Today we’d like to introduce you to Bruno Sutter.
Hi Bruno, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I was born and raised in a small village in Alsace region of France, bordering Germany. While I was not a very good student in high school, I decided to join a guild called *Les Compagnons du Devoir*. This is a training that traces back to the middle age and includes various trades like stone carver, roofers, timber framers amongst others. The training is based on working for a company just like anyone else everyday but live in one of the guild`s home through France and the worlds where you are provided food and housing, classroom and shop training. The training lasts for about 10 years and you move from one location to the next every 6 months or one year. I was always interested in woodworking but liked larger scale projects so I choose to be a timber framer. One of my stop was in New England for one year. During that year I realized how lucky I was to have a formal training. Some of my coworkers would come to my hotel room while on the road and asked me to teach them specific classes about timber framing. That was one of the main reason I wanted to come to the US and help create a better training for people in the trades. As I was finishing my training in France in 2005, I saw an ad for a professor position for a small college called the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston SC. I applied and was hired to write the curriculum and teach timber framing. Today I am the chair of the wood department overseeing timber framing and architectural carpentry as well as teaching some of the classes. Since I wanted to continue practice my trade, in 2015 I partnered with one of my graduate, Peter McGinnis from Greenville SC to start a heavy timber and traditional timber frame company called Timber Artisans LLC.
Today I still oversee the wood department that I created, teach some of the classes and continue running Tmber Artisans projects. I mainly oversee the projects needing structural components while Peter focuses more on the Reclaimed and trim aspect of the company.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
More recently, the shortage of material has been one of our struggles. Another one can also be how to handle the workload that can vary drastically from one month to the next. But overall, I think it has been a smooth ride.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Here at Timber Artisans LLC, we offer a large range of service in woodworking and heavy timber construction. We specialize in all aspect of structural woodwork, from traditional timber framing, post and beam, gluelam, and CLT. Because of our training, we are able to do all our construction drawings in-house and partner with a couple engineers to get the drawings stamped.
In addition of this, a good amount of our work is to install reclaimed beams in new homes.
We also have a specialized team to handle some more intricate projects like countertops, high-end trim, curved staircases, and church furniture.
I believe that what sets us apart from others is that I was lucky to go through a 10 years training and all of our employees also have at least a 4 years training in timber framing. This allows us to do high-quality work in a tight schedule at a very competitive price.
What matters most to you?
There is probably more than one. I want to make sure that our clients get the highest quality they could dream off. I also enjoy training and passing on all the skills I have been lucky to learn myself. In that regard, I always try to give my employees challenging jobs so they can keep learning and expand their skills.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@timberartisans.com
- Website: www.timberartisans.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timber_artisans/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timberartisansllc/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/timberartisans/_saved/
