Do I need any prior experience?
No. There are no prerequisites. You need to be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
Do I need to be able to draw?
No. Every drawing on this course is done by hand, and what is wanted is a clear dimensioned sketch, not a good-looking one. We teach you how.
Do I need a computer?
No. There is nothing to install and no computer work. One program is used, CutList Optimizer, and it runs on your own phone in one module.
Will I learn 3D modelling or design software?
Not on this course. SketchUp for Cabinetry is a separate DSD course, and nothing in this one depends on it.
What will I be able to do after the course?
Take a fitted-furniture job from the first client meeting to the installed unit, on your own. That means surveying the room, designing the layout and scheduling the units. It means writing a cutting list a cutting house can work from, pricing the job and defending the price. Then building and installing the units.
What will I work on?
In week one you visit suppliers and collect prices, and the whole class's prices become the price list the course uses from then on. From Module 5 you work on one reference kitchen. You schedule its units and its hardware, find its fault, write its cutting list and cost it. For the Final Project your group takes a real space and builds one of its cabinets.
What is the Final Project?
You work in a group of three or four on one real space. Your group surveys it and designs the layout. You produce a unit schedule, a cutting list, a hardware schedule and a priced quotation. You then build one cabinet from your own cutting list, and fit its doors and hardware.
Am I graded?
No. There are no marks, scores or pass percentages anywhere on this course. Your work is checked against a written list, and it is either accepted or returned with written feedback naming what to correct. You can hand it in again as many times as you need, and nothing is taken away for doing so.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. A DSD Certificate of Completion, once your instructor has approved your Final Project.
Do I need to buy tools?
No. DSD buys the tools and keeps them in the room, and you work in groups and share them. You bring a tape, a pencil and a notebook of your own.
I already build cabinets. Will this be too basic for me?
The building is the part you already have. What the course adds is the paperwork that turns building into a business: the survey, the schedule, the cutting list, the costing and the quotation.
