Years on the ledger

Honest Allies Joinery grew from a small workshop serving Porto apartments that never quite fit catalogue kitchens. The timeline below marks how we landed on Rua de Santa Catarina.

Studio timeline

1. 2014 Two joiners share a shed near Campanhã, cutting replacement doors for older flats and learning how Ribeira walls refuse square boxes.
2. 2016 First full kitchen carcass run for a Cedofeita galley — birch ply, painted fronts, panels sized for a cage lift.
3. 2018 Workshop expands with a finishing booth so paint dust stays off client floors; wardrobe carcasses join the ledger.
4. 2020 Site-measure pack standardised: laser heights, stair notes, and lift cab dimensions before any sheet order.
5. 2022 Studio desk opens at Rua de Santa Catarina 240 for meetings without walking clients through the dust zone.
6. 2024 Focus stays on Porto apartments — Foz humidity details, Miragaia stair logistics, and built-ins for corridor flats.
7. 2026 Ledger site published so SKUs, fees, and process sit in one place for households planning a refit.

Who you meet

A lead joiner runs the measure and fit. A finishing lead owns paint and oil schedules. One of us always stays reachable on the studio phone during install weeks.

We are not a furniture showroom. If you need sofas or lighting, we can point to makers we trust; our craft is the timber that touches the wall.

Where we work

Most projects stay within Porto: Cedofeita renovations, Ribeira river flats, and newer blocks toward Boavista. Occasional jobs in Matosinhos and Vila Nova de Gaia follow the same measure-first habit.

Workshop ethics

Sheet goods are ordered to reduce offcut waste. Leftover panels become sample boards or small repair stock. We prefer repairable carcasses over sealed boxes that die when a hinge fails.