Carpentry that's cut, fittedand finished by aCity & Guilds qualified tradesman.

First fix covers everything structural and hidden: roof structures, floor joists and decking, stud partition walls, and door linings set ready for plastering. Getting this stage right is what determines how straightforward every following trade's job is: a stud wall built out of square makes tiling and plastering harder, and a floor not level enough will show under every finish laid on top.

Roof structures are either cut on site or built from trussed sections, chosen against the design. Vaulted ceilings, dormer windows and rooms in the roof usually need a cut roof, because standard trusses don't give the internal space those designs need. Structural timber sizes are checked against span tables or an engineer's calculations, not guessed from experience alone.

Second fix is what you see: internal doors hung and finished, architrave and skirting fitted with tight mitres, stairs built or refurbished, and built-in joinery such as alcove shelving where the project calls for it.

This stage is judged on close inspection, and it's where a carpenter's qualifications actually matter: consistent mitres, doors that hang true and close properly, skirting scribed to an uneven wall rather than gapped and filled. Built-in joinery is made to the exact dimensions of your space, which means it fits properly rather than being adapted to fit.

Staircases are one of the most regulated pieces of carpentry in a house: rise, going, headroom, handrail height and baluster spacing are all set out in building regulations, not just a matter of what looks good. A new staircase, or a replacement for an existing one, is designed to meet those regulations first and your preferences on finish and style second.

Existing staircases can often be refurbished rather than replaced: new treads, risers and handrails fitted over a sound structure, which is considerably cheaper than a full replacement where the frame underneath is solid.

Forming a new opening in a load-bearing wall, removing a chimney breast, or converting a loft all rely on structural timber or steel being sized correctly for the load above. We work with an established structural engineer where calculations are needed, and the resulting beam or lintel is installed properly supported at each end, not just wedged into an opening.

Floor strengthening is common ahead of loft conversions or where existing joists are undersized for a new use: extra joists, engineered timber, or steel flitch plates bolted alongside existing timber are all options depending on the span and the load.

Sagging floors, springy staircases, or a dip in a roofline are usually a sign of timber that has moved, rotted, or was undersized in the first place. Diagnosing the actual cause, a leaking gutter feeding rot into a wall plate, or a joist simply not big enough for its span: matters more than covering the symptom.

Repairs range from replacing individual rotten sections with treated timber spliced into sound material, through to rebuilding whole sections of roof or floor structure. Where rot has spread from a leak, the source of the water has to be fixed first, or the repair won't last.