Valentin Cuellar fashions fences, railings, decorative scrolls, spiral staircases, gates and more at his workshop in Leander. Since he started the shop in 2010, Valentin has built VC Cuellar Welding pieces for many Central Texas communities with help from his family members.

"I work in all of Austin," Valentin said. "I [also] do jobs in Houston, close to San Antonio [and] San Marcos."

In 1996, Valentin moved from Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, for a welding job offer in Leander to seek a better future for himself and his family, he said. At first he didn't know how to weld, but he quickly learned, gained customers and began enjoying the craft of making railings and fences, he said.

"Me gusta todo," Valentin said. "I like it all."

Valentin said he gets communication and design help from his family. His wife, Maria, sketches designs for projects such as gates for a home in Houston. Helping in the shop are his brother Jorge Cuellar and son Valentin Cuellar, Jr. In 2013 Valentin's daughter, Ana, joined the shop as a secretary to call customers, make appointments and file receipts.

"He has to go and check to see everything [customers] need," Ana said. "Then he comes back and builds everything here. When he has a difficult project and he makes it himself, he feels proud of himself to know that the customer likes it, especially if it's a difficult project."

Welding machines, spare parts, worktables and steel rods fill the Cuellar workshop. Valentin said he usually uses raw steel and wire and some tempered steel. He and other employees can cut metal plates with torches, smooth edges with grinders, and drill holes to attach the steel frames to concrete.

Inside the shop, the crew recently completed a handrail that Valentin said will go to a house in Steiner Ranch. By the next week the crew began work on a set of double doors lined with decorative scrolls. Valentin's crew also finished a set of cable rails for the outdoor deck of a house in Austin, Ana said.

The products of Cuellar's shop are found in new businesses, houses, around pools and on decks, Valentin said.

"My goal is that more people know about us because we're a small business," he said. "I can work with any type of people—homeowners, small companies, big companies [and] apartments."

Homebuilders sometimes call the business after hearing references from previous customers or seeing Valentin's truck, Ana said.

"We have advanced a lot in the last four years," she said. "If you need any handrails, fences, gates, cable rails, staircases, anything that has to do with metal, he can do it."

VC Cuellar Welding, 24801 Sheep Hollow Trail, Leander, 512-673-3406, www.vccuellarwelding.com, Hours: Mon.–Fri. 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m.