Carpenter and joiner rates across the UK

Hourly and day rates

A self-employed carpenter typically charges £30 to £90 an hour depending on region and on the work, or £200 to £350 for a day. Day rates are usually better value for anything over about three hours, and most carpenters will steer you toward one for a full day of small jobs.

London runs highest, with day rates commonly £300 to £400 and hourly rates around £40 and up. Northern England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland typically run 20% to 30% below London.

Call-out and minimum charges

Many carpenters have a minimum charge, often one or two hours, which covers travel and the trip. That is normal and is not a surcharge; a thirty-minute job still costs someone half a morning once travel is counted.

Emergency and out-of-hours work is priced differently again, usually a call-out fee of £100 to £250 plus materials.

Priced jobs versus day rates

Anything well defined, a kitchen, a wardrobe, a run of skirting, is normally quoted as a price for the job rather than as days. That puts the risk of it taking longer on the carpenter, which is what you want. Day rates suit open-ended work: repairs, snagging, a list of small jobs, or anything where nobody can see what is behind the wall yet.

What is not in the rate

Materials, unless the quote says otherwise. Waste disposal. Making good plaster. Painting. Scaffold or tower hire for anything above ground floor. These are the five things that most often turn a quote into a bigger invoice, and all five are worth asking about before work starts.

Common questions