Construction has several things in common with baking according to David Baumser, owner of OMO Construction, a Shomer Shabbos Passaic and Bergen County company that has been around for over 25 years.
In baking a cake, the baker has to make sure the cake both tastes and looks good. In construction, the contractor has to make sure everything is structurally sound—the taste—and that it looks good.
Baking wasn’t for Baumser though, and neither was architecture—he isn’t the best artist—but he loves seeing the finished product and being able “to drive down the street and say I build this and I build that.”
Baumser worked in construction for several years before starting OMO. He did commercial work and management on high-rise construction in New York. Eventually, he decided to start his own construction company from scratch. OMO stands for ‘On My Own,’ the way in which Baumser started his company.
OMO are complete contractors; they do small jobs all the way up to building new homes: “There’s no one specialty except for making people happy,” Baumser said. OMO may not have a specialty, but the most common type of work for them is additions.
There are several things that set OMO apart from other contractors: their speed and their ability to stay within budget. According to Baumser, he can multitask by using subcontractors he has a history with. For instance, he said, the average home level addition of approximately 1,500 feet takes most companies seven—11 months, but takes OMO three and a half to four months.
Other contractors also often come in 20-30 percent over their estimated budget. “Because of my years of experience, I look at things with a different eye. I don’t underestimate, I tend to overestimate,” Baumser said.
Baumser no longer works on the construction himself, but when he did he enjoyed working on kitchens the most. Now, Baumser’s company has a special way of handling kitchens that, again, sets OMO apart from other companies.
As Baumser explains it, many construction companies completely shut off a kitchen while they’re working on it; the home residents are forced to eat elsewhere until the work is done. When OMO works on a kitchen, they make sure to have at least a temporary sink and stove functioning that they hook up and disconnect as necessary.
Construction, like any career, comes with its own set of challenges. One of the most difficult, according to Baumser, is making sure the finished product is completely true to the customer’s vision. Getting it right though “is the satisfaction of why you do it. You take something ugly or blasé and you make it nice, a palace.”
Complete home constructions are the jobs Baumser is most proud of. In recent years his company has built new homes in Fair Lawn, Teaneck and Passaic among other towns including two projects recently in the West Englewood area. He also noted office buildings in Oradell and Passaic along with Teaneck’s The Pasta Factory, now Nobo, as works he is proud of.
For more information on OMO, call 973-473-1766.
By Aliza Chasan
