Trade
On most jobs the lift belongs to nobody. The integrator does not build cabinets, the cabinet shop does not pull wire, and the drywall finisher was gone before the mechanism arrived. I take that line item and the responsibility attached to it.
Who this is for
You have the client, the control system and the rack. What you do not want is to own a hole in someone’s ceiling, a cabinet that racks under load, or a drywall repair your installer is not equipped to make good.
I take
Mechanism, millwork, install, low-voltage termination at the device, and the finish work where the mechanism meets the building.
You keep
Control system, sources, network, calibration, the client contract and the recurring relationship.
You build beautiful casework and then a client asks for a screen that comes out of it. The mechanism is a small part of the price and a large part of the risk, and it arrives with a wiring requirement you did not quote.
I take
Mechanism selection and supply, carcass modifications for the load path, install, wiring and commissioning — on your casework or on mine.
You keep
The casework, the finish, the client, and full credit for the job.
The television is the thing the client says they want hidden and the thing nobody in the trade wants to own. It usually surfaces late, after the elevation is approved and the joinery is ordered.
I take
A written option set with dimensions and price, early enough to change the elevation instead of fighting it. Then the build and the install.
You keep
Specification authority, finish selection, and a single line item to place in your schedule.
A concealed screen or a hidden door is four subs and three inspections’ worth of coordination for a line item worth a fraction of a percent of the contract. It is pure schedule risk.
I take
The whole line item, from rough-in requirements at framing through to final finish, with a single point of contact and a single warranty.
You keep
The schedule, the client, and one fewer sub to chase at punch list.
Lead times
One person is a constraint and I would rather you plan around it than discover it. If a date will not work I will tell you at quote stage.
From a spec, an elevation or a photo. Written mechanism recommendation, a second option, and a price.
2 business days
Framing dimensions, blocking and conduit requirements, issued in time to reach the framer.
Same week
From approved drawing to a mechanism cycled on the bench and ready to go in. Longer for veneer or a specialty finish.
2–5 weeks
Set, wire, commission, finish. Scheduled around your trades rather than through them.
1–3 days on site
A return visit after the first heating season. It is in the price, not a callback.
Booked at handover
Finish schedule
Paint grade, stain grade, veneer to a sample, or unfinished for your finisher to spray. Say which at quote stage — it changes both the shop time and the price.
Paint grade Poplar or MDF, sprayed to any sheen
White oak Rift or quarter sawn, clear or fumed
Walnut Solid or veneer, matched across a run
Level-5 plaster Skimmed flat where a mechanism meets the wall
Aged brass Unlacquered, left to darken with handling
Material and hardware references, not project photography. Nothing on this site shows a finished job yet — that changes with the first one.
Handoff
A job is not finished when the panel moves. It is finished when the next person to touch it knows what they are looking at.
Documentation
Commissioning
Requesting a price
You do not need a finished drawing set. Send whatever exists — a phone photo of a wall with a tape in it will do — and you will get a written recommendation and a range back within two business days.
If the answer is that the opening cannot take what the client wants, you will get that in two days too. That is usually the more valuable email.
A quote request that works
Sony 77 A95L, foot of bed, into a bench.
Bench height 22 in, ceiling 9 ft, second floor.
Paint grade, our painter sprays on site.
Framing closes 14 March.
Trade questions
Yes — general liability and workers’ compensation, with certificates issued to the GC or the integrator before the first site visit. Additional insured endorsements are routine; send me the requirement with the PO.
By default. There is no badge, no sticker inside the cabinet and no business card left on site. If you would rather introduce me to the client directly, that also works — your call, made once, at the start.
For a lift: the screen model or its weight and diagonal, an elevation or a photo of the wall, and the ceiling height. For a hidden door: the rough opening and what the wall finish will be. For a ceiling: joist direction and depth. Anything beyond that is a bonus, not a blocker.
Yes. Paint grade, stain grade, veneer to a sample, or unfinished for your finisher to spray — whichever fits your process. Tell me at quote stage, because it changes both the shop time and the price.
Fifty percent at order to cover the mechanism and materials, balance on completion, net 15 on the balance for established accounts. Install-only subcontracts are invoiced on completion, net 30.
Regularly. York, Harrisburg, Reading and the Main Line are normal. Further out, it depends on scope — a single install does not travel well, but a full millwork package does.
Next step
The first job with a new sub is a test, and it should be. Give me the awkward one — the ceiling nobody wants to open, or the lift that has already been returned once.
spec@invisiblefunction.com · (717) 555-0142 · Ephrata, PA