Site visits for fitted furniture: measure once, quote right
Alcoves, sloping ceilings, walls out of square, pipes and sockets: how carpenters can run site visits for fitted wardrobes and shelving booked by clients.
6 min read
Quote fitted furniture only after a site visit where you measure the space yourself, check what the walls, floor and ceiling really do, and talk through how the client will use the piece. Make the visit a bookable service with slots long enough to measure properly, grouped by area, and ask for photos and rough dimensions in advance. You leave with everything you need for an accurate quote and a drawing, and the client sees from the first meeting that the piece will fit their home, not a catalogue.
Why fitted furniture needs a visit
An alcove measured by the client with a tape at one height tells you its width at that height. Old walls lean, floors slope, ceilings drop under stairs, and skirting boards, sockets, pipes and radiators sit exactly where a shelf should go. A wardrobe built to a single measurement can end up with gaps you have to scribe on site, or won't go in at all.
The visit is also where you learn what the piece is for: coats and boots in a hallway, a home office in a spare room, books that weigh more than shelves expect.
What to measure and check
- Dimensions at several points: width at floor, middle and top; height at front and back; depth at both sides.
- Square and level: walls out of plumb, sloping floors, uneven ceilings, and how much scribing you'll need.
- Obstacles: skirting, cornices, sockets, switches, pipes, radiators, window reveals.
- Walls: solid or plasterboard, and where you can fix.
- Access: stairs, turns and doors the panels must pass through.
- Use: what goes inside, hanging length, drawer contents, weight on shelves.
Take photos from several angles and note each measurement on a sketch. Discuss materials and finishes with samples in hand: painted MDF, veneered board, solid wood, handles or push-to-open. The quote you send afterwards then matches what you both have in mind.
Sketching on site
A quick sketch drawn in front of the client, with the main dimensions, door openings and shelf spacing, settles decisions that are hard to make from a written quote. Show where the doors will swing, how deep the drawers go, what the hanging height leaves below for shoes. Ask the client to open their current wardrobe or bookcase and show you what goes in it: a row of long coats or a stack of vinyl records changes the design more than any catalogue photo. Note their answers on the sketch; it becomes the brief for the final drawing.
Making the visit bookable
On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. You open slots for each service at the length it takes, one place per slot. Clients pick a service, then a free slot.
| Service | Example slot | Example price |
|---|---|---|
| Site visit: fitted wardrobe or shelving | 1 h | Free |
| Site visit: several rooms | 2 h | €50 |
| Design meeting to review drawings | 1 h | Included |
| Small repair visit (doors, drawers, hinges) | 1 h | €60 |
Durations and prices are examples: set your own. Include travel time in the slot. One option is to open visits on one area per day, repeated each week on chosen weekdays until a date, and say which towns each day covers.
What to ask in the booking note
The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note you read in your new-booking email. Ask for the address, the room, the type of furniture and rough dimensions. Ask for photos by email. The note can't be edited once the booking exists, so put the questions in the service description.
After the visit
Send the quote and a drawing. If the client wants to review the design before committing, book a design meeting from your calendar: first and last name are required, email and phone optional. With one place, a booked slot is full and hidden from your page. Fitting days are agreed directly once the order is confirmed. Clients can't move bookings online: they contact you, you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list and let them know, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Book doesn't produce quotes or take deposits; it handles appointments. It costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.