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Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from Grain Wood Shop. Use it to sanity-check bids, then get the real number in writing.
A typical single-level deck is 12×16 — about 200 sq ft.
Estimated range
$7,750 – $14,500
Typical carpentry project around $11,100
Grain Wood Shop is a custom woodworking shop at 256 Marginal Street in East Boston, run by Brandon, building cabinetry, built-ins and one-off wood pieces for homeowners as well as architects, general contractors and designers. Typical jobs are quoted in the $5,000 to $50,000-plus range, and 17 projects are posted publicly — Boston kitchens, a walnut coffee table, a reclaimed-chestnut barn door and a commercial storefront in Merrimack, New Hampshire among them. The praise is about design judgment as much as joinery. A homeowner writing in March 2017 said the cabinets he designed for their small Beacon Hill home tied the open spaces together while still reading as historically accurate, and credited a colour choice they would never have considered themselves. Another, in February 2017, had him build a wrap-around kitchen bar and a custom mirror frame. A third that month brought him teak fronts for IKEA kitchen cabinets and then had him salvage old-growth pine floor joists into a feature wall in a master bathroom. A 2016 client described a rustic-modern dining table built from sample images, with non-toxic finish options chosen because of young children, and another that October said a renovation's cabinets, shelving, accents and mantels were delivered on time and on budget. The record also carries one substantial complaint, and it is worth reading in full. In a review dated 31 December 2018, a client who hired him for a small galley-kitchen renovation reported that the walls and cabinets were painted mismatched colours and never corrected, that pull-out drawers were mis-measured several times and left with unfinished wood, and that the job finished more than two months late. The same client said a promised lifetime warranty was honoured once — a cabinet that fell out was re-secured a week later — but that by December there had been no response and the kitchen was coming apart. Two things follow. First, the written record is dated: nothing has been posted since that December 2018 review, so both the praise and the complaint describe how the shop worked seven or more years ago. Second, the strong reviews are about bespoke pieces — tables, bars, built-ins, cabinet fronts — while the one failure was a full kitchen renovation with paint and scheduling in scope. If you are commissioning a piece, ask to see recent work and get the finish schedule in writing; if you are handing over a whole room, ask specifically how paint, measurement sign-off and the completion date are handled, and get the warranty terms on paper. Houzz also lists licence number 180646 for the shop, which is worth confirming with the state directly.
“Grain Wood Shop exceeded our best expectations! I cannot praise Brandon’s work enough.”
Hired Brandon from Grain to complete renovation of small galley kitchen after receiving a free quote. Initially seemed like he would do a good job, however everything went wrong possible on the job. Grain had painted the walls and cabinets different colors so they did not match (was not fixed). He had mis-measured pull out drawers several times. Did not finish the wood on new pull out drawers installed and never fixed. Brandon always cut corners and used inferior material to build a product that was finished over 2 months late. Was always late responding to phone calls and appointments, but had no problem being on time to collect his final payment. Promised lifetime warranty, did show up a week later when the cabinet fell out to secure, but in December has not responded and the kitchen is falling apart. Would not use.
Grain Wood Shop exceeded our best expectations! I cannot praise Brandon's work enough. We found him to be highly-professional, talented and insightful. He has a singular eye for good design and made some very sound, lovely recommendations for our cabinets (without being pushy or making me feel pressured - which seems to be a rarity these days!). Looking back, I can't imagine our home without the updated cabinets. Through both the design and color (which I would have never considered without Brandon) the cabinets tie together the different open spaces in our small Beacon Hill home, while still looking historically-accurate. It's with pleasure that I highly recommend Grain and look forward to hiring them in the future.
We hired Brandon to create a wrap around bar for our kitchen as well as a custom wood mirror frame. To say Brandon's work was excellent is an understatement. He worked with us closely to ensure we got exactly what we wanted (even if it meant visiting his shop with our 3 rambunctious boys). The work he created for us is beautiful - we get SO many compliments on the bar and frame from visitors. We would HIGHLY recommend Brandon to anyone looking for wood work!
When putting our job to bid we were looking for a craftsman who fit two criteria - quality of work and character. Brandon's proposal showed the attention to detail, eye for design, and trusting partner that we were looking for and we haven't looked back since.
Brandon can do anything!! We came to him first to make custom teak fronts for IKEA kitchen cabinets, which came out gorgeous. In addition, he helped our contractor salvage our old-growth pine floor joists and turned them into a beautiful feature wall in the master bathroom. He is great at communicating and has a knack for "getting" your vision, however fully or partially formed it might be. I would hire him for anything.
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Added 7 new comments, established rating 3.5