Owner Tom Osborne, however, sees the role of his company even more basic than that: preservation.

“We are preserving the homeowners’ value, and it matters not to me what their home is like or how they live; it’s their castle and it’s our job to do whatever it takes to preserve their home,” he says.

Osborne, who employs three people and uses subcontractors as needed, started his company in 1996 after doing similar work for a construction company for many years. Owning his own business was always a dream.

“To make the initial plunge, it takes a little bit of courage,” he says. His wife, Pam, who already owned a business, has been a big support. Pam is still involved with the company, taking care of bookkeeping.

T-OZ, based on the Key Peninsula, has customers all around Puget Sound, but gets calls from as far as Eastern Washington or Portland. “As we become known in the industry, we get more and more calls from other areas,” Osborne says.

The work the company does is hard and challenging. Often times, they work on sites that are difficult to access, requiring them to use portable equipment. “It’s very labor intensive work, and it’s not for everybody,” he says.

Osborne likes to stay involved hands on, and he’s often in the field during projects. As much as he likes to be out in the field, however, he’s been focused more on helping the company grow and taking care of the customers.

Osborne was a one-person company when he first started, and was careful not to grow “too fast, too much.” Initially he used only pin piles for underpinning; now the company is certified by AB Chance Co. to install its helical pier systems. Today, his main challenge is keeping up with demand.

The company’s customer base ranges from other contractors who need specialized work, to homeowners who are remodeling, trying to sell their home, or who decide to level their homes due to aesthetic or safety reasons. Osborn says this area has many homes built on fill dirt, which if not properly compacted and can start to settle after rains. Part of Osborne’s job is education — he frequently advises customers what to do in their yards to minimize the impact of water runoff to their homes.

Osborne finds that part of his company’s growing pains is due to his desire to be loyal to his employees. When he hires for new positions, he wants to make sure he can keep that person employed all year round. Finding good employees is as challenging as in any construction trade, especially since the work involves carrying drilling rigs or packing beams by hands in inaccessible areas.

“It feels good to take pride in what we do,” he says. “All construction trades (entail) good, clean, hard, honorable work.”

Osborne keeps his overhead low by basing the company out of his home, on property where he grew up and later returned. He finds that being “on the road to nowhere” can be challenging, and says he’s likely to eventually outgrow the location.

“It’s been a good place to start a business and grow the business,” he says. “(Moving out) is a step that has to take a lot of thought and planning. I anticipate that sooner or later, we’ll need to make that move.”.