Cedar Mill Property Repair handles the woodworking that falls between trim and a full remodel: pull-down attic ladders, shed repairs, and non-structural walls for closets and room dividers, serving Bethany, Cedar Mill, Beaverton and nearby. By November 2026 market estimates, most Portland-area jobs like these cost $250-$4,500, labour only . Text a photo to to book.
Slava has 7 years of hands-on experience; he works each job alongside his crew.
What carpentry jobs do you take on?
Rough and utility work lives here: framing, attic access, backyard outbuildings.
| Job | Scope | Market range | Common figure | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attic ladder | Fit a new pull-down ladder or replace a worn one | $300-$700 | $450 | labour only, per job |
| Shed repair | Doors, floors, siding and roofs on an existing shed | $250-$1,500 | $600 | labour only, per job |
| Non-structural wall | Frame a partition wall or a closet | $800-$4,500 | $2,000 | labour only, per job |
Portland-area market estimates, November 2026, not our quote yet .
Baseboard, crown and wainscoting are on our trim carpentry page. Stair treads and railings have their own page, and closet systems and garage shelving sit under closets and storage.
Two things stay off the list. We don't frame bearing walls or anything structural, and we don't build cabinets from raw lumber .
How much do carpenters charge in Portland?
You pay for the job, not the hour, so start with these:
| Job | Common figure | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Attic ladder | $450 | $300-$700 |
| Shed repair | $600 | $250-$1,500 |
| Closet or partition wall | $2,000 | $800-$4,500 |
Each figure is an estimate: hours on the job times Portland-area labour rates of roughly $95-$120 an hour. Lumber, studs, fasteners and the ladder itself are extra . App marketplaces and national averages quote lower hourly numbers that leave out the drive, the lumber-yard run and cleanup. More on how we price and on hourly handyman rates.
Residential work above $2,000 calls for a written contract in Oregon, and a job that starts below that and climbs past it needs one inside five days. Framing often lands above the line; our contract guide lists what belongs in it.
Is a carpenter the same as a handyman?
Not quite. A carpenter works mostly in wood: framing, finish, cabinets. A handyman takes small jobs across several trades, and plenty of those are carpentry.
Here's how to look a contractor up.
We're a handyman business, Slava and his crew, and carpentry makes up much of the work .
How much does it cost to install or replace a pull-down attic ladder?
Most Portland-area attic ladder jobs run $300-$700, often around $450, labour only, for about four hours of work . The ladder is bought separately .
Swapping a tired ladder into the existing hole is the easy version. A fresh opening means cutting the ceiling and boxing in a frame. Sizing is where people go wrong: the ladder has to match the floor-to-ceiling height and the rough opening, or it sits at a bad angle and won't fold up.
Oregon's no-permit repair list leaves out anything that cuts or removes a structural beam or load-bearing support. A new opening that needs a ceiling joist or truss cut is therefore a permit job . For a ceiling in an attached garage, ask us first .
Many 1950s-70s west-side houses came with a small, low hatch, and they predate 1978, which matters once a ceiling gets cut (see the last section).
Can you repair my shed instead of replacing it?
Usually, yes. Portland-area shed repairs mostly run $250-$1,500, with $600 a common figure, for the labour alone and about five hours of work . Doors, floors, siding and roofs all count.
What tends to fail: a door sagging on loose hinges or a racked frame, a soft plywood floor over skids on wet ground, and siding rotted along its bottom edge. West-side rain is hard on a shed sitting low, and moss piles up on its roof. We take moss off by hand only .
Once the floor frame and skids are rotted through, rebuilding can cost more than the shed is worth . Hauling off an old shed or its debris isn't something we offer. After a repair, exterior painting protects the new wood.
Weighing a new shed? The state's list exempts a non-habitable, detached, one-story shed of up to about 200 sq ft and under 15 ft tall from a building permit. Setbacks and other zoning rules still apply, and anything habitable needs a permit at any size. The city or county building office has the last word.
Does a new closet or interior wall need a permit?
Often not. The state's list lets a wall that carries no load skip the building permit, unless it creates a room for living, sleeping, eating or cooking, or a new bathroom or toilet room. Portland gives a closet partition as its example. Adding, moving or removing other walls takes a permit.
A bedroom closet, or a divider in a garage nobody lives in, is usually permit-free. Splitting one room into two bedrooms isn't .
Portland-area partition jobs tend to cost $800-$4,500, around $2,000 being common, labour only, for about 18 hours . That buys plates, studs, a door opening, and blocking where shelves or a TV will hang . We never frame bearing walls; our no-go list says why. New circuits belong to an electrician, though we can swap outlets and switches in existing boxes. Board and tape come next, through drywall installation.
What changes if my house is older than 1978?
Oregon's renovation, repair and painting rule reaches pre-1978 homes whenever old paint gets disturbed, and it names taking out walls and ceilings. The small-job exemption stops at 6 sq ft of painted surface per room indoors and 20 sq ft outdoors.
A ladder opening in a painted ceiling comes close to that 6 sq ft, and so can cutting into a painted wall for a partition. Lead paint disturbance isn't a service we offer, so in an older home we inspect first, price after, and may decline the part that cuts old paint .
Cedar Hills' 1950s-60s tract houses and Cedar Mill's 1960s-70s homes fit that description. Bethany's 1990s-2000s homes are too new for it.