Michael Haynes recently joined Durango Custom Works in the summer of 2008 as a carpenter. Michael was born in northern California and grew up in the 80’s around woodworking projects all the time. Mike’s education started early, whether it was helping his father in the garage or his grandfather’s shop, he took advantage of every chance to be around wood. He continued his wood working education in middle school and high school.

Mike’s first paying job was making $3.35 per hour sanding custom bass guitars at Alembic in San Francisco, California. His apprenticeship there helped him lay a foundation for a long-term career in woodworking. As a bonus, it also helped foster his long-time appreciation for music by having the chance to meet some musical heavy-weights on the job.

He eventually moved on to a custom cabinet shop for a short time, specializing in custom closets and cabinetry. Mike also started getting out of the shop more by taking part in on-site installations in the San Francisco Bay area.

After that he went to work for a production kitchen cabinet shop for the next eight years and learned every department including cut-out, face-frames, doors and drawers, final assembly and finishing. He enjoys the start to finish approach that helps keep things interesting and allow for a lot of pride in the final project, knowing he was responsible for its ultimate success.

In the late nineties, Mike left California with a friend for Florida for some temporary work in the home improvement sector. He eventually landed in another custom woodworking shop called AVEX home theater, located in Pampano Beach, Florida. They specialized in custom speaker enclosures for home & commercial audio applications. Do you see the music connection? This job led to a position with a custom furniture builder in South Florida where Mike was really able to hone his skills while creating complete office suites, entertainment centers, kitchens, & bedroom sets.

Recent shifts in the Florida construction market caused Mike to move west again in 2007, first briefly to Phoenix, and finally Durango, Colorado. Mike has now been with Durango Custom Works for the last seven months and is considered to be a valued asset to our company. His skills in the cabinet shop are helpful not just in the shop, but in the field working on some of the high-end custom homes for which we complete our interior trim and remodeling work.

If you would like to drop Mike a line, contact him at Mike@DurangoCustomWorks.com.