About the shop
Kohler Millwork Co. is an owner-operated architectural millwork shop at 3202 McVaney Road in Charlotte. Barbara Bodenhamer has run it since 2009.
It started with one bookcase and a borrowed table saw.
Barbara Bodenhamer came to woodworking sideways. She spent nine years estimating for a commercial casework company, watched the fine detail get value-engineered out of every job, and finally left in 2009 to build residential work the way she thought it should be built. The first project was a pair of flanking bookcases in a Plaza Midwood bungalow, cut in a rented bay off South Boulevard.
The shop moved to McVaney Road in 2014 when the spray booth arrived, and again expanded in 2021 into the adjoining bay for assembly. There are seventeen of us now: four in the machine room, five on the bench, two in finishing, four installers, and two of us on drawings and scheduling. Nobody here is a temp.
We stayed deliberately small. Barbara still walks every job before it ships and answers the phone more often than she should. That is the reason we quote in nine days instead of two, and the reason clients get the same lead carpenter from measure to punch list.
Four things that do not get value-engineered
Plywood, not particleboard
Every box is plywood-core. It holds a screw, it survives a dishwasher leak, and it does not sag at 36 inches.
Dovetailed drawers
Solid maple, mechanically dovetailed, finished inside. No stapled corners leave this building.
Our own installers
The people who install work here full time and know how the piece was built.
A price that holds
Written, itemized, valid 45 days. Change orders only when you ask for a change.
Who you will actually deal with
Barbara Bodenhamer
Owner & principal estimator
Runs the estimate, signs off on every finish, and holds the schedule. Seventeen years in residential millwork after nine in commercial casework. Reachable at service@lukaskohler.com.
Design & drafting
Two-person team
Turns the measure into plan, elevations, sections and a rendered view. They also carry your revisions, so nothing gets lost between a phone call and the cut list.
Machine room & bench
Nine craftspeople
Panel processing, face frames, door fitting and assembly. Average tenure in the shop is just over six years.
Finishing & install
Six craftspeople
Filtered spray booth, then delivery, scribing, hardware and the punch list. Lead-Safe (RRP) certified for pre-1978 homes.
The boring but important part
- Registered North Carolina business, operating continuously since 2009
- General liability and workers' compensation coverage; certificates issued on request
- EPA Lead-Safe (RRP) trained crew for homes built before 1978
- CARB Phase 2 / TSCA Title VI compliant panel products throughout
- Written twelve-month workmanship warranty on all installed work
- Physical shop and showroom you can walk into during posted hours