Serving Matewan and nearby WV communities
Fences, gates and small outdoor structures in Matewan have to be set into ground that has been underwater and will hold water again. How the posts go in is most of whether the thing is still standing in ten years.
We'll reach out to schedule a look.
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Carpentry work we've completed around Williamson — photos going up as jobs are finished.
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Jack Smith
4 months ago
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
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.
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.
Kaleb Withrow
3 weeks ago
Fair price, showed up on time, tidy work. No complaints.
Send a few photos and we'll tell you what it'll take — free written quote, no pressure.
The failure we get called out to fix is nearly always the same: posts set straight into soil at too shallow a depth, with the excavated dirt packed back around them. In ground that drains, that is merely mediocre. In ground that saturates, it is a few years and then a lean.
Gate and fence posts set for saturating ground
Gates that stay square on a lot that is not level
Small outdoor structures built to be dried out
Steps and landings between changing levels
Repairs to existing fences rather than full replacement
What you get when Mackwood does your general home carpentry — and what we won't do.
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From first call to finished work — no surprises in between.
Step 1
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
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
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 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.
We'll come and look, then tell you straight — including if it isn't worth doing.
Straight answers to what we get asked most.
Usually depth and drainage rather than the timber. Posts set shallow with the dirt packed back around them sit in water in ground like this. Proper depth, gravel at the base so water leaves, and material rated for ground contact is the difference.
Almost certainly not — the gate is usually fine and the hinge post has moved. Re-hanging it on a post that is still moving means doing it twice, so we would sort the post first.
Yes, and there are two approaches that look quite different from each other. Worth deciding at the quote rather than finding out which one you have.
Depends what the posts are doing. Sound posts with tired boards is a repair worth making. Posts that have gone at ground level along the whole run is usually a replacement, and we will say which you have.
About twenty minutes from Williamson down WV-49 along the Tug Fork. It's one of the closest towns we cover, so scheduling is easy and a second trip for material isn't a problem.
It affects staging more than anything — where material gets dropped and how far it's carried. It doesn't change the work itself. We'd rather see it before quoting so the time is in the number.
Frequently, yes. On anything that took water, the damage tends to show up low and late — sill plates, joist ends, the bottoms of door frames and porch posts. It's worth checking those before assuming a problem is only cosmetic.
We handle general home carpentry across Williamson and the surrounding West Virginia communities.
The full picture
Most people are buying a result, not a list of tasks. Pick a topic to see what we look at before quoting in Matewan.
Setting them properly means depth appropriate to the height being carried, gravel at the base so water leaves rather than standing against the end grain, and material actually rated for ground contact rather than whatever was on the rack.
It costs a little more per post at the time. It is the entire difference between a gate you adjust occasionally and a gate you rebuild.
Fences fail quietly, but a gate reports immediately — it stops latching, drags on the ground, or swings on its own. Almost always the gate itself is fine and the hinge post has moved.
So the fix is at the post rather than at the gate, and re-hanging a gate on a post that is still moving is work that has to be done again. We will tell you which you have before quoting.
On a lot that is not level, a gate also has to be built for the slope it swings over. There are two ways to handle that and they look quite different, so it is worth deciding rather than discovering.
The old town has narrow lots, houses on the street and often no driveway, which means material gets carried and there is rarely anywhere to leave a trailer. For small outdoor work that is manageable and it does affect the day.
Matewan is about twenty minutes from Williamson down WV-49, so a return trip for a forgotten fixing is not the problem it would be further out.
If several small things need doing, get them onto one list. The travel is the same for one job as for five.
Matewan is a small, dense town on the Tug Fork with a historic commercial core and housing that runs mostly to early 20th century wood-framed homes, many of them built during the coal boom on narrow lots close to the street. Front porches are near universal on this stock. Because the buildable ground is so limited between the river and the hillside, houses sit tight together and additions were built where there was room rather than where a plan would have put them.
Matewan's defining condition is water. The 1977 Tug Fork flood devastated the town, and the Corps of Engineers floodwall that now protects the downtown was built in response. Properties outside the wall, and anything that predates it, carry the history of repeated inundation in their framing — sill plates, joist ends, and the bottom courses of exterior walls are where that shows up as rot years later.
The old town lots are narrow and many sit directly on the street with no driveway, so material gets carried and there is often nowhere to stage a trailer. Work near the floodwall and in the historic core needs more care about where things get parked and stacked. It is a twenty-minute run from Williamson, so returning for a second load is not the problem it would be further out.
Tell us what you're building or repairing and get a clear, no-pressure quote. Free quotes, honest answers, and craftsmanship built to last.
