Custom Furniture: How to Manage Carpentry Work for Fitted Wardrobes
Follow these steps to ensure smooth fabrication and flawless carpentry work while customising fitted wardrobes
Are you excited about getting new wardrobes for your home designed and made, but worried whether the execution will go well or not? Well, there is no shortcut to good carpentry work and workmanship, but there are definitely ways to make the overall experience more pleasant. Here are seven steps that will not only ensure smooth execution but also help you to achieve good workmanship and finish in the carpentry work.
2. Freeze the carpentry rates and material specifications
Once the fitted wardrobe design is finalised:
Once the fitted wardrobe design is finalised:
- Specify the different materials: quality, brands, colour of laminates, type of veneer and so on. Also, specify the design and quality of the hardware, which includes nails, screws, hinges, handles and any other materials to be used.
- Now finalise the rates of the carpentry work. The carpenter can work in two ways: on labour contract, where all the materials are purchased by the homeowner, or one could give the whole contract to the carpenter, which includes purchase of materials as well as supply of labour to execute the carpentry work.
- Make sure to agree on the mode of payment with the carpenter. One can go for a weekly payment or stage-wise payment, depending on the progress of work.
3. Ask for the time schedule and BOQ (bill of quantities)
Find a contractor to install new wardrobes in your home from the Houzz directory
- Ask the carpenter for a stage- wise time schedule for the fitted wardrobe carpentry work so that both the carpenter as well as the homeowner can easily monitor the progress of work.
- If the carpenter is working on labour contract, he should prepare the BOQ of all the materials that will have to be purchased for the site. It is advisable to order the fitted wardrobe accessories and materials in (at least) two stages in order to avoid wastage. If the project is small, the materials can be ordered at one go.
Find a contractor to install new wardrobes in your home from the Houzz directory
4. Inspect the materials
It is important to check all the materials that enter the site; they should be as per the specifications mentioned. Check the brand and quality of the materials, the thickness of boards, solid plywood, laminate, veneers and so on.
5. Monitor the progress of work
Be alert and monitor the progress of work on a regular basis to check whether the carpentry work is as per the time schedule specified by the carpenter.
It is important to check all the materials that enter the site; they should be as per the specifications mentioned. Check the brand and quality of the materials, the thickness of boards, solid plywood, laminate, veneers and so on.
5. Monitor the progress of work
Be alert and monitor the progress of work on a regular basis to check whether the carpentry work is as per the time schedule specified by the carpenter.
6. Check the finish
Here is how you can check the finish of a fitted wardrobe:
Here is how you can check the finish of a fitted wardrobe:
- Once the basic structure of the wardrobe is fixed at site, cross check the dimensions of the wardrobe and the position of the internal shelves with the measured drawing of the wardrobe design.
- All the fitted wardrobe doors with hinges should be at the same level and not one higher than the other.
- Once the wardrobe is finished with laminate or veneer, make sure that there are no air bubbles or waves created while applying the laminate, veneer or spray paint.
- There should be no extra holes in the shutters of the wardrobes that were formed due to wrong drilling by the carpenter – they should be immediately rectified.
- The final finishing should be done with polish or inner laminate and all the handles should be fixed.
- Once the wardrobe design is complete, check that the hinged doors of the wardrobe open smoothly or the sliding shutters move smoothly.
7. Measure and make final payment
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Tell us:
What difficulty did you face while getting customised furniture made for your home? How was your experience getting fitted wardrobes designed? Share in Comments below.
- If there are any defects, bring them to the carpenter’s notice so that they can be rectified before you make the final payment.
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Tell us:
What difficulty did you face while getting customised furniture made for your home? How was your experience getting fitted wardrobes designed? Share in Comments below.
- It is important to finalise the fitted wardrobe design, which should include the shutters as well as the position of the internal shelving. This is to ensure that there are no changes once the carpenters start the work.
It is essential to have a measured drawing with detailed dimensions of the proposed wardrobe design to ensure efficiency in the carpentry work.Tip: Collect ideas for fitted wardrobes from images you see in magazines, sites and Houzz. Choose the one you want. Show it to the carpenter, or better still, paste the image on a wall of the room in which the carpentry work is going on, for reference.