We get this one a fair bit, usually on the phone before a quote: "Is this a carpenter job, or can a handyman just sort it?" Fair question. The answer changes what you'll pay, how long it takes, and whether the work's actually covered if something goes wrong down the track.
So here's the honest version. And the good news is we do both, so you're not the one who has to figure it out before you call.
What a carpenter actually does
A carpenter's a licensed tradie. That word "licensed" matters more than people reckon. In NSW certain building work has to be done by someone holding the right licence and insurance, and carpentry lands square in that bucket once a job gets structural or hits a certain dollar value.
Anything that holds your house up, keeps the water out, or that someone could get hurt on if it's done dodgy — that's carpenter territory.
So:
- Decks, pergolas and verandahs — load-bearing, often needing council sign-off, and built to cop our salt air with merbau, spotted gum, treated pine or composite.
- Framing and structural timber — wall frames, floor joists, bearers, roof work, anything carrying weight.
- Subfloor repairs and reframing — common in the older fibro and post-war brick places round the Gong, where the timber's had decades of damp sitting under it.
- New door and window openings — cut into a wall and you're touching the structure, and that needs doing properly.
A deck's where the Illawarra really tests you. Coastal homes cop salt air that chews through cheap fixings, and a southerly buster will find any join you didn't do right. So we run the proper stainless or galvanised fixings, get the falls and drainage sorted, and build for the actual block — because plenty of properties round here sit on a slope, and a deck on a sloping block is a whole different beast to a flat backyard out in a new estate.
The licence and insurance side isn't red tape for the sake of it. If a structural job goes pear-shaped — deck pulls away from the house, a beam starts to sag — you want it to have been done by someone licensed and insured, because that's what's actually protecting you. And unlicensed structural work can bite you at sale time too, when the building inspection picks it up.
What a handyman covers
A handyman handles the smaller, non-structural stuff. The odd jobs that pile up on the "I'll get to it" list and never quite get got to.
Hanging a door that's dropped, freeing up a sticking gate, patching gyprock, putting up shelves or a TV bracket, knocking together the flat-pack from Bunnings, swapping out a manky bit of skirting, re-hanging a fly screen, sorting the cupboard that won't shut. None of that needs a building licence, because none of it's structural and none of it's high-value.
It's real work and worth doing well. But it's a different job to building a deck, and you shouldn't be paying carpenter rates to have a door rehung — or waiting three weeks for a quote on a half-hour fix.
Where the line sits in NSW
Here's the bit that trips people up. In NSW you need a building licence for residential work where the labour and materials together come to more than $5,000. Under that — and provided it's not specialist work like electrical or plumbing — a handyman can legally do it.
So a $300 afternoon of small repairs? Handyman, easy. A $9,000 deck? Licensed carpenter or builder, full stop. And depending on size and where it sits, it might need sign-off from your council too, whether that's Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama or Shoalhaven down Nowra way.
But the dollar figure isn't the whole story. Plenty of jobs sit under five grand and still want a carpenter, because they're fiddly or they touch the structure — reframing a rotten window sill, say, or rebuilding a section of subfloor. Cheap on materials, but you want it done by someone who knows what's holding up what. Treat the price line as a guide, not gospel.
Not sure? Just ask. We'll tell you straight which one it is, even when the honest answer is "that's a quick handyman job, mate, you don't need much."
The bit that makes it easier
Most outfits are one or the other. You ring a chippie for the deck, then go hunting for a separate handyman for the dozen little jobs — two people to chase, two quotes, two lots of "yeah, I'll come Tuesday."
We're set up so you don't have to do all that. All Round Carpentry is licensed and insured for the structural work, and we'll happily knock over the small stuff in the same visit. Build the deck out the back, and while we're there, rehang the door that's been dropping for a year. One tradie, one number — and you're dealing with Dave direct, not a call centre.
It also means we won't talk you into the big version of a small job. If a quick fix does the trick, that's what you'll get told.
Still not sure?
That's fine — sorting out which one you need is half of why we pick up the phone. Tell us what's going on, send a photo if that's easier, and we'll let you know whether it's a carpenter job, a handyman job, or a five-minute thing you could nearly do yourself.
Give Dave a call on 0414 007 351 for a free quote, anywhere from Helensburgh down to Nowra. No pressure either way — even if it's just to find out which one you actually need.
Want a hand with this at your place? Get a free quote or call 0414 007 351.