Painter & Carpenter / Portfolio / Before & After

Before & After: 15 Vancouver Projects

Real photos from our CompanyCam job files, with the scope and what changed the price on each one.

How To Read These

Every photo was taken on site by our crew. We name the neighbourhood and building type, never the address or the owner. We do not publish prices from client files - instead each project lists what moved the price up or down, which is what you actually need when you compare quotes.

Carpentry & stairs Doors Commercial Kitchen

Worn white front porch stairs before, and rebuilt stairs with new cedar treads and white railings after, on a Kitsilano house

Weathered rear deck stairs before and rebuilt rear stairs with new cedar treads after, Kitsilano, Vancouver

Kitsilano, 2025

Front and back stairs rebuilt

Both staircases were worn through: soft treads, loose railings and a front stair skirt that had pulled away. We rebuilt the front and back stairs, fitted new cedar treads, and rebuilt the railings and balusters to the original pattern so they still match the house.

What changed the price

Two staircases in one booking - one setup, one cleanup.
The rear stair comes off a raised deck, so access and staging take longer than a front stoop.
Cedar treads were left to dry and stained on a later visit, quoted separately.

Service: Custom carpentry

Rotted front porch stairs before and rebuilt porch stairs with cedar treads and painted posts after, Vancouver

Vancouver, 2025

Porch stairs with rotted posts

The treads were the visible problem, but the posts were rotted at the base. The stair was taken down to the stringers, reframed, primed as a carcass, then finished with new treads, posts and railings matched to the porch.

What changed the price

Rot at the post bases meant replacing, not patching.
Rebuilding railings to match the existing porch detail.
Priming the new framing before close-up, so end grain is sealed.

Service: Custom carpentry

Painted green front stairs before and rebuilt grey front staircase with new newel posts after on a yellow heritage-style house in Grandview-Woodland

Grandview-Woodland, 2025

Front staircase rebuilt under a weather tent

The old painted stairs were demolished and new stringers framed. New newel posts went in, then treads, risers and railings were painted to suit the house colours. The crew worked under a weather tent so the rebuild did not stall in the rain.

What changed the price

New stringers (structure) versus a tread-and-riser refresh.
Weather protection to keep working through wet days.
Newel posts and railings rebuilt rather than reused.

Service: Custom carpentry

Rotted back stair tread and siding corner before, and rebuilt back stairs with black railings and new grey siding after, Kensington-Cedar Cottage

Kensington-Cedar Cottage, 2025

Back stairs replaced - and the rot behind them

The quote covered rebuilding the stairs in a similar layout and warned there may be hidden damage. When the old stair came off, the wall framing behind it was rotted. We opened the cavity, replaced the framing, added plywood sheathing and housewrap, put new siding back and painted it, then built the new stairs with black railings.

What changed the price

Hidden damage behind the stair - shown to the owners and priced before we went further.
Wall repair (sheathing, housewrap, siding) on top of the stair rebuild.
Two coats on stairs, sidewalls and railings.

Service: Custom carpentry

Rotted rear stair post base before repair and finished rear staircase with grey treads after, Kitsilano

Kitsilano, 2025

Rear stairs: one post, one railing - maybe more

Quoted as one post, one railing and possibly a stringer. Demolition showed rotted framing at the post base. New framing went in, the trim was repaired and blended into the existing paint, and the stair was refinished.

What changed the price

Billed time and material, because nobody could see the extent until demolition.
A possible new cement footing under the post.
Blending new trim into old paint instead of repainting the whole stair.

Service: Custom carpentry

Worn exterior stairwell before and rebuilt exterior stairs after, West Point Grey, Vancouver

West Point Grey, 2025

Exterior stairwell and deck landing

What started as stair repairs found a rotted support post, a decayed rim joist and a rotted door frame. We repaired the deck framing, framed a new crawlspace wall, rebuilt the stairs and landing, and sealed the gutter and downspout trim so the water stops going where it did.

What changed the price

Rot in structural pieces - rim joist and support post - found once boards were off.
Fixing the water source (gutter and downspout trim), not just the damage.
Door frame repair added to the same visit.

Service: Custom carpentry

Strata building siding with peeling paint and rotted boards before, and repaired, repainted grey siding after, Kitsilano

Kitsilano strata, 2025

Strata siding repaired without replacing boards

The siding had holes and soft spots but the boards were mostly sound. We filled them with two-part epoxy, sanded, and painted the patches to match. The rotting 2x6 caps were replaced with new ones primed on all six sides before install.

What changed the price

Epoxy repair instead of replacing whole boards.
Ladder access only - no scaffold.
New caps primed on all six sides, then a finish coat after install.

Service: Custom carpentry

Teal panelled front door before and the same door painted black after, Riley Park, Vancouver

Riley Park, 2023

Teal to black front door

The original twelve-panel entry door was prepped and painted black as part of a front-porch repaint. Hardware came off, the panels were cut in by brush, and the door went back up the same day.

What changed the price

Going dark over a strong colour needs full coverage coats.
Hardware off and back on.
Raised panels brushed by hand - more edges than a flat slab.

Service: Door painting

Weathered wood-and-glass side door before and refinished natural wood door after on a stucco duplex in Kitsilano

Kitsilano duplex, 2026

Varnished wood doors refinished

A 20-year-old duplex with clear-finished wood doors. The scope covered cleaning and staining two front doors, sanding the garage door and repairing a couple of back doors that were in bad shape. The side door in the photo kept its natural wood look.

What changed the price

Refinishing clear wood takes more prep than paint - you cannot hide anything.
Repairs to doors and sills before finishing.
Garage door sanded as a separate line item.

Service: Door painting

Two scuffed navy front doors before and after repainting on a Kitsilano duplex

Kitsilano duplex, 2024

Two front doors on a shared duplex

Both front doors were chipped and scuffed. They were prepped and repainted as part of a full exterior on the duplex and garage - stucco, trim, siding, fences and doors.

What changed the price

Two owners, one shared colour decision.
Doors done inside a whole-exterior job, so no separate setup.
Chip repair before the finish coats.

Service: Door painting

Dark charcoal front door before and the same door painted light blue after, Riley Park, Vancouver

Riley Park, 2025

Charcoal to light blue

The front door went from charcoal to a light blue as part of an exterior trim repaint. On the same job the porch newel posts and caps were rebuilt and the gaps where the half walls meet the concrete steps were fixed.

What changed the price

Light over dark: extra coverage.
Door painted in place, trim lines kept crisp against the casing.
Porch carpentry quoted alongside the paint.

Service: Door painting

Weathered black glass-panel front door before and repainted black door with crisp muntins after, Riley Park

Riley Park, 2025

Glass-panel front door with muntins

Part of a full exterior: shingle siding, soffit, fascia, wood casings, gutters, front steps and doors. The front door has a dozen glass panes, each cut in by hand. The front steps were failing and were ground down to mostly bare wood before refinishing.

What changed the price

Cutting in around every muntin.
Failing steps ground to bare wood.
Done inside a whole-house exterior.

Service: Door painting

Kerrisdale building parkade, 2025

EV parking stalls

The EV stalls were taped off, coated green (sprayed and rolled), then stencilled with charging symbols and lettering.

What changed the price

Stalls stay closed while the coating cures - scheduling around residents.
Stencil work for symbols and text.
Number of stalls in the run.

Service: Commercial painting

Office wall under drywall repair before, and finished office with colour accent walls after, Downtown Vancouver

Downtown non-profit office, 2026

Wall restored, then the office painted

An opening had been cut into a demising wall. We checked the existing steel-stud assembly first, restored the wall to its fire-separation role, patched the drywall, then painted the office with colour accent walls.

What changed the price

Investigation of the existing wall before closing it up.
Restoration work quoted as carpentry, painting as a separate portion.
Accent colours - more cut lines than an all-white office.

Service: Commercial painting

Kitchen island panelling masked against black stone and mosaic tile, then finished in white, in a Hastings-Sunrise home in Vancouver

Hastings-Sunrise, 2025

Kitchen island panels and built-in cabinet doors

The panelled island column and a set of built-in cabinet doors were painted in place. The black stone counter and the multi-colour tile run right up to the bottom of the panels, so everything was masked tight to the edge before the first coat.

What changed the price

Masking: most of the hours went into the edges against stone and tile, not the flat panels.
Painting in place versus taking doors to the shop - in place is faster, but every hinge side gets cut in by hand.
Number of raised panels and profiles to brush.

Service: Kitchen cabinet painting

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