Who is a carpenter and what do they do?

Carpenters are skilled craftsmen who build things out of wood. Depending on what the carpenter builds, they may be referred to by various names. A framer is a carpenter who puts up the framing on a house. A trim or finish carpenter installs the finishing touches of prefabricated or custom trim and detail work once a house has been built and the walls are up. A furniture maker or woodworker builds furniture — such as tables, beds and dressers — out of wood. A cabinetmaker is a carpenter who builds custom and semi-custom wood cabinets. If you’re having a home built or remodeled, your general contractor will either provide or subcontract the carpentry work for the framing, cabinets and trim. You can hire a carpenter directly to update the trim in your home, build you a piece of custom furniture, or repair or replace your wood cabinets.

Do carpenters build houses?

Carpenters are trained to work with wood. That means that any part of your home that is built of wood is very likely to involve a carpenter. Framing carpenters will put up the wood that makes up the bones of your home. If you’re having a wood floor installed, it may be done by a carpenter — although being a carpenter is not a requirement to install flooring. Trim, baseboards, wainscoting and any other detail work is typically installed by a finish carpenter. The wood boxes of custom cabinets will be built and installed by a carpenter.

Although all of these components in your new or remodeled home are built by carpenters who specialize in building things with wood, a general contractor typically oversees construction of the entire house. If the general contractor is also a carpenter skilled in all these areas, they may well construct your entire home. More often, the general contractor subcontracts out the various building stages to different individuals, including carpenters.

Beth M.

Verified review

Weathertite replaced old wrought iron columns that were supporting our front porch with new, updated pine columns. They also repaired the roof for us. James came out to our house quickly to give us an estimate, and he was always very responsive to my messages. He was knowledgeable, honest and hard working throughout the process - just an overall good guy. He truly cared about making sure we were happy. I love our remodeled entryway and the work they completed. I'm glad we went with James and his crew!

Sandy T.

John is a professional handyman with many talents. He installed windows, porch railing, vinyl siding, painted trim and put up with my constant changes to the work needing to be done. Great attention to detail, courteous to my tenants and completed the work in a timely manner at a great price! Already using him on another project! Thanks John!

Keith L.

Pat was contracted to build a new deck off the back of my house. He was quick to respond to my initial inquiry, showed up the next day and got me a quote within a few hours. His prices are very fair and his work speaks for itself. He answered phone calls and texts right away and made sure delivery of all materials was handled and scheduled in a timely manner. I would highly recommend Pat and his team for your next deck project.

Kari H.

I called many places to get my deck project underway for the summer and most of them didn't call me back or told me my project wasn't "big" enough. Erik was extremely responsive from the initial call all the way to the end. He is very friendly and relaxed. His workers were courteous and on time each day and never left the worksite a mess. A couple of mistakes were made that could've been avoided with better communication but Erik was quick to make them right. I would recommend Stella construction and would use them again for future projects. We love our deck!

Stephen B.

I feel lucky to have found Artem. He did a great job of replacing all of the railings on my 1st and 2nd story porches. He was very organized and neat. Each day my backyard was picked up and tidy. The quality of his work is great and his price was reasonable. I would hire him again, and would feel very comfortable recommending him to friends, family or neighbors.

Katie R.

Full exterior painting - house, deck, porch. Lou started very quickly even though it was short notice, began and finished just when he said he would and charged exactly he promised. He made our place look 10 times better, saved us money on a host of items I thought would need replacement and was generally both professional and a pleasure to work with. He crew was very friendly and non-intrusive and I would be glad to work with him again.

Herby P.

These guys did a phenomenal job on my deck! They showed up on time worked hard and got the job in a timely manner.They also provided great customer service and was honest also they're pricing was fair I will absolutely hire them again.

Heather N.

We could not be happier with the work that Billy did on our deck. Our back deck was in rough shape, and as new home owners it was important to us that the deck be repaired properly and quickly before the spring. We were very happy with Billys estimate, his workmanship and just working with him overall. He was here every day, working until dark to get our deck completed and we could not be happier!! We will definitely use Billy again in the future!

Susan W.

Eduardo tore down the existing front porches on my two family home, and rebuilt them. Eduardo was extremely attentive to my need to get the work on my porches done before winter set in. He finished the work on time, and he was always responsive to my questions and concerns. The price quoted was fair, somewhere in the middle of other quotes I received from other contractors, but he didn't charge me more when there were some unexpected add-on costs, and I really appreciated that. The quality of the work is excellent, and I look forward to hiring him again on other large projects that I need done.

Troy H.

John was a pleasure to work with. His master carpenter, Dave was easy to work with and helped to repair a badly rotted screen porch. I hope to hire them to repair my roof this summer.

Adam D.

My experience with Troy was a great one! I hired Troy for some exterior staining that I needed done. Working with Troy was a pleasure. Contractors that are as courteous, professional, and efficient as him are a rarity! Troy showed up when he said he would, completed the project when he said he would, and charged me what he said he would. His price was exceptional - especially given the caliber of work that he performed! Troy restored an old garage, deck, and awning for me. They "POP" like new. He listened to my vision for the project - and delivered exactly what I wanted - it's PERFECT! As a professional plumber, I have been on many of Troy's bathroom remodel jobs. I must say that his jobs are extremely organized, timely, and of course - beautiful! I have seen many remodels by many different contractors, and I can confidently say that Troy is one of the best! I am very impressed with the quality of work that I've personally seen Troy deliver. I enthusiastically recommend Troy, as both a customer and a professional contractor. for any and all remodeling needs!

David C.

My wife and I hired Heraldo to demolish an old covered back porch and replace it with an open deck, as well as a quick remodel of our existing front porch structure. We agreed on a VERY fair price. Heraldo agreed to start on a Friday morning. He arrived on time each of the 5 days that he worked at my house, was neat and clean in his work, meticulous to the smaller details, and responsive to any questions we had along the way. He is an extremely hard worker, working full days on both Saturday and Sunday, and had the whole project done and cleaned up by Tuesday afternoon. Just 5 days to completely do the whole project. Heraldo's work is top quality, and I would highly recommend him. If you are considering hiring him, he is a great choice.

Alex Y.

Great buy. Great communication and responsiveness. Reasonable priced and excellent workmanship. Quality of the job is super. My wife cannot be happier with the deck and the stairs. Will definitely use again and again.

Jeremy M.

Excellent work from Ely and Daniel and crew! They built a new deck on time and within budget. Really had a great experience working with them throughout. They took care of all the permits and inspections, and adjusted to the changes that arose during the building without any issues. Can't recommend them enough.

Julie H.

Alex was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. He was one of the first contractors to reach out to me once I posted my job, and was always responsive and punctual. He met me out the same week I posted the job, gave me an estimate within a few days, and started the job the next week. He completely repainted the exterior of my two-family house, repaired the porch columns, rebuilt the stair railings and replaced one of the exterior doors. Even after he was all paid and the job was done, Alex realized the lock on the door wasn't working properly and made sure it was replaced and perfect before calling the job "done". That's the mark of a true professional! I will definitely be calling Alex in the future for any carpentry/painting needs.

Kate C.

We hired Stan and his team to replace 9 tricky windows in our home and to replace our front porch deck that was in a state of disrepair. In all, the professionalism and quality was beyond expectation. The pricing was fair and the extra measures Stan and his team took was icing on the cake. Stan took the time to reach out to me outside of "office hours" to ensure I knew what was happening and provide insight to choices that needed to be made. We are already starting a list of projects we hope he can help us with in the future. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Laura M.

My husband and I purchased a new-to-us home this past November and the to-do wish list is a mile long. Our first big-ish project was having stairs built to an already existing deck. Xavier was wonderful to work with, he was very responsive to any questions, was on the job daily, and the stairs far exceeded my expectations. We look forward to working with Xcc Pro-Builders for our future projects.

Mary S.

Woody was knowledgable about the work to be done. He provided options when possible and worked hard to keep the cost reasonable. His crew was great - friendly but business like. The project went smoothly, work was performed timely, and the finished product - a new porch - is perfect.

Laurie M.

I am VERY HAPPY I hired jjrr to rebuild/extend my deck. I had just moved a little over a year ago, and what looked like a "decent" deck concept, was actually not very functional. The prior owners attempted to connect the side deck with the back deck using just boards pieced together to make one large wrap around deck. I really just wanted that part rebuilt since the wood was fairly new looking (it still had sticker price tags) and the side and back decks seemed ok. I received quite a few quotes, and builders telling me they could not use any of the existing wood and/or they wanted to knock down my entire deck and start over since it would not "match"...I was feeling discouraged because I knew some of the wood, if not all could be reused/repurposed. Then, thankfully, jjrr said they could not only reuse the wood, but they understood exactly what I was asking which allowed me to save money on supplies. They came out after we had a snow storm to look at the project, and were able to start the following week. They worked all day in the cold wind and even worked past sundown using a spot light. I thought I wouldn't be able to get this project done until late spring and here it is the first week of March and the project is complete. Impressed is an understatement. I plan on hiring these guys again to re-do my front steps in the near future. Thank you!!!!

Mary C.

The results exceeded my expectations. I expanded the scope a bit by adding in my front porch to the deck porcine the and Wilter worked with me on the budget. He was very responsive. Brought color samples to help me select final color, repaired a broken board and removed items from porch with care. He seems to take pride in his work. Would hire again without reservation.

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