of the most respected builders in coastal North Carolina, Faatz recently reflected on a winding journey that took him from an everyday laborer to a well-established general contractor.
Home Crafters has built homes from the ground up, worked in the commercial field, completed extensive remodels, handyman work, exterior upgrades, and more since becoming a general contractor in 2018.
The Faatzes – Aubrey and co-owner Amanda – pride themselves on serving their community.
“We’re a local, family-owned and operated company,” they said. “My family has been here for half a century. We’re not going anywhere, and we look forward to serving this area for many years to come.”
Before becoming a mainstay in the construction industry, Aubrey worked for 15-plus years, always in the same field.
“We just did whatever we had to do to make it,” he added. “I always stuck with construction work, which was a good thing. It’s important to pick something and stick with it.”
Before earning his general contractor’s license, Aubrey worked in and around Brunswick County on projects that didn’t exceed $30,000 in costs.
“We’d have 10 of those projects going at the same time,” he said. “That was my limitation. That was whenever the work started coming back from the recession days.”
The Faatzes were not immune to the economic realities many local builders faced when the economy crashed around 2009.
“We were able to support starting a small business around 2014,” Aubrey said. “Before that, we worked in Virginia as a superintendent on rehab projects for the government. We had to move away and worked on EnergyStar apartments, things like that. Before that, there was no work around here. None.”
As a matter of fact, the Faatzes found themselves working in the family restaurant business at Bart’s BBQ in Ocean Isle Beach to make ends meet.
“At the time, it was the only way we could support our family,” Aubrey said. “We did what we had to do.”
Long before his barbeque-chopping days, Aubrey had taken a general contractor’s course through Brunswick Community College. He took the course in the early 2000s but didn’t pursue that avenue at the time.
“Years later, I saw that work was coming along and everybody was getting busy,” Aubrey said of his decision years later to pursue the general contractor title. “It was actually a customer who challenged me to do it. They told us they didn’t want to hire another general contractor. They asked me, ‘Will you go get your license?’ They even offered to help me financially. As it turns out, we didn’t need the financial help. I had contracts at the time that I was able to use to show I had enough working capital to be a general contractor. I took the test … that’s how it worked out.”
The process wasn’t so cut-and-dry. The Faatzes spent countless nights poring over state-issued paperwork, including a general contractor’s application, to make sure they had their ducks in a row when submitting the appropriate paperwork. The process also involved a great deal of time spent studying, Aubrey said.
“I was working during the day and had a young family. It was difficult, but I had a lot of help. The crash course and the textbooks were thousands of dollars. It was an investment, but I was fortunate to pass on the first try. The cost of getting the license ended up being around $2,600. We traveled to a friend’s house in Kansas to build a deck for $4,000. Everything above $2,500 we used in gas to get there. There was work going on here while we went to Kansas, but we weren’t killing it by any means.”
Part of the application process involved providing character reference letters. If the state asked for three, Aubrey said, the Faatzes provided six.
“We went above and beyond in everything the state asked of us,” he said.
Aubrey said he is incredibly thankful for his time spent in the field. He said there are general contractors who have little to no experience in the construction field.
“I probably could have gotten my license 10 years earlier, but I feel quite fortunate to have the time in the field I have,” he said. “There were many years I worked 10, and a lot of times 12-hour days to support my family.”
During his working years, the Faatzes were raising three young children – sons Jack Henry and Sammy, and daughter Ruby Anna.
The success of Aubrey Faatz Home Crafters certainly didn’t transpire overnight. The Faatzes specifically recall a Sunday in Nashville when they were attending a new church and only had $30 to tithe that Sunday. Aubrey and Amanda constantly pray and seek the Lord’s guidance before making any life decisions. Their faith is the bedrock of their business.
“I remember worrying that we wouldn’t be able to pay our bills,” Aubrey said. “We went to church the following week, and our tithe was $3,000. We had lost our house, every vehicle we had … we kept my work truck because it was a working machine. That’s all we kept. It’s hard to believe it wasn’t that long ago. Things can happen fast. The recession hit us hard in 2009-2010. There were times we couldn’t even buy food. I tried to get a job at Lowe’s at the time, and they wouldn’t hire me. They said I was overqualified. Life can change directions in a hurry based on your decisions. It’s crazy how certain decisions affected certain outcomes.”
Aubrey admitted that his life changed “quickly” when he moved from “everyday worker” to “general contractor over the job.”
“It took a couple of years for things to change because I was always hands-on. That’s what I was comfortable with. I was on-site, in the field. What really took me out of the field was when I broke my collarbone. I couldn’t be out there as much, and we were getting super busy. I had to become more of a manager. It’s different.
“Whenever you leave the site and things aren’t done as I would do them, even 90 percent of the time, you have to accept the fact that things might not be done to exactly the same standard, so you have to learn to balance. At that point, you train your team, you teach your team and go about it that way. You backtrack if it’s necessary if it’s not something you’re comfortable with.”
Amanda added, “It’s also very important to pray for and over each and every job. You pray and determine if the job is for us or not for us. That makes a big difference. I truly believe we get some jobs other general contractors don’t get because we’re intentional about praying for every job we take on,” Aubrey added.
Amanda, though always behind the scenes advertising and helping with estimates, joined the team full-time in 2017, and Home Crafters has surged forward ever since. The team is also comprised of project manager Jonathan Yuricek, operations manager Eric Daigle, job site supervisor Beau Callison, Jack Henry Faatz, Sammy Faatz, James Pierce, a 71-year-old retired Marine, and a few other newcomers.
Aubrey Faatz Home Crafters prides itself on taking care of its customers first and foremost.
“Sometimes it’s not about money, it’s about relationships,” he said. “It’s about doing the right thing, treating people the right way, and taking care of other business people in the community. It’s very important to us that we teach our kids … if you focus on the money, it’s going to sidetrack you from what’s really important. You have to provide for your family, but there needs to be a time in your life when you’re building relationships, making investments, and fulfilling your commitments. I can’t tell you how many days I’ve worked for free. I’ve never left anybody hanging. I’ve never left a job unfinished. I’ve finished everything, even when it came out of my own pocket. It’s been that way since before I got my license. I think those things are the reasons why we’ve built a successful business. We do the right thing and treat people the right way.”
Anyone with construction needs can learn more about Home Crafters at aubreyfaatzhomecrafters.com, by emailing info@aubreyfaatzhomecrafters.com, or by calling the office at (910) 754-2488.
Home Crafters also has a showroom at 5039 Main Street, Suite 3, in Shallotte.
Written by: Sam Hickman (former Brunswick Beacon writer)
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