Cornerstone Home Renovations
About

The Story Behind Cornerstone

Built right. Built to last.

Daniel Marsh
Founder

Daniel Marsh started Cornerstone Home Renovations in Portland, Oregon in 2011 after spending eight years as a finish carpenter and project lead for a larger commercial construction firm in the Pearl District. He had watched too many homeowners get handed a finished kitchen or bathroom that looked fine in photos but had shortcuts hidden behind the walls. Loose blocking, skipped vapor barriers, cabinetry screwed into drywall instead of studs. He started Cornerstone because he wanted to build a small company where the person signing the contract was also the person checking the work.

The first few years were mostly referrals from neighbors in the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhood, where Daniel lives. Word spread through a few well-executed kitchen remodels and one particularly complicated basement finishing project on a 1940s bungalow that had a serious moisture problem nobody had disclosed. Solving that project, which required a full French drain installation before any framing could begin, built the reputation that still drives most of our new client inquiries. We have kept the crew small on purpose. At any given time we run two to three active projects with a core team of six people.

Today Cornerstone serves homeowners across Portland, Lake Oswego, Tigard, Beaverton, and West Linn. We added a small woodshop in our Milwaukie facility in 2019, which lets us build custom shelving, built-ins, and trim details in-house rather than waiting on outside millwork shops. The shop is also where we do door and window casing work for older homes where standard profiles no longer exist. If you want to know more about how we approach a project, the about page has the full story. We are not the biggest contractor in the metro area and we are not trying to be.

How we restore

Two to three active projects at a time, never Rotted window sill and fascia boards replaced with milled-to-match profiles from our Milwaukie woodshop, full exterior repaint in period-appropriate Sherwin-Williams Emerald Exterior
In-house woodshop in Milwaukie for custom trim Kitchen stripped to studs, knob-and-tube wiring replaced, custom shaker cabinetry built to match original door profiles, original fir subfloor repaired before new tile
Every project starts with a written scope befo Perimeter French drain and sump pump installed before basement framing, original cast-iron drain stack preserved and tied into new half-bath rough-in
Moisture assessment included on all basement p Galvanized supply lines replaced, original hardwood floors sanded and refinished, interior trim profiles milled in-house to match surviving original casing
Low-VOC Sherwin-Williams paint as standard on Built-in bookcase flanking original fireplace rebuilt in the woodshop using salvaged fir to match existing mantel species and profile
Oregon CCB licensed and fully insured since 2011 Bathroom addition framed into existing closet and hallway, main drain stack tapped without opening lower ceiling, skylight cut and curbed to period roofline

Ready to talk about your project?

We offer free on-site estimates across the Portland metro area. No pressure, no obligation. Just a clear look at what the work involves and what it will cost.

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