New Business: Bar-H Well Drilling opens in Lucerne Valley

Staff Writer — Victorville Daily Press
Updated Oct. 4, 2016, 4:45 p.m. PT

Lucerne Valley resident Dan Shaw has announced the formation of Bar-H Well Drilling Service.
By Peter Day, Staff Writer.

To say longtime resident Dan Shaw knows how to work with his hands is an understatement.

A former farmer, drywaller, and karate black belt, he is all about setting a goal and working as hard as he can to get it done. Recently Shaw announced the formation of Bar-H Well Drilling, Inc., a full-service well drilling operation in Lucerne Valley.

Shaw has been busy his adult life. He worked as a carpenter in Colorado in 1976. Then he started form-setting foundations in 1978. That led to performing drywall by the piece, which Shaw excelled at due to his competitive spirit. Between 1979 and 1981, Shaw worked as a dairy farmer in Wisconsin. He also farmed an 80-acre patch, alternating three crops including tobacco.

In the mid-1980s, Shaw moved to the Koreatown section of Los Angeles to be close to his karate master, who was one of the top-ranked karate experts in the world. Earlier, in 1975, Shaw earned his black belt.

"I had to memorize 3,000 techniques," he said.

In 1995, Shaw started a six-year run as a union drywaller in Las Vegas.

"I ended up at the Venetian," he recalls. "In Las Vegas I did a lot of famous buildings. I could frame a unit in an hour."

After that stint was up, he moved back to Los Angeles where he did drywall at the L.A. Convention Center, Staples Center, Home Depot, and more.

Eventually he moved to Lucerne Valley, buying a large acreage spot near the Cove section. He retired from the union and decided to investigate well drilling.

He has teamed up with drillers Sam Pettigrew and Richard Shepherd in his new enterprise.

Using several methods, Shaw says he is developing a knack for correctly estimating the location and depth of underground water sources.

"The more you do it, the more you believe in yourself. You just know."

But it can be tricky.

"The depth can vary so much," he said. "It can be just five feet underground or up to 800 feet."

Shaw saw a need for an extra well driller in town after one retired.

"In Lucerne Valley there's always been two well drillers. Now there's only one. That's where I felt the need."

Well drilling also utilizes Shaw's diverse background and "common sense." After all, he said, "I've done a lot of things."