Carpenter and Joiner Day Rates UK

Most self-employed carpenters in the UK work to a day rate somewhere in the region of £200 to £350, with London and the South East above it and much of the North, Wales and Northern Ireland below. The spread within that range has less to do with skill than with what kind of carpentry you are selling. First fix on site, second fix in a house, and bespoke joinery made in a workshop are three different businesses that happen to share a trade name.

Carpenter or joiner, and why it changes the price

The traditional distinction still holds where it matters commercially. A carpenter fits timber on site. A joiner makes timber items in a workshop, which are then fitted. Plenty of people do both, but they price completely differently.

Site carpentry is sold by the day or by measured rate, and the customer is usually a builder or a main contractor. Joinery is sold by the item, and the customer is usually a homeowner, an architect or a shopfitter.

If you do both and price both by the day, you are almost certainly underselling the joinery.

First fix versus second fix

First fix is the structural, before-the-plaster work: floor joists, studwork, roof timbers, noggins, door linings, and getting the building ready for other trades. It is physical, relatively fast, and generally priced by the day or by measured rate on larger sites. Accuracy matters but a millimetre either way rarely shows.

Second fix is everything visible: doors, architrave, skirting, stairs, kitchen fitting, wardrobes, ironmongery. It is slower, more precise, and completely unforgiving — every gap and every scribe is on display for the next thirty years.

Second fix commands a higher rate than first fix for the same reason a finish plasterer earns more than a labourer: the standard required is higher and the work is slower. Carpenters who quote the same day rate for both make money on first fix and lose it on second.

Site rates versus domestic

Site work through a main contractor tends to pay a steadier rate for longer runs, with less quoting, less customer contact and payment terms you have to chase. Domestic work pays better per day but comes in smaller pieces, with the cost of quoting and travelling between jobs.

The trap on site work is measured rates set by someone with a spreadsheet and no trowel. Before agreeing a price per metre or per door set, work out how many you can genuinely fit in a day, on that job, with that access. Then check the rate against your day rate. If it does not clear it, say no — a busy month at a losing rate is worse than a quiet one.

The trap on domestic work is under-pricing the non-carpentry time. Site visits, sourcing ironmongery, three trips to the merchant, and the hour spent explaining the difference between an oak veneer and solid oak. That time is real and it belongs in the price.

Pricing bespoke joinery properly

This is where most carpenters lose money, and the reason is always the same: they price the fitting and forget the making.

A proper price for a workshop-made item has five components.

Design and setting out. Measuring, drawing, working out how it goes together, deciding on the joints. On anything bespoke this is real hours before a saw is switched on.

Materials. Timber, sheet goods, ironmongery, adhesives, finish. Price the actual board footage including waste, not the finished dimensions. Hardwood waste on a bespoke piece can be substantial, and the offcuts are yours to absorb.

Machine and workshop time. Thicknessing, planing, spindle work, sanding, assembly, glue-up drying time. This is the component that goes missing. If your workshop costs money to run — rent, power, dust extraction, machine maintenance, tooling — that cost has to appear in an hourly workshop rate, and every job carries it.

Finishing. Sanding, staining, spraying or oiling, and the drying time between coats. Frequently as many hours as the making.

Delivery and fitting. Getting it there without damaging it, and fitting it into a building that is never square.

Price all five, then add a contingency. Bespoke work carries risk that repeat work does not, because you have never made that exact thing before.

Machine time is not free

If you own a workshop, work out what it costs you per available hour: rent, rates, power, insurance, machine servicing, blades and cutters, extraction, and the depreciation on kit that will need replacing.

Divide that by the realistic number of productive workshop hours in a year and you have a workshop rate. Add it to your labour when pricing anything made rather than fitted.

Carpenters who skip this step think of workshop time as “free” because the space is already paid for. It is not free — it is a fixed cost being covered by too few jobs, which is the same as being underpaid on all of them.

What moves the price on a domestic job

Beyond the rate itself, these are the factors that decide whether a job earns:

Access and floor protection. Carrying sheet goods up a Victorian staircase into a finished house is slow, and the protection required is not optional.

Squareness of the building. Old houses are not square. Scribing to an out-of-plumb wall takes far longer than fitting to a straight one, and you cannot see it from a photograph.

Material choice. Hardwood is slower to work and less forgiving than softwood. Veneered board has its own rules. Reclaimed timber is a lottery.

Specification certainty. If the customer has not chosen the ironmongery, the door style or the finish, your price is a guess. Get decisions before you quote, or quote against a defined specification and price changes separately.

Waiting for other trades. On a refurbishment, being ready before the room is ready is a real cost. Say in your quote how standing time is handled.

Setting your own number

Take your target annual income, add every overhead — van, insurance, tools, workshop, consumables, phone, accountant, training — and divide by the days you will realistically be on the tools. Not 260. After holidays, illness, quoting, invoicing, chasing money and jobs that fall through, most sole traders bill somewhere around 200 days a year.

That is your minimum day rate. From there, set a higher second fix rate, a higher still bespoke rate, and a separate workshop hourly rate. One number for everything is how carpenters end up busy and broke.

Review it annually. Timber, sheet goods, fuel and insurance all move year to year, and a rate you set two years ago is a pay cut you have not noticed.

Getting the work that justifies the rate

Charging properly requires enough enquiries to walk away from the ones that do not pay. That is the real leverage — not arguing harder, but having a diary full enough that no is cheap.

Trade Pilot is free to join and only charges when a real local job lands in your inbox, with each lead going to no more than three trades in an area. No monthly membership to carry through a quiet fortnight, and no bidding against a crowd you cannot count.

Frequently asked questions

What is a typical carpenter day rate in the UK?

Broadly £200 to £350 for a self-employed carpenter, with London and the South East at the top and other regions below. Second fix and bespoke joinery should sit above first fix rates.

Should I charge more for second fix than first fix?

Yes. Second fix is slower, more precise and entirely visible. Pricing both at one rate means the finishing work subsidises the framing.

How do I price a bespoke wardrobe or bookcase?

Price design time, materials including waste, workshop and machine time, finishing, and delivery and fitting — then add a contingency. Do not price it as a fitting job with a bit of timber added on.

Do I need to charge separately for workshop time?

Yes, if you have a workshop. Work out the annual cost of running it, divide by realistic productive hours, and carry that rate on every made item. Otherwise the workshop is being paid for out of your wages.

What day rate should I quote a main contractor?

Whatever covers your costs and target income, and check any measured rate they offer against it before agreeing. Long runs of steady work can justify a slightly lower rate than one-off domestic jobs; they cannot justify a losing one.

How often should I review my rates?

At least once a year, and immediately after any significant change in timber, fuel or insurance costs.