Building a business

A plank shows the water level from flooding during Hurricane Katrina, but carpenter David Herzenberg will find a use for it.

Over the course of a few years living in New Orleans, Herzenberg built up a collection of wood to be used in future projects, and that includes wood from his old home, which was heavily damaged during the 2005 storm and its aftermath.

When he moved to Charleston, all that wood came with him. If he is a bit of a hoarder, the trait comes from his time working in historic preservation. On those projects, he said, one learns never to throw anything away.

His workshop is a short commute across the grassy backyard at his house on James Island.

"The better the machines," Herzenberg said, "the better the product." As such, the workshop is fully outfitted with both the heavy machinery and portable tools a carpenter might need. He just has to keep his 2-year-old son away from all the buzz saws.

Herzenberg's training has been mostly on construction sites. The closest thing to formal training he's had was a five-year apprenticeship with a New Orleans company that did historic renovations.

He devotes a great deal of time to personal projects, as opposed to paying jobs. After he and his family moved to Charleston, Herzenberg spent six months renovating his house, custom-designing doors, tables, dressers, and countertops. Now, he is at work building a bed, as well as frames for his wife's diplomas.

His work has taken on an added dimension nowadays: He has begun advertising, something he said he has never had to do in his career.

His paying gigs at the moment tend to be kitchen remodeling, which mostly involve cabinetmaking. But ideally, he said, he would like to design furniture at some point down the road.

When designing furniture, Herzenberg said, he is truly able to let his creative side take over.

Aside from the great deal of independence his line of work affords him, one of the most fulfilling aspects of carpentry, he said, is the opportunity to oversee a project all the way from conception to finished product. That this product is a physical, three-dimensional thing to see and touch adds to his satisfaction.

Unlike many carpenters, Herzenberg said he doesn't prepare drafts of his projects, though he can provide them at the request of a customer. He prefers to envision the finished product in his mind, and to use his eye for balance and detail as a guide.

Herzenberg is very particular in his choice of materials.

"I like veneer work," he said. "I like exotic hardwoods — wood that would have been used in '50s and '60s furniture. I like that sort of mid-century modern look."

For the most part, this is not the kind of material one finds at the average lumber supplier, so Herzenberg has found a veneers supplier in Kansas.