Custom CarpentryDirectory

Get your carpentry quote read, or your job scoped.

For homeowners with a quote for built-ins, trim, paneling, a mantel or cabinets, or a job still to be quoted. finalist.cc, which we run, has a person read what you send and write back by email.

Send your custom carpentry quote No quote yet? Get a scoping document See a sample benchmark note

No carpenter list here. This site publishes no list of carpenters, and we do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors.

Have a quote: a benchmark note
What the quote includes, what is missing or vague, the arithmetic, questions to send back to the carpenter, and a plain scope you can hand to another shop so a second quote prices the same job.
No quote yet: a scoping document
What the job is, what your photos show, measurements still needed, what a bid should price line by line, and questions carpenters will ask. You send it to carpenters yourself.
What happens next
You fill in a short form on finalist.cc. A person reads it and replies by email. If you have a PDF or photos, we ask for them in that reply.
Sample elevation of a built-in bookcase A built-in bookcase 9 feet wide and 8 feet high, floor to ceiling, in three equal bays. Open shelves sit over base cabinets with inset doors, 2 feet 8 inches to the top. Crown runs to the ceiling, an outlet sits in the back of the middle bay, and three lights hang under the top rail. Five numbered keynotes point to the crown, shelves, doors, outlet and lights. 9'-0" 5'-4" 2'-8" 8'-0" VIF EQ EQ EQ 1 2 3 4 5
Built-in bookcase, sample elevationScale: NTS
  1. Crown, scribed to the ceiling.
  2. Adjustable shelves.
  3. Inset shaker doors, paint-grade.
  4. Outlet in the back: move it or cut around it? Say which.
  5. Puck lights: the electrician's work, NIC.

What happens when you send it

Both doors go to the same desk at finalist.cc. A person reads each one.

  1. You send a quote or describe the job

    Paste the quote on finalist.cc, or describe the job there or with the checklist form on sheet A-6. If the quote is a PDF or photo, say so, and we ask for the file when we reply.

  2. A person reads it

    They read it against a standard scope for custom carpentry: wood, finish, doors and drawers, install, what is in the way, and who does the paint and electrical.

  3. You get a note by email

    A benchmark note on your quote, or a scoping document for a job not yet quoted. You decide what to do with it and which shops to send it to.

Before you ask for quotes: the custom carpentry scope checklist

Two prices for the same built-in are often for two different jobs. One is paint-grade poplar built in the room; the other is shop-built cabinets with inset doors and a sprayed finish. These notes close that gap.

General notes

  1. Show the wall.

    Photos straight on and from each side, with the floor, the ceiling and everything on the wall in frame. A designer's drawing is better still, but a phone photo and a tape measure are enough to start.

  2. Measure more than once.

    Width at the floor, the middle and the ceiling; height at both ends. Old walls lean and floors slope, so write down the smallest number and note the difference. Your numbers get the job priced. The carpenter measures again before building (VIF).

  3. Name the wood and the finish.

    Decide paint-grade or stain-grade first; it changes the materials, the joinery and the finish work. Then the species, the color or sheen, and who finishes it: sprayed in a shop, or painted in place by the carpenter or your painter.

  4. List the doors, drawers and hardware.

    Inset or overlay doors, how many drawers, the hinges and slides if you care, the pulls you have picked, any glass or lighting. "Doors on the bottom" prices one way. "Inset doors on concealed hinges" prices another.

  5. Say what's in the way.

    Outlets, switches, vents, radiators, windows, plaster walls, baseboard to remove. Mention stairs and narrow doors too: a 9-foot panel has to get into the room.

  6. Say who does the rest.

    Tear-out, hauling, patching, painting, electrical, countertops. Mark each one "in the bid" or "by others," so every price covers the same work.

Scope worksheet

Fill in what you know and skip the rest. The sketch redraws from your numbers, and the scope under it can go into the checklist form on sheet A-6 or onto paper for a shop. Nothing leaves your browser unless you send that form.

The job
Measure
  • Wall width at the floor, the middle and the ceiling. Use the smallest.
  • Height at both ends of the wall.
  • The depth you want. Books often fit shelves 10 to 12 inches deep.
  • Outlets, switches, vents and windows on that wall, and where they sit.
Wall width
Height, floor to ceiling
in
Wood and finish
Doors, drawers and hardware
What's in the way
By others (not in the bid)
What you have

Scope sheet from customcarpentry.directory. Sketch not to scale; measure again on site.

Your sketch A sketch of a built-in 9 feet wide and 8 feet high in three equal bays. It redraws as you fill in the worksheet.
Your sketch: built-inScale: NTS. Sample sizes until you measure.
Job
Built-in shelves, bookcase or media wall
Size
Not measured yet
Wood
Not sure yet
Finish
Not sure yet

Finish carpentry, millwork or cabinetry?

Three trades overlap on built-ins. Knowing which one you are asking for makes the bids easier to read.

Section at a wall: crown and base A wall cut in section with the ceiling above and the floor below. Crown moulding fills the corner at the ceiling, a baseboard and a shoe moulding sit at the floor. Three keynotes: crown, base, shoe. 1 2 3 ROOM
Finish carpentry: trim fit on siteSection. Scale: NTS
  1. Crown, coped at inside corners.
  2. Base, scribed to the floor.
  3. Shoe moulding hides the gap at the floor.

Trim, doors, stairs, paneling and shelving cut and fitted in the room. Much of the work happens on site, piece by piece, against walls and floors that are never quite straight.

Section through a base cabinet A base cabinet cut front to back, set against a wall on the floor. It shows the plywood box, a hanging rail screwed to the wall, an adjustable shelf, the solid-wood face frame, an inset door and the toe kick. Five keynotes. 1 2 3 4 5
Cabinetry: boxes built in a shopSection. Scale: NTS
  1. Plywood box, built in the shop.
  2. Solid-wood face frame.
  3. Inset door, flush with the frame.
  4. Toe kick.
  5. Screwed to the studs through the hanging rail.

Boxes with doors and drawers, built and often finished in a shop, then set in the room, shimmed level, screwed to the studs and scribed to the wall. Much of the work happens before it arrives.

Plan section through raised-panel wainscot Looking down on paneling cut through: the wall behind, two stiles, and a raised panel whose edges sit loose in grooves in the stiles, with a gap left at each end. Four keynotes: stile, panel, gap, wall. 1 2 3 4 ROOM
Millwork: paneling and built-insPlan section. Scale: NTS
  1. Stile.
  2. Raised panel.
  3. Gap in the groove, so the panel can move.
  4. Wall.

Architectural millwork is custom woodwork made in a shop to drawings: paneling, moulding runs, mantels and built-ins, installed by finish carpenters. Solid-wood panels sit loose in their grooves so they can swell and shrink with the seasons.

For your bids

A built-in bookcase can be built in place by a finish carpenter or built as cabinets in a shop. Either can be good work. They cost, look and schedule differently: shop-built can mean a sprayed finish and fewer days of work in your house; site-built can be fitted piece by piece to the room. Ask each bidder which way they would build it.

Wood and finish schedule

The marks work like the ones on a real finish schedule. Use them in the worksheet, or just use the names.

Wood
MarkMaterialFinish it withNotes
WD-1PoplarPaintEven texture that sands smooth. Green and purple streaks, so it is usually painted.
WD-2MDFPaintFlat, stable and smooth; good for panels. It swells if it gets wet, so ask for a moisture-resistant grade near water.
WD-3Hard maplePaint or clearHard and fine-grained. It can turn blotchy under stain.
WD-4Red oakStain or clearOpen, strong grain that shows through paint.
WD-5White oakStain or clearRift or quartersawn boards give straight grain, ray fleck on the quartersawn faces, and less movement than flat-sawn.
WD-6WalnutClearDark brown heartwood, usually left unstained.
WD-7CherryClearDarkens as it is exposed to light, so new cherry will not match old cherry right away.
Finish
MarkFinishWhere it's doneNotes
FN-1Paint, sprayedIn the shopSprayed before install for an even surface. Nail holes and seams get touched up in the room.
FN-2Paint, in placeIn your houseBrushed, rolled or sprayed after install, by the carpenter or your painter. Say who.
FN-3Stain and clear coatShop or houseColor first, then a clear topcoat. Ask for a sample on your wood before the whole job.
FN-4Clear onlyShop or houseOil, lacquer, varnish or a water-based coat over the wood's own color.

Plywood is normal. Many built-ins use hardwood plywood for boxes and shelves, with solid wood on the edges, face frames and doors.

Send this checklist for a scoping document

This form goes to the same desk as finalist.cc. A person reads it and replies by email with a scoping document or questions. You send that document to carpenters yourself.

Already have a quote? Send it on finalist.cc for a benchmark note instead.

ZIP code, type of work, name and email are required. Everything else helps. Have photos or drawings? Say so in the description, and we ask for them when we reply.

We do not send your request or your details to contractors. Prefer to talk? Call (307) 263-8515.

Where the job is.

Abbreviations and terms

How the drawings on this site are marked, and the words you will see in bids.

Abbreviations

AFF
Above finished floor. Heights are taken from the finished floor, not the subfloor.
BY OTHERS
Work someone else does, such as paint or electrical. Not in this bid.
EQ
Equal. Spaces marked EQ are divided evenly; the carpenter sets the actual sizes.
LF
Linear feet. Built-ins, cabinets and trim are often priced by the running foot.
NIC
Not in contract. Shown for clarity, priced by someone else.
NTS
Not to scale. Every drawing on this site is NTS.
TYP
Typical. The note applies to every place like it.
VIF
Verify in field. Your measurements get a job priced; the carpenter measures again before building.

Terms

Architectural millwork
Custom woodwork made in a shop to drawings: paneling, moulding, mantels, built-ins. Installed by finish carpenters.
Casework
Cabinet boxes: the carcass that the doors, drawers and shelves hang in.
Coped joint
An inside corner where one piece of trim is cut to the profile of the other instead of mitered, so it stays tight as the wood moves.
Coffered ceiling
A ceiling divided into recessed panels by a grid of beams.
Face frame
The solid-wood frame on the front of a cabinet box. Frameless cabinets go without one.
Finish carpentry
The visible woodwork cut and fit on site: trim, doors, stairs, paneling, shelving.
Inset and overlay doors
Inset doors sit inside the face frame, flush with it. Overlay doors sit on its face. Inset takes more fitting.
Paint-grade and stain-grade
Paint-grade wood is chosen to be painted. Stain-grade wood is chosen for its grain and finished clear or stained.
Scribe
To trace an uneven wall or floor onto a piece and cut it to match.
Wainscot
Paneling on the lower part of a wall, usually capped by a chair rail.

Questions

No. This site publishes no list of carpenters. We do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors, and we take no payment from contractors for referrals.

A person at finalist.cc, which we run. They write the benchmark note or the scoping document and reply by email. See a sample benchmark note.

No. We are not a carpentry contractor. Any work is agreed between you and the carpenter you choose. Ask that carpenter about their license, insurance and warranty before work starts.

No. Photos of the space, a sketch with measurements, and the wood and finish you want are enough to start. Drawings make bids easier to compare, and many shops draw their own for you to approve before they build.

They usually are not for the same thing. Paint-grade or stain-grade, built in the room or in a shop, inset or overlay doors, who paints, who moves the outlet: each one changes the price. A scope that settles those makes the numbers line up.

Trim, doors, stairs, paneling and shelving built in the room are finish carpentry. Boxes with doors and drawers built in a shop are cabinetry. Built-ins can go either way; sheet A-4 shows the difference.

We use it to write your note and reply to you. We do not send your request, your quote or your details to contractors. Our privacy page covers the rest, and it says we do not sell personal information.