Knowing which type of Carpenter to call

February 12, 2019February 12, 2019 Samantha Morgan 0 Comment Carpenter

There are several different kinds of carpentry, each of which has its own purpose. Let’s look at a few kinds of carpentry and their specific use in your home.

Table of Contents

Rough (framing) carpentry

Framing carpentry is basic carpentry, you can use to build an addition or finish your basement. Frames of a house have a top rail, a bottom rail, and vertical studs that measure 16 inches from centre to centre. When framing a door or window, make sure they have double side rails and support headers. Rough framers are the starting point for any home improvement project.

Finish Carpentry

Finish carpentry is pretty much what it sounds like. The purpose of finish carpentry is to add the more ornate finishes to the interior of the home. Examples of finish moulding include crown moulding, window, and door moulding, baseboards, and mouldings on and around cabinets.

If you have a bookcase that needs some sprucing up, add some crown moulding around the top shelf and some trim moulding around the edge and shelves. This is a good DIY project for learning how precision is the key to professional installation. For large projects, I would definitely leave this one for the pros.

Cabinet Maker

Cabinet making carpentry requires multiple skills and many years to become a skilled woodworker. A cabinet maker knows the characteristics of the wood and chooses the hardness, colour, and grain for the project. Even basic maths is needed for accurate measurements, angles, and cuts.

It is critical to get the cabinet case square and plumb. A good cabinet carpenter can build custom cabinets with everything aligned on the shelves and the doors. This allows the carpenter to install the doors and drawers straight into a bespoke kitchen design plan with little adjustment.

Flooring Installer

Another commonly used carpentry skill is flooring installation. Before the installation, measuring the room and determining the pattern being used determines the amount of flooring you will need. Add an extra 10% to your calculation for scrap and mistakes.

Generally a carpenter would remove the baseboards before laying the floor. After the installation, the baseboards are replaced and cover the space left for expansion and contraction.

Going around a corner requires precision. The installer will use a saw to remove a piece of moulding the height of the floor. To do this, set a piece of flooring next to the moulding to get the right cut. Be sure you have the piece of flooring on the sub floor and not on top of the already installed floor. Then just slide the piece of flooring under the moulding for a finished look. We’ve just reviewed a few types of carpentry. Some other types of carpentry, some lesser known, are drywall carpentry, tile setters, roofers, deck builders, and window/door installers. All are skilled workers and usually serve three to four years as apprentices.