Issue Date: July 2006
Learning the right way, the hard way
Jennifer Hicks
Doug Ramsay sported a three-piece suit when he interviewed for his first full-time job at a Florida cabinet shop in the early ’80s. Though the boss had to contain his laughter, he concluded Ramsay was a serious go-getter and hired him at $4 an hour. Now, Ramsay is grossing more than $600,000 annually with his own business, Doug Ramsay Custom Cabinetry, in Pompano Beach, Fla., which specializes in custom wall units, home offices, libraries and fireplaces.
The self-taught woodworker gained experience working in a variety of south-Florida cabinet shops, but reached a career crossroads in the mid-’80s while making custom furniture and wall units on the side.
“It immediately took off to the point where I had to decide whether I was going to do it on the side or give up my [full-time] job. I sat down and talked with my boss and he said, ‘Well, you’ve pretty much moved up the ladder and the only place left for you to sit is in my chair, and I’m not moving,’ ” Ramsay said.
Ramsay’s 2,500-sq.-ft. shop is about 45 minutes south of his home in Wellington, Fla., where his wife, Kelly, does much of the sanding and finishing, and all of the bookwork. Most units are made of northern maple, which ties in with the refinedfinishing end of the business. Though he’s had as many as 15 employees, there are now only three. An ugly experience taught Ramsay that less is more.
“We can be highly profitable keeping it the way we are. The only downside is that I’m tired all the time,” he said
A nonprofit start
After receiving a fine arts degree at Oakland Community College in Farmington Hills, Mich., close to where he grew up, Ramsay worked in a union cabinet shop, Northwest Industries, in Novi, Mich. He and his wife moved to Florida in 1982 to be closer to family. The couple was living in Margate, Fla., by the time Ramsay’s boss at Wilson and Sons Industries in Pompano encouraged him to go into business for himself.
The first job he contracted was remodeling a bagel eatery in Margate. The cabinets turned out fine, but later the owner called with water up to his ankles. Ramsay had put screws through the plumbing behind the wall. “It was a disaster. We lost every penny we could have possibly made on that job,” he said.
Ramsay then moved into a 1,600-sq.-ft. shop in the Pompano area and hired seven employees, and continued bidding on commercial remodeling in southeast Florida. He nimbly used independent designers to get residential work, and by 1987 he was dealing directly with homeowners.
The $250,000 he grossed the first year should have been double that. Ramsay admitted he charged ridiculously low prices in order to establish his reputation. “We priced it so people would use us, so we were basically a nonprofit organization for a number of years.”
Kelly came on board to handle the finances in ’99. She was adamant about buying bulk to save money in the long run, a tactic her husband lacked.
“I would buy maybe a gallon of lacquer as opposed to 5 gallons of lacquer. I was really just spending money with an eye-dropper, and there would be days where men would be out of molding for a job they were in the middle of,” Ramsay said.
Nathan Grosso, 19, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Nicholas Forde, 27, of Hollywood, Fla., and Michael Guthrie, 50, of Coconut Creek, Fla., are the shop help. Guthrie is considered part-time, as he comes to work several months at a time throughout the year from his home in Connecticut. Workers receive a 401K package, along with paid holidays and vacations. Raises are also standard. Grosso started at $6 an hour as an apprentice in 2004, and is now making $14 an hour.
“Doug is awesome, he treats me like a son. I’ve known him since I was 10,” said Grosso, who met Ramsay at church.
Less is more
The Ramsays then moved into a 3,000-sq.-ft. shop in the Pompano area, which accommodated their 15 workers, including builders, laminators and installers.
The head honcho, Ramsay wore khakis instead of jeans, and barely lifted his finger, except to dial his cell phone. But the reputation of his business suffered.
By 1998 he became completely discouraged after learning that every sheet of lamination had bubbled on a large condominium project.
“There was a day I woke up and I realized that I was paying a guy double time to go out and fix his own screw-ups,” Ramsay said. He proceeded to gradually let workers go.
On the verge of bankruptcy in the early ’90s, he started working out of his own two-car garage. A year later, his reputation was restored.
In 1992 he rented yet another shop in Coral Springs, and kept the hiring to just five employees. Business ran smoothly for two years, then city officials demanded a spray booth be installed at the shop.
Fed up with the hassle, they moved a final time in 2004 to their current shop. Rent and overhead amount to $30,000 a year. Ironically, they ended up getting a spray booth anyway — a Dwyer Mark II with a Quincy QT5 compressor, Arrow Pneumatics compressed air dryer, and two Accuspray guns.
“Having a spray booth for the past two years has really opened our eyes to how absolutely dangerous it is not having one. We’d never go back to breathing all those fumes,” said Kelly Ramsay, who does much of the finishing.
Other shop investments include two Delta Unisaws, six Porter-Cable routers, Markwell staple guns and pin nailers, Porter-Cable and Ridgid screw guns, six Porter-Cable disc sanders, Porter-Cable and Ridgid chop saws and two Porter-Cable portable compressors.
Traditional preferred
Custom jobs range from $10,000 and $20,000 per contract, which includes design drafting, field measurements, construction, finishing and installation. Half of Ramsay’s commissions are wall units, followed by offices, libraries and custom kitchens.
Traditional designs are preferred over contemporary, which Ramsay believes is because they have more detailed features such as raised paned doors, hand-carved stop fluting, crown molding, rope crown, and carved corbels and appliques.
Wall units average around 10' in height to reach the ceilings in the mainly contemporary homes in which they’re installed. For aesthetic purposes, units are never built to go straight across a room. They either drop down on the sides for a pyramid-style look or feature step-outs across the top. Step-out units are usually the same height horizontally, but their sections come out different lengths from the back wall.
Ramsay usually has clients hire an electrician but he occasionally installs low-voltage lighting. He installs his own glass, unless it’s for a special stacked design or mirrored wall.
“It used to be popular to get mirrored backs on the wall units, very rarely does someone want this anymore. We give them wood backs or mirrored backs for the same price, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
Clients who order kitchens usually seek granite counter tops. Ramsay coordinates these installs with the granite companies. Once a unit is installed, he often has to return for some final adjustments.
Mainly maple
A whopping 98 percent of the work is done in northern hard maple. “The maple is much harder with a much tighter grain that produces a beautiful finish,” he said.
They use mainly Campbell finishing products, including lacquer stain and pre-catalyzed lacquer. They offer clients the choice of 40 standard colors of stain, as well as surface antiquing, a form of distressing using a sanding technique then hand painting over the lines.
“I would definitely say that our colors — English walnut with antiquing and Fruitwood with antiquing — continue to be really strong,” Ramsay said.
Light finishes are requested on only about 10 percent of the pieces. “In the ’80s, everyone wanted the white-washed oak look. Now, we’re replacing people’s units because they look so dated. Using a medium or dark finish is so traditional and will never go out of style.”
Of the annual shop expenditures, $85,000 goes to Dixie Plywood in Riviera Beach, Fla. About $35,000 is spent on architectural molding at Mutual Woodworking Inc. in Fort Lauderdale. Another $40,000 is spent on miscellaneous hardware, hinges, and finishing chemicals at Specialty Supplies Inc. in North Pompano. Corbels cost about $70 each, and are purchased from Architectural Products by Outwater of Wood-Ridge, N.J.
Referrals make busy backlog
The Ramsays deal with about 30 clients simultaneously and have a steady six-month backlog. They are proud of never having to advertise, and use their catalog Web site as a marketing tool. Clients, mainly retirees, usually live in homes that start at $750,000. Business used to be strictly in south Florida, but is moving north.
Earlier jobs started in Pompano, Fla., then moved to Delray, and now up to the top of Palm Beach County. Clients are as far south as Miami, but only on rare occasion. The Ramsays prefer to work within their state.
Though one client in the past offered to make a deposit with used cell phones, the Ramsays enjoy working with their regular clients and vice-versa.
Bruce and Irene Eisen of West Palm Beach, Fla., have purchased several built-ins, re-faced bathroom cabinets, and a home office over the past eight years.
“I think he’s excellent, he’s responsible, he’s reliable,” Bruce Eisen said. “He designs what we want and comes up with a few options for us to choose from. He offers a competitive price and his workmanship is excellent.”
Ronald and Mindy Fishkind of West Palm Beach, clients since 2004, purchased wall units for their family room and office, had their bar redone and their master bath refaced.
“They’re a pleasure to deal with and they’re actually doing some more work for us,” Mindy Fishkind said, “We completely renovated our house and his work was a big part of what made the house come out so well.”
Tammy Spungen of West Palm Beach adores Ramsay, who has made pieces for her and her husband, and for their grandchildren.
“He does not only outstanding work, he’s a gem to work with. And I wouldn’t say that about a lot of people who’ve done work for us here in south Florida,” she said.
Contact: Doug Ramsay Custom Cabinetry, 9182 DeLemar Court, Wellington, FL 33414. 561-795-0500.