MEET YOUR HOST: Talented local carpenter helps us build the Sault’s new social network

Bill Nash’s interest in woodworking started when he was six years old. 

Recalling one of his earliest memories, he says that while his dad was building a bedroom for his newborn brother, Nash could be found sauntering behind him picking up scraps of wood and building birdhouses out of them. 

His dad was wary but leaned into the teaching moment. 

“He encouraged me to go around the yard where we were working and pick up old nails from previous jobs,” he said from his workshop in Sault Ste. Marie. “He showed me how to straighten them out on a piece of wood with a hammer so they were usable again. And those were the nails I used when I built my little thing.”

Now retired, Nash has a long and reputable career as a woodworker and carpenter in the region. He shares his knowledge of the craft as a host in SPACES, the Sault’s homegrown social media network.

As an adult, Nash honed his skills by building his own house. Still a hobbyist carpenter, he says when he and his wife were newly married they wanted to enter the housing market. 

Feeling priced out, he adapted the mantra, “If you can’t buy one, build one.”

In 1983, they bought an eight-acre parcel of land for $5,000 and built a house in sections, as they couldn’t afford to build their dream home all at once. It was his firestorm into woodworking, Nash says. 

Other than the masonry and electrical work, it was an inside job.

“We did everything else ourselves: All the framing, all the roofing, all the finishing work, all the plumbing, cement work, trims, doors and kitchen cabinets,” Nash said.  

Seventeen years and four kids later, and it was time to move on; Nash and his wife eventually sold their self-made home. They now live in central Sault Ste. Marie, but even into retirement, nothing will slow him down. His latest project? Being a host in our woodworking space, sharing tips and pics.

See his patio, walkway and trellis set up, and the nifty hack he used to build on top of cement. When he’s not doing home reno projects, he can be found making smaller treasures, like keepsake chests for his grandchildren, or a customized poker table, complete with deep trays, cup holders and a foam-backed waterproof top to easily scoop up cards and chips. 

He wasn’t always a carpenter by trade; he worked at Canada Post for 32 years as a letter carrier and a postal clerk. It wasn’t until a chance encounter later in life while at the counter of Soo Mill that his professional career and woodworking/construction business began.

While standing at the checkout counter in the summer of 1986 he overheard the clerk telling a customer on the phone that they could buy materials to build a fence at the store, but they would have to find someone else to construct it. 

“I don't even know what inspired me to say it, but I kind of interrupted them, and said, ‘you know, if you need someone to build a fence, I could do it.’”

And just like that, Nash Enterprises, the husband-and-wife-run business, was born.

It operated from the late 1980s til 2023, and during that time it pared down to just decks, and was aptly named, Decks and Only Decks.

As he and his wife, Donna, amassed tons of experience they also grew familiar with the handyman scams that women in the area were subjected to. 

As a way to empower women in the Sault to DIY-it, they pitched the idea for The Handywoman course to Sault College around 2010. 

It was designed to assist women living on their own who relied upon hiring a handyman to do simple home repairs such as basic plumbing, wiring, drywall installation and patching, and other tasks like how to change doors and locks, and how to replace damaged shingles on a roof. After four years and eight classes of 10 to 16 people per class, the Sault market for women interested in this class was exhausted with over 100 women learning skills they never had before.

His time as a woodworker isn’t without incident, unfortunately. While framing a roof on a house, he was prying 2x4s that were being used to temporarily hold trusses in place and accidentally nailed his hand to the frame. 

As he was working, one end of one of the 2x4s swung up into the air, causing his hammer to slip. Gravity factored in and forced the 2x4 to slap back onto the roof, and the nail that was originally in the 2x4 ended up piercing through his hand and nailing it to the truss. 

“So I was kind of like Jesus up there hanging from a cross on one hand,” Nash joked. 

When Nash isn’t sawing, sanding, measuring or nailing something, he can be found at the local Legion, playing cards or performing with the band. He splits the rest of his time between Sault Seniors Club 235 and the casino, playing the slots and having lunch. 

To follow his woodworking journey and connect with Nash, visit the new Woodworking space. It’s an inclusive group and a broad category; open to anyone interested in woodworking, including carving, staining, cabinet making and the like. 

He takes pride knowing that half of members in the group identify as women, and he hopes to equip them with knowledge to avoid being overcharged for home upgrades, and is happy to show them how to DIY home repairs.