In the last 18 months, a local business has become one of the

leaders in providing general home, yard and farm maintenance and

repair service to Valley residents.

For CS Maintenance owner Steve Crabb, being a Valley native

has undoubtedly helped in his line of work. Adding to the mix is

his extensive experience in industry, where he gained the skills

necessary for operating a successful maintenance company.

“I’m about as native as they get,” the Mount Si High

grad said recently. “My parents moved here when I was a year

old. I was actually born in Everett, but all of my brothers and

sisters were born here. We’re as native as can be.

“I’ve been doing residential repairs and remodeling,

elevations, that sort of thing for about 18 years now,”

Crabb added. “I worked for ten years at Weyerhaeuser,

serving as a millwright apprentice. A millwright does basically

everything from A to Z; I fixed whatever needed to be fixed.

“I then did eight years with Paccar, eventually becoming

the superintendent for the maintenance department, not only for

the Seattle plant but also for the Renton plant. I needed more

time for my business, so I worked in a steel mill for two years,

then quit.”

As a general contractor and owner, Crabb currently employs

three others. The services he and his employees provide could

probably be termed “no job too small, no job too big.”

“We do everything, from painting, to replacing dry rot,

to pressure washing, to roofing, to dump truck hauling,” he

stated. “It’d be easier to tell you what we can’t do.

“Things have been slowing down a bit for the last three

weeks. That’s the nature of the beast. Summertime is always

explosive.”

Crabb said they subcontract some of the bigger jobs, such as

home elevations and foundation work. Otherwise, the work is

handled in-house.

“We do residential, we do commercial work, it doesn’t

matter,” he said. “The majority of our work – since

getting off the ground – has been remodeling and repair. Painting

is a big job in the summer; everyone tries to cram it into two or

three months, weather permitting.”

CS Maintenance operates out of a 2,000-square-foot shop on

Indian Hill, across the river behind the Weyerhaeuser Mill. As

business picks up, Crabb hopes to add to both his equipment and

the number of employees.

“We’re going to grow, probably to a six-man crew, not

counting myself,” he said confidently. “Eventually, all

I’m going to do is office stuff.”

In the interim, Crabb intends to build on CS’s reputation for

performance and true hometown service. He feels that’s the

largest part of his company’s success.

“What sets us apart? The quality, the work we do. It’s

very rare when we get called back on something. That, and we’re

local.

“I’ve got deep roots,” he concluded. “I plan to

stick around.”