I was born, some stuff happened, I got older, more stuff happened and I ended up here on the Gulf Coast running Old Glory Construction. Along the way I have fought a war, completed 6th and 7th grade in a Mennonite community in Paraguay, written a book, retired and unretired, been promoted from private to a grumpy old Lieutenant Colonel, been elected to public office, sailed across the Gulf of Mexico, received a Legion of Merit and several other shinies, artificially impregnated a cow ( said ARTIFICIALLY! Jeez, people), worn an Army uniform for over 20 years, led a bible study for my church, lived on a boat, earned a Master’s Degree, broken several bones, raised two kids, been bitten by a piranha and dogpiled by six grandkids, taught college, and started a business. I am currently running Old Glory Construction Management while trying to keep up with SERVE, a Veteran’s support effort south of Beltway 8, Seabrook Rotary, Yachty Gras, Clear Lake Masonic Lodge, and In My Home Sweet Home, an educational effort focused on all the resources available to keep folks in their home for as long as possible.

Everything starts somewhere. For me, it was the cattle industry. That’s how I grew up, and what led me to graduate from Texas A&M with a degree in Animal Science and a wonderful wife, who has tolerated me for 37 years now. I joined the Army in 1991 at the start of the first Gulf War because it seemed like the right thing to do, not planning on being in for more than four years. That didn’t work out as expected. After retiring from the Army I did what most Veterans do: five jobs in four years before finally settling into building homes.

Building homes was not a bad career field but along the way I saw so many things that just weren’t right. Construction standards are not as bad as some people think, not talking about that. I mean habitual practices that were misleading, especially in the remodeling industry. After Hurricane Harvey as part of SERVE I worked in over 30 Veterans homes, folks who were victims of the “take a deposit and disappear” sort of thing that was going around at the time. I quit my last job in new construction over some things that I could not reconcile with my conscience. Too old to get hired, to grumpy to work in an office anyway, we decided to start a business.

Because I’m a Veteran it’s a logical assumption to think that the company name, Old Glory, is because of the flag. It is not. My wife and I were sitting on the couch on night talking about what to name the company when she said “Honey, are you too old to start a new business?” I responded “I may be old, but I’m still glorious!”. After that, Old Glory seemed the only logical name to choose.

Old Glory started out as a construction consulting firm, designed to help folks deal with contractors, new builds, and that sort of thing. I did a lot of home inspection reviews for home buyers, some project management, and a little bit of remodel consulting. The customers always get a vote, so when the opportunity came to join forces with a remodeling company that had been working for over thirty years, I took it and became something I never wanted to be – a general contractor.

Recognizing that the general contractor pond is full of sharks and my new business would be just a minnow, I had to find a way to stand out. After a lot of research, there were three things that stood out as the biggest concerns for potential customers. First was too much money up front. Then knowing where and how that money is spent. Last was working every day on the job, no days off. Old Glory is built around addressing those specific concerns. We don’t take money up front unless there is a big purchase with a long lead time. We are on the job every day. Our estimates and invoices show what we bought and how many hours we worked. We bill once a week, and our customers are rarely if ever late. Seems like its much easier to pay if you know exactly what you are paying for.

For the first three years we did ok with remodeling. Bathrooms, kitchens, anything at all. We developed great relationships with the trades needed to get work done, built a great crew of people who are bought in to the Old Glory idea. Everything we do is driven by three words: trust, confidence, integrity.

As our customer base grew we started getting more requests for handyman work than we could handle. Handyman has to be responsive and professional, remodeling with bigger crews made it difficult to accommodate. So we created a new business: Old Glory Handyman. The goal is to have an appointment set within 24 hours of the first phone call. My team knows that if that doesn’t happen the Colonel in me comes out and things get messy. Handyman has been growing, I’m really proud of the work that team is doing right now.

I never hesitate to refer other professionals. Frequent phone calls asking for an electrician, plumber, or garage door installer got me to thinking, and me being me, I got into some research. It seems like people spend an awful lot of time trying to find trustworthy, reliable team to do things on their homes. Just check social media for posts asking for referrals. One of our customers, recently widowed, was very concerned about being taken advantage of. So much so that she hadn’t hired a lawn crew or tended to damaged doors and minor water leaks. People worry about their homes but its tough to find the right person to take that worry away. So we created another company.

Old Glory Premiere Home Management is an annual membership tailored to what our customers want for their homes. From lawn care to Christmas lights, pooper scooper to pool care, customers set their own priorities, make a monthly payment, and forget about it. All those things just happen, no worries. The biggest perk seems to be that they get one phone number, a single point of contact for anything on their home. The three companies work together to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Now its three companies, all under the Old Glory banner. Renovations, Handyman, and Home Management. Together the three offer a top to bottom, inside and out worry free product that is still and will remain based on just three words – trust, confidence, integrity.