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| Reliable Bob paints shelves in his office. Red Oak Renovations specializes in custom tiling, cabinetry, and painting. |
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Reliable Bob's home renovation career started immediately after he married Susan (VP of marketing for Red Oak  ) in 1981 and they bought a 35-year old house in Wilmington, Del.
"We immediately tore out the kitchen and installed a new one, and renovated a family room. This started a pattern of improving the houses we lived in," Bob said.
In 1985, the couple bought an 85-year-old Victorian house and transformed the attic into a master suite.
"That house allowed me to fulfill a dream of renovating my own home -- at night and on weekends. We had four little children, which motivated us to convert the third floor attic to our own private hide-away, with a master bathroom," Bob said.
They realized that renovating existing space is always more economical than building or buying new.
Bob's corporate job brought the family to Westford, Mass. in 1990. He continued to pursue his hobby and built a new bathroom and powder room, remodeled the basement and planned and executed a kitchen renovation in the Cape Cod style house, built in 1977.
Bob custom-painted the powder room. "I used the tiling and walls as the palate to express myself. It was a respite from corporate life. Visitors usually had something to say about the famous powder room, because it was so colorful and creative," Bob said.
Bob left his job in corporate America in 2004 and began doing home improvement on houses of friends and friends-of-friends.
Today, Bob and his crew specialize in just about any home improvement project. His business continues to come primarily from word-of-mouth. If he doesn't know you at the start of a project, he will you know you by the end because Bob works closely with clients in their most important investment.
Two of Reliable Bob's adult children work for Red Oak Renovations. They are both talented in their own right, Kristen specializes in custom tile design and installation. Ian is a master carpenter and like his father, a jack-of-all trades. They carry on the family tradition of fine workmanship.
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