Custom Built-Ins in Vancouver
The reason a built-in looks built-in rather than like a bookcase pushed against a wall is that it has been fitted to the actual room. In a Vancouver house older than about 1950, that room is not square, not plumb, and not the same width at the top as at the bottom.
Measuring an out-of-square alcove
We measure the width at the floor, at the top, and at two points between, then the same for depth on both sides, then the diagonals. In a heritage alcove those numbers routinely differ by 15 to 25mm across the height. A single measurement taken at eye level would produce a carcass that binds at the bottom and gaps at the top.
The diagonals tell you whether the opening is a rectangle at all, and the answer is usually no. Everything downstream — carcass width, whether the piece can be assembled outside the alcove, how much scribe material to allow — comes from those numbers, which is why we measure in person rather than working from yours.
Scribing to uneven walls
A scribe is a strip of sacrificial material, wider than the largest gap, planed to follow the wall exactly. The carcass is built undersized and deliberately square, then the scribe absorbs everything the room does. Trying to build the carcass itself to the shape of the wall is how you get a unit that is neither square nor a good fit.
The gap that would otherwise appear is the tell. Caulk fills perhaps 3mm convincingly; beyond that it cracks along the line within a season as the house moves. A properly scribed piece needs no caulk to look right, which is why it still looks right in five years.
Finish options and paint-grade vs. stain-grade
Paint-grade uses a stable, even-textured material chosen for how it takes paint rather than how it looks bare, and costs meaningfully less. Once finished, nobody can tell what is underneath — spending on hardwood you intend to paint is spending on something invisible.
Stain-grade is a different job from the start: species selected for grain, sheets matched so the figure runs continuously across doors, edges banded in solid timber, and far less tolerance for filler. That is where the cost difference sits, and it is worth it when the grain is the point.
Lead time from measure to install
Four stages: measure and design, material order, shop build, then install. The material wait is usually the longest and it varies entirely with what you have specified — stock sheet goods are quick, a particular veneer is not. We establish it before quoting so the dates in the quote are real ones.
Install itself is normally a day or two on site for a typical alcove pair. Carcasses arrive built, so the disruption in your house is much shorter than the project length suggests. Built-in work in this category runs $1,400–$14,000 depending on size, finish and how far from square the room is.
What this costs
$1,400–$14,000 for built-ins, trim and stair work
Quoted after a site visit, materials separate. Trim and baseboard runs start around $1,400; a full alcove built-in in a heritage home, scribed to out-of-square walls, runs toward the top of the range. Decks are quoted separately and typically start at $22,000.
Materials are always separate from labour and passed on at cost. Quotes are free and written, and the full rate card is published rather than given out on request.
Common questions
Can built-ins fit walls that aren't square?
That is the normal case here, not the exception. We build the carcass square and undersized, then scribe a sacrificial strip to follow whatever the wall actually does. Alcoves in pre-war Vancouver homes commonly vary 15 to 25mm top to bottom, and a properly scribed piece hides all of it without a bead of caulk.
Paint-grade or stain-grade — which costs less?
Paint-grade, by a clear margin. It uses stable material chosen for how it takes paint, and once finished nobody can tell what is under it. Stain-grade costs more because the species is selected for grain, sheets are matched so the figure runs continuously, and there is far less tolerance for filler.
How long from measurement to installation?
Measure and design, then material lead time, then shop build, then install. The material wait is normally the longest and depends entirely on what you have specified. We pin it down before quoting so the dates you are given are real. Install itself is usually only a day or two in your house.