Carpentry, done properly

Calgary Carpentry designs, builds and installs custom cabinetry, built-ins, feature walls, trim and millwork for homes and businesses across Calgary and the surrounding area.

Most of what we do comes down to a single distinction. A modular unit is manufactured to a standard size and the gaps around it are covered with trim. A built-in is measured after the drywall is up, cut to the wall you actually have, and scribed — meaning the edges that meet the wall are shaped to follow its bumps and bows so no light shows through the joint.

That matters in Calgary more than most places, because almost no wall here is straight, square or plumb. On a typical ten-foot living-room wall we routinely find six to fifteen millimetres of variation end to end — including in new construction. Absorbing that is skilled hand work, and it is the difference you see from across the room.

How we work

Components are built in the shop, where dust, noise and tolerances are controllable, then installed and scribed on site. You get elevation drawings and a fixed written price before anything is cut, because changing a drawing costs nothing and changing built cabinetry costs a great deal.

We specify for this climate deliberately. Indoor humidity in a heated Calgary house regularly falls to 15–25% in deep winter, and wood shrinks as it dries. That means MDF rather than solid wood for painted components, panels that float within their frames, coped inside corners instead of mitred ones, and material acclimatised indoors before it is cut. It is why our joints stay closed in January.

What we will tell you

If a project is not worth doing, we will say so. If stock cabinetry would serve you better than custom in a plain rectangular room, we will tell you that too. If a television above your fireplace will be uncomfortable to watch, you will hear it before we build the wall rather than after.

It costs us the occasional job. It is also the only way to run a business that depends on people recommending you afterwards.