Why does nobody talk about how long sourcing a single custom window takes

I ordered a 72-inch arched window for my build near Portland and it took 14 weeks longer than the estimate they gave me, has anyone else dealt with that kind of delay on custom millwork?

3 comments

3 Comments

henrycooper1mo ago

Man that's brutal, 14 weeks past estimate is wild. I waited 11 weeks for a custom casement window for my place up in Seattle and they still showed up with the wrong glass. Had to wait another 6 weeks for the fix. Custom millwork is just a total crapshoot with timelines it seems like nobody can ever stick to what they promise.

blairtaylor17d ago

Yeah 11 weeks is rough but at least they fixed the glass for you.

the_nina1mo ago

@henrycooper got the shit end of the stick with that wrong glass, that's rough. But here's the thing nobody brings up - a lot of these delays are because the lumber yards and suppliers are still using paper orders and fax machines. I watched a supplier's office once where a guy literally wrote down measurements by hand onto a carbon copy form. That gets sent to a mill that might be three states away and if there's a typo or the handwriting is bad you're waiting weeks for a do-over. You're basically trusting a whole chain of people to not screw up a single number. Framing contractors and builders rarely mention this because they're usually the ones who put in that original order and don't want to admit their guy wrote down 70 inches instead of 72 on that arch.