Custom Carpentry in Traverse City
A four-carpenter shop on Woodmere Avenue, building the things in a house that get touched every day — and building them so the next owner thinks they came with the house.
What We Build
Six things, done properly, in and around Traverse City. If a job isn't on this list, ask anyway — we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right shop for it.
Not sure which one your job is? Call the shop and describe it — that's a two-minute conversation, not a sales call.
Four Carpenters. The Same Two On Your Job.
Hallowbeck has been on Woodmere Avenue since 1994. We are deliberately small: four carpenters, two jobs at a time, and the same pair of hands on your house from the first cut to the last coat of finish. That is the whole business model, and it is why we book out — you are not handed to whoever is free that week.
Most of what we build starts as a drawing on the kitchen table. We measure, we draw it, and you see the thing before anyone orders lumber. If the drawing is wrong it costs a rubber; if the cabinet is wrong it costs a month.
- ✓Drawn before it's built — you approve the drawing, not a description
- ✓Start date in writing before you pay a deposit
- ✓Hardwood milled in northern Michigan wherever we can get it
- ✓One job finished before the next one starts
Built In Grand Traverse County
A few things we've made recently. Every one of these was drawn first, built in the shop on Woodmere, and finished in the customer's house.
Three Decisions That Change The Price More Than Anything
Most quotes hide these. Here they are up front, so you can move the number yourself before we ever come out.
Paint grade or stain grade
Painted built-ins can be poplar and MDF panel; stained ones have to be solid hardwood with matched grain across every door. The same bookcase is routinely half again as much in stain grade, and that gap is almost entirely material.
Whether the wall is straight
Nothing in a house built before 1960 is square. A built-in against a bowed wall needs scribed fillers cut on site, and that's a day of work that doesn't show up in a photograph but does show up in a quote.
Who finishes it
We spray in the shop, which gives a harder, more even finish than brushing on site — but it means the piece has to go back on the truck. Site-finishing is cheaper and slower. We'll tell you which one your job actually needs.
Matching Trim Nobody Makes Anymore
When a customer wants a doorway opened up in a 1910 house, the hard part isn't the header — it's the eight feet of casing that has to match the casing on the other five doors in that hallway. Trim profiles from that era aren't made anymore and the modern equivalents are close enough to look wrong.
We grind knives to match the original profile and run the new trim on the shop's molder. It takes an extra week and it is the reason people tell us afterwards that guests can't pick which doorway is new. If matching isn't worth it to you, we'll say so — plenty of rooms are better off with a clean modern profile throughout.
- ✓Profiles matched from a cut-off of the original
- ✓Knives ground in the shop, trim run on site-matched stock
- ✓Plaster made good where the new trim meets the old wall
- ✓Honest advice when matching isn't worth what it costs
From Your Phone Call To The Last Coat
You call, we ask questions
Ten minutes on the phone tells us whether this is our kind of job. If it isn't, we'll point you at the shop in town that does it better.
We measure and draw it
One visit to measure, then a scale drawing emailed to you with a fixed price and a start date. Changes at this stage are free.
We build it in the shop
Most of the work happens on Woodmere Avenue, not in your living room. Less dust, less disruption, better finish.
We fit it and finish it
Usually two to four days on site. We walk it with you at the end and anything on your list gets done before the final invoice.
What Our Customers Say
We had three quotes for the window seat and the bookcases either side of it. Two of them sent a price. Hallowbeck sent a price, a start date and a drawing showing how the seat lid would open without hitting the trim. That drawing is why we called them back.
The cedar deck they built in 2019 has been through six winters and there is not a lifted board or a popped screw on it. My neighbor's deck went in the same summer from someone cheaper and he has re-screwed it twice.
Our house is from 1910 and every door opening in it is a different size. They rehung five doors and built the casing to match what was already there. Guests cannot tell which doors are new, which is exactly what we asked for.
Have Something You'd Like Built?
Tell us what it is and roughly when you'd like it. We'll be honest about whether we can do it, when, and what it's likely to cost.
Things People Ask Before They Call
How far out are you booked?
It varies through the year — usually six to ten weeks, longer if you want a deck built in spring, because everyone wants a deck built in spring. We put the real date on the quote. If we can't start when you need us we'll say so on the phone rather than let you wait for a quote that was never going to work.
Do you do small jobs?
Yes, and they're some of our favorite work. A sticking door, a rotten sill, three shelves in an awkward alcove — we keep a half-day slot most weeks for exactly this. Small jobs are charged at an hourly rate rather than quoted, which is usually cheaper for you than a fixed price with contingency built in.
What does a built-in actually cost?
A painted alcove bookcase in a straightforward room typically runs in the low thousands; a stain-grade media wall with doors and drawers across a whole wall is a multiple of that. The three things that move it most are on this page — paint grade versus stain grade, how straight the wall is, and who finishes it. We'd rather tell you the range on the phone than have you wait a week to find out.
Do you work with designers and architects?
Often. We're happy to build to someone else's drawings, and we'll flag anything in a drawing that will be a problem in real wood before it's ordered rather than after. If you don't have a designer and the job needs one, we'll tell you that too.
Are you licensed and insured?
Michigan Residential Builder license #2102215487, $2M general liability and workers' compensation on all four carpenters. Certificates go out with every quote — you shouldn't have to ask a contractor for those, and you certainly shouldn't have to chase them.
How far do you travel?
Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties, plus Benzie and Antrim for bigger jobs — Suttons Bay, Leland, Interlochen, Kingsley, Acme and Williamsburg are all regular. Beyond about forty-five minutes the travel starts showing up in the price, and we'll say so rather than quietly adding it.
Tell Us What You'd Like Built
Fill this in or call the shop. Either way you'll speak to a carpenter, not a salesperson, and we'll tell you honestly whether this is a job we're right for.
- Visit us1204 Woodmere Avenue, Traverse City, MI 49686
- Call us(231) 555-0114
- Email usshop@hallowbeckcarpentry.com