George Mihalache, from apprenticeship in his grandfather's workshop to outdoor furniture production

If I was planning a terrace, gazebo or any outdoor landscaping I would turn to George Adrian Mihalache from EvoMob. I've been following his work for a long time and have always liked the way he works, his continuous desire for improvement and his pro-customer orientation. I first spoke to George in 2019, before the pandemic. I wanted to do an article with him for the print magazine, but things got rushed and we didn't get to do it. I contacted him again before BIFE-SIM 2023 to invite him to attend B2Bife, an event that Revista din Lemn organized during the fair. We talked about the quality of Evomob's products, how he and his wife share the tasks in the company, and plans for the future. A recording of the discussion will soon be available on Wooden magazine YouTube channel.  Learn more about how George got into woodworking, who taught him to be honest with his customers and how he learned from his mistakes below.

Starting with his grandfather

His passion for working with wood was passed down from his grandfather. At the age of 3, when his grandfather was working at his parents' house, the first thing George got his hands on was a hammer. Although the gesture clearly showed a preference for tools and craftsmanship, that wasn't when it all started, it would have been far too early. When he turned 14, his grandfather gave him a bicycle. This made it much easier for him to get from Dragomirești (where his parents lived) to Săbăreni, where the workshop was. Working alongside his grandfather, he began to learn the trade and "to take a liking to her"as George says.

He loved working in the workshop, handing out the materials, carrying the sawdust, especially as he was rewarded with small gifts. My grandfather worked in the Craftsmen's Cooperative, he was very skilled, many of the machines in the workshop were made by him. He had 4-5 employees and made everything from choppers and tel handles to doors, windows, doors, floorboards and garden tables.

Working alongside him, he became more and more skilled. At 16, he got his first job. A neighbor asked him to make her 4 stools. He got his first money and was very happy. He was not yet 17, in high school, when the local mayor saw how skilled he was and asked him to build him a kind of hunting room with wood from old barrels. One of the mayor's friends saw the work, liked it and asked him to make him a pergola, but finished very well, just as he had made the furniture out of barrel wood. It was the first work done for the outside, basically the starting point of the business now.

I want you to be honest and honest

From his grandfather he also learned to be fair to the customer. "Georgie, I want you to be honest and honest". His grandfather worked in the workshop until he was almost 84. "He practically worked himself to death"says George sadly. Sadly, not even a year after he passed away, he also left the old workshop, but the memory of the place and his grandfather stayed with him.

So in 2014, at just 24, he had to start from scratch, in a new place in Cosoba, also in Giurgiu County. His wife's family, friends at the time, were a great help. With their help he managed to rent a space and then buy some machinery with borrowed money. This enabled him to take on work again. Fairness and the desire to do his best work brought him to the attention of some demanding clients and that's how he managed to get started. In 2016, he was almost late for his own wedding because he had not yet finished the installation for a client for whom he had to make the gazebo, pergola, swing and entrance to the house.

Learning from mistakes

As well as being a natural talent, George wants to get better and better and do things better. He says he's learned a lot from the internet, fellow carpenters, specialists and his own mistakes. In the beginning he worked with simple lumber and often put the wood on mounting soles directly on the ground. He quickly realized that laminated wood is more stable and offers more strength. He now works with well-known suppliers of laminated timber, and the mounting soles are made to his own design.

He also figured out on his own how to work the wood so that the water doesn't stagnate and drains well, and that the choice and the way the finish is done are very important if you want the work to be resistant over time. At first he worked with products from DIY stores, but he quickly realized he needed professional products. Now he works with very high quality products and finishing technologies established by the company's specialists. It's the reason why jobs done years ago still look as good as new.

There's room for everyone

Just like Fane Pănăzan and Radu Vădan, George can be found on the Carpenters group. He is among those who give good advice to those who ask for help, even if they are competitors. He says there's room in the market for everyone. But he doesn't accept the unscrupulous, those who fool people and show photos of other people's work pretending it's their own. It's happened to him, he's even been called by such a scammer. He's trying to stop this practice as much as possible, which is why he has registered his own trademark and several designs with OSIM.

And the team he works with he's taught to be serious. They always work together and he doesn't consider himself their boss but their colleague. He says that the power of example is very important and people work differently when they see you with them. He is also serious with clients and wants people to leave with a good impression, not only in terms of execution, but also in terms of meeting deadlines. He would rather give longer lead times and finish faster than end up not being ready on time.

Evomob, registered trademark

George is now working in the same premises that he rented almost 10 years ago, but managed to buy in the meantime. DunăMob, the company made after his grandfather's name, became EvoMob, a registered trademark, in 2021. His wife, Flori, is the administrator of the company, taking care of all the sourcing, paperwork, customer relations, etc. They support and help each other, Flori being George's biggest fan. And if need be, she doesn't hesitate to come into the workshop and sand the wood with him.

The quality of work and reliability has made the company go from strength to strength in recent years. More complex works have appeared and they are becoming better known, even further away from their usual area. One of last year's works was in Bacău, at Podul Turcului, where they did a terrace, and this year they have a very complex work in Onești where they worked with a structural engineer from Silvania. The structural engineer was needed because just one roof beam weighed 700 kg. The whole roof weighs around 5 tons. They're also going to install very large, semi-arched laminated beams made by Techniques.

Next year, if all goes well, they plan to invest in machinery. The workshop now has a circular, banzic, planing and drilling machines. They think they need to take it to the next level and have a Format 4 circular from Felder Gruppe Romania. He also wants a thickness planer. He has thought of Felder because he is satisfied with the quality of the machines (the banzic is from them) and the conditions of purchase.

Although he works mainly with outdoor furniture (gazebos, terraces, pergolas, fences, rocking chairs), he is no stranger to indoor furniture. His most recent piece of furniture, a Montessori crib, was made and installed for a very discerning client - Flori, his wife, who is pregnant with their first child. As you can see, next year is already showing good signs.

Good luck, George!