D.K. Boos Glass, Inc. is Thurston County’s only full-service glass company.
“Most companies will do just residential glass, commercial glass, or auto. But we’re the only ones who truly do everything,” says D.K. Boos vice president Eric Boos.
Eric’s parents Dennis and Kathy – the “D” and “K” in “D.K. Boos” – started the company out of Eric’s grandmother’s garage in 1978.
“Mom did the books and Dad was in the field,” Eric explains.
As the company grew, it soon moved to what is now the Titus-Will dealership in Lacey, and then across the street. In 1985, Dennis and Kathy Boos bought the property where D.K. Boos still resides, a stone’s throw from St. Martin’s University.
“They bought the property from Ted Peabody, who was the owner of Lacey Lumber,” Eric remembers. “If it wasn’t for Ted being a generous man, I doubt they would have got the financing.”
Eric and his wife, Tina, took over full operations of the company in 2000, though Eric had been mostly running the place since 1997.
“When I first started, I was a 14-year-old kid, just going around with Dad, holding the other end of the tape measure,” Eric says. He began by just working weekends, and as he grew older, he’d pull shifts on school holidays and after classes.
Being a full-service glass company means D.K. Boos works in residential, commercial, and automotive glass – in nearly any capacity you can imagine, from installing a kitchen skylight to fixing a broken piece of glass in a storefront.
Residential glass includes windows, tabletops, decorative glass, shower doors, and skylights – anything having to do with the home.
On the commercial end of things, D.K. Boos does repairs and smaller jobs – such as repairing an entrance door or broken window, but they also work on large projects, like the construction of a 6-story building.
“One of the larger recent projects we did was the glasswork on the LOTT building,” Eric says. D.K. Boos also provided all the glass for Tumwater’s newer state buildings.
While many other auto glass companies boast about the convenience of replacing windshields at a customer’s home, D.K. Boos chooses to only work on auto glass in its own shop – and for good reason.
“The windshield is a structural part of the car,” says Eric. “On a rainy day, if you try to do it in somebody’s driveway, it may work, it may not leak, but is it truly safe in the event there’s an accident?”
He then explains the importance of a windshield staying in place during an automobile accident. “The airbag uses the windshield as a backstop; if it’s not properly adhered, the airbag goes off and the windshield literally flies out of the car. Then the airbag is of no value to the passenger.”
D.K. Boos’ auto glass business is expanding more and more into the RV market. “I’ve had people come as far as Arlington to have us do work, and people from the Vancouver/Portland area,” says Eric. “I have a couple that’s scheduled for work when they come up from California this summer.”
Walk through either of the two D.K. Boos buildings on its nearly two acres of land – one 10,000-square-foot structure and another at 9,000 square feet – and you’ll see a large inventory of panes of glass, lumber, windows, doors, and more.
“If we don’t have it in stock, nobody in town is going to have it in stock,” says Eric. And, of course, D.K. Boos can custom order anything a customer might need.
But Eric is quick to stress that his company doesn’t simply sell glass or windows. “What we sell is service,” he says.
His experienced team members – many who have been with him for 15 to 20 years or longer – are good at what they do and they care about the outcome of each transaction.
“A lot of customers are shocked when they come in 10 years later and the same person is here,” Eric says.
His employees are good at what they do and have years of knowledge to back up their quality work.
“Our installers are carpenters,’” says Eric. “They’re talented general contractors who can do anything.”
And it’s the craftsmanship of his installers that keeps customers coming back, even if it may be a long time between visits.
“Over 50 percent of our business is repeat, which is great, considering this industry,” says Eric. “When was the last time you bought glass? It’s not a service you think about until you need it.”
D.K. Boos Glass
1206 Franz Street
Lacey, WA 98503
866.985.GLASS
360.456.0668
