We have several popular Victorian casing and moldings available in various widths and profiles including rosettes, plinths, chair and picture rails and many more. Some examples can be viewed through our Web Pages and in the “Before and After” page. We can also forward pictures through your email if you desire.

Yes, all we need is a cross section that illustrates the profile. The majority of the current moldings have been created from samples provided by restorers who desired to match existing patterns.

Much of the restorative molding and casing runs have traditionally been walnut, red oak, white oak, cherry, and ash; sometimes completed in combination such as an oak base board topped with a cherry rail. These are the typical species used in most decorative casings and moldings. If you plan on painting your Victorian molding, we suggest Poplar as it looks great painted.

With a Victorian home, we have accumulated a number of picture frame profiles of various thicknesses and widths. We provide the frame moldings that are profiled in a variety of patterns as well as the completed frames in all sizes. Many do-it-yourselfers tend to prefer the picture frame molding….which are typically in lengths of four, six or eight feet. Others prefer the frame molding cut to size so that they can assemble them as a project.

We’ve always been a preferred supplier of small runs due to our pricing. There is not a set-up charge or up-charges for “small” runs, at least we haven’t seen need for them. Our runs are typically “what ever is needed to complete the job”. Typical molding runs have included replacement pieces, entire rooms and additions as well as requirements for Victorian homes being restored, however, the average mill run is less than 1000 linear feet.

Discounts are provided on a case by case basis and depend on the whether it is a one time purchase or continuously supplying frames or picture frame moldings. More often than not, clients receiving a discount order picture frames or picture frame moldings each month as they are used in their custom framing business.

The cost of custom profiles needing the creation of a mill knife is shared; Frameworxz® will pay half the cost of the custom milling knife and the other half is charged to the customer. A standard knife costs $ 60.00 to 70.00 dollars which means that shared cost is approximately $ 30.00 and above. Custom milling knives that duplicate your Victorian molding profiles cost $32.00 an inch and are made from M2 high speed steel. We also share the cost for custom knives for your restorative projects. Typical turnaround for custom knives is two to three days. Frameworxz® retains the custom knife and reserves the right to use the knife for future molding orders. We provide standard and custom knives at cost to our customers when our existing profiles do not match their casing, baseboard or picture frame needs. This practice enhances out ability to provide our customers competitive pricing.

The vast majorities of the completed frames are unfinished and are ready for applying a stain and sealer if desired. Cherry frames are often left unfinished and are allowed to naturally age to produce a dark rich burgundy color. Of course, we will finish your picture frame if requested for a nominal charge!

Much of the wood is taken from our own standing timber and is sawn to our specifications. We have a Woodmizer® band saw mill and have the advantage to determine our board thickness and width needs prior to sawing allowing the full use of each log we saw. Species that we don’t have as timber, are considered exotic, or are needed to augment our lumber requirements are purchased from local sawyers when available. Do you sell kilned lumber? We have a 400 board foot wood kiln that we dry our lumber with. Many times hobbyists, cabinet builders, and carpenters request lumber to be kilned or purchase kilned lumber in small quantities. It typically takes 15 to 20 days to kiln dry a load of lumber to a moisture content of 8-10 %, sometimes longer if the moisture content is higher due to fresh cut lumber.

We do not have a retail outlet for our products; however, we have been able to keep our product costs down due to our “shop-direct” service that excludes retail mark-ups. We will continue to consider this option as our business expands locally and through on-line sales. We often participate in Art and Craft shows around Michigan.

Since our mill runs are rather short and we have our own lumber and kiln capabilities, we are often told our lead-times are short compared to other millwork suppliers. We take a personal interest in meeting our customer expectations in every way as they are our best salespeople for generating new customers. Most orders are filled in two to three days, larger orders may require one to three weeks depending on order backlogs.

We will assist you when during your call and assist you in selecting a profile that meets your needs. Many times, customer will visit our shop and review the numerous selections at that time. We know how much matching or selecting Victorian moldings and casings enhances your home and will make every effort to provide you with several options.

Once in a while, we will receive a customer request that exceeds our capability, either volume or complexity of profile. In these cases, we will refer you to one of our craftsman colleagues who specialize in restorative wood products, colleagues who have the skills, experience and specialty to address your particular need.

Our stained glass creations are the innovation of our daughter who has developed a stained glass business relating to numerous projects. Her creativity inspired our other children and each works to create their ideas as well as those of others into stained glass projects. Their capability is only limited by their age, however, their mentor is an accomplished artisan who assists and provides them with the techniques to achieve their stained glass designs.

Prior to purchasing a Woodmizer®, we looked a several of the competing saw mills at trade shows and marketing demonstrations. The Woodmizer® saw mill performed exceptionally well in sawing all types of species including dry hard maple. It also provided me an opportunity to own a well built saw mill at an affordable price. We purchased ours while at the Michigan State Agricultural Show in 2001 and are extremely pleased with its performance.

We each have our favorites when it comes to moldings and casings. I prefer the style that I replicated when remodeling our Victorian home which consisted of 5 inch door and window casings and 12 inch base boards which were made up of 9 inch profiled base boards and a three inch top rail. The base boards were made of white oak and the top rail of cherry. Whether you choose one of the typical patterns or create you own, you’ll definitely end up with a Victorian theme.

Yes there is a typical sequence. I suggest that you plan the door and window casings, plinth blocks and rosettes first…and then the chair rails and picture rails thereafter. The sequence really depends on the project you are doing but this is the most frequently requested priority. In many ways, it allows you to finish your room, especially if you use plinth blocks on your doors in which case you would install your baseboards last.

We have demonstrated the Woodmizer® saw mill on several occasions to customer who have an interest in purchasing the same. Although we do not directly represent the Woodmizer® Corporation, they have requested numerous times for us to demonstrate our saw mill to potential customers who reside in our area. Although our band saw mill represents the smallest model, nevertheless, its capacity (30 inches) provides us with more than enough lumber to satisfy our requirements. Woodmizer® has several models to choose from and you can request information from them by calling (317) 271-1542 and requesting to talk to inside sales.

With a Woodmizer® saw mill, we are often asked if we would saw lumber from logs that customers deliver. We rarely engage in sawing lumber for customers, but occasionally saw on shares on species that we find difficult to acquire or we are in an out-of-stock condition. For example, a recent occasion involved a customer who had a walnut log delivered as a result of negotiating the sawing for shares of the lumber. Basically, the practice is on a case by case basis.

The sawdust that is produced from the business is used in by our children in a business endeavor that started out as a small hobby years ago. They use the sawdust to bed down laying hens and line roosts. They engaged in raising chickens to sell the eggs several years ago as a way to make money. Today, and many chickens later, they continue to earn income from selling farm fresh eggs to a diverse customer base. As a result of this, there is typically little sawdust available for use by FrameWorxz® customers.

For molding lengths greater than 8 foot, ground transportation will be required to ship the product to its final destination. We will provide you a quote, at your request, that represents the lowest rate that we can secure to ship your order. We will contact local freight companies: Fed Ex Freight, Con-Way, Yellow, RoadWay, etc for quotes that represent the ability to deliver to your residence or business.

Oversized shipments, which generally represent those orders which have molding 8 foot or greater, may require wood packaging and will depend upon the freight carrier. We custom build the wooden crates that we will use to ship your order by ground carrier. This will require a nominal charge for the cost of the lumber and will be provided to you at the time of the order.

Our molding lengths vary depending on type of wood species among other variables. For instance, typical 8 foot molding may vary in length within a range (94 to 96) inches. Should you require exact lengths, just let us know and we will provide you with your requirements. In addition to process variables, our shipping containers, i.e., cardboard boxes require us to ship in lengths less than standard lengths so that the product will fit into the box. For instance, a 96” x 4” square box requires a molding length less that 96” to fit into the box.

Although we take pride in our ability to maintain short order lead-times, we sometimes fine ourselves in an order backlog situation. Usually this is the result of one or more larger orders that prevent smaller orders from being completed. With the exception of frame molding, we stock very little construction or restorative molding due to the randomness of the requirements of our typical orders. We do provide our customers will either telephone or email notification when delays will occur. To date, our typical backlog has ranged from one to three weeks.

Our lumber pricing has been relative stable. Although lumber prices have risen, we continue to maintain product pricing that we believe is below market. Our intention is to provide quality restorative millwork to our customers at a competitive price. Our lumber pricing was recently adjusted to compensate for the increase in lumber prices and we believe that these prices will be stable through at least the fourth quarter of this year (2006) barring further natural disasters within the US.

We provide our packaging pricing to you at or near our cost. Most orders are shipped in cardboard boxes or long tubes. For those orders that require a wooden crate, we will provide you a quote for the lumber that will be required to build the crate which will include the labor cost. We encourage our customers that require ground transportation shipments with such “over the road” carriers as Fed Ex Freight, Yellow, RoadWay, etc to be packaged in wooden crates. Orders that are shipped UPS or Fed Ex are packaged in cardboard and labeled fragile.

Please give us a call and report the damage as well as provide the freight forwarding company with a claim. We encourage taking a picture(s) that provides evidence of the shipping container damage for substantive proof. Should your order require return to us, we will issue a Return Authorization Number and instructions to be used for returning the order. Most often, the freight forwarder provides a settlement for those cases where the damage is clearly the result of the freight forwarder.

We continue to review options for adding Mat Board to our list of products to better serve our customers. We have, at this time, not added this product but should you have any questions relating to mat board or need a source, just give us a call and we will provide you with the name and number of our suppliers.

Working with many species of wood is challenging at times due to the many variables that may affect its ability to warp or bend. Our shop utilizes a controlled environment to maintain our kiln dried lumber at a moisture of 8 to 10%. Based on our internal quality checks, we will not ship picture frame or restorative molding that appears warped or bend due to the relieving of wood stress in the molding process which typically affects smaller molding profiles. Normally, any slight warp or bending of the molding that occurs during shipping or sever temperature changes can be remedied at installation when installed at room temperature.

Our shipping charges are built into our on-line store and generally reflect the cost of actual shipping charge by UPS or Fed Ex. There are situations that do occur that will impact the quoted charge and these are typically due to the carrier’s definition of “oversized”. Carrier surcharges are applicable in these situations. Should your order fall outside of the store quoted shipping charges, we will give you a call and provide you with the circumstances should additional shipping cost be incurred.

One of the best ways to save shipping cost for molding is to order the molding in 8 foot lengths and miter and glue the joints to achieve needed lengths greater than 8 foot. I suggest that you an 80 tooth or greater miter blade for a smooth miter finish and then glue and clamp the joint. Be sure to wipe any excess glue off the joint to assure that you stain will penetrate the wood. From much experience, it is difficult to detect a glued miter joint that is cut and joined properly.