Bozeman City Lifestyle recently had the opportunity to sit down with Lui Ferreira, owner of Tree Care Solutions and WoodWorks Montana, and chat about his work and the inspiration behind both of his businesses.
Lui is originally from Brazil, but has called Montana home for many years. He is an arborist, business owner, woodworker, husband, and father. He enjoys working with his hands, being outdoors, and building things.
Tell us a little about your main business, Tree Care Solutions.
Tree Care Solutions is a professional tree-care company serving the Gallatin Valley and surrounding areas. We provide everything from tree pruning and removals to plant health care, tree preservation, risk assessment, and long-term management of trees and properties.
One thing that is very important to us is that we’re not simply a tree-removal company. As arborists, our first goal is to understand the tree and determine what is best for its health, the property, and the people around it. Sometimes that means pruning or treating a tree so it can remain healthy for decades. Other times, a tree has reached the end of its safe or useful life and needs to be removed.
I’m also very proud of the crew we’ve built. Tree work is demanding and highly skilled, and having people who care about doing good work, protecting the property, and treating customers well makes all the difference.
I feel very fortunate to live and raise my family in Montana. I love the outdoors, the people here, and the opportunity to build businesses that allow me to work with a great team and create something I’m proud of.
What made you want to start WoodWorks Montana? What is the reason behind it?
WoodWorks Montana really grew out of Tree Care Solutions.
Over the years, we removed some absolutely beautiful trees—green ash, elm, maple, walnut and many others. Sometimes a tree has to come down because it’s dead, hazardous, damaged, or simply in the wrong location. I would look at some of those logs and think, There has to be something better we can do with this than turn it into firewood or haul it away.
I have always loved woodworking, so we started saving some of the best logs and milling them. Once you open up a log, you get to see something that has been hidden inside that tree for 50, 80, sometimes 100 years or more. Every slab is different.
That became the idea behind WoodWorks Montana: giving these trees a second life.
There’s something really special about removing a tree from someone’s property and then being able to turn part of that same tree into a dining table, countertop, bench, mantel, or another piece that stays with that family. Instead of the story of the tree ending when we remove it, we get to continue that story.
What kinds of products do you offer?
We do a mixture of custom woodworking and unique pieces made from locally salvaged wood.
That includes dining and conference tables, live-edge tables, coffee and side tables, countertops and butcher blocks, benches, mantels, shelving, charcuterie and cutting boards, and other custom furniture and architectural pieces.
We also have CNC capabilities, which gives us the ability to create custom signs, engraving, personalized pieces, and more detailed designs.
Some customers come to us knowing exactly what they want. Others may just have a space in their home and an idea. Those are some of my favorite projects because we can work together on the design, choose the right piece of wood, and create something that truly belongs in that space.
We’re not interested in mass-producing furniture. I want WoodWorks Montana pieces to feel individual. The knots, grain, imperfections and natural edges are part of the story of the tree, and we try to celebrate those rather than hide them.
Are people able to purchase wood from you for their own projects?
Absolutely.
We have a growing inventory of slabs and locally salvaged wood available for woodworkers, contractors, designers, and people who simply want to build something themselves.
And I actually love that part of the business. Not every beautiful piece of wood needs to become a WoodWorks Montana piece. If somebody sees a slab and has an idea for it, we’re happy to help them find the right material for their project.
Depending on what they need, we can also help with milling, flattening, CNC work, or other parts of the process.
For me, the bigger goal is to use more of the incredible wood we already have right here in Montana. If we can take a tree that had to come down and turn it into something useful and beautiful instead of treating it as waste, that’s a win.
Learn more about Tree Care Solutions at treecaremt.com, and WoodWorks Montana at woodworksmt.com.
“Instead of the story of the tree ending when we remove it, we get to continue that story.”
Lui Ferreira
Arborist, business owner, woodworker, husband, and father
Learn more about both of Lui's businesses:
Tree Care Solutions: treecaremt.com
WoodWorks Montana: woodworksmt.com