Bespoke joinery cost in Edinburgh, what drives the number
Bespoke joinery is priced by material and finish, how the piece is constructed, and how much survey and site time the room demands, not by the metre. We price from a measured survey because the geometry of the room, not the length of the run, is what decides how long a piece takes to make and to install.
The cost drivers in bespoke joinery
Material is the first driver and it separates more sharply than clients expect. A painted MDF carcass with a sprayed finish, a veneered board with a solid lipping, and solid hardwood are three different propositions in material cost, machining time and movement behaviour. Solid timber moves with humidity, so it demands construction that allows for it, which is skill and time rather than just stock.
Construction is the second. Whether doors are slab or framed, whether drawers are dovetailed and on quality runners, whether shelving is adjustable or fixed, whether backs are rebated in or pinned on, whether internal partitions are housed: none of this is visible in a photograph and all of it is in the price. Ironmongery, hinges and runners sit across a wide band on their own.
Finish is the third. A sprayed and lacquered finish is a separate process with its own environment and drying time, and a hand-painted finish on site is different again. The number of faces to finish, whether interiors are finished to the same standard as exteriors, and colour matching to existing joinery all add process.
The fourth is the room, and in Edinburgh it is usually the deciding one. Alcoves that are not parallel, walls that bow, floors that fall across the run, skirting and cornice that must be worked around or reinstated, and chimney breasts that are square on no axis. Every one of those becomes survey time, setting out, scribing and packing on site. Then there is simply getting the piece up the stair: a fitted run made in sections that pass through a tenement door is a different piece of design from one made in a single carcass.
- Material: painted board, veneer with solid lipping, or solid hardwood
- Construction: framed or slab doors, drawer boxes, runners and hinge quality
- Whether interiors are finished to the same standard as visible faces
- Finish process: sprayed and lacquered off site, or hand-painted on site
- Colour and profile matching to existing period joinery
- Survey accuracy, and how far out of true the walls and floors are
- Scribing to cornice, skirting, chimney breasts and bowed walls
- Integration with services: sockets, lighting, ventilation or appliances
- Reinstating original detail such as shutters, panelling or architrave
- Sectioning for a tenement stair, doorway and turn
- Site protection and access, including stairs with no lift
What makes one joinery job cost several times another
A straight run of wardrobes on a sound, near-square wall in a modern flat is efficient work. It can be made in standard carcass modules with bespoke fronts, delivered flat, assembled quickly and scribed only at the ends. The material choice is the main lever on the number, and the install is a matter of days.
The same length of wardrobe in a Georgian bedroom is a different piece of work entirely. The wall bows, the floor falls, the cornice runs across the top of the run and must be either reinstated or scribed to, the alcove narrows towards the back, and the finished piece has to look as though it was built with the room. That means a longer survey, a template, carcasses built to non-standard dimensions, a paint finish matched to the existing woodwork, sections sized to get up the stair, and a patient install with real scribing.
Two runs of the same length, and the second may take several times the workshop and site hours. That is why joinery quoted by the metre tells you nothing, and why we survey before we price.
What a quote from us includes, and what it never includes
Joinery is quoted as a described piece: material, construction, finish, ironmongery and install method. If you can hold two quotes side by side and cannot see those five things, you are not comparing anything.
- Included: measured survey, templating where needed, and a described specification
- Included: workshop fabrication, ironmongery, and the agreed finish
- Included: delivery, sectioning for access, installation, scribing and adjustment
- Included: making good to walls, skirting and cornice where we have worked
- Never included: structural alteration, or moving services, unless it is in the scope
- Never included: full room decoration around the piece, unless requested
- Never included: matching a finish we have not been able to sample on site
- Never included: appliances, lighting or electrical items you are supplying
What to establish before you ask anyone to quote
Joinery quotes become comparable as soon as material, construction and finish are pinned down. Decide these and every maker is pricing the same piece.
- What is the piece: wardrobes, media wall, bookcases, panelling, doors or reinstatement?
- Painted board, veneer or solid timber?
- Framed or slab doors, and what standard of drawers and runners?
- Sprayed off site, or hand-painted on site to match existing woodwork?
- Are interiors to be finished to the same standard as the visible faces?
- Does the piece need to house sockets, lighting, ventilation or appliances?
- Is any original detail being kept, reinstated or matched?
- What is the access route, and does the piece need to arrive in sections?
Where we deliver this work
- New TownListed Georgian flats and townhouses, consent-led work in a World Heritage setting.
- BruntsfieldGenerously sized Victorian tenement flats, family upgrades and layout changes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does bespoke joinery cost in Edinburgh?
It is set by material, construction, finish process and how much survey and site scribing the room demands. We do not publish a rate, and we would be cautious of anyone who quotes bespoke joinery by the metre, because the same length of run can take several times the hours in a period room. We survey, describe the piece and price it.
Why do joinery quotes vary so much for the same run?
Because the words bespoke and fitted cover a huge range of construction. One quote may be modular carcasses with bespoke fronts and a sprayed slab door, another may be framed doors, dovetailed drawers, housed partitions and a hand-painted finish matched on site. Ask for material, door construction, drawer construction, ironmongery and finish, and the spread makes sense.
Is bespoke joinery more expensive than a fitted wardrobe range?
In material terms usually yes, but the comparison is rarely like for like in a period room. Standard ranges leave filler panels and dead space against a bowed wall or an alcove that narrows, so you pay for space you cannot use and a result that looks approximate.
Does a period room really add that much to joinery cost?
Yes, and it is the driver clients most often underestimate. Out-of-true walls, falling floors, cornice and skirting to work around, and access that forces the piece to be made in sections all add survey, workshop and site hours before a single visible upgrade is chosen.
Can you match existing joinery in a listed flat?
Usually, by taking profiles from the existing woodwork and matching the paint or timber finish from a sample on site. Where an original feature is protected, we establish the consent position before anything is altered, so the work does not create a problem for you later.
Want joinery described properly before it is priced?
Send us the room and what you want it to do. We will survey it, describe the piece in writing and price that piece.