The story behind Craftwork Renovations

Daniel Mercer started Craftwork Renovations in 2014 after spending eight years as a finish carpenter and project supervisor for a larger general contractor in the Portland metro area. He'd watched too many renovation jobs get handed off between subcontractors who'd never met each other, with homeowners left to figure out who was responsible for what. He wanted to build something smaller and more accountable, where the person who gave you the estimate was the same person checking the work at the end of every week. The first year, it was Daniel and one other carpenter, mostly bathroom remodels and flooring jobs in Southeast Portland.

The business grew steadily through referrals. By 2018, Craftwork had a crew of five and had taken on its first full kitchen renovation in the Sellwood neighborhood, a 1940s bungalow where the original layout had never been touched. That project set the tone for a lot of what followed: careful work on older homes, matching existing trim and flooring profiles, treating the original house as a starting point rather than an obstacle. The woodshop side of the operation grew out of necessity. When you can't find the right door casing or window surround at a lumber yard, you make it. The in-house millwork capability now handles custom cabinet components, built-in shelving, and period-accurate trim for restoration projects.

Today, Craftwork Renovations works on kitchens, bathrooms, basements, decks, and whole-house renovation projects across the Portland metro area, including Lake Oswego, Beaverton, and Gresham. The crew is eight people, most of whom have been with the company for at least three years. Daniel still walks every job at the start and end of each week. The work is not the fastest or the cheapest in the market, and that's a deliberate choice. The goal has always been to do the kind of work that holds up, that the next owner of the house will appreciate, and that the crew is proud to put their name on.