Handy carpentry and repairs · Newcastle and Lake Macquarie
Doors that stick, rotten deck boards, new skirting, a wobbly handrail. No job too small, and we turn up when we say. Send a photo and you'll usually have a price the same day.
Dead level. That's what "true" means to a carpenter.
Jobs we do every week
Most of our days are made of four kinds of work. Tap "What's included" on any card for the detail.
Replace rotten boards, re-fix loose ones and re-oil, so the deck looks like one deck again.
Hang, plane and rehang doors, and fit new locks and handles.
New skirting, architraves and shadow lines, plus built-in shelving.
Handrails, gates, fences, pergola posts and the rest of the list.
Before and after
Rotten boards replaced, re-fixed and oiled in Merewether. Drag the handle to compare.
BeforeAfter
Free tools
Three handy tools for Newcastle homeowners. Use them for free, and send the result straight to Dan if you'd like a price.
Tick the jobs around your place. We'll tell you roughly how long they take together, and whether it's a half day or a full one.
How we work it out: typical on-site times for straightforward jobs, with an allowance for setting up and cleaning up. Rot, out-of-square frames or hidden damage add time. It's a rough guide, not a quote. Prices come after Dan sees photos.
How many boards, screws and litres of oil for a re-deck or a patch-up? Enter your deck and see.
Assumptions: 5 mm gap between boards; 10% extra for offcuts and bad lengths; joists at typical 450 mm centres with 2 screws per board at each joist; decking oil at about 10 to 15 m² per litre per coat, 2 coats (check your tin, it varies by brand and timber). We can't see your joists from here, and rotten boards often mean a soft joist or two.
Grab a tape measure. Compare your deck railing and steps with the typical rules for houses in the National Construction Code.
Typical NCC figures for houses: a barrier is needed where a deck is more than 1 m above the ground below; barriers at least 1 m high on the deck (865 mm on stairs); gaps must not let a 125 mm sphere through; where the drop is over 4 m, no climbable rails between 150 and 760 mm; stair risers 115 to 190 mm and goings 240 to 355 mm, with 2 risers plus 1 going between 550 and 700 mm. This is a guide only. Read the rules at ncc.abcb.gov.au and check tradies on NSW Fair Trading's licence check.
Recent jobs
What neighbours say
"Sent through a list of eight little jobs. All done in one day for a fair price."
"Finally a tradie who turns up when he says. Our doors close properly for the first time in years."
"Great bloke, quality work, and he cleaned up better than we would have."
"Dan fitted shelves into an awkward nook nobody else wanted to quote. Looks like it was always there."
"Two rotten pergola posts swapped in a morning. Texted a photo, had a price by lunch."
Sample reviews
How it works
Text or use the form. A photo of each job helps most.
You'll usually hear back the same day with a price and a date.
On the day we said, at the time we said, with the timber already cut to suit where we can.
We show you each job, sweep up and take the offcuts with us.
Your go-to carpenter
I've been a carpenter for 22 years and I love the jobs other tradies won't touch. The sticking door, the three rotten boards, the handrail that's been wobbling since you moved in.
Send a photo of the job and you'll usually get a price the same day.
Dan Murphy, Carpenter
Questions we get
Almost certainly not. One sticking door is fine. If you've got a few little jobs, put them on one list and we'll do them in the same visit so you're not paying for us to come back.
Text a photo of each job, with a rough size if it's a deck or fence. You'll usually get a price the same day. For bigger jobs we'll pop round to measure up first.
Often it's the door swelling in humid weather, or hinge screws that have worked loose. Look for where it rubs: shiny paint marks show the spot. If it sticks at the top on the latch side, the hinges often need tightening or packing. If the gaps around the door have changed a lot, the frame may have moved, and we'll check that before planing anything.
We match width and species as closely as we can. New timber looks brighter at first, so oiling the whole deck afterwards helps it blend. The deck estimator above shows you the numbers either way.
Not always. For outside jobs, lots of customers leave the side gate open. For inside work we'll arrange a time that suits you.
Yes. Old boards, offcuts and packaging go with us, and we sweep up before we leave.
Yes, licensed and insured. You can check any tradie's licence on the NSW Government licence check.
Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm, across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.
Get in touch
Tell us what's bugging you around the house. Photos help. We'll come back with a price, usually the same day.