Photo by Sam Chandler.
Christian Gaiser
Christian Gaiser constructs custom woodwork projects from his home workshop in Crestwood.
Christian Gaiser graduated from Auburn University in 1997 with a degree in criminal justice and law enforcement. But these days, the 44-year-old Mountain Brook native is more likely to be woodworking than fighting crime.
As proprietor of CG Woodwork, Gaiser constructs customized wooden built-ins, bookcases and window seats from his Crestwood workshop.
“It all started when I was in junior high,” Gaiser said. “We had industrial shop classes where you take woodworking, small engine repair, technical drawing and things like that. That’s where I started woodworking — in seventh grade from my shop teacher.”
After being introduced to the craft by former Mountain Brook Junior High instructor Lewis Caldwell, Gaiser said his draw to woodworking steadily grew over time.
What started as a hobby evolved into a booming full-time business.
Gaiser estimates he completes 30-plus projects a year in locations throughout the Birmingham metro area.
From the time he was a boy at Crestline Elementary, Gaiser said he had a penchant for taking things apart and putting them back together.
One time he even deconstructed his parents’ VCR.
“You’d see something that was broken or needed to be fixed,” Gaiser said. “I always just would look at it and say, ‘Well, what can I do to try and fix it?’ Then I would set out and try to figure it out.”
Gaiser said his sense of curiosity never left him, though his path to the present included a few detours.
Although he earned his undergraduate degree in criminal justice, Gaiser began taking trade classes at Bessemer State Technical College soon after his Auburn graduation.
He aspired to earn his home builders’ license rather than pursue a career in law enforcement. But in time, that desire fizzled out as well, and he took a position as a real estate agent at LAH Real Estate.
It was then that Gaiser’s woodworking business began to take root. On the side, he started to churn out household woodwork projects for his family and friends.
But when one business demand surpassed the other, he said he took the hint.
“I started getting more phone calls about doing woodworking than I did about selling real estate, so I just said, ‘You know what, maybe I’ll just start doing woodworking,’ and I stopped real estate all together,” Gaiser said.
Since 2004, he’s been devoted to the craft full time.
A self-described interior finish carpenter, Gaiser said he can design and build nearly any piece a customer desires.
“Once you get the walls up in a house, I can do just about anything in there, but I specialize in custom-sized built-ins,” he said.
Regardless of the finished product, Gaiser said it’s his attention to detail that sets his work apart.
“It’s the detail and the attention that I like because I like doing it — it’s not just a job; it’s a passion that I like doing, so I feel like I put my heart into it, and it shows,” he said.
To contact Gaiser or see examples of his work, go to cgwoodwork.com or visit the CG Woodwork Facebook page.
