Thank you for your visiting at firstcarpentry.com. If you have any questions for your project, please send me an e-mail with brief information(dimensions, painting or stain, etc.) and/or some pictures for your project as well as your name & area of your house. My working area is limited depending on distance. I can answer most of your questions including a rough estimate by mail. Your e-mail will be answered in the evening on the same day in most of cases after I work. During daytime I am at the job site, please call my cell at 972-849-1751. To send me e-mail, please copy & paste my e-mail address, lee@firstcarpentry.com and use your own e-mail.

My name is M.H. Lee. Please call me Lee (I am Korean). Since 1986, I have been working as a professional carpenter in Dallas, TX.

Note: Please feel free to contact me without any obligation. After I send you an estimate by e-mail, I don't contact you until you reply. This website does not contain any harmful virus & spyware and it's ISP is AT&T. If your project is kind of urgent, please call me to check my schedule. Sometimes are very busy, sometimes no job. Same day service is available if I don't have any schedule. I do most of estimates on Saturday or after work (late afternoon) during weekdays. Please feel free to contact me on weekends or evening time.      

Special Note about Custom Built-Ins: Recently, I have been receiving many inquiries about custom built-ins for bookshelf, TV entertainment center, etc. Before you ask me for an estimate, please read the following:

1. Any custom built-ins are very time consuming projects regardless of the size. It means very expensive. For example, bookshelf, size 8'L x 12"D x 8'H, all open shelves, very simple design, the cost of carpentry only, unfinished, would be more than minimum $2500 including installation and it will take 3 to 4 days. Finish (stain or painting) will be another minimum $1500. It also takes another 3 to 4 days (sanding, stain or prime, sanding again & 2 finish coats). So total cost (carpentry & finish) would be more than $4000 min. It is about $500 min. per lf. If you add doors, drawers, decorative design, etc., it will add to more of the cost.

2. Built-in is only 1 piece built for you, not mass production.

3. Most of pre-made ones are less than the cost of material and good quality.

4. Advantage of custom built-in is size. It fits into your space, wall to wall & floor to ceiling per your specifications.

5. It should be much better to buy pre-made ones instead of custom built if possible.

6. If you need custom built-ins, please let me know with some information (size, stain or painting, cabinet doors, drawers, special features and couple of pictures of the space). If you already have painters, you can use them for finish.

7. I am a mobile carpenter. I set up all carpentry tools and build everything at the job site. If you want to change the design or something, it is very easy and convenience.  You will see all progress from start to finish. Before starting, I protect your floors and stuffs.

The jobs I do: Most of Carpentry & Painting, Home Repairs & Remodeling, Interior & Exterior Trim, Windows & Doors, Decks, Railing, Siding, Built-In Cabinetry, Tile, Kitchen & Bath Remodeling/Repair, Etc.

• I will show up on time as promised unless I inform you in advance.
• I will not skip any working days until I finish your project without prior notice.
• I will follow all of basic procedure with my best knowledge and manufacturer's instruction.
• I use top quality material, i.e., straight lumber, quality paint,  caulk/over 35 years, etc., unless otherwise stated.
• If you don't have a specific idea for your project, I will perform with my best knowledge.
• Please understand that repair/remodeling cost more and take longer than new construction.
• I usually work from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. In case of 1 or 2 days job, if I am allowed to extend hours, I would like to work until  I finish instead of coming back on next day.
• I try to work more hours to shorten the number of working days. Construction is messy and bothers all of your family.
• I will protect your property from dust and scratches on floor as much as possible.
• I will keep job site as clean as possible.
• I am very well equipped with quality tools.
• I am a professional carpenter with common sense. If you are not satisfied with my personality and/or job performance, please let me know. I will correct it  immediately.
• I used to be a mechanical engineer for Dong-Ah Engineering & Construction in Seoul, Korea. Dong-Ah is one of world leading construction companies, which has built US$ 8 billion in the Middle East.
• Terms of Payment: 50% down and 50% upon completion or as agreed.
• I don't take any inside pictures of the occupied homes for the protection of my clients. So most of pictures in my website are exterior. I do lots of interior remodeling & repairs (50% interior & 50% exterior).

1. Exterior Carpentry Repair & Painting (Walnut Hill & Bodecker, Dallas)

• Job start: 10/2011

• Scope of Works: Repair/replace all rotten fascia board & soffit, protection, sanding, clean, caulking, spot prime on bare wood, painting

• Kitchen cabinet painting: Sanding entire surface, replaced all hinges

• This job took about 4 weeks (1 week for kitchen cabinet painting and 3 weeks for ext. carpentry repair & painting).

2. Radius Windows Trim Replacement with PVC & Flexible Radius Molding (Stonebriar, Frisco, TX)

• Start 08/02/2011
• Windows trim & bottom sills are rotten by the water.
• Replaced windows all wood trim (brick mold) & sills with PVC (straight pieces) & polymer molding (flexible molding for top radius trim), and bottom sills with pressure treated lumber.
• Radius trim (flexible molding) is special order made, which will take about 2 weeks. It is life time guarantee material (polymer) and stronger & more durable than PVC & composite. Radius molding is not mass production. It is made individually per order, radius & length. So it is expensive, $12.00 per ft (about $96 for 8' long).

 3. Exterior Windows Trim Replacement (Coit & Hedgecoxe, Plano)

•  7/26/11 to 7/28/11, 3 days
• Replaced windows wood trim with Hardie cement trim (water damage), Total 7 windows. Half circle trim (1 piece): Made with 2 layers of 5/16"thick Hardie cement sheet
• Scope of Works: Removal of old trim, Installation of Hardie trim, Water seal (heavy/nice bead of caulking with Sherwin Williams A950, 55 years) & Painting
• Applied heavy caulking before installation of trim on the back, then caulking again after installation (very time consuming). This method will last very long without separation of caulking.
• Total cost of material & labor: $2,230.00
• I forgot taking pictures of painting.
• Painting: Repaired area only (touch up) and paint was provided by home owner.
• Even touch up paint is same as original left over from the previous painting job (2 years ago), at the edge of siding and trim, there is very little color difference showing because of color fading and dirt on the siding. It will take sometime to be the same.
• Any touch up painting: We need to understand very little color variations between old and new painting due to aging even though it is same paint. Interior does not show much than the exterior.

4. Exterior Carpentry Repair for Door & Window (Mockingbird & Greenville area, Dallas)

• 4/05/11 to 4/07/11

• Repair/replace all rotten frame of door & window, water seal, then touch up painting

• This job took 3 days (approx. 30 hours). Cost: $2,100.00

• All of damages have been caused by water penetration and aging.

• This kind of job requires a lot of heavy duty carpentry tools.

5. Built-in Cabinetry: Master Closet (Frisco)

• Job started: 3/22/11 and finished 4/01/11

• Some pictures are on the top, right side. I started from the vacant room, but I took the pictures in the middle of job.

• My job was to do "Build all cabinet, face frame, some drawers (boxes only), some adjustable shelves & crown molding. It was helping a friend of mine, who is a contractor for this project. 

• Room size: Approx. 16' x 16', 3 side walls with cabinets

• Total 16 cabinets (approx. 3'w x 7'h x 16" & 24"d each piece) including island.

• Material: Furniture grade 3/4" plywood (formaldehyde free material), solid oak for face frame & crown molding for stain later.

• This is the same procedure & material for built-in bookcases or any built-ins

• Any type of built-ins are very expensive because of material & very time consuming labor. The prices of furniture and cabinets in the stores are mostly less than the cost of material. These are mass production & bulk material purchasing. You would better buy if there is something in the stores you can use instead of custom built-ins. But if you need custom built-ins for your house, please let me know. I will visit your house very quickly and discuss with you. Or if you send a brief information & rough plan (type of finish: painting or stain, width, height, depth, drawers, doors, etc.) as much as you can, It does not need to be detailed yet. I can give you a ball park estimate by the email very quickly (1 or 2 days) unless they need any special order hardware or material. I reply most of emails on the same day (evening & night time) after work. As I am a mobile carpenter, I set up all the carpentry tools at the job site and build everything. So you can see all the progress, workmanship, material and you can change or add anytime with ease. I keep my job site clean as much as possible.  

6. Replace Front Door, Siding & Framing (Royal Ln & Greenville Area): Top Pictures

• Job started: 3/22/10 (Monday), Scheduled finish: 4/09/10 (3 weeks). This job is being delayed due to the job of concrete re-finish of front steps. This job is finished completely on 4/14/10.

• Scope of works: Replace whole front (in & out), 8' x 26'H, siding, drywall, framing, doors & finish (in & out)

• The weight of new front door is about 520 lbs, special order made, walnut, 42"w x 96'h x 2-1/4"t & side, factory pre-finished (Standard front door is 36"w x 80"h x 1-3/4"t.)

• In order to install a very heavy, tall & wide front door, first I had to build very strong framing. All 2x6 studs & 2x12 header were fastened all together with 5" lag screws (3 studs at each side) and leveled & plumbed almost perfectly. This kind of jobs should be done in one time because adjustment or fine tuning of heavy door is very difficult. In general, most of painting grade or unfinished doors are fairly easy to install because I don't need to worry about scratches too much during the installation. During this door installation, we (3 carpenters) could not wear the tool belt and we wrapped our pants belt buckles with thick rags to prevent them from any scratches. If the surface is once scratched accidently, it is almost impossible to fix until whole door set is refinished. This door jambs were pre-finished with stain. So to secure the jambs into the house frame, 4 of 1/2" dia. x 5/16" deep holes on each side jamb were to be made on outside jamb to place 3" screws because there are no invisible spots to secure the jamb in the frame. There is some space at door hinge side to hide screws, where is behind weather strip, but none at fixed side lite. Also the space behind weather strip at door side is not enough to withstand the weight of door. These holes will be plugged with the same walnut. All of holes are equally spaced on both jambs.

• A door set was delivered on 4/09 (Friday) morning, 8:30 and installed successfully around 5:00pm.

• Built solid framing (3'H) above the door for anchoring the large size of metal awning (11' x 5'). So awning company can use any surface for anchoring the heavy and large awning.

• From Monday (4/12/10), siding, trim & painting will start. Then I will place some more pictures.

• The cost of this job is about $9,500 without a door set.

7. Outdoor Upstairs Deck Railing (Royal Ln & Greenville Area)

• Job started: 2/15/10 (Monday), Scheduled finish: 2/27/10 (2 weeks)

• This job is finished as scheduled on 2/26/10. Sometime in April, I will paint this rail and then I will place some more pictures.

• It is about $8,000.00.

• Basic concept: Matching house siding (Cedar siding, rustic looking, painting same color of house, not much fancy)

• Strongest posts as much as possible from the given situation, half lap joints with glue & screws instead of miter for stronger jointing between boards

• All posts were bolted into the house frame ledger board (2x12) with glue, not into roof decking. See one of pictures inside garage.

• Material: Pressure treated lumber with cement trim board (Hardie) for wrapping 4x4 posts. I tried to use Trex Decking railing material (composite) instead of pressure treated, but unfortunately, I don't have a confidence about painting whether composite material takes paint well or not. PVC takes paint very well, but composite may not. They are supposed to be used "As Is" pre-finished. It needs to be painted same as house color.

• I will place more pictures as job goes.

• On 4/16/10, all painting was completed (last picture in the group).

• I am doing this job with one of the best carpenters (Philip) from England who I've met for more than my 20 years carpentry (See one of pictures of this project.). He is a fine furniture wood working carpenter and he has an associate degree of carpentry from England. He is a very valuable asset for our community and not an ordinary carpenter we can find around us. I wish every body likes his hardworking and talent. He has very good common sense and personality. Now he is working for me, but sooner or later, he will be a carpentry contractor in Dallas like me.

8. Bay Window Trim & Siding Replacement

• It was 2 days job.  
• Removed all of cedar trim and siding (rot).
• Replaced w/Hardie cement trim and siding.
• Painting (Home owner provided paint.)
• Total Material & Labor: $1,280.00

9. Exterior Siding Replacement, White Rock Lake area, Dallas, TX

• Started on 2/19/08 and to be finished by 2/29/08.

• Job is being delayed because more damage in framing was found. It should be completed by 3/07/08.

• This job (carpentry only) was completed on 3/08/09.

• Old siding (composite material), sheathing & framing was damaged by termite & water.

• New siding: Cement Fiberboard

• Some pictures are on the right in this page and in the "Project".

 Project: Greentree Apt. Garland, TX

• Greentree Apartments, Jupiter Rd. Garland, TX
• Started on 1/22/07
• Finished on 8/02/07  
• Scope of Works: Exterior Carpentry Repairs & Painting
• 200 Units(17 buildings)
• Please click "Project" for some pictures.

Charleston Square: Sep. 2006 - Dec. 2006

• Charleston Square/4121 McKinney Ave, Dallas, TX
• Started on 9/11/06
• Scope of Works: Exterior Carpentry Repair (Trim Repair & Replacement)
• 54 Units of 3 Story Condominiums
• Please See "Project" for Current Progress & Pictures.

The Jobs I finished(1997 -1999)

• 511 Akard, Downtown, Dallas (Model house for high rise condos)
• 60 units of condos(5100 Martel, Dallas))
• 48 units of luxury condos(4040 Avondale, Dallas)
• 20 units of condos (University crossing, Dallas)

References

• BPMI: Management company for Turtle Creek area condos
• Lakewood Country Club (Gaston & Abrams), Dallas
• Owens or Kathy Litz (Spring Park, Garland)
• Jill Honeyman, Inwood & N.W. Hwy, Dallas
• General Electric, Euless, TX
• Mr. Tom Hicks, Walnut Hill & Toll Way, Dallas
• Mr. Bruno, Willow Bend, Plano
• Mr. Charles Crocker
• Dallas Zoo Gift Shop
• Oklahoma Aquarium Gift Shop, Tulsa, OK
• Extreme Pizza, 6112 Luther St. Dallas (Preston & N.W. Hwy)

Quality Work!  Your Satisfaction Guaranteed!

Certificate Of Liability Insurance(11/30/2013 - 11/30/2014)

  Please click to see

JOB REFERENCES (Please click to see.)