Carving it Up with Rick's Custom Wood

Rick Duel is the owner of located at 2476 Hamilton Mill Road. Opened in October of 2004, Rick's offers a slew of custom, hand-crafted designs for indoor and outdoor decorations and furniture. I sat down to talk with Rick about his business.

Patch: How did you get your start?

Rick: I used to be a charter skipper down in the Keys. I lived in Florida for a long time. I started out carving little bears and eagles as a chainsaw carver because I had run into this old guy that was doing the same thing. You know I had a real job at one point but I decided to try the carving thing. I was then living in New England and the economy went down the toilet so I wound up coming down to Atlanta. I didn't know anybody or anything. I wound up setting up shop on the side of Pleasant Hill Road. This was in the mid-nineties when Gwinnett had really started to grow so the timing was very fortunate. I had two young children. My daughter was six-years-old at the time and I soon found out that I wasn't going to be able to put my kids through college by just carving little bears and eagles, so every year I would add something different to the mix. I got into plants, I had an emission station at one point and before I know it I'm building swings and decks and patios and then I'm buying furniture and play sets and gazebos and all of these different little things that just evolved into what it is today.

Patch: What's the best thing about owning your business?

Rick: I get to come to work everyday knowing that I'm going to be doing exactly what I want to be doing.

Patch: What's the most challenging aspect of owning your business?

Rick: The paperwork and the technology. Give me a hammer and a two by four and a chainsaw and I go like hell, but paperwork isn't my strong suit.

Patch: What is unique about your business?

Rick: Look around and take your pick. I could probably name 15 different products that you wouldn't find perhaps anywhere in the state of Georgia. If you needed a six foot bear, you'd have a hard time going to get it. If you needed the quality of lawn furniture and the customized craftsmanship of a lot of the products here, you're just not going to find it. From the tala vera to the pottery to the patio furniture -- we have teak tables from panama and wine glass weather vanes. It's just the uniqueness of all of the different products I have basically assembled by happenstance. I have people who stop by because they pass the store and have me sell their crafts which is what happened with the tala vera animals.

Patch: What makes the Dacula community special?

Rick: You know I have to say that Dacula is a much more personal type of community than in Duluth as that is my only two frames of reference in the Atlanta area. What I found on Pleasant Hill Road is that I'd get so many people from all over the place that I'd be delivering from Social Circle out to Villa Rica or from Peachtree City on up to Tallula Gorge. Up here it is a much more localized demographic that I deal with and it is much more comfortable. The people here are a little bit more laid back and I like that.

Rick's Custom Wood, Garden & Patio is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.