Hi, I'm Josh.
I run The Bricksmith out of a personal studio in North Yarmouth, Maine — building, repairing, and restoring LEGO® sets for people who love the result but don't have the time, patience, or back for the process.
How The Bricksmith started
I've been a LEGO builder since childhood. Like a lot of people, I drifted away from the hobby as life got busier — then my kids found their way into LEGO a couple of years ago, and they pulled me right back in.
What started as building alongside them turned into a deep rekindling of the hobby. Two years and 200+ sets later, I've developed real opinions about building technique, structural reinforcement, and the satisfying click of a perfectly aligned sticker. Lord of the Rings, castles, modular homes, and the recent IP launches like Pokémon are personal favorites — anything that combines storytelling with serious build complexity.
Along the way, I noticed a pattern. Every time someone saw my collection — at home, at gatherings, online — I'd hear the same phrase, in slightly different words:
"I love the look of these, but I don't have the patience to assemble them."
The Bricksmith exists because that phrase kept coming up, and I realized I could solve the problem for people. Whether you've been gifted a 2,500-piece set you'll never start, you're buying a gift for someone who won't build it themselves, or you've got a beloved set that broke and needs careful repair — the building part is the part I genuinely enjoy. You get the finished display piece. I get the building experience. Everyone wins.
What makes the work different
A lot of what separates a good LEGO build from a great one comes down to small things that most people don't think about until something goes wrong.
The studio itself
Every build happens in a personal, pet-free, smoke-free studio. No risk of cat hair in your Technic gearing, no lingering smells in the box when it arrives. Pieces are sorted, surfaces are clean, and the workspace is dedicated to LEGO® — not a kitchen table that gets cleared off between meals.
Proper technique, never glue
Every set is built using proper LEGO® tension techniques. No glue, ever. Heavy display pieces get structural reinforcement using internal supports and hidden brackets — never adhesives. Glue damages bricks permanently, destroys resale value, and is a sign of impatience, not craft.
Personal handling, start to finish
Every project is built personally by me — not handed off, not subcontracted, not assembly-line. You'll get progress photos throughout the build, direct email replies to any questions, and a finished model that I've inspected piece-by-piece before it ships.
Beyond the bricks
When I'm not building, I'm probably with my family, gardening or working on a landscaping project, deep in a video game, or knocking out a DIY project somewhere around the house. The LEGO work fits naturally alongside all of it — same satisfaction of following a plan, working with your hands, and ending up with something tangible at the end of the day.
Running The Bricksmith on the side lets me indulge a hobby I'd be doing anyway, fund my own collection growth, and meet a lot of interesting people along the way. Most of my customers become repeat customers, which I take as a sign I'm doing something right.
A few practical notes
Location: Personal studio in North Yarmouth, Maine — 20 minutes north of Portland
Service area: Mail-in nationwide; local pickup in Greater Portland (Yarmouth, Falmouth, Freeport, Brunswick, and surrounding towns)
Studio standards: Pet-free, smoke-free, organized
Response time: Within 4 hours on weekdays
References: Available on request, or see testimonials on the homepage
Have a project in mind?
The first step is a free quote. Tell me about your set and we'll go from there.