Professional Carpenters

Published by: Paul Batchie
Published on: 2010-01-10 15:26:13

Oftentimes when a family is new to home ownership, when something goes wrong or it's time for improvements, they don’t really know who to call to get the job done. I'd like to break down the industry a bit to give an idea how it works.

There are three classes of contractor you're likely to encounter. The first is the general contractor. His focus is on larger jobs and he subcontracts out much of the work to get big jobs done quickly.

Next is the specialist. This will be the fencing company, the kitchen company, the electrician, the painter.

And then there's the carpenter contractor. This is a firm, very often family-owned, that does a wide range of jobs that are generally on the smaller end of the scale.

Who you should call depends on the nature and size of the job you want done. A simple fencing project? You'll probably call in a fencing company. But if your fencing job impacts the house or deck in some way, you might be better off with someone more equipped to deal with that – the carpenter contractor.

The carpenter contractor generally is motivated by a love for woodwork, and he can cover a lot of ground for you. He can handle anything from installing cabinets and countertops, finishing your basement, and rearranging walls on the inside, to building a deck or garage or gazebo on the outside.

If you want to exchange that flat living room window for an expansive bay, or to put in a beautiful new front door to greet your guests, the guy to call is the carpenter. He's the one to upgrade your interior doors as well (panel doors generally look better than the slab kind, and solid doors offer a lot more privacy than hollow).

If your involves multiple trades, your carpenter contractor will often have a working relationship with other trades and can either make recommendations or subcontract out the work himself.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but many times even specialty projects are best handled by a carpenter. Say you want a new kitchen. You may save a lot of money by ordering the cabinets yourself at discount and then using a carpenter to do the installation.

Even larger residential projects fall well within the purview of carpenters. Adding an addition or a second level involve dealing with an architect, the building department and subcontractors. Many carpenters are equipped to handle this multifunctional role, and since they do the lion's share of the work themselves, they'll be onsite much of the time – and that can be a big plus.
When your next project arises, give careful thought to whom you should call, general contractor, specialist, or carpenter. The nature and size of the project will bear on your decision, but also give a lot of weight to the character and accomplishments of the people you're dealing with. In the home improvement business, bigger is not always better.

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