Week one — the conversation
It usually starts with an email or WhatsApp containing two or three photos of the room and a sentence like “I’d like a dining table that fits eight comfortably, ideally in something warm.” That is plenty. We reply within two working days with first thoughts, follow-up questions (ceiling height? pendant light position? do you ever extend to ten?), and an invitation to visit the workshop or to have us visit your space.
The workshop visit, when it happens, takes about forty minutes. We will show you current work, line up species samples in three finishes each, and have a longer conversation about how the room is used. There is no pressure to commit and we never quote on the spot.
Week two — the site survey
If our first conversation suggests we are a fit, we book a measured survey of your space. The survey itself takes an hour. We measure walls, ceilings and openings; photograph corners, electrical outlets and floor finishes; and walk through the route the finished piece will travel (lifts, staircases, doorways). For tight-access homes this last step matters — we have built large tables in two halves and bolted them on site for exactly this reason.
While we are on site, we will ask you to walk us through how you actually live in the room. Is the dining table also a homework table? Is one chair perpetually pulled out because someone always sits sideways? These details shape the design in ways that pure measurements cannot.
Week three — drawings and samples
Within a week of the survey you receive three things by email:
- A measured drawing of the proposed piece (plan, two elevations and a 3D render).
- An itemised quotation covering material, joinery, finish, hardware, delivery and installation, with the assumptions clearly listed.
- An invitation back to the workshop to look at three finish samples on your chosen species under both natural and warm-white lighting.
At this point you have full information: what the piece looks like, what it will cost, what species it is in, and how it will arrive. You can take a week or two to think about it. We are not in a hurry. The only thing we cannot guarantee is bench slot — if your project is time-sensitive, mention this and we will hold a slot for ten days.
Week four — confirmation
If you confirm, you sign the drawings, pay the 50% deposit, and we begin. The deposit unlocks the timber purchase (a roughly six-board chengal table needs about RM 3,500 of raw stock, and our yards do not extend credit), and books your bench slot for the build window. From here, the lead time we quoted starts ticking.
And then the build
The remaining six to twelve weeks are workshop time. We genuinely welcome visits during the build — many clients drop in once or twice to see the timber being prepared and the joinery being cut. We send photographs at three milestones: rough construction complete, fine-finishing started, and finishing complete and curing. When the piece is ready we book a Sunday or evening for delivery and installation by the same team that built it.
Everything past delivery is aftercare. That part doesn’t end.