Brendan Carpenter Custom Furniture and Finishes — Local services in Startex

They don't make craftsmen like Brendan Carpenter and his team anymore. I can’t recommend Brendan highly enough. He's an expert in his craft and he had great communication with us throughout our project. He stuck to his timeline and didn't run over. He told us two-weeks and he was done in two weeks with phenomenal results. We felt like he was honest and transparent throughout the entire process. He never tried to up-sell us, but he gave his honest opinion if we were cutting ourselves short or over-extending ourselves based on the pros & cons of every step of the project. His pricing was what you'd expect from a great local business: honest work for an honest price.

Brendan left his normal territory in S.C. and made the trek to Charlotte, NC to give our kitchen a face lift.

Our kitchen cabinets & drawers were the originals from 1986, with exposed hinges and rickety drawer slides. However, we didn't want to replace them with new cabinets like most contractors would have tried to sell us. These were good 1980's oak cabinets, and we knew they were great quality, we just needed them re-finished to bring them up-to-date. We concurrently remodeled our kitchen right before Brendan showed up with a new range; we moved it out of the center island and into one of the perimeter counters, which required a new hood and required us to reconfigure the island.

The new counter configurations with the new range & hood required a few new drawers and cabinetry to be custom outfitted. Brendan and his team came in and crafted new draws and some new cabinets from scratch while also stripping, sanding, and re-finishing the existing cabinets. He made everything to match, and the finished product looks so bright, clean, and new. He replaced the old cabinet hinges with hidden, soft-close hinges, and he replaced all of the old rickety drawer slides with ball-bearing, self-closing slides. They close so softly and quietly, and you can’t see the new hinges at all. He also finished a custom hood over top of the new cook top we had installed. The new painted hood looks phenomenal and integrates seamlessly into the re-finished cabinetry. He custom build a new trashcan drawer, which slides in and out and stores our kitchen trashcan more neatly. He reconfigured the island that held the old range to receive a new wine fridge and microwave drawer. He also included sliding shelves which pull out of all the lower cabinets. This added a LOT more storage utility to our kitchen because it avoids the old junk getting stuffed into the back of regular cabinet shelves and forgotten. Now that we can pull out the shelves in our cabinets, we use everything much more efficiently.

Hire Brendan. He’s the best carpenter in the entirety of the Carolina's that I know...

I would not recommend Brendan for any work. He refinished an end table for me, but only did the top. I had gotten an estimate from him for which he only gave me for the top of the table. I emailed him I wanted the whole table done, to which he said the damage was only to the top and it was all that needed done. I told him I wanted the whole table to match and an estimate for the whole table. He gave me an estimate on his letterhead saying 'Refinish entire end table' $325.00. I was told initially the charge for estimate would be $125.00. He did only charge $75.00 for the estimate which would be deducted from total. I dropped the table off with a copy of the letterhead quote for the whole table. I wrote minus $75.00 for estimate, balance owed $250.00. He was not there when I dropped it off, so I explained it to his associate. I picked up the table and the charge was only $120.00. I wondered if he changed the amount kinda like he changed the estimate price and took the table home. He was not there when I picked it up. first thing my husband said when he saw it in the truck was, "Why didn't he do the whole table?' Then I understood. I tried to call him all evening, busy signal.Called him next morning and asked why he didn't refinish the entire table. He said he was trying to save me money.I told him I had left the printed estimate saying "Refinish entire end table' and had discussed with him that I wanted the table to match and had been re-imbursed to have the entire table done. Again all he said was he was trying to save me money. That was not his call! He didn't even do the lip around the top of the table which had a small nick in it. I told him about that and he said bring it back and would fix it. No apology, no curtesy. I told him I was done with him. He's hard to deal with, hard to get in touch with, no sense of customer service. I had hope to take an antique piece to have refinished, but I'll not take anything to him ever again. Maybe small pieces are not his thing. He sure has alot to learn in dealing...

We bought our home 3.5 years ago and it was a little dated. The kitchen cabinets were pale yellow and the island and area above the stove were distressed black. The paint and glaze behind a lot of the pulls/knobs were worn and sad looking. We contacted Brendan after following his work for about a year on facebook. We loved what we saw and the reviews were great! In April of this year we decided to "go for it" and update the paint in the kitchen AND our master bath! The process from start to finish took a few weeks. Brendan came and took the doors from the cabinetry and refinished them in his workshop. The rest of the cabinetry had to be finished on site. We chose a beautiful and timeless cream color for the cabinets and a very dark/deep navy blue for the island and area above the stove. Our kitchen looks completely like new! Brendan took us through EVERYTHING step-by-step so there's would be no surprises. We even went to his workshop to see the paint colors ON the doors before he proceeded to paint them all! He also replaced our leaded glass china cabinet doors with an updated design! Brendan and his team were extremely easy to work with and very professional and fun! This is a man who takes pride in his craft! We highly recommend him for your cabinets and have seen the beautiful work he does...