Custom Woodworking = Custom Price

When a potential customer asks me "How much would you charge to make ...?" I don't always have an answer. In fact, I rarely do. The fact of the matter is is that I'm not a department store with set prices for furniture pieces that are mass produced overseas or even in the USA. I make furniture and things to the customer's specifications. I don't need plans as I can work without plans or sketch something up myself as needed, but I do need to know what the customer wants. This is referring to the size of the project, the overall design, the features, such as wooden drawer slides or full extension metal slides, type of hardware for drawer pulls, the color, finish,  etc.

Floor refinishing is a different thing. That has set prices for certain ranges in total square footage. Sometimes a floor refinishing job will have repairs or special considerations, but usually it's just the square footage matched to a price per square foot. But custom woodworking is just that - custom, meaning customized to what the customer wants.

In short custom woodworking means a custom price.

If the customer does not really want or need a custom made item, quite frankly, the department store, thrift store or on-line shopping may be the best option. With that I do not intend any offense to a prospective customer when I tell them that. It's just that if the person is not looking for something custom built, or superior in overall quality to what can be bought from mass production, then mass production or the thrift store is probably better suited to their needs. I do not want to try to sell someone something that does not fit their needs financially or in function. Not only is that bad business, it's just not a nice thing to do.

Ray Ladouceur
Dogwood Tales LLC
Every project is a story unto itself.