Start a commission
Tell us the room, the piece and roughly how big it needs to be. That is enough to start. We will come back with questions, a timber suggestion and a price range before anyone signs anything.
Most commissions begin with the form below. If you would rather talk first, the phone number and shop hours are further down the page.
Commission enquiry
Nothing here is binding. Approximate numbers are fine — we would rather hear “about seven feet, has to seat eight” than nothing at all. Fields marked required are the ones we cannot quote without.
Reach us directly
There are two of us and a bandsaw. The phone goes unanswered when a glue-up is open, which is often. Email reaches us faster than anything else.
- shop@mortiseandgrain.com
- Phone
- (845) 555-0162
- Someone is at the desk
- Tuesday to Thursday, 9am – 1pm
- Shop visits
- By appointment, Tuesday to Saturday
Voicemail is checked once a day on weekdays. If you leave a number and a sentence about the piece, you will get a call back inside two business days.
Finding the shop
41 Cornell Street, Building 3, Kingston, NY 12401. We are in the old brick complex behind the rail siding — Building 3 is the one with the grey roll-up door and the stack of stickered boards under the overhang. Come to the pedestrian door to the left of it.
Parking
Free gravel lot on the east side of Building 3, eight or nine spaces. Do not park in front of the roll-up doors; a lumber truck needs that apron. Street parking on Cornell is unmetered.
From Route 28
Take Route 28 east into Kingston and follow it onto Broadway. Turn right on Cornell Street just past the firehouse. Go three blocks; the complex is on your left, immediately after the brick smokestack. Roughly six minutes from the Route 28 traffic circle.
From the Thruway (I-87)
Exit 19, Kingston. Take the roundabout to Washington Avenue southbound, then left on Broadway, then right on Cornell Street. About ten minutes, longer in July when the roundabout backs up.
Train and bus
Rhinecliff–Kingston station is twenty minutes by cab across the bridge. The Trailways terminal on Washington Avenue is a fifteen-minute walk. If you are coming up from the city without a car, say so and we will meet the bus.
Trade enquiries
We work with architects, interior designers and general contractors across the Hudson Valley, Westchester and the five boroughs. If you are specifying for a client, say so in the enquiry and it gets routed differently.
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Spec sheets
Dimensioned drawings, joinery notes, timber species and finish schedule, issued as a single PDF by email once a design is agreed. Revisions are free up to the point of cutting.
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Net pricing
Trade net is 20% off retail on standing designs and is quoted directly on commissions. We do not mark up for resale, so your margin is yours to set.
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Samples
Finished timber samples in walnut, white oak, cherry, maple and ash, 4 by 6 inches, in our three standard finishes. Sent free to a trade address, usually within a week.
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Site work
We measure on site within 90 miles of Kingston and deliver and install ourselves. Beyond that we work from your drawings and use a blanket-wrap carrier.
What happens next
No automated sequence, no newsletter. A person reads your enquiry and writes back.
1. We read it and reply
Within two business days, usually the same week it arrives. The reply is either questions or a rough price range — occasionally it is an honest “this is not the right shop for that,” with a name of someone who is.
2. We talk it through
A call or a shop visit. We look at the room photographs, settle the dimensions, and pick timber. If you can come to Kingston, we will pull boards so you can see what walnut actually looks like next to white oak.
3. Drawing and fixed quote
A dimensioned drawing and a fixed price, good for 60 days. The drawing costs nothing and you are under no obligation after it arrives.
4. Deposit books the bench
A 40% deposit holds a slot in the schedule and buys the timber. Current lead time from deposit to delivery is 14 to 20 weeks, depending on what is already on the bench. The balance is due when the piece is finished, before it leaves the shop.
Not ready to commission yet?
There are finished pieces and small goods ready to ship today, and a longer account of how a commission is actually built.