How to Choose a Carpenter for Your Renovation

The right carpenter for a renovation is the one who can see the whole job through, from the joists and studwork at first fix to the doors and skirting at second fix, rather than someone who only fits the bit in front of them this week. Before you commit, check three things: proof of insurance and qualifications, a process that includes a proper site visit before any figure is given, and a straight answer about the materials they use.

Qualifications are worth asking about directly. A time-served carpenter will have come up through an apprenticeship and hold recognised trade qualifications, such as NVQ Level 2 and Level 3 in carpentry, rather than having picked the trade up on the side. Not every trader can show a certificate for every job, and a carpenter who has been doing the work for years may not have every piece of paper to hand, but they should be able to talk you through their training without dodging the question.

Insurance matters more on a renovation than on a small job, because there is more on site to go wrong: other trades, a structure that is partly open, a house you are still living in. We carry public liability insurance with a £5,000,000 indemnity limit, plus cover for tools and accidental damage, and we would expect any carpenter working in your home to be able to tell you their own figures without hesitating.

Materials are where a lot of renovations go wrong quietly. It is easy to swap a spec for something cheaper once the job is underway and hope nobody notices. We would rather not do a job at all than use materials we do not trust for it, and we say so before we start, not after something has failed. Ask a carpenter what they use and why, and listen for whether the answer is specific or vague.

Then there is process. A carpenter who quotes a renovation from a phone call has not actually looked at the job. Ours normally involves more than a site visit to finalise the detail, sketches or drawings so you can see what is being built before it is built, and a written quote once the scope is properly understood. On site, that means protecting floors, driveways and gardens, using dust extraction, and leaving the place tidier at the end of each day than it was that morning, because having a tradesperson in your home for weeks at a time is not a small thing to ask of someone.

Finally, ask what happens if something is not right once the work is finished. If something is not right after we have finished a job, we come back and put it right. That is a simpler promise than a written guarantee, but it is the one we can actually stand behind, and a carpenter who cannot answer that question at all is one to be wary of.