Restore & More: Building by Wayne Baker/Disaster Team does it all

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY)

April 07-- Apr. 7--Last year, readers of the Messenger-Inquirer named Building by Wayne Baker their favorite remodeler in the newspaper's annual Readers' Choice Awards competition.

But Building by Wayne Baker and its sister company, Disaster Team Inc., do a lot more than remodeling.

When disaster strikes, Disaster Team cleans up the damage.

And Building by Wayne Baker restores the building.

"Wayne started the business in the mid-1980s," Jordan Camp, the company's general manager, said last week. "And then, it developed into multiple business including Disaster Team."

In the past, Building by Wayne Baker built new homes.

It hasn't done that for a while, Camp said.

"But we're thinking about doing some spec homes on property we own," he said.

Today, remodeling and restoration are the company's main businesses.

And they've tackled some of the biggest projects in town.

When a tornado ripped through southern Owensboro on Jan. 3, 2000, the company went to work almost immediately.

By the time they finished, the company had restored four schools -- Apollo High, Burns Middle, Burns Elementary and Tamarack Elementary.

And it restored several businesses and about 75 homes that were tornado-damaged.

"Wayne said they found catfish on top of Apollo that had been sucked up from ponds by the tornado," Camp said.

In 2007, when another tornado smashed into Third Baptist Church, Building by Wayne Baker/Disaster Team, tackled its biggest job to date.

"The tornado picked up the bell tower and dropped it onto the church," Camp said. "We partnered with Ted Lolley and Associates on that one."

The $8.2 million project restored the historic church to the point that some members said it looked better than before.

The company has also dried the Roosevelt House twice, after burst pipes flooded the high-rise retirement home.

"One of those times we were on the scene 24 hours straight," Camp said.

"It always feels good to help someone," he said. "They're already stressed after a fire or some other disaster. We have to keep the customer calm and happy."

And then, there's the remodeling.

'Fixer-Upper'

"TV shows make our jobs harder because they create unrealistic expectations of the time the project will take and what it will cost," Camp said. "But they also help customers know what they want to do before they contact us."

His favorite remodeling show is HGTV's "Fixer-Upper," starring Chip and Joanna Gaines.

The show ended last year, but it's still in reruns.

"We aren't building houses now," Camp said. "But we're doing some additions -- sunrooms, bathrooms and bedrooms. We're making bathrooms accessible for wounded warriors."

The company has 33 full-time employees and staffing agencies add another 10 to 15.

"We run around 50 people," Camp said.

The company is currently working on 93 projects.

"We run between 400 and 600 projects a year," Camp said.

"We stay in about a one-hour radius around Owensboro," he said. "We opened an office in Hopkinsville at the beginning of the year to handle projects in that area."

A lot of people in recent years have decided that they would rather remodel than move, Camp said.

"Most of our jobs are between $50,000 and $500,000," he said. "We had one around $2 million last year. Our insurance work (restoration) runs from $1,500 to around $100,000. Usually, those jobs are between $20,000 and $30,000."

Baker ran the company by himself in the beginning.

Then, he took on Paul Camp, Jordan's father, as a partner.

Today, they are mostly behind the scenes, Jordan Camp said, "but they're still active."

Day-to-day operations are run by Camp and his brother, Landon Camp, the estimating manager, and Amber Baker Farmer, Wayne's daughter, the marketing manager.

Jordan Camp was a highway engineer with the state from 2010 to 2014, when he decided to join the family business.

"With our marketing today, we try to have an impact on the community," he said. "We sponsor things for Wendell Foster, Puzzle Pieces, the Boulware Mission. We want to help good causes."

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com.

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