Costs & Pricing
If you've had a few quotes back from carpenters recently, you've probably noticed the numbers are higher than they used to be. It's not just you, and it's not just carpentry, but the trade has had a genuinely rough few years on costs, and that ends up on your invoice whether you like it or not.
This article breaks down where the money actually goes: day rates, timber, tools, the van, and all the overheads that don't show up as a line item but are baked into the price all the same.
In the UK right now, day rates typically sit between £200 and £300, with the exact figure coming down to experience, location and the type of work.
These figures are usually for labour only, before materials and before VAT. A day generally means 7–8 hours on site: it doesn't include the time spent getting there, unloading, setting up dust extraction, or protecting your floors, all of which eats into the working day without being billed separately.
It's worth saying clearly: a £250 day rate is not £250 in someone's pocket. Once you take out fuel, insurance, tool replacement, materials sourcing, admin, and the days that can't be charged to a customer at all, quoting, measuring, ordering materials, running to the timber merchant, what's actually left is a lot closer to a normal wage than people assume.
Wood isn't one price. It depends on species, grade, thickness and finish, and a merchant's price for planed oak has nothing to do with the sheet of MDF from the local builders' merchant.
As a rough guide to what you're likely to pay in 2026:
| Material | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Standard pine/whitewood, 2.4m length | £5–£15 |
| MDF, 18mm, full sheet (2440 x 1220mm) | £25–£40 |
| Oak-faced MDF, 18mm sheet | £35–£65 |
| Solid oak, per board | £30–£80 |
| High-grade or specialist oak | £80+ |
Where the "wood has never been more expensive" line comes from is 2021–22. Post-pandemic demand, disrupted supply chains and Brexit-related import friction hit at the same time, and UK softwood prices spiked by around a third in real terms in a single year, with sawlog prices in particular jumping roughly 20–30% within months, based on Forestry Commission data.
Since then, prices have actually come back down. Supply chains normalised, and the timber price index has been falling gently year on year since the 2021–22 peak. So the honest version isn't "timber only ever goes up", it's that timber went through a genuine shock a few years ago, businesses absorbed higher costs through that period, and prices are now more stable but still sit above where they were pre-2020. If a carpenter's quote looks higher than it did five years ago, that spike is a big part of the reason, even if this year's price on paper isn't much different from last year's.
And that's before you factor in waste. Buying a full sheet of MDF doesn't mean the whole sheet ends up in your furniture: offcuts, knots, and grain that isn't good enough for a visible face all reduce what's usable. A carpenter working carefully will sometimes buy more material than the job strictly needs, because using the wrong bit of board for a job that's meant to last is a false economy.
The other cost people rarely think about is the amount of money sitting in a van's toolbox. Using DeWalt as a like-for-like example of mid-to-premium trade tools:
| Tool | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Combi drill and impact driver kit | £300–£500 |
| Circular saw | £150–£250 |
| Mitre saw | £350–£400 |
| Router | £300–£350 |
| Jigsaw | £100–£150 |
| Random orbital sander | £110–£150 |
| Brad/finish nailer | £350–£400 |
| Dust extractor | £140–£190 |
| 5Ah battery (each) | £110–£130 |
A working carpenter usually carries three to five batteries so there's always one charged: that alone is £350–£600 sitting in a bag. None of this is a one-off cost either: blades, sanding discs, drill bits and router cutters wear out constantly, and batteries lose capacity over a few years of daily charging cycles.
Add a van on top, finance or purchase, insurance, fuel, servicing, tyres, MOT, road tax, racking, and it's easy to see how a business can have tens of thousands of pounds tied up before a single day is billed.
The UK VAT registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover, and a business can register voluntarily below that if they choose to. The standard rate is 20%.
So £1,000 of work from a non-VAT-registered carpenter is £1,000. The same job from a VAT-registered business is £1,200 once VAT is added, not because they're charging more for the work, just because of how the business is structured. Always check whether a quote includes VAT before comparing it to another one.
None of the above matters much if the finished work doesn't earn its keep. Where a carpenter genuinely pays for themselves is in making better use of the space you already have: an awkward alcove turned into proper storage, a sloped ceiling built around instead of ignored, a kitchen reworked so it actually functions for how you use it.
You're not adding square footage. You're making the square footage you've got work properly, and a well-designed, well-fitted piece becomes a feature of the room rather than something that's just there.
For small, low-stakes jobs, there are often cheaper routes. But for fitted furniture, a kitchen, or anything structural, the skill of the person doing it matters more than the headline price. A cheap quote that leads to poor measurements or rushed fitting usually costs more in the end, once it has to be put right.
Maltings Carpentry & Renovations is based in Snape and covers carpentry, bespoke joinery, fitted furniture and renovation work across Suffolk, including Aldeburgh, Saxmundham, Woodbridge, Framlingham, Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding areas.
If you're planning fitted wardrobes, bespoke storage, a new kitchen, flooring, doors, or carpentry as part of a wider renovation, get in touch to talk through your project. See our guide to IKEA vs bespoke fitted wardrobes if storage is on the list, or carpentry touches that can transform your home for more ideas.
Typically £200–£300 a day, depending on experience, location and the complexity of the work. Specialist or bespoke joinery can go higher.
Some do, some don't. Registration is required once turnover passes £90,000 a year, though smaller businesses can register voluntarily below that.
Mainly the 2021–22 spike in timber prices, alongside rising fuel, tool, insurance and van costs since then. Prices haven't kept climbing every year, but they haven't come back to pre-2020 levels either.
It depends on the type. Basic pine can be a few pounds a length; oak and specialist timbers can run to tens of pounds per board, and full sheets of MDF typically sit between £25 and £65 depending on grade and finish.
A working professional can easily have several thousand pounds invested in power tools alone, before hand tools, storage and a van.
Well-designed fitted storage and joinery can make awkward spaces usable and give a home a more finished feel, particularly in alcoves, sloped ceilings, and underused corners.
Send over what you'd like doing, your location, and photos of the space where possible. Larger projects usually need an on-site visit before a firm price can be given.
Send over what you'd like doing, your location, and photos of the space where possible, and we'll get back to you with honest advice on cost and next steps.
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