NORTH BEND — Dwayne Duvall figured it would only be a one-time favor when his friend Randy Hammer asked him for help. One of Hammer’s physical therapy patients was having trouble getting into and out of furniture because it was too low. Hammer figured raising the furniture would do the trick and asked Duvall if he could devise a solution.

“It didn’t sound like too much, so I said sure,” he said.

Ten years later, Duvall is planning his retirement but he’s still making wooden blocks for a cadre of grateful physical therapists and their patients.

“I didn’t realize it was such a big deal,” Duvall said, standing behind the counter at Broadway Builders Supply, the store he and his brother, Roger, have operated for more than three decades. “Word got out, so they all started coming to us.”

The solution Duvall devised is rather simple. He hammers together a few boards and plywood creating a box between four and six inches in height. Its width and length vary depending upon the size of the sofa, recliner or chair it is designed to raise.

It takes a Duvall brother about an hour to build one and the materials cost between $20 to $25, which is what they charge for the service.

They have made one lift a week on average, Dwayne Duvall said. After 10 years, that amounts to more than 500.

For the patient with a beloved easy chair that is too low, the lift is a big deal, said Rich MacBeth, a physical therapist at Bay Area Community Health.

Patients who have had hip surgery or simply have less strength in leg and back muscles risk falls and dislocations trying to sit in low seats, he said.

The lift alleviates such worries and is much less expensive than buying a special lift chair, which MacBeth said could cost as much as $900.

“It’s a service the medical community has come to take for granted,” he said.

So when MacBeth and other physical therapists heard Duvall was planning to retire, they became worried. They checked around with other builders and got quotes as high as $160 for the service.

Dwayne Duvall said the brothers kept their contractor’s license so they can still do small jobs and he sees no reason why he would stop making the lifts.

Sherry Duvall, Dwayne’s wife, said the physical therapists shouldn’t have worried. These guys are used to working up to 60 hours a week.

“It’s hard for them to stop,” she said. “And they are nice guys.”

Dwayne Duvall suggested it was just the right thing to do.

“It’s being part of the community. We’ve been here near our whole lives,” he said. “We’re suckers. What can I say.”

Most of the lifts go to people Duvall has never met, though he knows one loyal lift customer quite well: his 95-year-old mother, Rose.