Maryland
Carpentry repairs in Howard County, MD
Howard County is home. The truck starts in Clarksville, so a sticking door in Columbia or a rotted sill in Ellicott City is a short drive and usually the first slot of the day. Small jobs get grouped, so one visit can cover a closet door off its track, a loose newel and the storm door closer that slams.
Or call or text (240) 616-4788. Hours 8 to 6, Monday through Saturday.
Doors and trim in Columbia and Ellicott City houses
The Columbia villages from the 70s and 80s have the original hollow core doors, most of them painted shut at the hinges, and split foyers with a wobbly rail on the half flight. The newer houses off Route 32 and in Maple Lawn get MDF trim that swells at the garage entry and doors that drop at the top hinge around year ten.
Columbia village houses in Wilde Lake, Oakland Mills and Long Reach were built with flat hollow core doors and a flimsy stop. Swapping a floor of them for six panel solid core doors is the most common whole house job we do in the county, and the openings are standard sizes, so it goes in one long day.
What we do in Howard
- 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.
Every job is done by a contractor licensed with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC). The license number is on your estimate.
Where the crew works in Howard County
- Columbia
- Ellicott City
- Clarksville
- Fulton
- Elkridge
- Laurel
- Glenelg
- Highland
ZIP codes 21029, 21044, 21045, 21042, 21043, 21075, 21046, 21723.
Howard County door and trim questions
- Do I need a permit to replace doors or trim in Howard County?
- No. Swapping a door, a railing or trim like for like needs no county permit. Changing the size of an exterior opening does. Howard County Inspections, Licenses and Permits handles those, and we tell you before the estimate if your job crosses that line.
- How fast can someone come out?
- Howard County jobs usually get a slot within two business days because the shop is in Clarksville. Text a photo and we can tell you the same day whether it is a one visit job.
- Can you do all the doors in a Columbia townhouse at once?
- Yes. A three level townhouse has eight to ten doors and they go in one long day as slabs, with a short second stop for paint. Most owners do the bedroom level first and the rest when the budget allows.