Northern Virginia
Carpentry repairs in Arlington County, VA
Arlington is 1940s brick colonials and cape cods on small lots in Lyon Park, Cherrydale and along Columbia Pike, with original wood doors, narrow stairs and plaster walls, next to condo towers in Ballston, Rosslyn and Crystal City. The crew does both, the plane and the profile samples for the old houses, the insurance certificate and the elevator reservation for the buildings.
Or call or text (240) 616-4788. Hours 8 to 6, Monday through Saturday.
Cape cods, plaster walls and condo entries in Arlington
The old houses here have been added on to, and the doors between the original house and the addition are where the trouble is, out of plumb and rubbing. The cape cods have knee wall doors and attic stairs that never had a rail. The condos have fire rated entry doors, bifolds and bypass doors on the closets, and building rules about when the crew can work.
The 1940s houses in Lyon Park and Cherrydale have plaster over wood lath, so a handrail bracket or a new door stop has to hit framing, and a stud finder lies on lath. We find the studs by probing and set every bracket into solid wood. The original doors are mostly solid and worth planing and rehanging rather than replacing.
What we do in Arlington
- Interior door installationPrehung or slab, one door or the whole floor. Hung plumb, latched clean, trimmed and ready for paint.
- Door frame and jamb repairSplit jambs, kicked in frames, strike plates torn out, rotted exterior jambs. Repaired or rebuilt so the door closes like it should.
- Door repairSticking, sagging, swollen or dragging doors. Knobs, latches, hinges and weatherstrip. Fixed in one visit most of the time.
- Storm and screen doorsNew storm doors hung square on brickmould, closers that stop slamming, screens restrung, retractable screens that stick.
- Wood rot and trim repairRotted window sills, door trim, fascia, corner boards and porch posts. Cut out, replaced with rot resistant stock, sealed and painted.
- Stair railingsLoose newel posts, wobbly handrails, missing balusters, new wall rails for a basement stair. Solid, at the height the code asks for.
- Closet doorsBifolds off the track, bypass doors that jump the rail, new shaker bifolds, barn style doors. Hung level, rolling quiet.
- Baseboard and crown moldingBaseboard replaced after a flood or a floor, crown in one room or the whole floor, gaps caulked, corners tight, painted.
Work in DC and Virginia goes to a contractor licensed in that jurisdiction. The license number is on your estimate.
Arlington neighborhoods the crew covers
- Ballston
- Clarendon
- Rosslyn
- Shirlington
- Crystal City
- Columbia Pike
- Cherrydale
- Lyon Park
ZIP codes 22201, 22202, 22203, 22204, 22205, 22206, 22207, 22209.
Arlington door and trim questions
- Can you add a rail to an attic or basement stair in a cape cod?
- Yes. Most of those stairs never had one. We set a wall rail into studs at the height the code asks for, with returns at both ends, in one visit. Narrow stairs get a rail that keeps the clear width.
- Do you work in the Ballston and Crystal City buildings?
- Yes. Send the building's contractor rules. Most want a certificate of insurance and a reserved elevator time, and entry doors stay fire rated, so we repair in place or replace with a labeled unit.
- Does Arlington County need a permit for doors or railings?
- Not for replacing them like for like. Changing an exterior opening or a stair does. We tell you at the estimate if your job needs one.