Ep. 05 | Colton Parks – Old Pine Decks

Colton Parks learned to build decks in 2013 while working on a pig farm in New Zealand. He had moved there on a whim with no money, found work on a 40,000-pig farm, and was eventually tasked with rebuilding 60 pig shed roofs. With no experience, he turned to YouTube to figure out how to build a roof. When he returned to Atlanta, he bought tools and started building decks as a side job, eventually growing to six crews over 12 years.

“They took me off the sow herd and put me in a truck with a generator and a bunch of tools and I was tasked with rebuilding like 60 pig shed roofs. I was on YouTube trying to figure out how to build a roof out in the middle of nowhere.”Colton Parks

Colton Parks worked by himself for nine years before hiring his first crew. During that time he built decks as a side job, completing only five to ten projects a year on weekends. He started the business for extra money to travel with his wife. Three years ago he began hiring crews, and Old Pine Decks has since grown to six crews working across metro Atlanta.

“I've been building decks myself for about 12 years and then with the crews it's been about three years now. At that point I was only doing like maybe five to ten a year, just like whenever I had time on the weekends.”Colton Parks

Old Pine Decks builds custom decks, screened porches, and occasional fences. Colton Parks says the company does about half decks and half screened porches. They also install under-deck drainage systems, which are aluminum channels that work like gutters to keep the space underneath a deck dry. Old Pine Decks has built unique projects including treehouses connected by swinging bridges and decks with playgrounds on top.

“It's decks and screen porches. We do screens. We even do like under deck systems. We did a deck with a covered pergola and it had a playground on top.”Colton Parks

Yes, Old Pine Decks offers highly customizable projects. Colton Parks says clients can add railings, roofs, electrical, screens, and other features. The company works with homeowners to design exactly what they want, even taking on unusual requests. Parks enjoys the design process and likes hearing what people want, then making suggestions to help them create the outdoor space that fits their needs.

“Usually when people say they want something, like, this is the fun project. Let's figure it out.”Colton Parks

Colton Parks manages six crews by treating his workers as partners, not just employees. He commits to giving them consistent work every day, sometimes taking projects where he breaks even or loses money just to keep crews busy. He hired his cousin William as a production manager in March to help delegate tasks. Parks says the key is hiring the right people and letting them know he is on their team, which motivates them to go the extra mile.

“When they know that you're on their team, they go the extra mile. It's not just to run a good business, it's just being kind and being a good friend.”Colton Parks

Old Pine Decks built 60 decks three years ago, 120 last year, and Colton Parks expects to complete about 200 this year. He acknowledges the rapid growth and is trying to find a healthy balance, delegating more work to his production manager and crews. Parks is careful not to sacrifice quality or client communication as the company scales, and he does not want to grow beyond what he can manage well.

“Two years ago we did I think 60 decks and last year we did 120 and this year I think we'll do about 200. I don't want to ever sacrifice either client communication or the quality of the actual project itself.”Colton Parks

Old Pine Decks does not do any paid advertising. Colton Parks says all of the company's work comes from word of mouth, and he estimates 60% to 70% of leads come from clients who found him on The Southern Shmooze. He believes the bar in contracting is low, so being kind, responding quickly, and showing up when promised builds trust. The quality of his crews' work speaks for itself.

“We don't do any paid ads. We don't do any advertising. It's all word of mouth. If there was a pie chart, I bet you the Shmooze would be like 60% to 70% of leads from people that found me on the Shmooze.”Colton Parks

Yes, Old Pine Decks donates 3% of every project cost to Pont Global Medicine, a nonprofit that connects volunteer doctors to clinics in Sierra Leone and Haiti using Starlink and solar power for telehealth. Colton Parks structures the donation so the homeowner makes it directly and receives a tax write-off. He wanted to link his deck business to a purpose beyond just building outdoor spaces.

“3% of my project cost goes to Pont Global and I wanted to figure out a way to do this where it involved people, so it's actually their donation so like you would pay me 97% of the project and then you make the donation, so it's a tax write-off.”Colton Parks

Colton Parks works full time as a senior program manager for World Vision, managing international disaster relief programs in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda. He oversees budgets, compliance with U.S. government funding, and data analysis to ensure aid is spent effectively. He travels to the Horn of Africa about twice a year. Parks wanted to work in this field since college and went to graduate school in economics to qualify.

“My primary job I work in international disaster relief, so like war zones, conflict zones, work with displaced people, refugees, and I specifically work in the Horn of Africa.”Colton Parks

Colton Parks admits he does not balance well. He works his full-time disaster relief job remotely from Atlanta, runs six deck crews as a side business, and has three young children. His personal rule is to be home from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day with his kids, though he keeps his phone on to answer crew questions. He is trying to delegate more to his production manager and find a healthier rhythm.

“I would say not very well. My personal rule is four to seven I'm at home, like 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. I'm home with my kids. Something's got to give because what I care about the most is being like a very involved dad.”Colton Parks

Colton Parks wants Old Pine Decks to have a polished system that completes a set number of jobs at high quality without anything falling through the cracks. He hopes to delegate more, have slower mornings, and spend more time with his family. He also wants the same crews working for him in five years, ideally in more managerial roles. He does not plan to keep growing rapidly and values doing the same work in a healthier, more sustainable way.

“I would like to have a really dialed in polished system where we just do X number of jobs and we're really good at them and we never let things fall through the cracks. I want all the guys who are working for me to still be working for me, maybe in more managerial roles.”Colton Parks