Carpentry for Brooklyn row houses

Row houses are full of the awkward spaces that make joinery worth its cost: alcoves either side of a chimney breast, deep window reveals, the space under a stair, and rooms whose walls have not been parallel for a century.

Made in the room

A narrow row house stair will not take a finished wardrobe three flights up. So the piece is built in the room instead: carcasses assembled in place, then scribed to the wall that is actually there. That is normal here and it is why joinery in Brooklyn is so often made rather than bought.

Restoring what is there

These houses came with deep trim, and much of it has survived under many coats or been removed by a previous renovation. Matching a profile that is no longer manufactured means taking one from an existing length and having a cutter made. Where a match is genuinely not possible we say so rather than fitting something close and hoping nobody looks.

What we make

Alcove storage, window seats, wardrobes, understair joinery, kitchen cabinetry where stock will not fit, and replacement trim.

What drives the cost

The material, the finish, and how much of the piece is straight. A run of shelving in a square opening is quick. A wardrobe into an out of square alcove beside a chimney breast is not.

Questions people ask