DIXON – Chuck Brainerd says his dad, Chuck Sr., was the hardest-working man in Dixon.

“He was a plasterer, and he owned his own plastering company,” Brainerd said.

Chuck Sr. started Brainerd Plastering in 1948.

“He did all of the houses around here,” said Brainerd, 74. “Everything was plastered back then, because drywall was not invented at that time.”

Brainerd said his dad got into the plastering business for extra money, and because he had the skills needed to do the job.

“He wanted to further himself,” Brainerd said. “At that time, people were not plastering homes.”

In 1985, Brainerd took over the business from his dad, who died of cancer in 1993 at the age of 75.

Now he’s handing the business over to the third generation – his son, Ben, 29, who plans to continue the family tradition.

Ben said the company specializes in plastering and water damage, and interior and exterior restoration, on residential and commercial properties.

“I have been trying to pick up where my dad left off with the family business,” Ben said. “I used to watch him work when I was a kid. I’ve been in the trade since I was 15.”

“I have a reputation, and now he has a reputation, which I will guard,” his dad said.

Brainerd Plastering has restored churches and homes, and also has done plastering work at the Depot Museum in Amboy.

People can call the Brainerds, who live in Dixon, just to get informed.

“There are times when we will go out and educate people to tell them what their problems are, and we don’t charge them,” Chuck said. “A lot of times, people pay way too much money for a new home when all they have to do is fix [the one they have].”

Some people see a crack in their walls and think the problem can’t be fixed, but “people can restore their homes and not jeopardize the structure of their home,” Ben said. “Our plaster is fiber-resistant, sound-resistant, and it’s strong.”

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