Solid wood dining tables, built a few miles from your kitchen
Walnut, white oak, cherry and maple tables, benches and chairs, made one at a time in our Elgin shop and set up in your dining room by the person who built them.
- 4.9 out of 5
- from 112 Google reviews
- Since 2012
- same bench, same owner
- 640 tables
- delivered across the Fox Valley
- 8 to 10 weeks
- from drawing to delivery
What we build, and what it costs
Every price below is for solid hardwood, no veneer over particleboard, finished with a hardwax oil you can touch up at home. Final quotes come after a short visit and a drawing.
| Piece | Typical size | Lead time | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining tableFour legs or trestle base | 72 x 40 in, seats 6 | 8 to 10 weeks | $2,400 |
| Extension tableTwo stored leaves, wood slides | 66 to 102 in | 10 to 12 weeks | $3,600 |
| Dining benchMatches your table top | 60 x 15 in | 4 to 6 weeks | $650 |
| Dining chairSpindle back or slat back, each | Seat height 18 in | 8 weeks | $540 |
| SideboardDoors, drawers, soft-close | 66 x 18 x 34 in | 10 weeks | $2,900 |
| Coffee tableWith or without a shelf | 48 x 24 in | 5 to 6 weeks | $1,100 |
| Top refinishYour old table, sanded and re-oiled | Up to 84 in | 2 weeks | $450 |
Prices are for white oak or maple. Cherry adds about 15 percent, walnut about 30 percent. Delivery inside 30 minutes of Elgin is included.
Four woods, chosen for how they wear
We buy from two mills in Wisconsin and Indiana and stack the boards in the shop for a month before cutting. Here is how the four we use most compare on hardness, which is a fair guide to dents from keys, forks and toy trucks.
-
Hard maple
1,450 lbf Janka
Pale, smooth and the toughest of the four. Good for families with small kids.
Base price
-
White oak
1,360 lbf Janka
Straight grain with the ray fleck you see in old farmhouse tables. Our most ordered wood.
Base price
-
Black walnut
1,010 lbf Janka
Deep brown, softer, and lovely under a pendant light. Shows wear sooner, ages well.
About +30%
-
Cherry
950 lbf Janka
Starts pinkish tan and darkens to a warm red in the first year of sunlight.
About +15%
Size your table before we visit
Pick a length, width, wood and base. The drawing shows how many people sit comfortably (24 inches each) and the range is what most tables like it cost.
From a sketch on your table to a table in your room
Most dining tables take nine weeks. You see the boards before we cut them, and you pay the second half only after it is set up and you are happy with it.
- Week 0
Visit and measure
Grant comes out, measures the room and the walkway, and looks at the chairs you are keeping. Free inside 30 minutes.
- Week 1
Drawing and price
A scaled drawing and a fixed price by email. A 50 percent deposit holds your spot.
- Week 2
Pick your boards
Come to the shop, or get photos, and choose the boards for the top. We mark them with your name.
- Weeks 3 to 8
Build and finish
Joinery, glue-up, flattening, three coats of hardwax oil and a week to cure. Progress photos every Friday.
- Week 9
Delivery and set up
Two of us carry it in, level the feet and leave a care card and a tin of oil.
What families say a year later
4.9 average from 112 Google reviews
"We have a narrow dining room and two kids who kick table legs. Grant drew us a 40 inch wide trestle so nobody hits a leg, and it fits through the doorway with an inch to spare."
"The Friday photos were the best part. We watched our walnut boards turn into a table. Delivered on the date he gave us in March, and the bench matches perfectly."
"He refinished my grandmother's maple table instead of selling me a new one. Fixed a split in the top too. Honest guy, fair price, it looks like it did in 1975."
One bench, one maker, and a helper on Thursdays
I spent eighteen years building store fixtures before I opened this shop on Kimball Street in 2012. I wanted to make the kind of thing people keep. Dining tables turned out to be it: they get used three times a day and they end up in the family photos.
I still build every table myself. My nephew Luke helps with glue-ups and deliveries. We do about sixty pieces a year, which is why there is a wait, and why I can tell you where every board in your table came from.
Grant NyquistOwner and maker, Tyler Creek Woodworks
- 60 pieces a year
- 2 people in the shop
- 10 yr joinery guarantee
Where we deliver
Delivery and set up are included inside 30 minutes of the shop. Further out, we charge a flat $95. We also ship benches and coffee tables crated anywhere in Illinois.
Shop: 418 Kimball St, Elgin, IL 60120
Visits by appointment, Saturdays 9 to 1
- Elgin0 min
- South Elgin10 min
- Algonquin20 min
- St. Charles20 min
- Hoffman Estates20 min
- Huntley22 min
- Geneva25 min
- Barrington25 min
- Schaumburg25 min
- Batavia28 min
- Crystal Lake30 min
- Naperville$95 delivery
Questions people ask first
How long does a dining table take?
Eight to ten weeks for most tables, ten to twelve for extension tables. We give you a delivery week with the drawing and we have hit it on all but three tables since 2019.
Can I see the wood before you build?
Yes. Week two is board picking. Come to the shop on a Saturday, or we send photos of each board with your name chalked on it.
Will a solid wood top crack or warp?
Not if it is built to move. We dry the boards in the shop, leave room for seasonal movement in the base, and pin breadboard ends. The joinery is guaranteed for ten years.
What finish do you use? Is it safe for kids?
A hardwax oil that is food safe once cured. It feels like wood, not plastic, and scratches can be rubbed out at home with the tin we leave you.
Do you build chairs to go with the table?
Yes, spindle back and slat back chairs from $540 each. Many people mix two of ours at the ends with chairs they already own.
How do payments work?
Fifty percent when you approve the drawing, fifty percent after delivery. Check, card or bank transfer.
Request a quote
Tell us what you have in mind. Grant replies within two working days with questions or a visit time.