Oak bedroom suite

[Mr Mike]

That looks great Mailee....

Was there much scribing of the floating shelves to the walls ? Were you fixing the concealed brackets to plasterboard or masonry ? What sort of leg levellers were you using ? I tend to make a 3x2 plinth and use adjustable rubber feet levellers that screw into hammer-in pronged M10 nuts.....

Don't know about you but I prefer the making process in the workshop to the fitting process, where it seems you have to haul half your workshop with you to carry out the fit......

....but the end result always makes it worthwhile......and I'd be lie-ing if I didn't say the resultant cheque was a sweetener too.....having said that, the kudos earnt with the customer and word of mouth recommendations are worth just as much too. I bet they were pleased....

Do you have a dedicated finishing area in your workshop too ?

 

[mailee]

I do have bigger pictures of it Chems but they are on my computer and not uploaded.
Well Mike I didn't use any adjusters for the base, duh! They would have saved me a lot of time for sure. I just used packing pieces of which I carry a lot. Suprisingly the floating shelves were the only thing I didn't have to scribe! I suppose it was as they were a lot smaller and must have found a flat bit of wall. :lol: The wall they are mounted on is a stud partition wall and the hidden brackets were screwed in with plasterboard fixings. These are not going to take a lot of weight as they are just for photos and the like.
Yes like you I enjoy the making far more than the fitting but as you say it is all worth it in the end to see the customers face and hear the praise. As long as they pass the word around I am happy with that.
My workshop isn't big enough for a dedicated finishing area hence the reason I used acrylic varnish for the finish. I have been offered access to a spray booth for a small fee if I do need one, I may take him up on this one in the future.

 

[mailee]

Here are a few pics of the suite now the carpets have been fitted and the cable outlet installed along with the desk trims.

When I left tonight she was showing one of her friends it.....good.

 

[Joints]

as always i am cash orientated (as i dont have any at the mo!) but i am currently making a similar project, a large shelving unit out of oak, and was wondering how much you charged your client and/or your deposit charge?

Dont mean to be cheeky but its a great help to me as i am currently learning the trade and how fairly to charge a customer?

regards on your great work, george

 

[BradNaylor]

Very nice, Alan.

My only suggestion for your next job of this kind would be to enclose the outer doors with end panels coming flush with the fronts of the doors.

It gives the illusion of being an 'in-frame' constuction at very little extra cost. Higher perceived value means you can charge more...

:wink:

Cheers
Brad

 

[mailee]

Hmm good idea Brad thanks. I didn't want to risk that on this job as the woman is a stickler for the gaps around the doors. (she informed me of that before I even drew up the plans) :roll: Will give it a try on the next set I build though. :wink: There are some more in the pipeline too, around July. :wink:

 

[mailee]

Well George let's just say it was a little over £2000 but this was started before I went self employed and as such was cheaper than I would now charge. I normally take between a 25 - 50% deposit on all of my work. If you charge a large deposit there is no way they would back out of a deal. It also makes sense as it covers all of the materials up front which is important to me just starting a small business with no real cash flow. HTH. :wink:

 

[Joints]

I'll second that.

The job I am currently doing was quoted end price of around £2000-2500 and I took £1000 upfront. I am starting up on my own too, and paying for rents, tools, timer and any downtime is always more than you expect eh!

Thanks for the answers and the photo's, keep on working!

George

 

[outcycling]

Hey Mailee,

lovely looking oak fitted units. Been trolling through all the projects learning a lot. Just about to embark on a huge number of projects as extending/renovating a old house I bought and first job, converting a old triple garage into my dream workshop, as given up the day job to use the next year or so to skill up.

Have a few questions for you on the cabinets if I may ?

1) For the shelving unit in the far right hand corner of the room. Was that wall plumb ? If not then did you just leave a gap or add an extra strip of wood running the full height which you scribed to the wall ?

2) Scribing. You had to scribe that desk and units to the wall ? Never had to do scribing before. I know the theory of standing the unit upright next to the wall and running a set of dividers down the wall to draw the profile on the unit and cut that section off. Is that how you did it ? Did you build the units and desk with extra width for this purpose ? It looks like the shelves in the units go right flush to the back ?

Great job and many thanks for posting it. There have been a number of great projects on here I've found and this is one of them. Nice work.