One tree. Many trunks.
Banyan Carpentry Co. is a focused finish-carpentry shop in Fort Myers, built on a simple standard: do it right the first time, and sweat the details most people never see.
A working tree, planted by makers.
In 1927, a four-foot banyan sapling was planted in Fort Myers as part of Thomas Edison's search for a domestic source of rubber. Not decoration — a working tree, planted by people trying to build something.
A century later it's the largest banyan in the continental United States: 74 feet tall, with a canopy over an acre. Banyans grow like no other tree — roots drop from the branches, touch ground, and become new trunks. What looks like a forest is one organism. When Hurricane Ian stripped it bare, it re-leafed within a month.
That's how this company is built: we grow the way our namesake does — trunk by trunk, rooted, and built to hold through the storms.
- Planted1927
- Height74 ft
- Canopyover 1 acre
- Largest incontinental U.S.
- After Ianre-leafed in a month
- Grows bynew trunks
Everything I've learned comes back to the same standard.
I've spent my whole career in disciplines where the details are the job. I served as an Engineer Officer in the U.S. Army, earned my MBA at UVA's Darden School of Business, and I'm completing a Master's in Civil Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
I also own and operate The Brothers that just Do Gutters, which has been serving Fort Myers–Naples since 2021. Banyan is the extension of all of it — because everything I've learned comes back to the same standard: do it right the first time, and sweat the details most people never see.
That's why the person who walks your job and quotes it is the carpenter who builds it — not a salesman. He's spent more than a decade in finish carpentry, and over twenty years in the trades: he learned finish work here in Florida, then spent a year in Connecticut, where New England's old houses and custom-millwork tradition sharpen a trim carpenter like nothing else. He came home with that standard, and it shows at eye level in every room he finishes.
— Garrett Schempp, Owner
Who does the work
Garrett Schempp
Army Engineer Officer → Darden MBA → Southwest Florida home-services operator → Master's in Civil Engineering (in progress). Runs Banyan the way engineers build: to spec, to schedule, to standard.
Tyler Bisson
More than a decade of finish carpentry, and over twenty years in the trades. Tyler learned the trade here in Florida, then spent a year working in Connecticut, where New England's old houses and custom-millwork tradition sharpen a trim carpenter like nothing else. He brought that standard home to Southwest Florida.
The work we choose
- Finish and trim carpentry
- Crown, molding, baseboards, and casing
- Interior doors
- Custom built-ins and closets
- Wainscoting, shiplap, and feature walls
- Coffered and detailed ceilings
- Fascia and exterior trim
The project can't outgrow us
And because Banyan is run by a Florida Certified Building Contractor (CBC1270165), your project can grow mid-stream without ever changing hands — built-ins can become a full room. The project can't outgrow us.
Let's talk about your project.
Tell us what you have in mind and the carpenter who does the work will walk the job with you.