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Grand Rapids, MI · est. 2007
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Custom fabrication

From sketch to ship in three weeks.

When a tote can't be safely refilled, we'd rather repurpose it than recycle it. Send us a sketch — we'll send back a quote.

Start the conversation

Same form, every page. Tell us once — we route it to whoever's closest to your tote.

01Who you are
02Where you are
03What you need
⟁ Replies within one business day · no phone calls
01

Sketch

Photo, hand drawing, or AutoCAD. Tell us what it needs to do.

02

Quote

Fixed-price quote within 3 business days. Includes materials and ship date.

03

Build

Cut, weld, capped, painted in our fab corner. Two-week typical.

04

Ship

Direct to you, or staged for pickup at the yard.

Common builds

The ones we make most often.

  • Rain catchers (top-cut, screened, spigot installed)
  • Raised growing beds (lengthwise slice, drilled drainage)
  • Mash tuns (insulated, sparged, false-bottom)
  • Hydroponic sumps & nutrient holds
  • Hot-tub bases & wood-clad soaking tanks
  • Site-work water caddies (12V pump + hose)
  • Compost-tea brewers (aerated, valved)
  • Fish-pond filter housings
Stranger requests

Some of our more interesting jobs:

  • A BMX track water-jump for a Grand Rapids skate park
  • Emergency potable-water reserve for a Detroit church
  • A 21-tote chicken-coop irrigation network
  • Hop-bin transport caddies for a craft hop farm
  • A kombucha continuous-brew system for a downtown café
See finished builds →
The fab corner workflow

How a sketch becomes a delivered build.

Day 1: the sketch arrives. You email a photo, hand drawing, or AutoCAD file. We need three things: what it does, where it'll live, and any constraints (clearance, weight, regulatory).

Days 2-3: scoping conversation. Jamie or one of his crew calls or emails with clarification questions. Cut count, weld count, fittings, finishes. We're not trying to upsell — we want the quote to match what you actually need.

Day 3-5: quote. Fixed-price quote that covers materials, labor, and ship date. We include the per-build tank cost (from our scrap stock or your supplied tank) and the per-build fabrication labor. Quote is valid 30 days.

Days 6-20: build. Standard builds ship in 5-10 days, custom in 14-21. Big multi-tote builds may need a longer queue slot — we'll tell you up front.

Days 20-21: photos and ship. We send photos of the finished build before it ships. If something looks wrong, we fix before the truck leaves. Shipping is LTL on pallet for most builds; larger setups ship in pieces with onsite assembly instructions.

Onsite assembly when needed. For multi-tote builds we'll come do the assembly ourselves. Typical day-of-install cost is $480 plus travel.

Key takeaways

If you only read one section.

  1. 01Standard builds: 5-10 days. Custom: 2-3 weeks.
  2. 02Quote in 3 days from sketch submission.
  3. 03Per-build pricing covers tank, labor, fittings, ship. No surprise line items.
  4. 04Most builds expose the original cage — honest industrial aesthetic is a feature.
  5. 05Bring your own tote and pay labor only at $45/hour shop time.
Common questions

Custom build questions.

What's the smallest custom build you'll quote?
A single rain catcher with a custom valve placement starts at about $185. We don't have a strict minimum but anything under $150 doesn't justify our quote labor.
Will you build for food-contact applications?
Yes — Grade A reconditioned tank as the input, food-grade fittings, chain-of-custody documentation. Common for mash tuns, kombucha rigs, continuous-brew systems. Pricing is roughly 30% higher than non-food builds because the tank input is more expensive.
Can I get a CAD drawing first?
For builds over $1,000 we'll send a sketch or AutoCAD layout before fabrication. Smaller builds we'll send photos at scope, then build, then ship.
Do you ship internationally?
Not currently. We ship to all 48 contiguous states.
What if I want to modify a build after delivery?
Bring it back. We'll modify at $45/hour shop rate. We've done plenty of round-two iterations on builds that proved out to need tweaks.