Serving Holden and nearby WV communities
Holden's camp houses have a half storey above with sloping ceilings, and the triangle of space behind those slopes — the knee wall — is the largest unused volume in the house. In most of them nothing has ever been done with it.
We'll reach out to schedule a look.
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Shelving 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.
Where the roof slope meets the upstairs floor there is a void running the length of the house on both sides, usually a couple of feet high at the wall and tapering to nothing. It is inside the building, it is dry if the roof is sound, and it is generally accessible only through a small hatch if at all.
Knee-wall storage with doors or pull-out drawers
Attic access improved where the space is usable
Insulation checked before anything is closed back up
Shelving in back rooms and utility spaces
Storage placed away from the damp uphill wall
What you get when Mackwood does your shelving & storage — 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.
A void running the length of the house, a couple of feet high at the wall and tapering to nothing. It is the largest unused volume in most of these houses and in most of them nothing has ever been done with it.
Drawers on runners where the budget allows, because they bring the contents out to you instead of making you crawl into a tapering space. Doors are cheaper and work for things you rarely need.
Yes — it is the one time it is easy to get at, and in houses of this age it is often thin, slumped or stopping short at the eaves. We frame it so it can be dealt with properly rather than closing it up over the problem.
The wall facing the hill. The ground behind these houses holds water and that wall stays damper than the rest. Interior partitions are drier and easier to fix into.
Usually, and Holden is the best case for it. The houses were built to standard patterns, so the profile you need is generally still visible on the same street. Where something genuinely can't be sourced we'll show you the nearest option rather than substituting quietly.
Quite possibly. These houses were built the same way at the same time on the same ground, so they tend to reach the same failures together. It's worth a look underneath before it becomes urgent.
It's the normal situation in the camps and it's usually the side the work is on. It affects access and how long material handling takes, not whether the repair can be done properly.
We handle shelving & storage 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 Holden.
Opened up and fitted with proper access it becomes real storage — low doors along the wall, or drawers on runners pulling out into the room, which suits the shape better because they bring the contents to you rather than making you crawl in.
Because these houses were built to repeating patterns, the space is much the same house to house. Once we have done one, the next is quicker to work out.
The knee wall is one of the few places where the insulation of a house of this age is genuinely visible, and opening it up for storage is the one time it will be easy to get at.
Frequently there is very little there, or it has slumped, or it stops short at the eaves. None of that is our trade to correct beyond framing it so it can be done, but it is worth knowing about while the space is open rather than after the doors are on.
Storage in that void also wants to be on the warm side of any insulation that does exist, or the things kept there go through the same temperature swings the roof does.
About forty-five minutes from Williamson, US-119 to WV-44, on narrow streets with limited room to stage material. Shelving suits that — boards in, offcuts out, no heavy delivery.
One thing specific to these houses: keep storage off the uphill wall where the ground behind the house holds water. The interior partitions are drier and easier to fix into.
Because the layouts repeat, if a neighbour has had the same work done we can usually tell you what to expect before quoting.
Holden is a planned coal town rather than a town that grew, and it shows in the housing more clearly than anywhere else we work. Island Creek Coal built these houses to a small number of standard patterns across the numbered camps, which means whole streets share a floor plan, a porch detail, and a foundation type. For carpentry that is genuinely useful: once we have seen the failure on one of them we know where to look on the next, and matching original trim and porch detail is realistic because the pattern is documented by the houses around it.
These houses are approaching a century old and were built with untreated framing on block and stone piers, set into hillside sites where drainage was designed for the coal operation rather than for the houses. Water coming off the slope behind a house is the constant, and the damage concentrates at the back and the low side — sill plates, joist bearings, and the porch structure where it steps down the grade. The uniformity that helps us diagnose also means the whole street tends to arrive at the problem together.
About forty-five minutes from Williamson, US-119 to WV-44. The camps sit up off the main road on narrow streets that were laid out for the era, so the approach is tighter than the drive suggests and there is limited room to stage material. Houses set into the hillside also mean the working side is often the awkward side, which affects the day rather than the price of the carpentry.
Tell us what you're building or repairing and get a clear, no-pressure quote. Free quotes, honest answers, and craftsmanship built to last.
