As the new year, 2003, rolled in, I had no idea of the major changes this year would bring in my life. My fiancé and I sitting together, at the end of a long day of digging out our cars, sidewalks and porches, from the monstrous snowfall that had occurred the night before, getting cozy, both with a cup of special brew gourmet coffee, completely content with the moment, she turns to me and simply s
ays “I have some news.” At this point in my life I’m a 23 yr old business major with a focus on someday being a restaurateur. She's in her senior year at college with a major in Sociology. However, this news, little did we know at the time, will change the course of our lives, career choices and even our ideas of our futures forever… We are going to have a baby! Until that moment, I’d never envisioned myself having children until my career was set in stone. I know about how much longer it will be before I even have an opportunity to own my own restaurant, let alone the risks I was absolutely prepared to take on my own, but with a child? I've also spent most of my time avoiding getting locked down in some managerial role of some random restaurant and fading into oblivion. Nothing wrong with it, but my experience had taught me, that is where most restaurateur hopeful’s dreams go to die. That just amounts to not being financially prepared for this. I also work a full time day job, at the time, as a simple laborer, with a local residential and commercial painter. It was the only trade job I’d ever had in which I had no prior experience. As a matter of fact, I had avoided painting as much as I possibly could until the day I applied with that company. Over the next few months the owner of the painting company, my direct supervisor and I, all got to be closer on a more personal level. We had discussed my coming fatherhood, and all my fears, and concerns of lack of security, at great length. We had one short discussion on the idea of me going out on my own as a painting contractor, which I quickly laughed off, I'm just a laborer, there's no way I’m good enough to do that. One particular morning the two called me off task to have a sit down for a few minutes. They’d both decided it was time for me to see the opportunity I was clearly overlooking. This owner and his supervisor were offering me their full support, mentor-ship and training to build my own painting company, that would one day be their competition! All while allowing me to hold my position in their company, and still allowing for full promotion and raises as normal. I know how rare that is in this life… there's no way I’m turning that down, I've got to, at least, try. Over the next few months, I immersed myself in the painting world. Learning painting products, practices and application methods, and best materials and procedures for proper prep. I attended home shows and product presentations. Educating myself on why painters do things specific ways and the latest products to use, or not to. I worked with my employer on technique, and the business end as well. In the early summer of that year I started taking side jobs. I remember thinking about the little jobs I’d do for my grandmother when I was a teen, and how much harder, and honestly sort of worthless they were, now that I know the proper way to prep and paint, as well as the proper tools to use in these processes. Realizing she had to repaint so often because nothing was ever done properly and sometimes the products weren't even close to the right ones. (which is why I don't count it as ‘experience”, other than in the way of what not to do and what happens when you do) I took any job that came my way, for the extra money, to hone my skills and techniques, as well as begin to get my name out there. By the end of that summer, I was a Father and a full fledged business owner. Towne Painting was working with home owners throughout north eastern and east PA, as well as builders, developers, general contractors, carpenters, other painting contractors, and designers on all types of projects, by the same time the following year. I did interior painting, exterior painting, commercial painting, new construction interior spray painting, as well as aluminum siding spraying. On one old colonial job I even had to learn to do stucco to keep the job going after that contractor broke a leg right before starting. The historical painting also required an intimate knowledge with old windows, how they work, how to repair their function, as wells as pane replacement and glazing which I became so good at, and well known for, I was given the nickname “glaze”, which actually still remains to this day. After that first year I started to focus on residential painting and small commercial painting, interior and exterior painting, focusing on narrowing down what I wanted Towne Painting to specialize in. Towne Painting was established in a small town called Hellertown, in PA. Its on a hillside between Allentown and South Bethlehem. Basically on the other side of the hill Lehigh University sits on. Surrounded by beautiful old Colonial and Victorian era homes and buildings. It didn't take long, and probably just fate, before I found a love in the old historical homes and desire to restore them to every bit of their former glory. This would take a much deeper knowledge on product, procedure, historical knowledge as well as historical law for those homes in areas governed by historical accuracy or clients that just want that. I would also have to revive some of the carpentry skills I’d learned growing up. Thankfully, growing up in these old houses and being the helper to my family carpenter had given me a little bit of a welcome boost in the learning process. I’d need to find sources for old historical parts, for lost or damaged pieces, like shutter dogs or hinges, locks and clasps, any way I could try to avoid using modern recreation, which never quite matched up right. I would need a solid crew and crew leader on site, while I traverse the country side in search of old barns, estates and homesteads where collectors had been gathering stock piles of these pieces to save the history and/or resell. Most Colonial and Victorian era homes are built the same. Some very minor differences in builds, but the biggest difference between them was really just how they were painted. Victorians highlight every detail, most of the time, in the most gaudy fashion anyone could imagine. Colonials must be simple, no matter the detail of the woodwork, anything that stays still is one color, anything that moves in any way is another, basic and simple. Unfortunately in 2007, we got some serious troubling news at home, and needed support for our family. There was no support to be had, so the decision was made to close up shop in PA, and move to South Jersey, where my family was, and had offered the support our family would need in the coming years. Upon the move I reconnected with an old friend who had become a flooring installer and part time contractor. We teamed up creating a new company doing the same as Towne Painting but now offering hardwood and laminate flooring installs and restorations to our historical clients. Not only were we offering yet another service under out tent, but it seemed we were offering a quality on the historical homes, not known to exist in these new areas we serviced, for the same price, as well as a craftsmanship guarantee apparently never offered before. Most of our clients had just accepted that they had to repaint every 4-5 years. This was upsetting to me. We set out to show our clients there is a better way. But after only a few years, tragedy would strike again. This time it was me. I was rear-ended on an office day and had my neck and back broken. We finished our work together that year, and decided it was best if we went our separate ways, as I had a long recovery ahead of me. In 2015, I had done everything I could regarding recovery, the rest will be maintenance for the rest of my life. I decide I would like to keep painting, but the restorations, size and scope of those jobs is not something I will be able to handle on my own, and most of the crew we had trained and trusted have moved on. I will reinstate Towne Painting, offering the same services and quality, just on a much smaller scale. A scale I can handle alone or with a couple laborers, I will make contact with other trusted painters in the historical field with the same mind set as my own and help them by passing off the large projects to them. So here I am, in 2020. Towne Painting is up and running again. Offering Interior Painting and Staining, Exterior Painting and Staining, Window and Door replacement and/or restoration, Minor carpentry, hardwood and laminate installs, Pressure washing and soft washing services to South Jersey, with a focus on, but not limited to, Millville, Vineland and Bridgeton, NJ. All the products I choose to work with offer lifetime warranties and I still give my 2 year guarantee on all my craftsmanship. With the same affordable and honest prices. My goal, and Towne Painting’s mission, is to continue providing all of Towne Painting’s South Jersey Clients with top-notch quality work, combined with 17 years of coating and finishing knowledge and expertise learned, gathered and practiced throughout that journey, to provide the strongest, longest lasting finished product, at a fair, honest and affordable price
