ESCANABA — Before starting A.C.’s Maintenance, Adam Christianson was employed through the Boilermakers and gathered skills in maintenance and home repair by working on houses — especially his own. Now, he revels in completing work others are reluctant to do.

Christianson said that his very first job involved working with concrete for basement repair, which laid the foundation for the future. He later did some carpentry work for another builder, which involved tasks like installing windows and siding.

But for 20 years, Christianson made a career with The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers — the union of fabricators who tackle jobs when and where needed.

Born and raised in Escanaba, Christianson bought his own house in Wells Township when he was 21 years old.

“I bought the house and rebuilt it, which is not a smart way to do it … but if you’re doing paycheck to paycheck, you really just gotta kind of wing it and do what you can afford,” Christianson explained. “That’s what I did for years, slowly picked away at it.”

He said that some of the work he knew how to do because of past jobs, “but as far as most of the construction part of it, it was learn as you go.”

In the process of rebuilding his house, Christianson was also building his knowledge, skillset, and his toolkit.

His income from jobs the Boilermakers sent him on — fixing parts in power plants, ships and more — allowed him to gradually acquire the materials he needed to transform his home.

About six years ago, Christianson said, he was helping his uncle lay some concrete in Stonington when the elder relative made a remark that planted a seed.

“He said, ‘you know, if you work half as hard for yourself as you do for the Boilermakers, you really can’t fail,'” Christianson recalled.

By that point, he was about ready to quit working on the road and spend more time at home.

Christianson commented that his previous job involved about 90% travel.

“I spent 20 years on the road, basically,” he said.

When he decided that he would launch his own business, he considered maintaining his employment through the union and also taking jobs ont the side, but decided that wouldn’t be fair to clients.

“It would have been really difficult — customers would have to wait a long time, couldn’t schedule anything.”

Plus, he pointed out, other contractors who had spent their whole lives in Escanaba had the benefit of already knowing lots of people; Christianson, having spent so much time working out of the area, had to build connections.

However, once the jobs for A.C.’s Maintenance started to come in, more followed.

“It’s funny how it works,” he said. “In communities, a lot of times you do a job and then the guy down the street sees your truck there, he stops, hires you for another job.”

Christianson considers himself a jack of all trades. So when someone sees him on one job and asks him if he can do another, chances are his answer is going to be yes — especially if it’s a tricky one.

Due to one project leading to another for neighbors of the original customer, Christianson reported, he recently spent about eight months in one neighborhood in Gladstone, first remodeling a trailer and then building a two-car garage and more.

Most jobs require more than one set of hands, so subcontractors often work with Christianson. For a few weeks, a small team has been working on the exterior of the Daily Press building after mortar between the bricks of the old structure wore away.

One of the hardest parts of running the business is determining price. Christianson said that because he wants to make work affordable and keep his honest name clean, he not only keeps the fee for materials at the cost he obtains them, but often knocks money off a final calculation based on what he thinks he’d pay for the total job done.

He recognizes that offering building and maintenance services in the local area may not be as lucrative as other paths, but he’s happy doing it. Part of the desire to quit a travel-oriented job was in order to have more quality time at home, and now he’s able to actively raise his four-year-old daughter.

He also greatly enjoys and takes pride in the more difficult manual jobs.

When asked when he had a specialty, Christianson’s response was,

“Anything hard and miserable that nobody else wants.”

For one, he gets the satisfaction that comes with a job well done, and “they’re always the happiest customers.”

People interested in putting him to work can call 906-241-2712.