Matewan's houses are tall and narrow on tight lots, which puts the stair in the middle of everything. There is rarely room to change where it goes, so the work here is nearly always about making the stair that exists safer and better to use.
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.
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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.
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Kaleb Withrow
3 weeks ago
Fair price, showed up on time, tidy work. No complaints.
See something like yours?
Send a few photos and we'll tell you what it'll take — free written quote, no pressure.
Where a house is too narrow for a straight flight with a landing, the stair turns on winder treads — wedge-shaped steps that pivot the run through ninety or a hundred and eighty degrees. It is an efficient use of space and it is where most of the awkwardness in these stairs lives.
Winder treads reset to a consistent walking line
Rise evened across a full flight
Handrails carried continuously round a turn
Original newels and balusters repaired in place
Front steps from street level rebuilt
Why Choose Mackwood Construction?
What you get when Mackwood does your stairs & railings — 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 stairs & railing needs?
We'll come and look, then tell you straight — including if it isn't worth doing.
The turn in my stair feels dangerous. Can that be fixed without rebuilding the whole thing?
Usually. Winder treads that were not set out consistently change the effective rise and depth as you go round, which is what makes a turn feel wrong. Resetting them to a consistent walking line is fiddly but it does not mean rebuilding the entire flight.
Should the handrail go round the corner?
Ideally yes, and it is the single best improvement on a turning stair. A rail that stops at the turn is the one people let go of, and letting go at a turn is exactly where falls happen.
My handrail is a wide flat moulding. Is that a problem?
It is not something you can grip, which means it will not stop a fall — it will only guide you. On an older house we can usually fit a graspable section that still reads correctly for the age of the building.
How far are you from Matewan?
About twenty minutes down WV-49 along the Tug Fork, so short jobs here are straightforward to schedule.
How far is Matewan from your base?
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.
My house is in the older part of town with no driveway. Does that matter?
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.
Does the flood history affect what you find in these houses?
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.
What stairs & railings in Matewan actually involves
Most people are buying a result, not a list of tasks. Pick a topic to see what we look at before quoting in Matewan.
More on stair & railing work in Matewan
The problem is that the walking line changes across a winder. If the treads were not set out consistently, the effective rise and the effective depth both shift as you go round, which is exactly the inconsistency that catches people out.
Rebuilding winders to a consistent geometry is fiddly work and it is one of the more worthwhile things that can be done to an old stair. The flight ends up feeling ordinary, which is the whole point.
Handrails that carry round the turn
A handrail that stops at a turn and starts again on the other side is the one people let go of, and letting go on a winder is where falls happen. Carrying a rail continuously round a turn is more work than fitting two straight sections, and it is the version that actually helps.
It also matters what it feels like in the hand. A rail you can close your fingers round is a rail you can arrest a fall on. A wide flat moulding that looks handsome is not, however well fixed it is.
On the visible stairs in these houses, matching the original profile matters too, and the two things are usually reconcilable — a graspable section that reads correctly for the age of the building.
Steps from the street
With houses sitting right on the street and no driveway, the front steps are short, public and heavily used, and on a flood-prone street they take water regularly.
That puts the same demand on them as everywhere else in this valley: keep the bottom of the structure out of standing water, use material rated for it, and build in a consistent rise so the one step up from the sidewalk is not a surprise.
It is about twenty minutes down WV-49 from Williamson, close enough that a short job here is straightforward to schedule.
Homes around Matewan
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.
What we see locally
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.
Getting to the job
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.
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