Endcoz Custom Woodworks is a one-man custom cabinetry and furniture shop located in Spring, TX on the North side of Houston.  Dean Cosme had been involved in designing and manufacturing fine furniture for over 12 years.  Dean has a personal approach and takes pride in his craftsmanship and his woodworking can be seen in several locations throughout Houston.  His fine furniture and cabinetry grace many homes as well as churches.  From the beginning of his career, Dean has been fortunate to be associated with the finest lumber and hardware suppliers in the industry.  Because of his personal touch, Dean works closely with each customer on choosing species, style, stains and finishes and then personally hand picks the materials insuring that each customer receives the highest quality furniture that meets their EXACT specifications as well as exceeding all their expectations.

One other aspect of Endcoz Custom Woodworks, is affordability.  Dean understands quality comes at a price, but he also understands that affordability doesn't have to sacrifice quality.  Dean makes every effort to maximize his purchasing power by buying in bulk (when available) and using his special relationships to obtain the lowest possible prices for the highest quality wood available. 

Whether it's a single end table, a custom shoe closet or an elaborate paint and stain preacher's pulpit, Dean pours his blood, sweat and tears into every project he designs and builds.  He takes every project personally and won't present his finished product to his customers until it passes his own personal quality inspection.  Dean feels there is nothing that he can't build.  If you can think it, he can build it.  From brain to paper, raw wood to finished furniture, Endcoz Custom Woodworks, affordable custom woodworking for all!

GETTING STARTED

All the work done by Endcoz Custom Woodworks is custom built to order for individual clients. This is a brief overview of the process. Keep in mind that the final product is only one component of creating custom work. Sometimes the build time represents less than half the actual working energy involved in building a custom made product.

Typically, we meet with the client at the site at which the project will be installed.  The project, time line and budget expectations are discussed. Usually contract prices are not discussed in these discussions because there is not have enough information to quote prices properly or accurately. Unless a client brings accurate, scale working drawing of their project we cannot and will not be able to provide hard project prices.

There are two distinct parts of the process involved in commissioning custom work, the design process and the construction process.

SITE VISIT

Most larger scale and all built in projects will require at least two site visits, one for preliminary measurements and one for installation. At the site visit, we take all pertinent measurements, look at the architecture, the furniture and a variety of other criteria. We ask for all the clients needs and expectations. We make suggestions and discuss viable solutions with the client to develop a concept of what the project will be. We use our expertise as not only a designers but also as fabricators to make these suggestions. We then take that information and come back to the "drawing board" and execute the "sketch" of the project.

DESIGN

After the initial consultation, we gather all the information and begin designing the "sketch" of the project in order to determine pricing of the project.  Once the sketch is complete, we determine the amount and cost of materials needed to manufacture the project along with the labor that will be involved.  Once all the numbers have been crunched and finalized, we contact you direct or via e-mail and provide you with a PDF Quote and PDF Drawing for your review.  Once approved, a 50% deposit is required to begin work on the project.

CONSTRUCTION

Construction begins when the drawings are approved and the contract is signed. Your project may begin immediately or may take some time to start. This will depend on any work in progress and any previous commitments. We generally work on one project at a time in order to remain focused and provide the highest quality. We will however have several projects going at different stages ( drawing / construction / installation ) most of the time. We will be as up front and realistic about execution and delivery as possible. Large projects can take two weeks or more of shop time. Two weeks of shop time may take 3-4 weeks of real time to complete. The whole process generally takes 2-4 weeks for most projects, larger projects may take 4-6 weeks and major projects like kitchens can take 8-12 weeks. Although this is not cut in stone and does vary dramatically, it all depends on what we are currently committed to completing and the scope and scale of your project.

INSTALLATION

Once the project has been fabricated and is ready for delivery, we will contact you to determine a delivery date for installation.  Depending on the scope of the project, installation can take from an hour to a day to complete.  We take every precaution necessary to insure that installation goes as smooth as possible.  Once installed and completed to the clients satisfaction, the 50% balance is due.

SUBSTRATES

There are some common impressions that solid wood construction is a higher quality than construction using a veneer ply or worse yet a particle board substrate. In some cases that may be true, however, I believe that there are no bad materials there are just bad uses of materials. I would not recommend a solid wood cabinet carcass on any project except for maybe a small furniture type piece. The reason for this is simple, there will be inordinate wood movement in the carcass and the expense of solid wood construction would blow your mind. There are a number of substrate materials that are commonly used to keep construction cost within reason and wood movement to a minimum. First a definition of substrates as used in construction is in order. A substrate is a material that is structurally stable, has the surface of choice but the core is not actually made of that surface material. That means that walnut plywood is a real walnut veneer with a plywood center. That ply center is commonly made of Douglas fir engineered and glued in thin crossgrain layers that minimizes wood movement. Other substrate materials that are commonly used are melamine board and medium density fiberboard (MDF). Melamine board is a fine grain pine particle core substrate with a colored melamine face. This material makes wonderful cabinet interiors as well as entertainment center background carcasses, closed case interiors and drawer bottoms. It has superior wear characteristics, is easy to maintain, is scratch resistant, comes in a variety of colors, has good structural characteristics and is reasonably priced. Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is another substrate. MDF is a highly refined cousin to the dreaded particle board. The difference is that the material is a fiber instead of a particle and is made of pine instead of whatever happens to be in the dumpster that day. As a result the face of MDF is very smooth and flat which makes it a great substrate for painted pieces. Another great benefit of MDF is that it can be profiled or shaped on its edge much like solid wood.

CONSTRUCTION

The difference between quality custom work and average production or industry standard work can be dramatic. Attention to detail is what makes custom work so different from a similar looking production shop or factory project. Most every part of all the projects I build is custom cut from raw stock material. Then each part is hand fit or joined. Materials and construction change from project to project but I have found that even my minimum standards far exceed industry standards. The next time you are in an expensive house, open a cabinet or pull out a drawer, if you know what you are looking at you will be surprised at how mediocre they are.

Woodworking joinery is a trade in itself and I won’t spend time describing the hundreds of ways that it could be done and which one is better. In general I like to use clean and simple joints that give me the strength and longevity I am after. I will tailor the construction to the budget, use and service that each piece is designed and executed for.

WOOD CHOICES

There are many choices of colors and finishes and ways to execute them. My first recommendation is always to look for a wood that is readily available in solid and ply form that meets the color criteria for the project. These woods are (light to dark): maple, white birch, pine, natural birch, red oak, white oak, cherry, mahogany, and walnut. My second choice is to pick a good staining wood and stain to the desired color. This is appropriate when we are matching existing work and when natural woods do not appeal to the client. The problem with stain jobs is that with the extra time and money it takes to do the stain you can usually pay for the premium dark woods. Natural wood pieces will always retain their integrity are easy to repair and you can easily match them in the future. This does not mean that you can not use exotic or unusual woods and finishes, just be aware of the extra labor, service and expense that it may require.

FINISHES

Every wood project will have a look determined by the wood and finish used. There are unlimited cosmetic finish choices from faux stone and marble to simple stains and natural woods with clear coats. Prices and construction will be very different with paint grade as opposed to stain grade. Paint grade work is defined by the finish and is generally work that will have an opaque paint type finish. Stain grade work is when the background wood and the finish used are both visible. The construction of paint grade work is usually less expensive than stain grade because of the less costly materials and joinery used. That savings however can be negated by using an expensive finish such as faux goatskin or any number of labor intensive finishes. Stain grade construction is generally more labor intensive because the more expensive background woods show through the finish.

Finish topcoat materials are determined by the wood , desired cosmetics, serviceability, ease of application and other considerations. Lacquer brings out the natural beauty of wood with the least amount of energy. When water resistance or hardness is an issue we can use some of the newer formulas of water based polyurethane with good results. Oil finishes are sometimes appropriate but are labor intensive and don’t have the serviceability of lacquer or urethane. Wax finishes can be used for pine pieces to give them a traditional look and feel, this finish is not very serviceable and requires maintenance to look good over time. Faux and trick finishes are available as well. They are labor intensive and therefore more costly, some of that expense can be balanced by the less expensive construction and materials used for these pieces.

HARDWARE

There are thousands of pieces of hardware available to the woodworking industry. Style and personal preference will determine cosmetic hardware like pulls and handles. Function , service, performance, ease of installation and a host of other criteria determine the type of hardware used for hinges, drawer guides, pocket door slides and other moving hardware. Experience has taught me that you can not save money using inexpensive functional hardware. I use Accuride and/or TopSlide brand drawer slides and pocket door hardware and Liberty European style hinges in almost of all the casework I do. With these hardware systems I can do any style I choose with dependable results. These hardware systems allow for easy adjustment and perfect alignment of all the door and drawer fronts on each piece. For traditional furniture I have suppliers that provide authentic reproduction hardware and high quality solid brass, copper, bronze, and steel appropriate for the style we are executing.