Terms & Conditions

01 Who you're dealing with

Grain & Steel is a furniture workshop operated by Alex van Heerden, trading from Pretoria, South Africa. It is not a registered company — when these terms say "we," "us" or "Grain & Steel," they mean Alex, trading as Grain & Steel, whether or not someone is helping Alex with cutting, welding or delivery on a given order. Anyone helping does so on Alex's behalf, not as a separate business — Alex is the person you're contracting with, and the person responsible for your order either way. By using this website or ordering a desk, you ("you," "the customer") agree to the terms on this page.

02 The builders

The desk, coffee table and workbench studios on this site are pricing and ordering tools. Each lets you design a piece from scratch, or start from one of the ready-made designs in the shop and change it if you want to, see a real price built from current material costs, and send that design to us as an enquiry or order. They are provided for that purpose only — to help you get a piece made by Grain & Steel. They are not a general-purpose furniture design tool, and using one doesn't give you a licence to do anything with the output beyond ordering from us (see the next section).

03 Using the builder & your design

Everything the builder produces for a given design — the 3D preview, the build sheet, the dimensions, the STL file, and any saved link or image — is provided so you can review, confirm and order that specific desk from Grain & Steel. It is not provided so that you, or anyone else, can go and build the piece independently.

You may not, and may not allow or ask anyone else to:

• use a design, build sheet, measurement set, STL file or image produced by the builder to have the desk (or a piece substantially similar to it) cut, welded, fabricated or otherwise manufactured by yourself, by any other workshop, tradesperson, manufacturer or business other than Grain & Steel;
• copy, resell, sublicense or redistribute a design produced by the builder, or pass it off as your own;
• scrape, systematically extract, reverse-engineer or copy the pricing logic, source code or configurator itself, or use it to build a competing tool or service;
• use the builder to generate designs or price data in bulk for any purpose other than your own personal enquiry.

If we reasonably believe a design, export or build sheet from this site has been used to have a piece built outside Grain & Steel, we may refuse service, and reserve any other rights available to us in law.

04 Quotes & pricing

The price shown while you build is calculated from board, steel and paint costs at the merchant, plus separate flat charges for welding and painting — each itemised in the build sheet breakdown by the joint or the job, not bundled into one percentage-based number. We are not registered for VAT, so none is added on top. Prices can move if merchant costs change, so the number in the builder is an estimate: you get a price confirmed in writing within one working day of sending your build sheet, and nothing changes after that without telling you first.

05 Orders & payment

Sending a build sheet through the site is an enquiry, not a binding order — the order is confirmed once we've written back with the final price and a date, over WhatsApp. From there, half of the material cost is due so we can buy your stock (we send you the merchant slips), and the rest is due once the desk is delivered and you've had a chance to look at it. Both amounts are paid by card through a Yoco payment link, sent to you once each is due.

06 Delivery & collection

Delivery is R300 anywhere in and around Pretoria, added on top of the price, or you can collect from the workshop for free. Delivery is done by Alex, or by someone helping in the workshop — never handed to a courier or any other outside company. We'll agree a delivery window with you in advance.

Getting it into the room is measured by you. The builder asks for the width of the doorway it has to go through and warns you when a welded frame will not turn through it — but it checks against the number you enter, and a standard 760 mm inside door is only what we assume if you leave it alone. Measure the clear opening, and any passage or stair corner it has to turn on the way in. If you already know a welded frame will not go in, choose the bolt-together frame: it is made as separate pieces, goes through the door and is put together in the room. It costs a little more than welding, not less.

If we arrive with a welded piece built to the size you approved and it cannot be carried in, that is not a fault in the piece. The balance is still due, and getting it in from there — remaking the frame as a bolt-together, or collecting it from the workshop — is at your cost. This does not apply where the piece was not built to the size you approved: if we got the size wrong, it is ours to put right.

07 Changes & cancellations

Something the builder doesn't cover — an odd size, a shape, a material substitution — can usually still be done; put it in the notes and we'll quote it directly. Once material has been bought for your order, cancelling or changing the design (a different colour, frame or size) means new board and steel are needed, so it becomes a new job and the original materials are yours at cost, since they were bought specifically for your build.

8b Referrals

If someone orders from us because you sent them, they get 10% off their first order and we pay you R200. The conditions, so nobody is surprised:

The 10% applies to the price of the piece itself on a first order only, not to delivery, and it does not stack with any other discount or promotion running at the time. The person you referred needs to name you when they send their design or their first message — we cannot apply it retrospectively once a price has been confirmed.

Your R200 is paid once their order has been delivered and paid for in full, by EFT or as R200 off your own next order, whichever you prefer. There is no limit on how many people you refer. We do not pay a referral on your own order, and we cannot pay one where the referral was not mentioned before the price was confirmed.

If a referred order is cancelled or refunded, the referral falls away with it. We may change or withdraw this offer at any time, but never on an order already placed.

08 If something's not right

If the finished desk doesn't match the build sheet you approved — wrong size, a weld or finish we're not proud of, something that wobbles — we'll fix it or remake it at our cost. This covers workmanship and accuracy against what was agreed; it doesn't cover a change of mind after the fact, which is treated as a new job under section 7.

Two-year structural warranty

On top of the build-sheet guarantee above, every piece carries a two-year structural warranty on welds and joinery, running from the date it is delivered or collected. If a weld cracks or a joint fails in normal household or workshop use within those two years, we repair it or remake the affected part at our cost, including collection and return around Pretoria.

What it covers: welds, joints, and the structural integrity of the frame. What it doesn't: normal wear, surface marks, scratches and dents, rust caused by outdoor storage or standing water, damage from moving the piece yourself, overloading well beyond normal use, or anything modified or repaired by someone else. Melamine board tops and edging are covered against separation and delamination for the same two years under normal indoor use.

The warranty follows the piece, not the buyer — if you sell it on, the remainder still applies. Just send a photo and we'll take it from there.

09 Intellectual property

This website, the desk builder, its pricing engine, source code, visual design and the Grain & Steel name and mark belong to Alex van Heerden, trading as Grain & Steel. Nothing on this site transfers ownership of any of that to you. A design you create in the builder is yours to order from us; it is not yours to reproduce, publish or manufacture outside the terms in section 3.

10 Liability

The builder's 3D preview and dimensions are as accurate as we can make them, but they're a design aid, not a guarantee of fit — please double-check critical measurements (doorways, stairs, the room itself) before ordering. To the extent the law allows, Grain & Steel isn't liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from use of this site or a delay in delivery; nothing here limits liability that can't legally be limited, such as for gross negligence.

11 Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and any dispute arising from them falls under the jurisdiction of the South African courts.

12 Changes to these terms

We may update this page as the site or workshop changes. The version in force for your order is the one live on the site on the day you send your build sheet. Material changes will be reflected in the "last updated" date at the top of this page.

13 Contact

Questions about these terms, or about a specific order, go straight to Alex:

See also our Privacy Policy for how we handle your information.