Design and Build Homes

Design Your Own Home / December 26, 2022

2017 has been a great year! We’re excited to report that Atlanta Design & Build is growing and has had the pleasure of adding new members to our expert team. Please welcome Carl Davis, who joined Atlanta Design & Build as an apprentice seven months ago.

A Talent for Construction from an Early Age

Carl was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. When he was sixteen years old, Carl became acquainted with a preacher named Jimmy Dickerson who was actively involved in residential remodeling. Dickerson was busily putting up doors and windows for his customers and needed someone to assist him. So, Carl began working for him and discovered that he really enjoyed construction.

He worked for Dickerson on and off for ten years learning how to frame houses. He kept his eyes open, watched everything else going on around him, and in this way he started picking up on the trades. Other people began asking Carl to help them with their remodeling projects, so he found himself engaged in sheetrock work, painting and roofing. But framing continued to be his strong point.

In addition to construction work, Carl has a deep attraction to cooking. After high school, he attended the Virginia College in Mobile, studying in their Culinary Arts program to become a professional chef. Upon graduation, he began working for the Kitchen on George restaurant located on George Street in Mobile. This fine dining restaurant is focused on serving fresh, locally sourced and seasonal cuisine featuring fresh Gulf seafood. Carl worked there for about a year, along with several other graduates from the Culinary Arts program. He began to feel there wasn’t really a future for him in this field. He started once more working in the field of carpentry.

Starting Work with Atlanta Design & Build

Carl decided to move to Atlanta, having heard there were more construction job opportunities there. As he spent time searching, he filled in with jobs at IHOP and the Wing Factory. He was residing in a shelter in Atlanta when he first met H. Dale Contant. After performing some weekend work at his home, Dale encouraged Carl to interview for a job with Atlanta Design & Build on Monday morning. He was then invited to start work for ADB the following Monday.

Carl’s official title at Atlanta Design & Build is Carpenter Apprentice. He is skilled at installing windows, doors, framing walls inside and outside, and sometimes frames roofs as well. He also assists in building decks, does clean up, and whatever is required for completing a client’s project. His first time installing Brazilian wood on a deck amazed him. “With standard wood decking, you just pound the nails through the wood, ” exclaims Carl. “This Brazilian wood has to be pre-drilled! The wood is so expensive that we had to measure everything with great care. It was quite a challenge, but the end result is incredible!”

“What I enjoy most about working for Atlanta Design & Build is the people—the crew, ” said Carl. “They put a smile on your face from the minute you walk in the door. ADB invited me to their Christmas party and gave me a Christmas bonus after just one month on the job. I couldn’t believe it!”

Carl feels especially grateful for Dale giving him the opportunity to find his strong points, to help him learn new things, and to potentially become a project manager someday. Carl has already taken several classes—current building codes, lighting, business practices—and ADB has paid for them all. Carl doesn’t have a car yet, so he rides a bicycle to work—a mile and a half—every morning, and he’s usually one of the first ones at work! “Dale is always kindly checking on me to see how I’m doing. I call him my ‘father-away-from-home’. Every day is a challenge, but I thank the Lord that He keeps me steady.”

Outside of Work

Carl’s wife and 13-year-old daughter have now joined him in Atlanta. They’re very proud of Carl for the wonderful job he has. One of their favorite activities to do together as a family is to shop. Carl used to love to shop, but he says these days he’s slowed up on it. So he just gives them his wallet and lets them go at it, while he holds the shopping bags.

Outside of work, Carl still enjoys cooking and trying his hand at preparing different kinds of food. He likes to cook wild game that he picks up at the farmer’s market. One of his future goals is to cook rattlesnake, turtle and unusual organ meats. Yum!

One of our greatest pleasures from remodeling a home is seeing our clients’ goals and desires realized through our efforts.

At Atlanta Design & Build, we promise to enrich the lives of our clients and their families through a design that transforms their home environments to match their individual lifestyles.

We began sharing the transformation journey of our clients’ 1960s split-level home in October 2016. Through a series of episodes affectionately titled “Raise the Roof”, our HomeStyles Online readers were provided an insider’s glimpse of a renovation in process. Snippets of step-by-step progress have been shared; from the literal raising of their roofline to create their desired vaulted ceiling, to cabinet and flooring footage creating an updated kitchen and open floor plan family room.

If this “Raise the Roof” project has inspired you to want to open up your home as well, we would be delighted to help make that happen for you. Contact us at atlantadesignbuild.com or call: 770.565.8999

Follow this story from the start and see us raise the roof, the beginning stages of the interior, our ADB team hard at work, and in-progress photos. Watch all of the progress videos here.

May is National Home Improvement Month and it is a great time to begin your home transformation. Remodeling in the Atlanta area offers numerous benefits to home owners who want to change their living environment without uprooting their family and moving. Home improvements can add more space for a growing family or older parent, improve energy efficiency and increase the resale value of your home.