Dan Rutty | Construction
I was raised in Michigan, by a hard-working, blue-collar family. I was building with my grandfather as far back as I can remember.
At 15 years old I started working at a local lumber yard after school and on the weekends, where I met all of the area home builders and tradesmen.
1993 - 1997
In 1993, at the age of 22, I started my own framing business with a friend. Over the next 4 years, we roughed in nearly 30 homes in Flint and the surrounding areas. We also did remodeling, siding and built custom decks in between homes.
1989 - 1993
Upon graduating from high school I went to work full-time for a local home builder, Kevin Clark. Kevin taught me a great deal about building custom homes with a specific focus on framing.
I worked with Kevin for four years, until he was killed by an armed gunman at a convenience store in Flint, MI on his way home from work.
1997 - 2002
In 1997 I joined the Detroit Carpenters Union as a Construction Superintendent, building much larger projects, such as churches, apartment complexes, night clubs, and larger custom homes for executives and pro athletes in and around the Detroit metro area.
Pictured below is a home I built for 3-time Stanley Cup Champion and NHL Hall of Famer, Igor Larionov.
Igor Larionov Home
During this time I also designed and built my own personal custom home on the side. I was 26 years old.
Dan's Personal Home
In 2002 I obtained my General Contractor’s License and started building custom homes closer to where I lived. I built several homes from start to finish during this time, including every home in my neighborhood.
In the early 2000s, the state of Michigan went into a deep recession as a result of the declining car industry. Very few new homes were being built. To adapt, I became a certified Anderson window installer and turned my home-building business into a lucrative window installation company, running two crews, complete with fully equipped box trucks.
During this time I went back to school and began looking at other career options and in June 2005, I sold my business to my partner and accepted my first full-time job working in media, music, and production. Since then I have continued to build multiple construction projects for my family and flip houses on the side for extra income.