Find a carpenter you can trust

When to call a carpenter

Carpenters are the chippies who shape the timber side of your home. If it involves cutting, fixing or building with wood, they’re usually your people.

Call one when you want a new deck for summer barbecues, a pergola over the patio, or doors hung so they actually close properly. They handle the finishing touches too, the skirting boards, architraves and built-in shelving that make a room look properly done. And if you’ve got squeaky floorboards, a sticking door or a bit of rot to sort, that’s carpenter territory as well.

Some carpenters specialise. One might be all about decks and outdoor work, another might focus on fine fit-outs and joinery. Part of what we do is match you with someone whose skills actually suit your job.

What to check and the licensing side

Here’s the bit worth getting right. Small jobs like shelving, a door or some trim don’t generally need a licence, just a skilled tradie who does neat work. But once you’re into structural work or a bigger build, that often does require a building licence.

The catch is the rules and dollar thresholds change from state to state, so there’s no single national number. Check with the building authority where you live, for example Building Commission NSW, the Building and Plumbing Commission in Victoria, the QBCC in Queensland, or Building and Energy in WA. Our licence checks page has the right lookup for each state, and a licensed carpenter or builder will know exactly where their job sits.

Before you hire, do these quick checks:

• Confirm they hold the right licence for the work, if it’s structural or large
• Ask for their public liability insurance certificate
• Look at past work, photos or a real address you can drive past
• Get the quote in writing and itemised
• Ask early whether your deck or pergola needs council approval

You can read more about this in our guide to tradie licences.

What it costs

Most carpenters charge around $60–$100 an hour, or about $500–$800 for a full day, which is good value when you’ve got a list of small jobs. Bigger work like a deck or a fit-out is usually quoted as a fixed price.

As a guide for common jobs:

• Hang or replace an internal door: around $150–$450 in labour, plus the door
• Install skirting and architraves: around $300–$900 per room
• Build custom shelving: around $300–$1,500
• Build a 20 m² timber deck: around $6,000–$12,000

Timber choice makes a real difference to the final figure. Treated pine is kinder on the budget, while hardwood and composite cost more but can last longer and look the part. A good carpenter will walk you through the trade-offs.

These are a guide, not a quote. Our carpenter cost guide has more jobs and how prices run in each city. The only number that really counts is a proper quote for your actual job.

How needatradie matches you

We’re not a directory, and we won’t flog your details around to five businesses who then ring you all week. You tell us about your job once, and we match you with one vetted local carpenter. Licence, insurance, ABN and reviews all checked before they ever get to you.

One good tradie, not five sales calls. That’s the whole idea. Browse our guides if you want to read up first, or jump straight in when you’re ready.

Whenever it suits, get a free quote and we’ll line you up with a chippy who’ll do the job properly.