What we mean by a small project
A small project can be a smaller room, a conversion from one type of room to another, or an update that takes a dated space and fits it to your current needs and how you use it.
What these have in common is that we build them rather than patch them. Each one has a start and a finish, and it gets planned before anyone makes a cut. When it is done, it should look like it came with the house.
A small project can also be one built piece. Most of the custom carpentry we build falls into a few groups:
- Built-ins. Shelving, a desk or a storage unit made for one wall or one alcove.
- Cabinetry. A single cabinet run, or a kitchen island built to the size and layout you need.
- Trim and moulding. The finish carpentry that ties a room together.
- Stairs and rails. New treads, risers and handrails.
- Mantels. A fireplace mantel built to suit the room.
- Doors. New interior doors, hung and trimmed, as a job of their own.
Why build it custom
Store-bought pieces come in set sizes, and houses do not. Walls lean, floors run out of level, and the alcove you want to fill is rarely an even width. That is how an off-the-shelf unit ends up with a gap at the side, a filler strip at the top, or a few inches you cannot use.
A built piece starts with the space. On odd angles we make a template first and build to that. The piece is fitted to the wall it sits against, so every inch of it does a job.
It also gets built around how you use it, because we build each piece per customer specification. A kitchen island is a good example. If nothing in the store has a drawer for the trash where you want it, or room for the appliances you own, we build one that does. You pick, we build.
Why not a quick fix
A quick fix is fine for some things, but on a built piece it tends to show. It shows as trim that is caulked instead of fitted, a shelf hung on whatever the wall offered, or a store cabinet shimmed into a space it was not made for. Each one looks close on day one and reads as a patch after that.
Carpentry is the part of a house you touch and look at every day, which is why we think it is worth building once.
Tell us what you want built
Tell us what you want built and where it goes. We will set up a time to walk it with you, then follow with a free written estimate.