OUTDOOR LIVING, THOUGHTFULLY CONSIDERED
A business built at the garden’s edge.
Jim Rubush, Ben Wolod and Jeff Wall lead a company whose work ranges from a new boundary to a room beside the house.
Jim Rubush, Ben Wolod & Jeff Wall
Jim Rubush and Ben Wolod founded the company in 1991. Rubush now serves as president and CEO, with Wolod as vice president and COO. Jeff Wall, who joined the partnership in 2013, leads sales and marketing. The founders’ Maryland roots remain part of a business that has since expanded through regional offices.
Its focus is unusually clear: fences, decks and screened porches. That range encompasses both the edge of a garden and the space where a house opens onto it.
The beginning
Fence Connection began as a two-person operation. One of its more tangible milestones was the purchase of an abandoned gas station on Veterans Highway in 2000. A new office building followed, then an upstairs showroom.
The history is a useful counterpoint to the polished finished projects. Before the larger regional operation, there were two founders, a focused trade and the task of creating a working base. The company eventually became Fence & Deck Connection as its residential work broadened.
Finding their kind of work
A fence can establish privacy without adding another room. A deck can change how a household reaches the yard. A screened porch offers a third kind of space, sheltered and enclosed while remaining connected to the garden. The company works across those different scales rather than treating every brief as a full backyard rebuild.
Railings, gates and stairs are important parts of the result. They determine where the eye travels and where people can actually walk, particularly on raised decks or properties with several entrances.
A project that tells the story
A Maryland screened porch joins a covered room to an open deck and the lawn below. The interest is in the transitions: doors, stairs and the position of the railings determine whether the addition feels easy to use.
In Crofton, another deck is arranged around a hot tub. The tub is the obvious feature, but the clear space beside it is what allows the deck to remain a usable route and gathering area. These are projects where the supporting details deserve a close look.
Around the design table
Sales consultants and project managers guide the work from the initial discussion through installation. Maryland showrooms provide a place to look at materials and construction options in person. That can help resolve questions a photograph leaves open, such as the feel of a railing or how much of a view a screen interrupts.
The company separates residential sales, project management and production responsibilities. For a homeowner, knowing who handles each part of the job is as useful as selecting the board color.
Away from the plans
The old gas-station site is a particularly memorable chapter in the company’s story. A building bought for a growing trade business became a place where homeowners could later compare materials and imagine their own projects. The showroom has a history of its own.