arkwoodcaskets, Author at Ark Wood Caskets

Why Buy a Wood Casket Kit?

August 6, 2018 by arkwoodcaskets

Talking about and planning a funeral whether it’s for yourself or a loved one is never easy. After twenty-three years as a casket maker and nine years the president of a burial society, I can say with some confidence, the worst thing you can say to your family is “I don’t care do what you want with me.”

When the time comes there will be differences of opinions and unnecessary conflicts over what and how things should be done.

Do the right thing and talk about your likes and dislikes and then you can write a small note about your wishes and put it with your will and other important papers. Your family will really appreciate it .

If you want to pre buy a funeral plan or a casket shop around it’s ok. Some folks like something simple and not the price of a new car. They don’t want their loved ones spending a lot of money on something that they would not have bought for themselves.

So can you pre-buy a casket other than at the Funeral Home.

The answer is yes. The problem is that a casket takes up plenty of room no matter where you store it.

The Ark Wood Casket is very easy to store and is well packed in a double walled cardboard box. It will come out of the box in the same condition that I put it in there. How do I know that, because I sold a casket to my friend George and he had it in his garage for 21 years and on a visit not to long ago he told me he changed his mind about burial and will be cremated instead and would I take the casket and donate it to someone in need.

I have to admit I was very curious to what I would find in the box. The casket was in fact in the same condition that it was when I packed it up 21 years before. What could damage the casket while in storage, well I know real cold weather or real hot weather will not do any damage to it because I have stored them in conditions like that. The only thing that will hurt the casket (besides dropping it off the back of a pickup) is WATER.

Keep it dry and it will serve you well no matter how long it’s in the box.

So just how easy is it to store? The size of the box I ship them in is 82” long by 25” wide and just 5” deep. This is smaller than a twin mattress in it’s box. The weight is 95 lbs.

Casket Kit Assembly

Assembly of the casket kit can be done by one person but two people make it easier. There is no metal used in this casket, no screws, nails, or staples. The casket is put together with hardwood dowels which have the glue dried right on them so one drop of water in the dowel hole and tap in the wood dowel.

The thick 1+1/8” rope handles are soft to the hand and very strong helping the casket carry up to 300lbs.

By choosing an Ark Wood Casket Kit you will have the peace of mind that you have just what you wanted and at a sizeable-savings from other retail casket sellers.

A Simple pine casket fulfilling your spiritual, cultural & economic needs.

very fine product

August 6, 2018 by arkwoodcaskets

Greetings,

In January of 2016, my wife and I purchased one of your casket kits for my wife’s mother who was 96 at the time and doing very poorly. We wanted to be prepared as she was Jewish and burials happen quickly. We bought from you both because of the kit’s attractive price and because as a former woodworker I had built many things for my mother-in-law. It only seemed appropriate for me to be involved with her casket.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of her demise were premature. She did pass this past month, after celebrating her 99^th birthday with much of her family. I was concerned about the casket kit as it had been stored in our unheated garage which would go from cold and very damp in the winter to hot and dry. Of course, as I now see with the 21-year-old casket kit experience highlighted on your website, the casket kit was perfect. It went together very easily and looked great. In fact, the director of the funeral home was very impressed with the quality and told us he intends to use your caskets in the future. I hope you receive some orders from them.

In summary, we could not be more pleased with your product and your helpfulness in providing good references for us back in 2016. While this has been a difficult time, it was a solace to have this work out so well and to have my mother-in-law buried in a casket I assembled.

Very best regards,

Howard and Sherri
Kingston, WA

Burial or Cremation?

January 23, 2017 by arkwoodcaskets

Every person on earth will at some time have to decide whether they want to be buried or cremated.

In my experience, many will have strong feelings about this subject. For many millions of people, their religious beliefs will be a huge influence in their decision.

Funeral homes have rules they must follow – and one of them is there can be no metal in caskets used for cremation. That means no nails, screws, metal staples or brass handles on cremation caskets.

If cremation is what you want and you prefer a cremation casket rather than a cardboard box, the Ark Wood Casket kit is perfect. We use no metal of any kind. Our handles are made from thick rope that is easy on the hands, and that looks dignified. Our hardwood doweling system is strong. The dowels come with the glue dried right onto them. With one drop of water in the dowel hole, a tap on the dowel and the boards can be joined together.

Burial on Private Property

January 16, 2017 by arkwoodcaskets

Do you live on a ranch, farm, a few acres, or large lot and want to bury a loved one on that property? In many cases you can do so legally, but you’ll need to make sure that you follow the rules regarding burial on private property.

Each state and even counties have rules for burial on private property. The best place to learn about the laws that apply in your specific case is by contacting your local County Clerk to learn which local ordinances you will need to abide by.

I have found most states have similar requirements that must be followed. When someone passes, there is, as with most things, necessary paperwork to be filled out and filed. This includes things like verifying the final disposition, a death certificate with the appropriate signatures, a few more details, and finally a timely return to the State Registrar. If you’re burying a loved one on private property, more of these requirements will fall on you, but it is not impossible or out of the realm of possibility.

Be sure to check your state and county ordinances to get a complete and accurate list of the requirements for burial on private property as well as the necessary paperwork requirements.

For instance, in my State of Oregon the private property burial site must be:

100 feet from a well used for water supply.
100 feet from a spring used for a water supply.
50 feet from a stream, river or lake.
25 feet from the property line.

With a large enough piece of property, these requirements are not onerous or difficult to meet. It is likely that the requirements for your State and County also are not overly restrictive. And having a loved one close or located in a spot with special meaning on your property, sometimes is exactly the right place for them to be.

Jewish Burial

December 8, 2016 by arkwoodcaskets

Jews are blessed with many traditions and rituals that guide and enrich their daily lives. This is most evident by the way they mark life cycle events.

Some of the least understood and most important of the rituals are the ones followed when burying the dead. As with many Jewish traditions, they learn of this responsibility from the torah. They are told of the great lengths to which Abraham went to secure a proper burial place for Sarah, rejecting a gift of land and preferring to purchase it. They learn of Joseph’s wish to be buried in the Promised Land and of Joshua carrying out that wish. Finally, they read about the death of Moses and, from the account, believe it was the Divine who placed Moses in his grave.

In the Talmud, there are references to fulfilling the Mitzvah of burying their dead. The most well known is in tractate Shabbat which is recited each morning: “These are the deeds which yield fruit in the here and now and will continue to yield fruit in the life to come…we bury our dead.”

Caskets: Ark Wood caskets are made of pine and have been inspected by a rabbi. They come with a written certification from a Rabbi if requested. $639 plus reasonable shipping costs.