Carpenter / Joiner - Finding A Good Joiner

Carpenter / Joiner - How To Find A Good Joiner?

Do you dread having to find a tradesperson who is a skilled joiner?  You should do.  Good joiners are few and far between and a dying breed.  With the rise of the uPVC windows and porches the small joinery shops are become less and less easy to find.  You see, joinery in its traditional sense is a real skill and not something that your average handyman can handle too easily.  Of course, many will call themselves joiners but just because they can screw two pieces of wood together this does not make them a joiner who can put together a piece of furniture for you or hang a door beautifully so that it never catches and so that you cannot see daylight between the frame and the door itself. 

Different Types Of Joiner / Carpenter

There are several different types of joinery and joiners.  Bench hand joiners are becoming almost extinct. 

If you try to find a good joinery shop in your local telephone directory you could spend hours trying to find one– often the small independent joinery workshops do not even advertise.  They are so hard to find that when people do find them they often become customers for life and it becomes very difficult to even get the joiner who runs or owns the joinery shop to fit you in.  You may find that if you are looking to have some hardwood windows or a hardwood porch put together you will often be fobbed off with “but uPVC windows and porches last so much longer”, because that is what most companies would now prefer to sell you – not wood. 

There is an answer though.  The internet.   There are now many sites on which,  rather than spending hours and hours thumbing through telephone directories and leaving numerous unreturned messages on answer machines, you can, in just a few clicks – add your joinery job and get free quotes from joiners who actually ring you rather than you having to try and ring them.  Would you believe it.  You can even review these tradespeople which keeps them on their toes and is designed to keep the cowboy joiners out of the industry. 

Remember though, even then, you must always get a few quotes for your job – do not let your desperation to get your joinery job done, and/or your lack of valuable time, allow you to just take the first quote simply because you were relieved that someone actually called you to discuss your project and then actually turned up to give you a quote.   Many of the sites where you can post your job online have review sections so that you can actually see what other customers just like you thought of the joiner who did some work for them previously and who is now coming to you to try to win your joinery job.  Make sure that your joiner knows that you will be taking up other quotes too for your project.  This will encourage them to keep their quote keen and you will be amazed at how pleasant a joiner can be and how exceptional his or her customer service skills are when they know that suddenly there is competition out there for your joinery job. 

If you do take up someones quote and they do the job for you – you should always put your review on the site from which you found the joiner.  Just a few minutes of your time to put something good about them is like giving them a tip without it having to cost you a penny.  Next time he or she goes to quote for a joinery job they will also be able to show the customer your review – its like giving a reference for someone – and don’t worry – your details on these sites will not be bandied around for all to see.  They will usually give your review and then say ‘Mrs Jones, OL11 Rochdale or something – you won’t get spammed by all and sundry or telephoned by cold callers – you will just have a very grateful joiner who will get more work from others as a result of your kind words.  By the same token remember to tell all if you found him or her to be a poor quality joiner.  In this way, you are helping to drive the cowboys out of the construction industry and if they go to quote again for someone else they won’t get very far before other potential customers start to see their poor reviews and give them a wide berth. 

A final word on this subject – if you do find a good joiner – don’t stop getting a few quotes for the next project you want doing – whether it be joinery, plastering, plumbing or any other home improvement job for that matter – it is always wise to compare the prices and quotes from up to 3 different tradespeople for your refurbishment jobs just to make sure that you are paying a fair price for a fair job. 

Good luck with your joinery job and hope you find a good joiner.