Most of the questions to ask a closet company before hiring are not about style. Finishes and lighting are easy to compare in a showroom. What is hard to see from the outside is the chain of responsibility: who measures the room, who makes the parts, who puts them on the wall, and who answers the phone when a drawer stops running in year six.
The short answer: before you sign, ask who measures and how, who builds and installs the work (and whether installation is subcontracted), what is genuinely made to your room, how uneven walls are handled, what drawings you approve, how changes are priced, what the guarantee covers and whether it transfers, and whether the company can supply the insurance certificates your building requires. Good answers are specific, written down and given without hesitation.
The checklists that circulate online tend to list questions without saying what a good answer sounds like. Below, each question comes with the reason it matters and the kind of answer worth hearing from any maker. At the end of each, we answer it for ourselves, using only what we already publish.
The checklist, at a glance.
| Ask | A good answer sounds like |
|---|---|
| Who measures, and how? | A named method, every wall and the ceiling, taken by the people who will draw it |
| Who makes it, and where? | A workshop you could visit, not “our manufacturer” |
| Is installation subcontracted? | A plain yes or no, and who is accountable either way |
| What is actually custom? | Widths and heights cut to your opening, not chosen from a list |
| How are uneven walls handled? | Scribing and levelling on site, described before you ask |
| What drawings do I approve? | Dimensioned elevations you sign, not only a rendering |
| How are changes handled? | In writing, with cost and schedule effect, before work proceeds |
| What does the guarantee cover, and does it transfer? | A term, a scope, and who honors it — in writing |
| Can you supply my building’s insurance certificate? | Yes, in the wording management asks for, before install day |
Who measures the room, and how?
Every later problem traces back to the survey. A closet drawn from a quick tape measurement across the middle of a wall will meet a corner that is not square, a ceiling that falls toward the window, or a baseboard nobody noted. Ask who takes the measurements, whether they are the same people who will draw the design, and what is recorded: every wall at several heights, the ceiling, the floor, outlets, switches, vents, door swings and casing.
Our answer: two of our team survey the room in person with a LiDAR scanner and a steel tape, to a published tolerance of plus or minus one millimetre. We explain why we bring both in our note on how we survey a room.
Who makes it — and who installs it?
Many closet businesses are sales and design offices. The parts are made elsewhere and installation is handed to a crew who did not measure the room and did not build the cabinetry. That model can work, but it divides accountability: when a panel arrives short, the installer blames the order, the factory blames the measurements, and you wait. Ask where the work is made, whether you could see it, and whether installers are employees or a subcontracted crew.
Our answer: New York work is milled in our own workshop in Mott Haven, in the Bronx, and installed by the same crew that built it. We never subcontract the install. You can read more about the people and the bench on the studio page.
What, exactly, is custom?
“Custom” is used loosely. Sometimes it means components produced in a range of preset widths, arranged to fill your wall, with the leftover gap closed by a filler panel. Sometimes it means every carcass is cut to your dimensions. Neither is dishonest, but they are different products at different prices. Ask whether box widths and heights are set by your room or chosen from a catalogue, whether the work can run to an uneven ceiling, and what the doors, drawer fronts and materials are made of. Our comparison of custom and configured closets sets out where each makes sense.
Our answer: each piece is designed in 3D for the room it will stand in, then milled to those drawings. How the doors, drawers and hardware are made is described on our details page.
How do you handle uneven walls and floors?
In New York, especially in prewar buildings, walls are rarely plumb and floors rarely level. A visible gap opening up along a wall line is not unusual. The honest answer is never “it won’t be a problem”. Listen for specifics: cabinets levelled independently of the floor, side panels or fillers scribed — cut to follow the wall’s actual profile — and trim that closes to the ceiling without a visible gap. Ask whether scribing happens on site and whether it is included in the price.
Our answer: walls are scribed and each piece is levelled and set by the maker who built it. The survey records the irregularities first, so they are drawn into the design rather than discovered on installation day.
What drawings will I see, and what do I sign?
A photoreal rendering helps you imagine a room; it is not a contract document. Before anything is made, you should receive drawings with dimensions — elevations of each wall showing hanging heights, drawer counts, shelf positions and finishes — and you should know how many rounds of revision are included. If the only thing you approve is a picture, there is nothing to measure the finished work against.
Our answer: you receive photoreal renderings and scaled drawings, presented in person. Two rounds of revision are part of the process, and you sign on the third. The drawings are kept in our file for the life of the residence. The full sequence is on how we work.
How are changes handled after sign-off?
Changes are cheap on paper and expensive in wood. Once parts have been cut, moving a partition or adding a drawer means remaking material, and that has a cost and a schedule effect. A good company tells you, before you sign, where that line falls, and puts any later change in writing with its price and timing before acting on it. Be wary of answers that are either “no changes, ever” or “anything is fine” — neither reflects how making things works.
Our answer: the revision rounds exist so that decisions are made on paper. If something needs to change after you sign, we will tell you plainly what it affects before anything is remade.
What does the guarantee cover, and does it transfer?
Ask for three things: the term, what it covers (cabinetry, hardware, finish, installation), and who honors it. A long warranty is only as good as the business behind it; one issued by a factory and serviced by whoever is available is different from one honored by the people who made the work. If you may sell, ask whether the guarantee stays with the home or ends with you.
Our answer: twenty-five years on the cabinetry and a lifetime on the joinery, held against the residence, so it transfers if you sell, and honored by the same workshop that built the piece. The terms, exclusions and care notes are on our care and guarantee page. We have been building since 2008.
Can you meet my building’s insurance and access rules?
Most co-op and condo buildings will not let a contractor through the door without a certificate of insurance naming the right parties in the right wording, and many restrict work hours and require the freight elevator to be booked. Ask whether the company has done this before, whether they will coordinate with management directly, and how much notice they need. Then ask your managing agent for their requirements early — ideally before fabrication, not the day before delivery. If your project also touches walls, plumbing or electrical work, the building and any licensed professionals involved decide what approvals apply; the NYC Department of Buildings is the authority for permits.
Our answer: we coordinate requested certificates, access and installation arrangements with you and the building. Our co-op and condo installation guide lists the questions worth asking your managing agent.
And the money questions.
- Is the design free, and is the quote in writing? Know what you are paying for before you pay anything.
- What is the payment schedule? Avoid paying everything upfront for work that has not been made.
- Is removal of the existing closet included? It is often left off and added later.
- What happens after installation? Ask whether someone returns to walk through and adjust.
Our answer: the design visit and personalized 3D design are free, with no payment or obligation; fabrication and installation are quoted separately, in writing. Payment is in thirds — on signing, at milling and on completion. Removal and disposal of existing built-ins is included on every quote, and we return the day after installation to walk through. Reach-ins start from about $3,500 and walk-in dressing rooms from about $18,000; our cost guide explains what moves the number.
Ask these questions of every company you speak to, including us. The answers will tell you more than any showroom.
Drawn from the first conversation, every project · Published Fall MMXXVI