The business

The trade before the business

Nicolas Autran started at 16, as an apprentice. Fitter's certificate, glazing technician certificate, joinery trade certificate: three qualifications for one gesture — fitting joinery that closes, that lasts, and that does not shift at the first mistral.

34 years of jobs later, the business was founded in January 2015 in Peypin-d'Aigues, in the heart of the South Luberon. In between there have been windows, doors, shutters, village houses, bastides and new extensions — and the habit of looking at a wall before choosing a profile.

Autran Menuiserie has stayed a craft business: made-to-measure joinery in aluminium and PVC, closures, doors, shutters, sliding doors and gates, on new builds and renovations. One person measures, quotes, orders and fits.

What 34 years change on your job

The South Luberon is not neutral ground. Stone walls are never plumb, the reveals are out of square, and a hundred-year-old opening has often moved a few centimetres. That is exactly where off-the-shelf joinery comes loose — and where a survey taken by hand, on site, makes the difference.

There is the climate too: full sun on south-facing walls, mistral hitting the shutters head on. The glazing, the hardware and the motor are chosen for that exposure, not from a catalogue.

And then there is what never shows on a quote: recognising joinery that can be repaired, saying no to an unnecessary replacement, coming back to adjust a shutter three months after fitting.

The background

• Fitter and glazing technician diploma, joinery trade certificate.
• Started at 16: 34 years on building sites.
• Trained in making aluminium and PVC joinery, and in cutting and shaping glass.
• Business founded on 15 January 2015.

Those years in the trade still serve every day on site: recognising an older unit, understanding why an opening has moved, choosing the right profile first time.

What I commit to

• Measurements taken on site, never estimated from afar.
• A detailed quote, line by line, with no hidden fees.
• Joinery fitted and adjusted by the company itself, never subcontracted.
• A site protected during the work, and left clean.
• An honest answer: repair when repair is enough.
• After-sales service in the village, not by correspondence.

Those commitments come down to one sentence: you talk to the person who will do the work.