Furniture repairs near me

Carpenters in South Africa: what to know before you book

Wood is everywhere in a South African home — built-in cupboards, doors and frames, skirtings, staircases, decks, pergolas, and the furniture that holds daily life together. And wood, being wood, moves: it swells in wet seasons, shrinks in dry ones, sags on tired hinges, and wears wherever hands and weather touch it. A good carpenter is the difference between wood that ages gracefully and wood that gets replaced a decade early.

This guide covers what carpenters in South Africa actually do, what they cost in 2026, how to brief one properly, and where carpentry ends and other trades legally begin.

What does a carpenter do?

Carpentry spans a wide arc, and most vetted carpenters handle all of it:

• Built-in cupboards and wardrobes: new installations, reconfigurations, and the endlessly requested repair work — sagging doors, collapsed shelves, worn runners, and hinges pulling out of tired carcasses.
• Doors and frames: hanging new doors, trimming and easing sticking ones, repairing split panels and frames, and fitting locks and hardware into timber correctly.
• Kitchens: cabinet repairs, countertop fitting and adjustments, replacement doors and panels, and installation of flat-pack or custom units.
• Shelving and storage: floating shelves, bookcases, garage storage, and custom units built to the space.
• Skirtings, architraves, and trim: repair, replacement, and new installation with the mitred corners that separate neat from noticeable.
• Furniture repair: re-gluing loose joints, repairing drawers, fixing broken legs and frames — usually far cheaper than replacement.
• Decks, pergolas, and outdoor timber: board replacement, structural checks, sanding and resealing, and new builds.

What does a carpenter cost in South Africa in 2026?

Carpentry is a skilled trade and prices accordingly — above general handyman rates, below specialist joinery:

• Call-out / first hour: R450 – R750 depending on area.
• Labour: R350 – R650 per hour for most work; intricate joinery and restoration sit higher.
• Day rates: R2,000 – R4,500 for bigger jobs — usually the best value for full-day scopes.
• Door hanging: R850 – R1,800 labour per door, plus the door.
• Built-in cupboard repairs: R450 – R2,500 depending on carcass condition; new built-ins run R8,000 – R25,000+ per unit depending on size and materials.
• Skirting and trim: R60 – R120 per metre labour plus materials.
• Deck repairs: R350 – R650 per board replaced; sanding and sealing R150 – R300 per square metre.

Materials range from a R100 length of pine to R25,000+ of board and hardware for a full built-in project, so a good quote always splits labour and materials — insist on seeing both.

Why wood behaves badly in South Africa (and what that means for repairs)

South African conditions are hard on timber, in region-specific ways. Coastal humidity keeps wood permanently thirsty, swelling doors and drawers and corroding hardware. The Highveld does the opposite — bone-dry winters shrink and crack timber, then summer storms swell it again, and the clay soils under much of Gauteng move seasonally, shifting frames so that doors stick in December and rattle in July. Full-sun exposure bakes sealants off exterior wood until it greys and drinks water unprotected.

Good carpenters work with this: they ease a swollen door conservatively rather than over-planing it, they reseal exterior timber as part of the repair rather than as an optional extra, and they ask when a problem appears before deciding how much wood to remove. If a door sticks only in one season, say so — it changes the repair.

Where carpentry ends: the legal and safety lines

A trustworthy carpenter knows the boundaries of the trade and says so:

• Structural timber is engineering territory. Roof trusses, load-bearing beams, and floor joists aren’t general carpentry — modifications need an engineer or registered builder, and roof truss changes can affect your building plans and insurance. A carpenter can replace like-for-like boards on a deck; redesigning what holds the deck up is a different conversation.
• Balustrades and stairs have building-code rules. Heights, gaps, and loads on balustrades and staircases are regulated for safety (SANS 10400) — new or altered ones must comply, which a professional builds in from the start.
• Electrical and plumbing stay with their trades. Cutting a countertop for a hob is carpentry; connecting the hob is a registered electrician’s or gas installer’s work. Building a bathroom vanity is carpentry; plumbing the basin is a plumber’s.

How to brief a carpenter for an accurate quote

• Photograph everything: each item, plus a close-up of the damage and a wide shot for context. Wood problems are visual — photos get you a quote that survives the site visit.
• Measure what you can: lengths of skirting, door sizes, cupboard dimensions. Rough numbers beat none.
• Say when it happens: seasonal sticking, a drawer that jams only when loaded, a gate that drags after rain — timing is diagnostic information.
• Batch the wood list: like all trades, the call-out is the fixed cost. A carpenter working through five repairs in one visit costs far less per fix than five bookings.
• Agree on materials: who supplies the timber and board, what grade, and whether offcuts and old material get removed — clarity here prevents most quote disputes.

Repair or replace? The carpenter's maths

The rule of thumb from experienced pros: solid timber almost always deserves repair — old hardwood doors, real-wood furniture, and older built-ins are frequently better material than their replacements would be, and repairs cost a fraction of new. Chipboard and MDF are situational: a water-swollen chipboard carcass is usually done, but hinge repairs, new doors on sound carcasses, and hardware upgrades extend flat-pack and melamine units for years. A good carpenter will tell you honestly which side of the line your job sits on — it’s one of the clearest signals you’ve found the right one.

Booking a vetted carpenter on Kandua

Every carpenter on Kandua is vetted before they can quote on your job. Describe the work to Jess, add your photos, and get matched with a vetted carpenter who’ll quote on it — then chat, book, and pay securely, all in one place. From a single sticking door to a full built-in project, the right carpenter is a conversation away.