Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Klatt.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Jacob Klatt and I wouldn’t say my life is very interesting, but it’s not very boring either. Over the years everything that I have done has seasoned me to this point and this business. Becoming my person after high school was no picnic as is the case for most young adults. I’m one of four kids and was the only kid who didn’t attend a University right after High School. For about 6 years after graduating I would be in an out of community colleges and work for a few different remodelers. I really enjoyed the smell of cut wood, being outside, having a goal in mind and seeing the outcome. The early mornings sitting in my vehicle at 6:30am before sunrise along with it being 10 degrees got old. I thought there had to be a better way to make money which lead me to get my Associates Degree and eventually moving to St. Cloud, MN. I enrolled in St. Cloud State where I went to school to become a Biology Teacher which lasted all of 1 1/2 years. I landed a summer job selling cell phones in which I was very good at, so school was out of the picture and sales was in my future.
Eventually I made my way over to a boat dealership, Miller Marine, where I sold for 11 years. I was very fortunate to have a great GSM “Mike” who believed in training his employees to be self efficient. Customer service and happy employees was something he harped on constantly. The saying goes, “Take care of your customers and they’ll take care of you,” Mike believed in, “Happy employees creates happy customers.” This was instilled in all of our heads and it worked.
During Covid boats became scarce and a good friend of mine needed help expanding their Remodeling Company into the Central MN area. I took on the task and this is where I was introduced to Cabinet Refacing. I had a knack for it because everything about it made sense. After managing the business for a few years in my area I eventually left do to family complications. I was asked and pursued to go back to Miller as it was bought by a larger company and needed help. Unfortunately upper management changed and with that so did their beliefs.
As time went on major changes started to happen at work. My pay was changed four times in 6 months eventually resulting in a 40% pay decrease. Every week there was some sort of change which was getting exhausting. I yearned to go back into remodeling and find a place that cared. I interviewed and reached out to multiple places, which lead to a lot of offers. In the end there was really only one way to guarantee how the company is ran. Between friends, family, and a very supportive wife I made the decision to start Residential Reface.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Starting Residental Reface was a real struggle initially. I didn’t know exactly all I was getting myself into when starting the business and how much it all entailed. Some days I would question myself if I was doing the right thing. There are constant hurdles to overcome and the cost of everything was straining. Being a family man with a nice house there is a lot of expenses incurred so trying to juggle a home life, a job, a business, and keeping my sanity was tough. I was not seeing any return come out of the business, I knew what I wanted and my head was in the right place, but I was struggling to connect all the dots. People kept telling me I need to go all in or it was going to take off slow. Having a the safety net from my current job was tough to let go of.
Eventually I found out I needed Rotator Cuff surgery and I was going to need time off for that. I was scheduled at the end of year 2025, which worked great because that is during a slow time for both business. After the surgery I was able to concentrate all my attention on Residential Reface and things took off.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Residential Reface?
We specialize in offering affordable solutions for kitchen remodeling through cabinet refacing, granite or quartz countertops, and backsplash. With housing prices and finance rates so high right now, a person can change the look and feel of there current home by simply updating their kitchen.
When it comes to updating cabinets most people consider paint, staining, or replacing, but don’t know much about refacing.
Paint & Staining can be a great option and change the overall color of the current cabinets, but it doesn’t change the style, the hinges, the slides, and overall the entire feel of the kitchen. It’s basically like putting makeup on a pig, you’re just hiding the obvious. It is also a very temporary fix as paint chips, collects, dirt, and doesn’t last. Stains last longer obviously, but you’re just changing the shade of the wood and it tends to get old real quick.
New cabinets will obviously change the entire look of the kitchen, but it’s messy, takes a long time to complete, and is very costly. The other issue is that unless you’re having custom cabinets made, the new cabinets are typically less quality than the current cabinets.
This is where what we do with Cabinet Refacing really shines. We are basically rebuilding new cabinets inside a persons home, but using their current boxes. We can add or take away boxes along with build them up to the ceiling to give more storage and get rid of the wasted space. The way we reface isn’t the least expensive, but its the highest quality and there’s no skipping corners. In a nutshell, we get rid of all the doors, drawer faces, slides, hinges, crown molding, and toe kick. We sand all the boxes down and treat or fix what is needed. All boxes get veneered using a water based cement glue which adds to the strength of the box. We replace all the doors and drawer faces with new and use all new Soft Close hinges and high strength drawer slides. Everything gets finished off with new molding and hardware to create a brand new kitchen at a portion of the price. The time it takes to reface is about 1/4 of the time it takes to replace.
Along with updating kitchen cabinets a lot of people want to update countertops and backsplash. So we have partnered with Cambria and a local Fabricator to offer Granite or Quartz counters. We then offer backsplash when paired with one another service offered.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’ve listened to a few different self development books over the years, but find them difficult to listen to. Since 2022 I really got into listening to books/stories on tape. It’s help tremendously with concentration and being able to multitask. I currently have a total of 3 months 2 day’s in listening time according to Audible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://RESIDENTIALREFACE.COM
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resreface/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ResidentialReface/
