Mid- Job Update- 2021
Updating on what we have been doing lately is like asking a squirrel what their plans for the winter are… it’s going to be a lot of the “same ol’, same ol’,” except we can show you some cool pictures whereas the squirrel cannot.
We have been working diligently on creating new spaces, renovating old ones, hanging out with and supporting the community, making new friends, adding old friends to our team, and just generally having a really great time in all that we do!
We have added a few new faces to our operations, Michael and Joe.
We have inched closer and closer to being done on several projects.
We are working diligently on preparations for upcoming projects and, if you can believe it or not, already preparing for our end-of-the-year plans!
We would like to show you some awesome pictures that we have captured throughout the last few months that may not have made the cut for social media.
We’re so fortunate to do what we do and love every second of it!
2021 has been our busiest year and we are so grateful to all of our supporters, clients, and friends for allowing us to create beautiful spaces for them!
A deck with a beautiful view of the sky is exactly what this home needed and we are so lucky to be able to assist with its construction!
We will be wrapping up this project soon.. Being able to deliver this beautiful view to our clients is one of the reasons we love doing what we do!
A whole-home renovation meant replacing old doors, windows and a fresh coat of paint on the outside. The inside is just as fresh and wonderful, but the face lift made all the difference out here!
Making this bathroom functional once more has been great, but adding a little extra beauty to the space was a bonus!
An Outdoor Retreat
The majority of the framing is up… Next is plywood and roofing!
This project has been such an awesome experience. We have worked with some fantastic people from masonry to custom-made plates for the framing. Believe it or not, we found this project to be exhilarating and we absolutely cannot wait to post the finished product!
We’ll be SURE to post a follow up when everything is completed, so be sure to check back!
Pre-roofing— these step lights add the perfect touch!
Whew! It’s been a while since we have posted a blog… Sorry about that!
We have been bUsY at work creating beautiful environments and brainstorming what else we can bring to the table for our guests!
Before we share anything about expanding our knowledge base or any new team members, we want to update you all on our “Outdoor Retreat” project!
The roof is ready for some shingles… Now for the remaining “interior” work! (To the right is a seating area around a fire pit!)
Building a Legacy
Technically speaking, the ideas and dreams behind 181 started much earlier than late 2018 when the business plan formed and our company was born. But after reflecting on 2020 and writing the last blog post, we wanted to expand on why we’re here. Why 181 has the dreams and goals that we do.
To start, most folks know that Ryan was previously a teacher. An art teacher. He slowly began to realize that while he was making a difference in students’ lives, he wasn’t in the right place to make the most impact in a community that he believed he could.
He and his wife Lindsey love the area. Lindsey grew up in the Rensselaer area and Ryan found the area via St. Joe and while they lived in various states and cities, their hearts never left. They have roots here. They started a family and both grew as people here. Leaving was not an option.
While Ryan is a teacher through and through, he is also a builder. Whether he is building his business, a deck, or a relationship with a new friend or client, he looks to build, grow and enhance both himself and whatever exists in front of and around him.
We want to leave a legacy by creating beautiful spaces not only for our friends, clients and ourselves, but for our community as a whole. We want that community to be able to reflect on it’s beauty and capitalize on its capabilities for the betterment of us all. We invite you to build a legacy with 181.
So how could Ryan make a bigger impact in the community? He took a step back and found a better understanding of who he was as a person and that his love of art was actually in building. He identifies as a builder. That being said, how can “building things” benefit a community?
He feels as though changing a physical space changes the emotional response to it and in turn changes our mentality. As we look at our surroundings, we see a reflection of ourselves, our capability, our worth, and our future abilities looking back at us, many times at a subconscious level. Spending time in great spaces influences our internal worth and perceived value of our surroundings. Which means when we renovate or build a space that someone then occupies, even for a short amount of time, perhaps it will affect them positively-- sparking inspiration, or opening a mind to other beautiful things.
Looking Forward—2021
For many, many folks, 2020 was a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a cataclysm.
Ok. That was dramatic. But was it?
2020 was the year we learned what we are made of. We made some fantastic contacts, friends.. worked with excellent sub-contractors and overall, created an exceptional team. We spent most of our year working on the Jasper County Economic Development office. Because of that, we made so many contacts that simply saw us working and wanted to know what we were all about, so they stopped to chat. Then there were the people that saw our work via social media platforms, heard about us through friends, or even drove by a work site, saw our decal on a truck, and hit the internet to see who the heck we were. To all of the people that reached out, asked questions, promoted us on their own accord and helped us grow: Thank YOU!
We had unexpected, no-fault job site issues. We had unforeseen deadline-delaying issues (hello, Covid19 *eyeroll*). We had mechanical issues. We had sick days. We had weather delays. We had days that not a darn thing went right, but we learned how to correct it in the moment and avoid it in the future. We gained knowledge in things we never thought we would, both by choice and because we had to. We worked most of the year as a one-man crew with sub-contractors assisting throughout the majority of projects. We ended the year by adding on more “general laborers” and will have another join our team within a week of this blog being posted!
As 2020 closed and 2021 began, everyone of us reflected on our year together. And all of us were grateful that we were a part of this team. 2021 is scheduled, thus far, to be the busiest year yet for us because of our fantastic team, community and our families. We look forward to the people we meet, work we do, the fun we have and would like to preemptively thank anyone that supports us in this awesome year ahead!
Organized Chaos
Organization is oftentimes hard to come by on a construction site. Everything is a mess, probably some level of dangerous, and playing a round of real-life “Where’s Waldo?” isn’t exactly exciting. “Organized chaos” is a REALLY fitting term for most days on any job site, and that might even be generous, depending on the scope of the project!
We really pride ourselves on keeping our mobile site trailer organized, our packout set easily accessible and knowing where things are. It’s just more efficient. Especially when working as a team, Ryan feels as though its much easier to tell someone where something is when it’s always in the same spot, organized and tidy.
While our Milwaukee packout is beautiful all on its own, it’s usefulness, versatility, and capacity makes it one of the most vital assets to our company. Hidden tools that take forever to locate, multiple trips to a vehicle for tool bags/boxes, missing power tool accessories.. It really adds up to a lot of time spent on site with less and less work getting done with every trip back and forth or game of hide and seek with a fresh battery for our tools.
We hold ourselves to a higher standard and that starts with staying organized.
Just a Pile of Bricks
How many piles of bricks have you meandered past in your life and thought nothing of? Obviously, bricks can’t talk… but what would they say if they could?
Would they tell you about the building they used to be a part of? Or the building they hope to group together with their friend, Mortar, to create in the future? Do you think they could beautifully articulate the life and love they were fortunate to be a part of? What about the part of history their team held inside?
So often, we just bumble past a pile of bricks and make a mental note to clean them up, sign a petition to have them cleaned up, or perhaps we decide they would really look nice in whatever repurposing endeavor is on the list this year, and go about acquiring them. But how often do we look at the little rectangle of clay and wonder about it’s “life?”
This specific pile was first constructed to be a livery stable in downtown Rensselaer in 1910. While there aren’t many pictures of it and information on the building is hard to come by, we are so VERY excited to be a part of its ongoing story. If you have information on the “old” Carriage House in Rensselaer, we would love to hear about it, as embracing a building’s history is so important to us in creating it’s new space!
The Maker Space
During the time Ryan spent as a teacher, he was able to develop an environment for learning more than “just art.” While schools are having to consistently cut funds for the Arts in order to focus on “the 3 R’s,” Ryan instead decided to work towards integrating the core elements of an education into one in order to show application in real life. His goal was to bring together teachers, students, and technology to make learning fun, but also show where math or English may very well tie in.
It was called the “Maker Space” and after receiving the Grace Pampel Grant from the Jasper Newton Foundation, he set his plans in motion. Not only did he acquire a green screen and camera, he got several small, simple computers and components that would require the students to write their own coding in order to complete tasks, play games and ultimately learn and grow in order to be successful in the ever-evolving world of technology.
ooh, a floating head!
The Maker Space in it’s early stages— heavy duty tables, a giant “green screen” wall, and a creative design to inspire ideas.
What Ryan experienced after that was like a transformation in a movie—students were excited to learn. They would FIGHT over who was next to conduct their experiments on the single-task mini computers, create drawings for a Makey Makey or a Raspberry Pi with enthusiasm, and work together with gusto in order to be successful and have fun in the classroom. These students were learning while having fun, and it was everything Ryan had hoped for.
Unfortunately, the Maker Space is no more, and Ryan decided the “public school teaching” chapter of his life is closed for now. He is eternally grateful for the time he was able to hide learning in games and activities and helped his pupils gain necessary critical thinking and application skills in the Maker Space.
Creating a shift in the way we educate our youth is something we believe in and look for ways to help. We’re so grateful for the teachers that work every day to accommodate the different learning styles and abilities in their students. If you are, have been, or support a teacher in any way, we thank you!
Growth Through Obstacles
Ryan and Lindsey took part in an art show in 2019. Their premise behind their installations was “Growth Through Obstacles.”
Ryan says,
“Growth Through Obstacles is about weeds growing out of things, or plants finding a way to exist when we try to get rid of them and no matter what gets in their way, they find a way to adapt… there are always challenges; you can embrace the obstacle and love it or let it stop you.”
We don’t often find ourselves defeated by an obstacle. Instead, we either figure out how to work it into the design or we find a way to remove it or work around it. We learn and grow every day in order to provide the best product to our clients and the community we serve.
Seeing Through the Disaster
When you work with Ryan, you will notice that whether you can see the completed project in your mind or not, he sure can. Whether the project is still in planning, mid-demolition, or the construction phase, the visual obstacles are invisible, and the wheels are turning as to how everything will be located, done properly, and look its best.
If you cannot visualize it, Ryan will even draw you a rough picture on the back of a scrap of paper or the nearest piece of framing lumber or plywood.
There is a video snippet in the annals of 181 files in which Ryan, walking over a pile of old, demolished wall framing, states that he is in his “happy place.” While 181 is a team of visionaries, creatives and go-getters, describing one’s happy place as a fully-demolished empty canvas is impressive, even for us!
Disaster zones and “work- in- progress” areas don’t scare him, in fact, knowing “what once was” makes a project even more exciting to him because he knows that there will be a breath of fresh air and beauty in what is presently a wreck.
Know that when you work with 181, you are working with a team that isn’t afraid of a little dirt, dust and “ugliness” because all we see is the potential beauty in the space and how we can get there.
The old store sign that was exposed when the old walls were removed was an inspiration to Ryan.. and a fitting one, at that; this space is now the Jasper County Economic Development office!
The skylight addition was exactly what this space needed!
RenArtWLK
Photo by Cameron Moberg
When you visit middle-America, you don’t necessarily expect to see communities embracing their local artists as much as Rensselaer does. From having an Arts Council that sponsors a multitude of events for artists and creatives from around the world, an art gallery for area artists, to playing host to a festival about.. you guessed it-- art. And the artists. And supporting both through education and a space to share their creations, ideas and love.
Ryan and his wife, Lindsey, along with countless others, have put their time and love into supporting the art and artists of Rensselaer. From playing a supporting role in orchestrating the RenArtWLK in 2019 and 2020, which not only brought in internationally known muralists, but also stretching the canvas, so to speak, to allow for other local artists to contribute to the project as well. For the 2020 Mural Week, Ryan diligently worked throughout Jasper County to prepare the buildings and surrounding areas for their respective murals. Building structures, priming, clear coating and making sure the ground was level for the safety of the Artists, Ryan built a solid foundation for all of the artists to succeed and enjoy their week with Rensselaer’s community.
We are so proud to be a sponsor of RenArtWLK and to have Ryan as a member of our creative, forward-thinking team and we would like to thank those that also sponsored, visited and encouraged the growth of the RenArtWLK.
For more about the RenArtWLK, click here!
Mural by Nick Smith
Photo by Cameron Moberg
Mural by Max Sansing
Photo by Cameron Moberg
Mural by Allison Bamcat
Photo by Cameron Moberg
Mural by Czr Prz
Photo by Cameron Moberg
It’s All in the Details
When you look at Ryan’s work, you notice the effort he puts into the details.
From the tiniest of “scratches” purposefully placed, to uniformity throughout an entire series of works, Ryan is meticulous and dutiful when it comes to making sure something is “just right.”
When working in ceramics, the final outcome is always different from piece to piece and that is something that Ryan enjoys the most. No matter how controlled a variable is in-process, the kiln adds its own flair and loving touch to the glaze, which means each piece is truly unique, setting it apart from its previously identical series-mates.
To own a hand-thrown ceramic piece is to own an absolute, one-of-a-kind work of art.
As Custom as it Gets
This sink was built from a variety of wood pieces Ryan and Lindsey came to acquire from their surrounding environment and two beautifully milled pieces of walnut from a friend.
The “orange” pop of color is actually a copper flake resin that Ryan chose knowing that it would work well with the custom faucet he made for the vanity.
Even the sink basin was created in Ryan and Lindsey’s studio, carefully constructed to accommodate not only for pipe work, but also to the normal wear and tear that a sink basin endures— think tooth brush tapping and action figures taking a plunge!
To say that this piece is one of a kind doesn’t do it justice. It’s a masterpiece, lovingly crafted for a home full of creativity and inspiration.
Personality Stairs
Stairs are stairs, right? Not to Ryan Preston.
To some, tackling the task of building stairs is enough to send them sprinting to the closest hardware store, find a project manager and let them worry about it. Instead, Ryan
headed to a beloved piece of family property in order to give his home renovation a truly special touch.
Milling the wood for the treads and stringers, gathering nontraditional materials, and constructing the stairs was indubitably one of Ryan’s favorite parts of his home renovation.
In the end, the extra time and work was well worth it. Not only are the stairs absolutely beautiful, durable and special, but they exist in a way that makes one want to ask about them. They are their own work of art.