This is the company canteen side of the KEEN Garage. On the other side of those garage doors with the glass panels is the retail store. CLICK HERE to read a story about the amazing restoration of this historic building built in 1907. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

KEEN Footwear Factory Tour

The first week of August, 2017, I found myself in Portland, Oregon. As fate would have it, I arrived in the midst of an historic heat spell.

I had been invited to visit the KEEN Utility factory, headquarters and epic KEEN Garage where they have a retail store in downtown Portland's Pearl district. About ten other hobby bloggers and one or two full-time professional members of the media like myself were part of the tour group.

Best Tour Ever

I hate to admit it, but I've been a member of the working media for so long that I've lost count of the number of factory tours I've attended. The reason is I cover an industry that makes lots of tools and products.

The company owners are always proud of what they make and they invite media to see and share with their audiences how things are done. Some tours have been fascinating as you sometimes don't realize how many aspects of building a thing are still done by humans. That may change moving forward, but that's a story for another day.

This KEEN tour was the best ever for a number of reasons. KEEN is a family-owned business. Rory Fuerst, Sr. started the business just a mere fifteen years ago in 2003. Two of his sons work each day in the factory, Rory Jr. and Connor.

Connor Fuerst is holding his arms up praising the members of the media. No, seriously, I caught him at an awkward moment. His brother Rory, Jr. is in the blue t-shirt opening the door to lead us out to the factory. Marshall Alexander, a member of the KEEN marketing team is on the left against the wall. The woman between Connor and Rory, Jr. runs the quality control lab at KEEN. I forgot her name! Sorry! Copyright 2017, Tim Carter

I got to spend lots of time with them and they are as friendly and normal as can be. Both were wearing t-shirts and you'd never know they were part of the business if you just happened to see them walking around the factory.

On a selfish note, I felt it was the best tour I've ever attended because they allowed me to work on the assembly line! How silly is that, but it meant so much to me.

Three people are going to wear a pair of boots that I helped work on. I was able to fit an upper onto the form before it goes into the assembly line, I got to load two soles into the forms and I got to trim off the urethane flash from one boot.

Connor had to do some extra trimming because my workmanship didn't meet their standards, but he was very understanding of my first attempt!

The Process

Watch this video to get an idea of what it's like to be in a factory that makes amazing boots and shoes. I could write about it, but it's better that you just see it.

The People

At the end of the tour everyone gathered in a conference room at the factory. It's somewhat normal for this to happen. The purpose is for those on the tour to ask follow-up questions.

A few of the hobby bloggers asked some tech questions, but I then jumped in with my over-arching question I always ask. I pointed the question to both Connor and Rory Jr.

"If you could wave a magic wand that would allow you to communicate to all consumers messaging you feel they don't really know about KEEN Utility and what you do, what would that message be?"

You could hear a pin drop. Connor and Rory, Jr. looked at each other and with their eyes said, "Dude, you go first!"

I think Rory, Jr. finally said, "Boy, that's a great question." He shook his head and then said, "Connor, you go first."

Connor thought for a second and replied, "I really would love consumers to know about the dedication and values of the entire team that assembles here each day to make our boots and shoes. These people love to come here and they work hard. They take real pride in what they do and I feel it shows when you open the box and try on your boots."

Rory, Jr. then jumped in. Rory runs the Fuerst Innovation Lab where all the conceptual ideas are born about all new products and processes. They often look at failure points of products made by others and try to solve them with a new KEEN product.

"I think that our customers need to know that money doesn't drive all decisions. We try to remember that all the time. I'd like them to know that we thrive on doing things that are challenging. It's easy to do easy things.

What's more, I'd love for them to know that sometimes you have to ignore the experts and consultants who say you're going to lose money on something. In certain situations you need to do what's right, not what's going to make you the most money. Finally, I'd like our consumers to know we have fun here."

The Takeaway

I think Rory Jr.'s comments hit the nail on the head for me. After all, the AsktheBuilder.com motto is:

Do It Right, Not Over!

I could see the workers at the factory trying to do it right. Everyone was diligent that I saw. They want your boots and shoes to fit perfectly, be comfortable and last a long time.

It's also about fun. What a dream to have a job that's fun. I've got that with my AsktheBuilder.com vocation and it's obvious Connor, Rory, Jr. and the other dedicated employees at KEEN Utility in Portland have this rare gift where work is fun.

What you see under the signs is a tiny fraction of the KEEN product line. CLICK THIS PHOTO now, buy a pair and you'll get them delivered to your home in days. You'll have a similar smile on your face once you try them on!

CLICK HERE now to purchase a pair of KEEN shoes or boots and put a similar smile on your face when you insert your foot into the cocoon of pleasure. That's what I call my KEEN boots!

Here's the old Trex decking. I took my time taking it up and it looked perfect after cleaning each piece.  Ready for selling as used building material. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

Selling Used Building Materials TIPS

• People will buy just about anything - don't assume you have garbage
• Clean everything up and take great photos
• Be honest in your description and price about 45% below new
• WATCH VIDEO BELOW
• CLICK HERE to Get Tim's FREE & FUNNY Newsletter!

DEAR TIM: I’m about to do a significant amount of remodeling and was about to order a dumpster. A friend at work suggested I sell lots of my used building materials instead of putting them in the landfill.

This doesn’t seem worth it to me. Is it safe to do this? Is it practical? Have you done this yourself? What’s the best way to sell used building materials? Julie M., Ann Arbor, MI

DEAR JULIE: I think I can best answer your questions by sharing a few stories with you.

My Selling Success

I’m a huge fan of selling used building materials for any number of reasons. Years ago I discovered that what you might think is junk, some other person might consider it gold.

Burying something that still has useful life under tons of other debris and dirt is not prudent for all sorts of reasons.

Hard To Sell Shattered Drywall

Some items need to be discarded because they get destroyed taking them out. That’s understandable. But many things, even built-in cabinets and bookcases, can be carefully removed giving them a second chance to serve someone else at their home.

Free & Fast Bids

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local deck contractors if you plan to remodel or enlarge your deck.

Selling My Trex

Last year I was tasked with building a new deck at my home. Part of the job involved remodeling two existing decks that were adjacent to the new deck. The two decks I was restoring had fifteen-year-old generation one Trex decking on them.

Who would have thought that someone would want my old decking and treated-wood railing system?

Sold My Deck Railing Too!

While the railing was in great shape and needed a coat of paint and the sections were random in size, it still was appealing to a homeowner sixty miles away! I sold the railing on Craigslist.org in less than two weeks for $600.00!

Selling Materials Video

Here's an interesting video of a man who's selling lots of his loot!

Price Way Below New

I priced it about 45 percent what it would cost to purchase the same materials to build the railing from scratch. It’s critical you price out what the same item is selling for new before you list an item for sale. You want to make sure what you’re offering is a great bargain.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local deck contractors if you plan to remodel or enlarge your deck.

Old Can Be In Demand

I was able to sell every piece of my used generation-one Trex decking as well. I had 1,280 square feet of it. You might ask, “Who would want used decking?” That’s easy.

It turns out one of the buyers had a deck covered with the same material. It’s no longer made and he wanted to enlarge his deck. My decking saved the day for him!

Other buyers wanted a no-maintenance decking and the price of new composite decking took their breath away. I ended up selling my used Trex decking for $1.25 per linear foot!

Old Plumbing Fixtures

Just yesterday, I sold a gorgeous 15-year-old rain shower head to a person who was remodeling his bathroom. This model purchased new would be over $1,000. I wanted to just get rid of it and gave it away for $125.00.

This gorgeous shower head sold in less than 24 hours. Your used building materials are wanted by your neighbors. (C) Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

Great Window Boxes

Later in the afternoon, I sold two used no-rot PVC window flower boxes for $130.00. Believe me, you can sell used building materials and fixtures.

Here's a photo of the flower boxes I had for sale. I originally had nine to sell. At the time I uploaded this photo here, I had four more to sell. Copyright 2017 Facebook, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Facebook Groups

In the past week, I discovered a better way to sell used items. As crazy as it sounds you do this using the social media website Facebook. It turns out there are thousands of local groups on Facebook that are marketplaces to sell just about anything.

Here's a current listing of mine of a fantastic white china pedestal sink. It will sell for $225 no problems. Copyright 2017 Facebook, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

You just need to go to Facebook and look up your town, city or community name followed by the words yard sale, garage sale, or similar phrases. You’ll be stunned by what you discover.

Push vs Pull

Facebook differs from Craigslist in a fundamentally different way. Facebook employs push technology instead of pull. When you list an item on Facebook, everyone that’s part of that group gets notified instantly

With Craigslist, a buyer has to search for your item. If you don’t put in the correct words in your listing title, a buyer who wants your loot may not find it!

Get Best Price

To get the best prices for items, you need to make sure they’re in as good as condition as possible. All the online sites allow you to upload lots of photos of the item.

Take great photos of what you’re trying to sell and upload them. Provide all the dimensions of the items if it makes sense.

Be honest in your description. Even though something is not in that great of condition, some buyer may be willing to invest the time and energy to restore it.

Safety Suggestions

As for the safety of transacting business with total strangers, I’ve never had a problem. Just yesterday, a single woman came to my house to pick up the flower boxes. She didn’t know me from Adam. You need to use common sense and it’s never a bad idea to take a friend with you if you’re going to buy something. It’s not a bad idea to have a friend with you when you sell to a stranger.

Contact your local police department as many are now offering lots of great advice about how to be safe doing online business. Some even have a special area in their parking lots where buyers and sellers can meet while the entire transaction is videotaped. This might be a good idea if you don’t want strangers coming to your home.

Only accept cash. NEVER EVER accept a check. A common scam is to give you a check that looks real. They're not and will bounce.

Start Listing Now

A month from now I intend to list hundreds of things that have been gathering dust in my garage, attic and my outdoor shed. I’ve had such great success using the Facebook groups technology I’m sure I’ll sell every item. It’s just a matter of pricing things right. Good luck and happy selling!

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local deck contractors if you plan to remodel or enlarge your deck.

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