A Conversation With ... Matt Vaughn

What services does Oak Grove Construction provide?
Oak Grove has been around since 1973. We consider ourselves a full-service general contractor, specializing in repair and remodels, both residential and commercial. We do insurance restoration, dealing with fire, water and wind. And we do standard homeowner remodels – bathroom, kitchen or living space, a new roof, siding, windows or doors, whatever it may be with a home. We also do a lot of commercial infills. We have 25 employees, including (co-owner) David Knetzer, and myself. We’ve got carpenters who’ve worked for us for 20 years (and) a cohesive family type business.

How has the economy changed your work demographic?
Historically, I consider pretty much everything we do a remodel. Even if it’s a repair, it’s a remodel. If your house burns down, we’re not going to put in the 1970s shag carpet that was there before. We’re going to upgrade to whatever’s popular these days. And it’s usually been 50 percent residential and 50 percent commercial. But this year, it’s 60 percent residential. We don’t really keep track of why, but my feeling is that given the economy, there are a lot of businesses going out of business that don’t need work. And businesses that stay in business (are) kind of holding their own. On the side of residential, we’ve got (low interest rates) so everybody’s refinancing … and grabbing on to a little bit of money.

What kinds of jobs are most prevalent for clients?
They’re doing what we call must-do projects – that rotten bathroom floor, the wind blew off the siding, the roof needs to be replaced or the windows have always been leaky … and with the rates being where they are … they’re fixing what they’ve got. ... I see a lot of outdoor spaces. When we visit with those customers about (why), it’s because they had a lake house, a boat. They used to go four-wheeling or snow-skiing. They still have that desire to be outdoors and play outdoors, but they just don’t have that discretionary income anymore.

What are the most unique renovations Oak Grove has completed?
Christine Schilling redid a building on Commercial Street, and it had to be put back to the way it was, with Beeman’s Pepsin Gum painted on the side. We did a lot of work over there for her. And another job was James River Dental. … That was the first dental office renovation I’d done, and since then, I’m in the middle of another and just got hired to do another one. Meek Chiropractic is another that was pretty neat. And Custom Protein Corp. on the north side of town – David basically built a 5,000-square-foot office space in a floodplain, so he had to build it up on stilts.

Are you getting more requests for green building elements?
Yes. You know, we’re a big oak state. I go into literally thousands of houses a year (with) oak cabinets, oak floors, oak trim – oak, oak, oak. What we’re seeing now is that everybody hates oak, so we tear up the oak, and everybody’s going for a more rustic feel, which is the maples, the alder woods. We do a lot of reinsulating attics, a lot of window replacements. People are asking about bamboo floors (and) the pine beetle wood. Pine beetles came through the western states and just killed all of our pine trees, basically. A lot of lumber yards are cutting down those trees and making their siding and their trim out of those, instead of going out and killing a green tree.

Has your company done work in Joplin since the May 22 tornado?
No. We kept our dog out of that fight. We’ve never advertised or tried to drum up business in Joplin, so we didn’t feel that was the right thing to do. We just didn’t feel like we needed to go and try to make a living off of all those poor folks down there. 
[[In-content Ad]]