Choosing a joiner is difficult because you cannot inspect the product before you buy it. The furniture does not exist yet. You are buying a promise, and the only evidence available is what someone tells you, what they have made before, and how they conduct themselves at the survey.
That is why the price is the worst thing to lead on. Three quotes for the same alcove units can vary by a factor of three, and the difference is almost never that one firm is greedy. It is that they have quoted for different work.
This guide covers how to read a quote properly, how to check that past work is real, what a guarantee actually needs to say, and the sales tactics worth recognising. It is written from over 20 years of quoting jobs across Jersey, including plenty we did not win and a few we advised people not to do at all.
Start with the one question that sorts everything
That single question separates genuine bespoke joinery from standard fitted units sold under the same word. Both are legitimate products. They are not the same price and they do not produce the same result, and if you are comparing them as though they are, you will pick badly.
Companies that make to your room will answer plainly and usually explain how they handle uneven walls. Companies selling standard units tend to change the subject to materials or hardware.
Reading a quote properly
A quote should be a document you can interrogate, not a number on an email.
What a fair quote contains
- A breakdown separating materials, making and installation, rather than one lump figure
- Named materials and grades. “18mm moisture-resistant MDF carcasses, 25mm birch ply shelving” rather than “quality board”
- The finish specified, including whether it is sprayed in a booth, hand polished, or supplied primed
- Named hardware, with brand and finish, not just “soft close”
- Dimensions of what is being made
- What is included at installation, covering delivery, scribing, removal of old furniture, waste removal and making good
- Payment stages, with amounts and triggers
- A timeline, or at least a lead time
- The guarantee, with a term and what it covers
- VAT or GST position, stated clearly
- What is excluded. A good quote is explicit about what is not in the price
How to compare three quotes fairly
Put them side by side and check they describe the same job.
| Check | Lower quote often means | Higher quote often means |
| Carcasses | Standard sizes with fillers | Built to your room |
| Materials | Chipboard or pre-finished melamine | Specified board and ply by grade |
| Finish | Painted on site by hand or roller | Sprayed in a booth, cured properly |
| Where made | Cut and assembled in your house | Workshop |
| Fit to walls | Trim covering the gaps | Scribed to follow the wall |
| Drawings | Verbal description | Drawings you approve before cutting |
| Survey | Rough measurements, sometimes by phone | Full survey checking level and plumb |
| Backs and undersides | Unsealed | Sealed on every face |
If one quote is dramatically cheaper, find the line that explains why before assuming it is a bargain. Usually it is there.
The two phrases that hide the most
“Supply and fit” versus “fit only.” Supply and fit means they are making or sourcing the item as well as installing it. Fit only is labour alone. A quote that looks remarkably cheap is often fit only.
“Made to measure” versus “bespoke.” Neither term is regulated. Made to measure frequently means standard carcasses with a door cut to size. Ask which you are getting.
Checking their past work
This is the strongest evidence available to you, and most people do it too casually.
Photographs
- Ask for photographs of completed jobs in properties like yours. A portfolio of modern flats tells you little if you have a granite cottage.
- Look for the awkward bits, not the hero shots. Where a unit meets an uneven wall, where a run stops at a window reveal, where two sections join. Anyone can photograph a straight run in good light.
- Ask for before pictures too. Seeing what the space looked like beforehand shows you what was actually solved.
- Be alert to stock imagery. If the photographs look like a catalogue, they probably are one. Ask whether the pictures are of their own work.
Seeing work in person
The single most useful thing you can do, and surprisingly few people ask.
An established local joiner will usually be able to arrange for you to see a completed job, subject to the client agreeing. Some will invite you to the workshop instead, which tells you nearly as much: whether there is real machinery, whether there is a spray booth, whether work is genuinely in progress.
A company that cannot show you either is worth questioning.
Reviews
Useful, but read them properly.
- Look for detail. “Great job, very happy” tells you nothing. Reviews mentioning specific problems solved, how the company handled a delay, or what the snagging visit was like are worth ten of them.
- Check the dates. A cluster of five-star reviews all posted in one week is a pattern, not a coincidence.
- Read the negative ones and the responses. How a company answers criticism is more informative than the praise. Defensive or dismissive replies tell you what happens when something goes wrong.
- Cross-check platforms. Google, Facebook and any trade directory. Reviews that exist in only one place, particularly on the company’s own website where they control what appears, carry less weight.
- Ask for a recent reference you can phone. Someone whose job finished six months ago will tell you things a review never does, particularly about snagging and aftercare.
Insurance and guarantees
Both get mentioned constantly and checked rarely.
Insurance
Public liability insurance covers damage to your property or injury to a third party while they are working. Ask to see the certificate, not just for confirmation that it exists. Check the cover amount and that it is in date.
If they employ anyone, employers’ liability insurance is also required. Ask.
A company that is insured will produce the paperwork without hesitation. Reluctance or vagueness here is a serious warning sign, because if a fitter puts a foot through your ceiling, an uninsured firm means you are the one claiming on your own policy.
The guarantee
A guarantee is only as good as its wording. Ask these specifics:
- How long? Anything under a year on workmanship is thin. Several years is normal for established firms.
- What does it cover? Workmanship, materials, the finish, or all three. Finish is the one most often excluded, and it is also the thing most likely to disappoint.
- What is excluded? Fair wear, movement in the building, damp coming through a wall. Reasonable exclusions exist, but they should be written down rather than produced later.
- Is it in writing? A verbal guarantee is not one.
- Who honours it? A guarantee from a firm that has traded for twenty years means something. A guarantee from a business six months old is a hope.
- What is the process? How you report a problem and what the response time is.
Also ask about snagging, separately from the guarantee. Doors and drawers settle after fitting. A return visit a week or two later to adjust hinges and runners and touch up marks should be included as standard, not treated as a callout.
The tactics worth recognising
Being direct here, because these cost homeowners real money.
The quote with no survey. A firm price arriving without anyone visiting your property. Nobody can price made-to-measure work from a phone call, so this is always a price for standard units regardless of the wording used.
Discount deadlines. “This price is only valid if you sign today.” Manufacturing costs do not expire at midnight. This is a technique to prevent you getting a second quote, and it is the clearest signal in the trade that you should get one.
The inflated list price. A headline figure of £12,000 discounted to £6,000 in the same visit. The first number was never real. If a company can halve its price in one conversation, ask what the price actually is.
The long sales appointment. Three hours in your living room with a laptop and a sample case. Design conversations are useful and can take time, but a genuine survey is largely measuring. If most of the visit is a presentation, you are in a sales process rather than a design one.
Vagueness about the finish. “We’ll paint it” is not a specification. Ask where it is finished, by what method, and how long it cures.
Large upfront deposits. A materials deposit is reasonable and normal. A large proportion of the total before any work begins is not, and it is the mechanism by which people lose money when a company folds.
Pricing by the room rather than the work. A fixed price for “a bedroom” without reference to what is being made suggests a standard product with a standard price.
No written contract for a substantial job. For anything of size, you want the specification, price, payment stages, timeline and guarantee in writing. It protects both sides equally, which is why good firms are comfortable with it.
Materially cheaper than everyone else. Occasionally a genuine bargain. More often a company that has not understood the job, has not allowed for the walls and floors, or is quoting a different product. Ask which.
Deposits and payment stages
A structure that is normal and fair for a job of reasonable size:
| Stage | Typical share |
| Deposit on order | 25 to 40% |
| On completion of workshop build, or at delivery | 30 to 50% |
| On completion and satisfaction | 20 to 30% |
The principle is that you always hold back a meaningful final payment until the work is finished and you are happy. Never pay the full amount before installation is complete.
Pay by a method that leaves a record. Cash-only requests on a substantial job should give you pause.
Why local matters on an island
This is not a sentimental point, it is a practical one, and it applies more here than it would on the mainland.
- They have worked in buildings like yours. Jersey’s housing stock is distinctive. Granite cottages, farmhouses, converted outbuildings and older townhouses have rubble walls where reveals vary by 30 or 40mm along a single run, floors that fall noticeably across a room, and corners that were never square. A joiner who has spent twenty years in those buildings prices and designs for them automatically. A firm that has not will either underquote and struggle or overquote to cover the unknown.
- Coastal conditions change the specification. Higher ambient humidity and salt in the air mean moisture-resistant board where the mainland would use standard, every face sealed including the backs and undersides, and better hardware. Someone working here knows that. Someone shipping in a mainland specification often does not.
- Shipping affects your timeline, and they know it. Materials not held on the island have to come across. A local firm builds that into the schedule at the design stage rather than discovering it in week three.
- Aftercare is real rather than theoretical. A guarantee is only meaningful if the company can come back. When a drawer runner needs adjusting eighteen months later, an island-based joiner turns up. An off-island firm has to justify the cost of a trip against a small job, and the visit rarely happens promptly.
- Reputation is not abstract here. In a community this size, a firm that does poor work hears about it. That is a stronger accountability mechanism than any review platform.
- Access and logistics. Narrow lanes, restricted parking, older properties with difficult access. Local firms have solved these problems before and price accordingly.
The questions to take with you
A checklist for each survey.
About the work:
- Are the carcasses made to my room, or standard sizes with fillers?
- What materials and grades are you using, and why those?
- Where is the finishing done, and how long does it need to cure?
- Will I see drawings to approve before anything is cut?
- How will you handle the uneven walls and the floor in this room?
- Are the backs and undersides sealed?
About the company:
- How long have you been trading?
- Do you have your own workshop, and can I see it?
- Can I see photographs of similar work, or a completed job in person?
- Can you give me a recent customer I can speak to?
About the commercial side:
- Can I see your public liability insurance certificate?
- What does your guarantee cover, for how long, and is it in writing?
- What are the payment stages?
- What is the lead time, and when could you start?
- Is snagging included, and how soon after installation?
- What happens if you find something unexpected behind the plaster?
That last one matters more in older properties than people expect. Joinery work in granite buildings uncovers structural issues often enough that the answer tells you how much project management is about to land on you.
Warning signs, summarised
- A firm price without a site visit
- Discount deadlines and pressure to sign the same day
- A headline price halved during the visit
- No drawings offered before work starts
- Vagueness about materials, grades or finish
- Reluctance to show the insurance certificate
- A guarantee that is verbal, or shorter than a year
- Large upfront payment demanded
- No written specification for a substantial job
- Cannot show you any completed local work
- No mention of your walls or floor after seeing the room
- Cash only
Any one of these deserves a question. Several together deserve a different company.
Three surveys and what they revealed
A granite cottage kitchen where one company had come in at roughly half the price of the others. Their quote allowed nothing for a floor falling toward an old external door, or reveals varying by nearly 40mm along one run. Standard units would have needed extensive scribing and packing on site, none of it priced, with a worktop still reading visibly out of level. Once that work was costed in, the gap between the quotes was small. The cheap quote was not cheap, it was incomplete.
The homeowner who asked to see the workshop. A client comparing three firms for fitted wardrobes asked each whether they could visit. One declined, one had no workshop and built on site, one showed them round. Standing in a workshop looking at a spray booth, machinery and other people’s jobs in progress answered more questions in twenty minutes than three quotes had in a fortnight.
The survey that ended in advice not to buy. A modern flat with a square bedroom, flat walls and a level floor, wanting fitted wardrobes across one wall. Standard units would have fitted the width almost exactly with a gap of around 40mm to absorb. The honest recommendation was to buy a good quality fitted range and put the difference toward the kitchen, where the room genuinely was awkward. Not every survey should end in a sale, and a joiner who tells you that is one worth keeping the number of.
Frequently asked questions
How many quotes should I get?
Three is sensible. More than that and comparison becomes difficult. What matters more than the number is that all three are quoting for the same specification.
Should I always choose the cheapest?
No, and you should specifically investigate why it is cheapest before deciding. Occasionally it is a genuine bargain. More often it is standard units, a hand-painted finish, or a job that has not been properly understood.
What deposit is reasonable?
Between a quarter and 40 percent on order is normal, covering materials. Always keep a meaningful final payment until the work is complete and you are satisfied.
What qualifications should a joiner have?
A completed apprenticeship or a City and Guilds or NVQ in Carpentry and Joinery is the standard route. For most homeowners, though, a workshop you can visit, a portfolio of local work and a checkable reference tell you more than a certificate does.
Do I need a written contract?
For anything substantial, yes. The specification, price, payment stages, timeline and guarantee should all be written down. It protects both parties, which is why established firms have no problem with it.
How do I check a joiner is insured?
Ask to see the public liability certificate rather than accepting a verbal assurance. Check the amount of cover and the expiry date. A legitimate company produces it without fuss.
Getting started
The most useful first conversation is about the room rather than the furniture. How you use it, what frustrates you now, what needs storing and how you want it to look in ten years shapes the design far more than a catalogue. A proper survey then establishes what the walls and floors are actually doing, which is where the real decisions get made.
Davision Interiors Ltd has designed, built, finished and installed bespoke joinery across all parishes of Jersey for over 20 years, covering fitted wardrobes, alcove units, media walls, kitchens, home offices, staircases, renovations and commercial fit-outs, with spray finishing and French polishing carried out in house. We are happy to show you completed work, talk you through the specification line by line, and tell you honestly if a room does not justify the spend. Every project starts with a free design and survey visit, all work is covered by our workmanship guarantee, and we are fully insured. Get in touch to arrange a visit and a no-obligation quote.