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At Oakman Building Company( Oakman), every project begins with the understanding that a custom home is more than a construction project- it is a long-term investment in craftsmanship, design, and quality. Founded by Ryan Hay in 2014 in Austin, Texas, the business is well-recognized for delivering custom homes, historic and specialty builds, whole-home remodels, and thoughtful additions. Combining meticulous attention to detail with transparent project management, Oakman’ s portfolio shines with spaces built not simply to impress today, but to stand the test of time. Now, Ryan joins Modern Home Builders to tell the story.
“ I started my career in homebuilding right out of college. I worked for a production homebuilder in Houston for four years; from there, I built a 32-story high-rise in downtown Houston. I then did a little commercial construction for a few years. I joined a heavy highway contractor, where I worked on roads, bridges, utilities, and similar projects,” he recounts.“ Eventually, though, the company I was working for moved me to Austin and then wanted me to move back to Houston; by that point, I had gotten married and my wife didn’ t want to move.
Championing collaboration
“ Around that time, a friend of mine and I were watching a football game, and he mentioned that he was going to build a custom home. I told him,‘ Hey, I used to build houses. Let me build it for you’. From there, one thing led to another. He bought a lot, we hired an architect, and I started the company. I bought insurance and got everything set up. That architect also had two remodeling projects that didn’ t have a builder, so I interviewed for those projects, submitted bids, and ended up getting both under contract. Suddenly, I had three projects going, so I left the heavy highway company and set off on my own custom homebuilding journey. We’ ve continued to grow steadily ever since. Today, there are five of us in total, and we continue to take on bigger and more complicated projects here in Austin.”
Ryan’ s diverse background has ultimately shaped the way that he approaches custom homebuilding today. The technical discipline and attention to process he developed in heavy civil construction became a natural foundation
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