About Us

Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc., established in 1991, is an award-winning licensed general contractor serving the lower portion of South Carolina. We are a general contracting firm with in-house capabilities in all types of carpentry, architectural casework, millwork, masonry, and finishes. In addition, we maintain a network of first-rate subcontractors who share our corporate philosophy. Our experience embraces the renovation and restoration of all types of historic properties, newer homes, commercial construction repairs and maintenance, and new commercial and residential construction. Many Palmetto Craftsmen projects have been awarded Carolopolis Awards from the Preservation Society of Charleston and the Whitlaw Founders Award from the Historic Charleston Foundation. Palmetto Craftsmen has recently been awarded the Honor Award from the office of the Governor, The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, and The South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Many of our projects have also been featured in regional and national magazines.

Experience

Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc. is involved in all phases of renovation and restoration of all types of properties throughout South Carolina.

Much of our work includes:

  • Historic renovation work on residential and commercial buildings, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  • General Repairs and maintenance work on all types of historic structures including frame, masonry, and stucco buildings.
  • New construction, renovation, and repairs for all types of residential structures.
  • New construction, renovation, and repairs for light commercial projects.
  • Tenant improvements in commercial buildings.
  • Construction consultation on all types of construction.

Many Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc. restoration projects have received Carolopolis Awards sponsored by The Preservation Society of Charleston: 29 Legare Street; 26 Tradd Street; 6 John Street; 9 Lamboll Street; 32 Wentworth Street; 55 King Street, 20 Church Street, 171/173 King Street. The Historic Charleston Foundation gave the Whitlaw Founders Award for the renovation done by Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc. at 51 East Bay Street. Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc. received the 2006 ASID Carolinas Chapter Historic Renovations, Design Category, Merit Award for work performed at 10 South Adgers Wharf. Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc. recently received an Honor Award celebrating the company’s successful and exemplary historic preservation project in stabilizing the Cathedral of Saint Luke and Saint Paul in downtown Charleston from The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation.

Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc. presently holds an Unlimited Class Five General Contractors License, is fully insured, and is bondable.

Meet the Team

Zach King, Owner
Zack King is a business major from the University of South Carolina and holds an unlimited general contractor’s license in the state of South Carolina. He has lived in Charleston since 2004 with his wife Virginia, son Andrew, and daughter Leah. With over 20 years of experience in the construction industry, his background consists of residential and commercial management. His career started learning the ropes with a local builder Palmetto Traditional Homes as a project superintendent, moving on to other builders, KB Homes, and First Coast Homes, managing the construction of over 200 homes.

In 2008 Zack joined Sand Creek Construction which was a small local general contractor who specialized in tenant upfits. As construction manager, he oversaw all aspects of the business, from sales to construction management, ultimately leading to the purchase of the business in 2011. As the owner of Sand Creek Construction, Zack led the company to steady growth annually, leading to over 20 million dollars in sales in commercial and residential renovation.

In 2021 Zack purchased Palmetto Craftsmen and had maintained its founding principles and values of Service, Quality, Honesty, and Safety while also making modern changes to help improve its already steady reputation.

John B. (Demi) Howard, Founder
Demi has over 30 years in Construction Management in Mechanical and General Contracting. He holds his Unlimited General Contractors License in South Carolina and has also held a South Carolina Residential Homebuilders License as well as a South Carolina Plumbing License. Demi is committed to applying and maintaining our founding principles to all activities of Palmetto Craftsmen, Inc.

Barbie Plummer, Controller
As Controller, Barbie Plummer brings nearly three decades of financial management and job cost accounting experience to the Palmetto Craftsmen Team. Her experience is in new home residential construction, commercial and civil construction, as well as home remodeling. She attended Elon College in North Carolina.

Project Management

Rob Zerbst, Senior Project Manager
A native of Charleston, SC, Rob was born and raised on James Island. Following in his father’s footsteps into the construction industry, he dove. From working summers during his high school and college years for his father at Ruscon Construction, Rob learned the construction trade from hands-on experience in the ditches, moving his way up to the Project Management position he holds now. His construction knowledge of 30+ years varies from new residential, historical residential remodeling and restorations, new commercial, commercial additions and renovations, new construction, and remodeling of Assembly spaces, i.e., churches, lodging, medical facilities, and commercial historical restoration and remodeling.

Kristina Ravenel, Project Manager
Kristina is a graduate of the College of Charleston with two B.A.s in Historic Preservation and Community Planning and Art History. She continued her love of historic preservation with a Masters of Science in Historic Preservation from the Clemson/College of Charleston program with a focus on building materials. After a few years of hands-on experience, Kristina started project coordination and project management with a focus on historic preservation/restoration/rehabilitation on projects up to $3.5 million in North and South Carolina. Her experience ranges from the planning stages of budgeting and permits to work with owners on weekly/bi-weekly updates to close-outs at the end of the project.

Josh Voorhees, Project Manager
Josh works as a Project Manager on a variety of assignments ranging from new construction projects to historical renovations. He has gained well-rounded experience in a range of construction projects throughout his career. His associate’s degree in the building trades and seven-plus years working in the field managing residential to light commercial jobs has strengthened his ability to manage the sequencing of a project, understand the process of construction, as well as build and foster strong client relationships.