Today we’d like to introduce you to Clayton Tardiff.
Hi Clayton, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Well since i was a little kid I’ve always loved woodworking. Eveery chance id get id be right there next to my dad and there is one saw that will always bring me back then as soon as I hear the whistling whine of a radial arm saw, a very useful saw but in the wrong hands a very dangerous saw. Anyways I finished concrete for right around 15 years, did a lot of traveling and learned an abundant amount of knowledge in my travels that are more precious to me than gold. I always knew I wanted to start my own woodshop, but I couldn’t figure out where to begin considering finishing concrete requires your full attention and some days, we’re sleeping on site while the concrete slowly starts to cure in the colder months so I just kept that idea tucked away in the back of my brain but always there. So finally in 2015 I just decided to buy a rigid worm drive skilsaw, don’t know why, I just did, it’s a heavy great saw but its more for onsite construction, it works well with sawhorses but anyways that saw was the beginning of what would soon become my woodshop. So 6 months down the road i find myself coming home from work every day and building my woodshop in my 3rd story apartment which back then which is 2014 2015 I wasn’t trying to be a woodshop I was just trying to build me some benches to see if I could become a woodshop if I made it to that point. so I wasn’t advertising anywhere or accepting any work from anyone yet cause what i was doing was building my benches and everything id make i would try some technique out to use to build with so I’m always learning as i was building and it really did allow me to learn and mess up and then fix my mistake which in my opinion only when you make mistakes can you truly learn. So its right at the end of 2015 my oldest brother James who had just passed away 4 months ago, well he had a shop at a self storage doing mechanic work and he got me in one of the units which i absolutely loved and it was 10 x 15 outdoor tin oven but with a couple fans it was fine. Now that i was in a unit i stepped up my benches and was going to build my woodshop now that I’m have somewhere to put it. I was there for about 5 full years and then i was getting really busy by the end of those 5 years and the next job i got was too big to fit inside my shop so i had to find a new place and fast which i did i ended up in an indoor unit a 20x 20 and was there for 2 years and absolutely loved it, the lay out, the benches and the people there were great. a lot of bands played there. now its right around 2024 and my 2 older brothers and i decide to buy a house on a small piece of land which we ended up settling down out in Eustis which i love it here compared to longwood and Sanford. When i was clearing my yard i ended up finding a 20×45 concrete slab preserved with about 30 years of overgrowth which i cleaned off and now i have my woodshop built in my backyard and which is such a blessing and i look back at all the stuff ive made it just blows me away
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
after i moved into my second storage unit, the 20 x 20 indoor unit, i ended up having to leave my woodshop right at its peak where i was making the most annually than i ever did doing this kind of work cause i found out my dad had stage 4 prostate cancer so i closed up shop and went up to Maine for 6 months and laid by his side in his living room for those 6 months doing whatever i could to help and just be there by his side but on march 2nd 2024, a cold sunny Saturday morning his time to leave this earth had come and to hold my dying dad in my arms with just me and him in his living room was a very spectacular and precious moment. I was hoping i could still keep my shop going and go up to Maine beat the cancer and go back home but i figured if i lose my woodshop or my standing or place i would at least lose it for the right reason and that reason was i thought would be helping my dad survive and i was going to lose one or the other and not both but after i get back to Florida i ended up leaving my indoor unit and built my shop in my backyard and got to work and it took about a year to really smoothen back out but it did and like i said its a blessing regardless.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
my woodshop builds whatever people ask for. From electric fireplace units and faux walls to floating shelves, mantels , to kitchen banquettes though floating shelves and mantels are my bread and butter and keep me plenty busy. What really sets my shop apart from others is that i guarantee everything i make for life which nobodies heard of but i build real wooden items and there is no reason whatsoever why they shouldnt be guaranteed for life.
What matters most to you?
quality and great customer service. I love when I leave a customer’s house from delivering and installing whatever it may be and they absolutely love it and you can just see their faces light up is the only outcome I will accept and anything less is not acceptable, the day someone buys an item i build and they are not just absolutely in love with it just cannot and will not work, i will never expect a customer to spend their hard earned money on something that i wouldn’t be happy to buy myself so my quality control is very aggressive and i am my own worst critic
Contact Info:
- Website: www.claytonjameswoodworks.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/claytonjameswoodworks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/claytonjameswoodworks
- Other: Clayton James Woodworks on Google
