Craft
Carpentry & Joinery
First fix structure and bespoke second fix joinery.
Carpentry & Joinery in London
The trade where the difference between good and excellent is measured in millimetres and seen by everyone.
Carpentry is the trade a house is judged on. Structure is hidden, services are hidden, but a scribe that does not sit tight to an out-of-square Victorian wall, a door that stands proud of its frame, or a run of skirting with an open mitre is visible from the doorway for the next twenty years.
Our carpenters cover both halves of the trade. First fix — floor and roof structure, studwork, door linings and the timber that everything else hangs off. And second fix — staircases, fitted furniture, alcove joinery, doors, architrave, skirting and period mouldings, cut and fitted to rooms that are rarely square and never level.
Options
What we make and fit
Site-made and workshop-made joinery, finished on site.
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01Fitted wardrobes
BespokeFloor-to-ceiling, scribed into the wall and around the coving, with internal layouts planned to what you actually hang rather than a showroom standard.
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02Alcove units and media walls
Most requestedCabinets and shelving built into chimney-breast alcoves, with cable routes, ventilation and lighting resolved before the boards go on.
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03Staircases
StructuralNew flights, replacement balustrades, opening up a boxed staircase, and loft stairs cut to fit a landing that has no room to spare.
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04Doors and mouldings
Second fixHanging, easing and ironmongery, plus architrave, skirting, dado, picture rail and panelling in matched period profiles.
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05Structural first fix
First fixFloor joists, roof timbers, studwork partitions, boarding and the timber packages that sit around new steelwork.
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06External joinery
OutsideTimber gates, garden structures, decking, fascia and soffit, and repair rather than replacement of original sash and casement frames where the timber allows.
What you get
How we approach it
Scribed, not gapped
Fitted furniture scribed to the wall and the floor, with a shadow gap or a scribe fillet where a wall is genuinely beyond scribing. No silicone bead doing structural work.
Period profiles matched
Existing cornice, skirting and architrave profiles taken off, matched in a mill and run to length so new work is indistinguishable from original.
Staircases that do not creak
Glued and wedged properly, with the newel fixed into structure. A creaking stair is a stair assembled dry.
Materials chosen for the job
Tulipwood for a painted finish, oak or ash where it is to be seen, moisture-resistant board in wet areas, and hardwood ply rather than MDF where load matters.
Before you start
What we will ask you
The items below are where projects most often stall. We raise them at survey stage, not halfway through.
Painted or natural?
The answer changes the material, the construction and the price. A painted finish forgives a lot; a natural oak finish shows every joint.
Is the property heated yet?
Fitting joinery into a damp, unheated shell and then drying the house out is how gaps open up. Sequence matters.
How will it be used?
Shelf spans, hinge choice and carcass thickness follow from what goes on them. A shelf designed for paperbacks will bow under records.
Is there a listed or conservation constraint?
Original joinery in a listed property usually has to be repaired rather than replaced, which is a different skill and a different programme.
Where we work
Carpentry & Joinery across London
We deliver this service across all 33 London boroughs. Pick your area for local planning context, typical property types and recent work nearby.
Coverage mapFAQs
Carpentry & Joinery — your questions answered
The questions we are asked most often about this service. If yours is not here, call us — we would rather answer it now than after you have committed.
Both, depending on the piece. Carcasses and doors are made off site for accuracy and finish; scribing, fitting and anything that has to follow the shape of an old wall happens on site.
Yes. We take a profile off an original section and have it run to match, which is the only way new work in a period property does not announce itself.
Our decorators finish it — filled, caulked, primed and sprayed or brushed depending on the piece. A joiner and a decorator arguing about whose job the filling was is a common and avoidable problem.
Bespoke joinery needs design sign-off and material lead time, so four to eight weeks from order is typical. Repairs and second fix can usually be scheduled sooner.
Free quotation
Thinking about carpentry & joinery?
Let us take a look.
Tell us what you are planning and we will arrange a free site survey and a written, itemised quotation — with no obligation and no sales visit.