Products We Use
It’s important to know the products and finishes that are used in your furniture and if they are safe for your family
Inexpensive furniture, especially mass-produced furniture often contains imported materials that contain “legal” levels of carcinogens. Remember, quality is something you have to be willing to pay for. If something costs less then corners have to be cut somewhere; either in workmanship or in lower quality and even harmful materials
We’ve got nothing to hide so below is every material and product we use to build your custom furniture.
Sustainability Harvested, Texas Grown Lumber
We offer five primary lumber choices for your furniture. Mesquite, Black Walnut, Pecan, Post-Oak, and Southern Yellow Pine. You can learn more about these woods, their attributes and pricing by CLICKING HERE:
Cabinet Boxes, Drawer-Boxes, And Backs: Purebond (Formaldehyde-Free) Maple Veneer Plywood)
Plywood used to make me sick.
Any time I’d spend a day making cabinets I’d feel awful, my allergies would be having me coughing and sneezing.
I then learned the scary truth; I had been breathing Formaldehyde from the common Chinese plywood I’d been using. Certainly, that’s not what you’d want around your dog or in your kitchen. And even more so, I don’t want to breathe that for the next 40 years.
I discovered Pure-Bond Plywood by accident. I was out of plywood and needed a sheet to finish a cabinet modification. I ran to the lumber yard and all they had was, what I thought at the time, overpriced plywood. Then I used it. Not only was the overall quality better, I wasn’t sick anymore. Then I researched it and have been exclusively using it ever since.
We use this plywood for all of our drawers, cabinet bodies, for furniture backs, and panneling.
Glues And Fasteners
We use Titebond brand wood-glue (food safe and its used in cutting boards), domino tenons for making our table tops second to no one. A combination of pocket hole joinery and finish nails (industrial standard for furniture and cabinetry), and finally a high quality wood filler to cover any minor imperfections or nail holes.
Finishes
What goes into our furniture is just as important as what goes onto our furniture.
This something that’s going to be in your home, you’re going to look at it and touch it for years so you want it to be tough. This is also something you’ll eat off of, your kids and grandchildren will interact with, so you want to make sure they’re not using something unsafe or that contains any dangerous chemicals
Paints
We exclusively use Kelly Moore Durapoxy Cabinet Paint for all of our solid color furniture. Durapoxy provides a durable “expoxy-like” finish that can be cleaned with mild household cleaners and is chemical resistant. We use a 3 part process to achieve a durable finish.
First, after sanding and filling we prime with Kelly Moore Undercoater. This provides a solid foundation for a smooth finish. An undercoater is like a primer but this is specifically engineered for woods. It fills the grain and the pores, and it also blocks the tannins so the natural pigment in the wood won’t bleed through.
We then inspect and sand your furniture or cabinetry. The white undercoater helps highlight any flaws and it “builds” in and on top of the wood to be super-smooth once it’s sanded. We then clean off all the dust and it’s ready for DuraPoxy
Two full coats of Dura-Poxy top coat. This ensures full and even coverage and provides exceptional durability.
Don’t worry if you want a custom color and only have access to a Lowes/Homedepot. Our local paint store can perfectly match colors from: Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Valspar, and PPG. And because it’s designed for kitchen cabinets, it is food safe when cured.
Stains
We exclusively use wood stains from Old Masters. We’ve used a lot of brands of stains. Old Masters is by far the best products we’ve found. Color consistency, Absorption, and Longevity. In the past we’d sometimes use other stains from different makers but we’ve decided to stop to make sure were delivering only the highest quality products. If you’d like a custom color we can sometimes custom mix stains in house to get what you’re wanting.
Clear-coat
A quality clear-coat makes or breaks a custom piece of furniture. We use Lenmar Ultra-Laq Pre-Catalyzed Lacquer for clearcoating our tops, drawer boxes, and stained kennels. This is a professional grade product that provides a crystal clear, UV resistant, rock hard finish, that looks and feels amazing.
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Or maybe you’re collecting information. We recommend This Post to help you choose the right wood for your custom furniture.
