written by Craig Huckstep, owner and president of CMH Builders
Hello and welcome to the first edition of the CMH Builders Owners Blog. I look forward to writing about a variety of topics and sharing about my journey with CMH Builders as well as industry knowledge that will help readers make informed decisions about finishing their basement. I also believe this is a good way for you to get to know more about how we operate here at CMH and what is important to us.
I founded CMH in April 2006. At that time, honestly, I had little vision for the future of my company – I simply knew I wanted to own and operate my own construction business and I thought I had what it took to be successful. So, I jumped into business ownership and started finding my way through how all of it worked. I was a one-man operation and performed most of the work myself in the beginning. I had no experience owning a business so I had a few hard knocks my first few years in business – I learned quickly about taxes, insurance and all of the other “stuff” that goes into running and managing a business. I am glad to say I was able to find my way through and kept moving forward.
Obviously, I had to find clients that trusted me enough to work for them, so I took on a variety of different projects. I built a lot of decks and fences my first year in business. I did some interior trim work and I did some miscellaneous punch-list work for home-builders. And, I finished my first basement! At that time, I had no idea what the future held for CMH nor did I know that this was the first of hundreds of basement projects that we would complete.
Projects in the early years
Over the first few years, we continued to pursue nearly everything associated with residential construction. We continued to complete multiple deck and fence projects. We did kitchen and bath remodels. We built room additions and completed home remodels. We teamed up with restoration companies and did insurance repair work from water, fire, and hail damage. Some home builders hired us to complete interior trim and painting work on their new construction homes. We even dabbled in some commercial work doing rehab work on apartment buildings. We truly pursued anything that was offered to us as a project.
Some of our first basements
Fortunately, I was able to find success and made a living with this approach. However, after a few years of doing this, I started to realize that we needed to change our business model. Over the next several blogs I plan to talk about how CMH was transformed from the company it was in the early years, to the company that I have here in 2024.
I look forward to spending a few minutes with you in each blog and I thank you for reading. I also invite you to check out our project gallery to see some of our more-recent finished basements and how far we’ve come over the years.
Enjoy your day!
–Craig
About the Author
Craig Huckstep
President, CMH Builders
Huckstep brings a wealth of experience and expertise to each project with over 20 years of work dedicated to the construction industry. He founded CMH Builders in April 2006, after working for a local home builder for the previous four years. A 2002 graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Building Construction Management. Today, CMH Builders finishes 90 to 100 basements every year.
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“All the people I worked with at CMH were very friendly and went out of their way to help us get the job done the way we wanted it done. I would recommend them without reservation.”
“From start to finish this process could not have been better! CMH provided my wife and I an amazing experience to get our basement completed! Every step of the process was flawless and we would recommend CMH to anyone!”
“We were very impressed with CMH Builders from the beginning and throughout the entire process. They are a well-organized company with great attention to detail and very prompt and responsive.”
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