Joinery and carpentry for fitted furniture, doors and stairs

Old houses rarely have square walls or level floors. A fitted wardrobe or alcove unit is scribed to the walls and ceiling so that it looks built in rather than pushed against the wall. The main choices are the carcass material, the doors and their finish, the internal layout and the hardware. Painted MDF doors are common and take a crisp spray finish; solid timber and veneers cost more and move a little with the seasons.

Bespoke furniture takes the same approach further: a dining table, a window seat with storage, shelving for a particular collection. Ask the joiner for a drawing with dimensions and materials before you pay a deposit, and agree whether the piece is finished in the workshop or on site.

Replacing internal doors looks simple, but the doors must be trimmed to fit existing frames, hung on the right number of hinges and fitted with latches that line up. Older houses often have non-standard sizes, and period panel doors may be worth restoring rather than replacing.

Some doors do a safety job. In houses with a loft conversion or three or more storeys, the doors onto the stairway are often fire doors, and in blocks of flats the front door of each flat usually is. A fire door only works as a complete assembly: the door leaf, frame, intumescent seals, hinges, closer where needed, and gaps within its tested limits. Swapping a fire door for an ordinary one, trimming it heavily or fitting unrated hardware can undermine it. If you live in a flat, the entrance door may belong to the building rather than to you, so check the lease and speak to the managing agent before changing it.

A new or rebuilt staircase has to meet Part K of the Building Regulations in England, which covers the rise and going of each step, headroom, handrails and guarding. A staircase in a new position, or one serving a loft conversion, is part of the building work that Building Control checks. Joiners can often renew treads, strings or balustrades on an existing staircase, or replace it entirely, and a good joiner will measure the stairwell precisely before quoting.

Balustrades deserve particular attention in homes with small children. The spacing of spindles and the height of the handrail are set in the regulations, and an old staircase that met the rules of its time may not meet current ones.

Many joinery jobs are repairs: sticking doors, loose stair treads, rotten sills, damaged skirting or architrave, sash windows that no longer slide. Splicing in new timber rather than replacing a whole component can save money and, in older and listed buildings, keep original fabric. In a listed building, altering or replacing joinery such as doors, panelling or staircases can need listed building consent, so talk to the council first.

• what you want made, fitted or repaired, with rough dimensions
• photos of the space, including the walls, ceiling and floor where it will sit
• materials and finish you have in mind: painted, oiled, veneered, solid timber
• for doors: how many, standard or non-standard sizes, any fire doors
• for stairs: whether it is a repair, a new balustrade or a full replacement
• whether the property is listed or in a conservation area
• your timescale and any other trades working at the same time

For most contracts you sign at home, you have a cooling-off period. Goods made to your specifications, such as a fitted wardrobe built to your measurements, are an exception under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, so once you have agreed the design you may not be able to cancel. Read the deposit terms carefully and make sure the drawing you approve is the one you want. The service part of the job must be carried out with reasonable care and skill under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

You confirm your phone number and email address, and joiners and carpenters in your area see the job without your details. Only one can buy it, and from then on it is no longer offered. The business pays Offrano for the request; you pay nothing.

Before your details reach the joiner, we email you the firm's name, address and phone number. No firm is obliged to buy, and a request nobody buys is withdrawn after 21 days. We check that buyers are registered businesses but not the quality of their joinery, so ask for photos of similar pieces and, for fire doors, whether the firm is certificated to install them.