Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Baseboards, casings, and doors...oh my!
We recently found out there was a major miscommunication between us and BissellJr. We thought he was supplying the new baseboards and casings and that they were included in his price -- but they were not. He was only going to stain and poly coat them...
This was a major setback for us because we did not include these items in our budget. We definitely had sticker shock when we began pricing baseboards and casings and determined how much we'd need of both. Here is what Mike wrote about it in an email to his High School shop teacher...
>>I got the classic sticker shock when it came to the base, casing, and trim pieces. It turned out to be as much as almost redoing the kitchen... this was a problem! ;-(
So remembering what I learned from the master... you.....I put my little noggin to work. I went out and bought a planer/molder http://www.woodmastertools.com/ model 718. I then went out and bought a fairly decent jointer, Dell X5 6" 2hp. I started getting prices on wood and went to woodcrafters and the published price was $4.80 per-BF [board foot] for #2 maple. I told them I wanted 400 BF and what would be the price, and they quoted me a price of $3.80 per-BF. Better.....and even at that price we were still under the cost of the lowest pre-finished stuff I could find at $2.70 per LF for base and $17.50 per 7' casing. But not being satisfied with that price I started to look around and found a guy on the web http://www.hartzellwoodstock.bigstep.com/ who stated that he had a lot of different woods for sale including maple at $750 per 1000 BF-- or the way I calculated -- $0.75 per BF. I did not need 1000 BF but at that price I did not think I could go wrong. The delivery was $250 but still only raised it to a dollar a BF. So, now in my basement I have about 900 BF of clear, #1, and #2 maple... great looking wood.... I could not be happier with the quality I got. I have a table saw, jointer, and the planer/molder arrives tomorrow and a new 3hp dust collection system next week.
So using my "extensive" :-) skills as a woodworker, I'm now going to be making all of the base, trim, casing, and shoe molding for the house. Plus, at the end of the day I still have the tools and I'm still way and I mean way under the total price for the molding at a supplier.
>>
Ok....so we tackled the issue of baseboards and casings, so we decided to go ahead and order the maple 6-panel doors for the 1st floor and upstairs landing (all visible doors), and we also ordered 15-light maple french doors for the formal dining room. I have always wanted french doors there to open the foyer and DR up, so I couldn't be happier! We ordered them from Lowes too. :) We feel like we have personally kept them in business this last month!
This was a major setback for us because we did not include these items in our budget. We definitely had sticker shock when we began pricing baseboards and casings and determined how much we'd need of both. Here is what Mike wrote about it in an email to his High School shop teacher...
>>I got the classic sticker shock when it came to the base, casing, and trim pieces. It turned out to be as much as almost redoing the kitchen... this was a problem! ;-(
So remembering what I learned from the master... you.....I put my little noggin to work. I went out and bought a planer/molder http://www.woodmastertools.com/ model 718. I then went out and bought a fairly decent jointer, Dell X5 6" 2hp. I started getting prices on wood and went to woodcrafters and the published price was $4.80 per-BF [board foot] for #2 maple. I told them I wanted 400 BF and what would be the price, and they quoted me a price of $3.80 per-BF. Better.....and even at that price we were still under the cost of the lowest pre-finished stuff I could find at $2.70 per LF for base and $17.50 per 7' casing. But not being satisfied with that price I started to look around and found a guy on the web http://www.hartzellwoodstock.bigstep.com/ who stated that he had a lot of different woods for sale including maple at $750 per 1000 BF-- or the way I calculated -- $0.75 per BF. I did not need 1000 BF but at that price I did not think I could go wrong. The delivery was $250 but still only raised it to a dollar a BF. So, now in my basement I have about 900 BF of clear, #1, and #2 maple... great looking wood.... I could not be happier with the quality I got. I have a table saw, jointer, and the planer/molder arrives tomorrow and a new 3hp dust collection system next week.
So using my "extensive" :-) skills as a woodworker, I'm now going to be making all of the base, trim, casing, and shoe molding for the house. Plus, at the end of the day I still have the tools and I'm still way and I mean way under the total price for the molding at a supplier.
>>
Ok....so we tackled the issue of baseboards and casings, so we decided to go ahead and order the maple 6-panel doors for the 1st floor and upstairs landing (all visible doors), and we also ordered 15-light maple french doors for the formal dining room. I have always wanted french doors there to open the foyer and DR up, so I couldn't be happier! We ordered them from Lowes too. :) We feel like we have personally kept them in business this last month!
# posted by lkutz @ 10:00 PM 
