Custom closets in Logan tend to start with what is stored under the house. A lot of Logan's older houses have a cellar or a part-height space below, and almost everyone uses it. The trouble is that much of what ends up down there belongs in a closet upstairs, and that closet is rarely fitted out to take it.
Had them out after the back steps started going soft underfoot. He came and looked properly before quoting anything, and told me the structure underneath was still sound — so it ended up a smaller job than I had braced myself for. Turned up when he said he would, cleaned up after himself, and the price at the end was the price we agreed. Not much more you can ask for.
Owner replied
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Skyler White
9 months ago
Called on a Tuesday and had someone out the same week. What I appreciated most was being told straight what needed doing now and what could safely wait until spring. No pressure and no trying to talk me into the bigger version of the job. It has held up fine through the winter since.
T
Trevor Alford
2 months ago
The quote came through itemised and the final bill matched it, which has honestly not been my experience with everyone around here. They worked around an awkward driveway without once making it my problem, and left the place tidier than they found it. Would have them back.
K
Kaleb Withrow
3 weeks ago
Fair price, showed up on time, tidy work. No complaints.
Sample reviews shown for illustration.
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These houses were built on block or stone piers with an open or part-enclosed space below, and that space is cool, dark and useful. It is also in direct contact with ground that stays wet — hillside runoff off the slopes behind the houses keeps it damp long after the weather clears.
Closet shelving upstairs for what should never go below
Pantry shelving for canning jars, below or in the kitchen
Cellar shelving on feet or hung off the framing
Standoffs from masonry so air moves behind every shelf
Heavier stock and shorter spans for utility loads
Why Choose Mackwood Construction?
What you get when Mackwood does your custom closets — and what we won't do.
Free written quote, itemised before anything starts
We get underneath and look properly before quoting — not from the kerb
We'll tell you straight if a repair isn't worth doing
Based in Williamson — Mingo and Logan counties, about an hour out
Straight answers on permits, which differ either side of the county line
Built for this climate: drainage, flashing and ground contact done right
From first call to finished work — no surprises in between.
Step 1
Tell us about the project
Call, text, or send a message with what you're looking to build or repair. No form to fill in and no call centre — it comes straight to us, and you'll get a real answer about whether it's something we do.
Step 2
Send photos or schedule a look
A few photos are often enough to tell us what we're dealing with. Where it isn't — anything structural, anything hidden underneath — we'll come out and look properly before quoting rather than guessing from the kerb.
Step 3
Get a clear quote
You get a written quote that itemises the work, so you can see what you're paying for and what you aren't. If we think part of it isn't worth doing, we'll say so. No pressure and no surprises at the end.
Step 4
We build it right
We turn up when we said we would, work clean, and haul the offcuts away with us. The job gets built to last in this climate — and we'll walk it with you before we call it finished.
Not sure what your custom closet needs?
We'll come and look, then tell you straight — including if it isn't worth doing.
Yes, if nothing touches the floor and nothing touches the walls. Shelving on feet or hung off the framing, held clear of masonry so air moves behind it, is what makes the difference between storing things and slowly ruining them.
What should go in a closet instead?
Paper, photographs, documents, clothes, bedding and anything upholstered. Those come up into the house, and refitting a closet is usually what makes room for them. Sealed plastic tubs, glass and painted or treated timber cope fine below.
Why do my shelves down there sag when the closet shelves do not?
Because what goes on them is heavier — jars, paint and hardware rather than clothes. Utility shelving wants shorter spans and thicker stock, and it needs to be fixed into framing rather than into plugs in block.
The only way in is a small hatch. Is that a problem?
No, it decides how it is built. Sections sized to what fits through, assembled below. It is a common arrangement in these houses.
Do you actually come out to Logan, or just Williamson?
Logan is a regular run for us — about 40 minutes from Williamson on US-119. It's well inside the hour we cover, and we're in Logan County often enough that it isn't a special trip.
Is a permit different in Logan County than in Mingo County?
It can be. Logan County and Mingo County administer permitting and inspection separately, so the same job can have different requirements depending which side of the line you're on. Structural work is the case where it matters most. We'll tell you what applies before we start rather than after.
My house is up a hollow with a narrow drive. Is that a problem?
No, it's normal here. It affects what we can haul in one trip and how long material handling takes, not whether the job can be done. We'd rather see the access before quoting so the number accounts for it.
Most people are buying a result, not a list of tasks. Pick a topic to see what we look at before quoting in Logan.
More on closet & shelving work in Logan
So the first job is deciding what goes where. Anything that minds damp comes up into the house, and a custom closet with a double-hang, a shelf stack and a top shelf to the ceiling makes room for it. What copes with damp can stay below, on shelving built for the conditions.
Getting that split right is the difference between a cellar that stores things for years and one that ruins them quietly over a winter.
What belongs in a closet, not down there
It is worth being blunt about this, because most of what gets ruined was avoidable. Cardboard wicks and collapses. Paper, photographs and documents should not be under the house at all. Fabric and anything upholstered will hold a smell it never loses. Tools without a coat of oil will rust even in a space that feels dry to stand in.
All of that goes in the house. Documents and photographs want a closet shelf at head height, and clothes and bedding want the hanging space and shelving a closet is built for. A closet with one rod and one shelf wastes most of its height, so refitting it is often what makes room for things that have been living below.
What copes down there is plastic tubs with sealing lids, glass, treated or painted timber, and anything metal used often enough to stay maintained. Canning is the traditional use of these spaces for good reason. We will build shelving for whatever you want to keep below; we would rather tell you what the space will do to it first.
Loads, hatches, and the run from Williamson
Cellar shelving carries far more than closet shelving. Canning jars, paint, tools and boxes of hardware are heavy, and a span that copes with folded shirts will bow under them within a year. So spans stay short, stock gets heavier, and everything is fastened into framing rather than masonry plugs. Nothing touches the floor and nothing touches the walls.
Access to these spaces is often a low door or a hatch, which decides how the shelving gets built — in sections, sized to what fits through, assembled below. Upstairs, closet material comes in as boards and gets cut in the room.
Logan is about forty minutes from Williamson on US-119, a regular run rather than a special trip. Up the hollows off Island Creek and Mud Fork the driveways get steep, which changes how long the day takes rather than the price of the carpentry.
Homes around Logan
Logan's housing runs heavily to early-to-mid 20th century stock built when the coal operations were at their peak — company-built houses in town and up the hollows, most of them wood-framed on block or stone piers rather than a poured perimeter foundation. Nearly all of them have a covered front porch, because that was standard on the pattern. Those porches were framed with untreated lumber and set close to grade, which is the single biggest reason porch work is the most common carpentry call in this county.
What we see locally
Logan sits at the confluence of the Guyandotte River and Island Creek, and the town has a long, documented flood history — the 1977 Guyandotte flood is still the benchmark locally. Repeated wetting is what drives the rot we see: sill plates, porch posts, joist ends, and the bottoms of exterior door frames. Add hillside runoff coming off the slopes behind the houses and you get wood that stays damp long after the weather clears.
Getting to the job
Town lots in Logan are tight and often sit right on the street, so material gets carried rather than backed in. Up the hollows off Island Creek and Mud Fork the roads narrow and the driveways get steep, which limits trailer size and means longer carries. None of that changes the price of the carpentry — it changes how long the day takes, and we allow for it in the quote rather than discovering it on arrival.
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