“We Built This City” - Starship

Photo courtesy of Rockefeller Center

“We Built This City” - Starship

by Sweiskloss
September 19, 2024

In honor of National Tradesmen Day on September 20th, we are taking this opportunity to celebrate the workers that help us bring SweisKloss’ beautiful designs to life. According to datausa.com, as of 2022, 9.55 million people work in the construction industry, with over 1 million of those concentrated in California. And we need them all. It amazes me how many subcontractors, technicians and tradesmen it takes to build home. From framers and carpenters to electricians, plumbers and painters, on two recent new builds, SweisKloss hired 55 and 61 subcontractors respectively to help us build our clients’ dream home. While we can’t highlight them all, we are happy to introduce you to some of the tradesmen that we’ve had the pleasure of working with. Meet Saul Menendez. He started painting in 2005 when his uncle got him a job at the company where his uncle was working. Moving up from helper to painter to supervisor, he honed his craft and started his own painting business in 2017. In his career he’s seen and painted it all - the strangest job was painting an entire house glossy black – the walls, the ceiling, the entire residence. One of his most unique jobs had him painting a treehouse for his clients’ children in 25 different colors while on an extension ladder poised between branches. When not working, Saul enjoys camping and fishing with his family as well as playing soccer and basketball with his three children. Who knew SweisKloss’ very own Ernie Samudio was a corn hole champion? He’s also an experienced and licensed electrician since 1995. Ernie enjoys working on multiple projects throughout the city and the finds the variety of tasks keeps him on his toes. His work on a current project is proving challenging and exciting with elaborate steel beams and intricate woodwork. Believe it or not, he enjoys crawling under homes for detailed electrical work. In his spare time, when not playing cornhole, he also likes to play disc golf and hang out with his Yorkie, Trixie. A native of Santa Clarita, CA, Ernie is surrounded by his close-knit family of ten brothers and sisters. A volunteer with the Red Cross, carpenter Adam Nenstiel, who recently joined the SweisKloss team, has helped feed displaced persons during disasters such Hurricane Katrina, hurricanes in Texas and flooding in Iowa. Following in his father’s footsteps, Adam began learning his craft at an early age working with his dad on weekends and after school. He finds great satisfaction installing a door perfectly the first time. The most challenging door he has designed, built and installed to date was for a project in Silver Lake, in which each individual triangular piece fit together like a puzzle to create a colorful pattern. When not on the job site, Adam spends his time surfing and relaxing with his family. A big THANK YOU to all the journeymen, tradesmen, laborers, craftsmen and subcontractors who work with the SK team; Happy National Tradesmen Day to you.