How Much Does a Joiner Cost?
Last updated 2nd July, 2025
Looking into how much a joiner costs in the UK?
This guide has everything you need! Below, we break down how much a joiner charges per hour, typical joiner day rates, what common homeowner joiner jobs cost, and more!
Let's begin!
Table of Contents
What is a Joiner?
A joiner is a tradesperson who builds things by, quite literally, joining pieces of wood. This is usually for decorative purposes like staircases, windows, doors and other things around the home.
If you are renovating your home and want unique designs that suit your interior design perfectly, you can hire a joiner to build and install these things for you.
They also complete repair jobs like fixing doors or staircases and joiners come in really handy for repairing things instead of having to replace them.
Joiner Costs
Tradespeople across the country all charge different rates based on where they’re located. Due to the cost-of-living differences from region to region, the cost of trade rates differs in turn, with big cities and densely populated areas attracting higher rates due to demand.
Whereas smaller villages and towns are usually where you can find tradespeople with lower rates.
Joiner Hourly Rate
The average hourly rate for a joiner is around the £25 per hour mark, with some areas as low as £19 per hour and cities around the higher mark of £35 per hour.
A joiner tends to work normal weekly hours of 9am-5pm, but they are known to work weekends too, as that tends to line up with their customers well.
Joiner Daily Rate
For larger and longer jobs, it makes sense to hire a joiner on their daily rate instead of an hourly rate, and as a result, you’ll get much better hourly rates.
This is due to the joiners not losing time and money moving between jobs and securing work a few days at a time.
Again, this does differ in price from region to region just like the hourly rates, and the national average stands at around £170 per day, with the lower end of the scale at around £150 and the higher end at £200.
Joiner Emergency Rate
While you're most likely to book a joiner for a specific job in advance, there are a few unexpected moments when you may require one an emergency. For example when they work with a locksmith, estate agent or property maintenance, in order to carry out repairs on a food or window frame.
In these instances expect an emergency joiner to cost more than during regular appointments. Especially if the call-out is for a job outside of normal hours.
Below we take a look at the charges you may find you come up against.
| Type | Estimated Cost |
|---|---|
| Emergency Call-Out Fee | £100 – £120 |
| Hourly Rate (After First Hour) | £60 – £160/hour |
| Material Costs (if needed) | Varies – typically quoted separately |
| Travel Charges (if applicable) | £0 – £30+ |
| Minimum Billing Time | 1 Hour Minimum Charge |
| Typical Total (Estimate) | £160 – £300+ |
The above are an estimate but may vary depending on the extent of the job, as well as the location of the property. In any emergency where you may incur an additional cost, it's always worth getting a quote in advance - although tradesman may not have a complete picture of what's required until they arrive to assess the issue.
Joiner Cost Summary
Below we take a look at specific jobs that may require a joiner and how much you can expect them to cost, although prices will vary depending on the size of the project and other factors such as location or cost of materials.
| Service Provided | Estimated Cost |
|---|---|
| Fitting Kitchen Cupboards | £110 per unit (including labour and materials) |
| Hanging a Door | £40–£70 per door |
| Installing Wood Flooring | £85–£180 per m² (including labour and materials) |
| Loft Ladders | £150–£250 |
| New Staircases | £600–£6,000+ |
| Patio Doors | Around £1,000 |
| Walk-In Wardrobe | £5,500+ |
In the next section, we take a further look at the jobs outlined above - although this is not a definitive list and worth noting costs are average estimates. As such, always ask for a quote before allowing a joiner to start work.
Joiner Jobs
Joiners have the skills to complete hundreds of different jobs around your home from renovations to installations and repairs. But the majority of projects completed by joiners tend to the ones listed below.
We’ve delved into each job in a little more detail to provide you with a better understanding of what the jobs entail and the costs associated with them.
Kitchen Cupboards
While replacing kitchen doors and cupboards can depend on the size and style you've chosen, on average budgeting £110 per cupboard is a good starting point. This will cover the cost per unit, as well as the labour to help fit them.
Hanging a Door
It's not just cupboard doors covered by the cost of a joiner, they may be able to assist hanging an internal door between rooms and hallways too. A joiner will likely charge around £40 to £70 to hang a door.
Although please note this doesn't include the door itself, with materials included cost can soon rise to over twice as much depending on the design and material you choose.
Installing Wooden Flooring
There are, of course, many factors when it comes to wooden flooring cost, not least the size of the space and type of wood you're laying.
However, for an estimated guide it's best to go by measurements at an average rate of £85–£180 per 1m²
.Loft Ladders
Loft ladders are also quite a lot cheaper than some people think, costing between £150-£250 depending on the quality of timber and finish and can be built in just a few hours.
Lofts are great spaces that sometimes go very underutilised due to access issues. Lofts tend to have one of largest surface areas of any room in your household and once converted, make great storage rooms, bedrooms and even second living rooms, but easy access to them is absolutely integral; otherwise, they don’t make logistical sense to utilise fully.
A wooden fold-out ladder makes for a far better option than permanent installations. Firstly for its flatter step options, allowing for a sturdier and more stable climb and for the space-saving measures with the ladder folding to sit above the loft hatch.
New Staircases
A new wooden staircase can transform your home incredibly, especially if your current staircase a little worse for wear after years of use.
New staircases can cost between £600 for a simple straight staircase, whereas spiral staircases cost upwards of £6,000, so a quote in advance will help you get an accurate idea.
Whichever style you want to implement into your décor, a joiner will be able to help you decide and plan your new staircase for them to build and install it later on.
Patio Doors
When thinking about the renovation of the back of your property, patio doors are one of the most popular aspects to start with. The benefits from patio doors are in abundance, they provide great security, allow in lots of natural light and views of your garden, not to mention increasing the value of the property.
The cost varies depending on the size and style of the doors, but a good rule of thumb is to expect to pay around £1,000 for stylish patio doors ensuring you choose a high-quality wood.
Walk-In Wardrobe
There's a lot of wooden furniture that a joiner can help with in and around the bedroom, however a walk-in wardrobe is a fantastic solution to storage woes and can be a great way to utilise previously wasted space in your home.
Cost depends on the size and design, however, you can expect to pay around £5,500 for a small walk-in wardrobe taking around 1-2 days to install, which will then increase in price for larger spaces.
Joiner Qualifications
Joiners don’t actually need any qualifications to become self-employed as a joiner. This is because the majority of joiners have entered the trade by learning on the job, with hands-on experience proving more valuable.
Many joiners enjoy the work, having started out as it being a hobby before discovering a new skill. However, when hiring a skilled joiner you should still base your choice on any certificates they do have where appropriate, alongside their experience.
Popular courses and certification include:
- Bench Joinery
- Timber & Panel Products
- Carpentry & Joinery
- Wood Machining
- NVQ Level 2 or 3 in Carpentry and Joinery
- City & Guilds Diploma in Carpentry & Joinery
However, as it's a skilled job it's good to ask your joiner for examples of previous projects or to see their portfolio, don't forget you can always ask friends and family or search online for reviews before committing.
Joiner Insurance
Business liability insurance is integral for any tradesperson working in a customer’s home, and it not only protects the tradesperson but the customer too.
These are generally applicable throughout all manual trade professions, so to confirm a joiner should have the two following types of insurance:
- Business Liability Insurance - Covers both the joiner and customer in the event of any legal claims for injury, damage or loss of earnings.
- Public Liability Insurance - This covers any accidental damage to property or belongings, as well as injury caused by the joiner's work.
You are always entitled to ask if the joiner or their employers are covered, as any reputable company or tradesperson will ensure their insurance is valid and up to date.
How to Find and Hire a Joiner Near You
Hiring a joiner would have been much different 20 years ago than it is today. The rise of the internet age has allowed us to choose from a massive number of tradespeople in an instant, viewing reviews, portfolios, price ranges, specialities, qualifications and accreditations in an instant.
It also allows us to communicate and collaborate with tradespeople much better through email and messaging, making sure that they know exactly what you want from them. The first thing to consider when hiring a tradesperson is how many good reviews they have, and what do the reviews say.
If the only have 3 reviews, and two are bad, the chances are they aren’t the best out there. Whereas if they have 50 reviews and 85% are 5-star, they’ve had plenty of happy customers and are well worth your time.
You should also ask around for recommendations, as if someone has completed quality work for a friend before, they are about as proven as you could hope for. You should always ensure that they are registered as either a business or self-employed and have the right insurance to be working on your home.
FAQs
Joiners also tend to utilise a lot of heavy machinery like sanding machines, circular saws and bandsaws, requiring solid equipment to make the neat and accurate finishes needed to be on display and in use in people’s homes.
A carpenter, on the other hand is skilled in using small, intricate hand tools for more intimate pieces and bespoke items. Both professions are more than proficient in each other’s roles but will specialise in different areas.
They will also compile accurate cutting lists and work out the best methods for the construction of the job at hand, using both hand and power tools. A bench joiner is essentially a joiner, and the roles aren’t very different at all.
For those joiners that started as hobbyists, it could have taken years before they found themselves confident enough to do work for other people for a fee, and from there pursue it as a job.
However, some joiners start as an apprentice with another joiner, and therefore they improve in the role very quickly, considering they spend each and every day learning about the trade.
There’s no proven way to decide how much experience is required, as everyone picks up joinery quicker than others.
This outlines the importance of hiring a joiner for these projects, as they have the expertise to advise on which materials will work best.
