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VIDOR — “If you can dream it, we can build it.” That’s the motto of Texas Built Cabinets, recent Small Business of the Year recipient with the Vidor Chamber of Commerce.

“Truthfully, I couldn’t even talk when I found out,” says Crystal Shafer, owner. “I was just surprised and proud.”

Crystal and her husband Michael are very passionate about their business, which they purchased in 2016 and have expanded from one full time, one part time and one steady builder, to a 12-member team working with more than 30 builders in the area.

“We are not Texas Built Cabinets without our team,” she says.

Their team offers residential, commercial, custom and new construction, so whether you’re interested in cabinets for the bathroom, kitchen, closet or laundry room or even custom built-ins they say they’ve got you covered. They also offer custom vent hoods and barn doors.

“We build cabinets, and we build them well,” Shafer said. “We provide fantastic customer service and we guide you through the process of designing, building, installation and any other support you may need.”

Shafer says if they can’t do it, they’ll help you find someone who will.

“I tell people although I’d love to be able to be to build everyone’s [cabinets] in Southeast Texas, we aren’t physically capable of doing that,” she said. “If I can’t do the job for you, let me help you find someone who can.”

It’s that sense of community that drives them to help their neighbors beyond their business.

“Whenever there’s a storm or hurricane, everyone becomes a contractor, she said.

“People are taken advantage of. We see it happen too often and that’s the last thing we want anyone in our community to have to deal with,” Shafer said.

Shafer says when a hurricane hits, she starts calling all her builders to devise a plan whether the focus is remodeling or new construction.

“At the end of the day, my home builders don’t wait on us — they build their schedule months out,” Shafer said. “If they start pouring concrete, I knew about it.”

The team analyzes gaps in the schedule where they can work in a remodel.

“We do what we say, and we say what we do. With us being a small family owned, we’re not a corporate run business I think that matters as well,” Shafer said.

Right now, the modern style is in. Slab doors are coming back, and it’s not just the shaker style doors anymore.

“People always ask when do we call you for estimate for new construction and I say as soon as you have the blueprints in hand give us a call,” Shafer says.

Once the team is able to take a look at those blueprints, they’re able to give a rough estimate.

Then Michael goes out and does the measurements, and that’s when the designing starts. There are a ton of styles and that’s where the excitement starts.

Not sure what style you’re interested in? They can help with that too.

“Our design team is fantastic at helping our clients, guiding them along the way to make decisions,” Shafer said.

A remodel is handled a differently since the home is already there.

A lot of times cabinets are already torn out and the team will give design ideas, measure and give estimates. Shafer says from there it typically takes about six weeks for the work to be completed.

“What takes the longest is the communication — the back and forth about the design,” she said. “It’s the decision making that takes the longest.”

No matter the job, customer service and quality is what helps the business stand out.

Those challenges have led Texas Built Cabinets to win this year’s Small Business of the Year award. They are also winners of the Orange Leader’s Best of Orange County, the Beaumont Enterprise’s Best of the Best in Orange and Jefferson counties, as well as Hardin County and the Best of the Best Television’s national award winner.

“At the end of the day my husband and I go to bed just normal people trying to make a difference in our community,” Shaffer said.

Texas Built Cabinets is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and open late by appointment. You can stop by 720 Pleasant Street in Vidor or call 409-422-4905 for an appointment.

— Written by by Chrissie Mouton