A door that has stopped closing, a wooden frame that has split, skirting and architrave after other work, decking or a pergola outside, or a wardrobe made to fit an alcove that no standard unit will ever fit. Describe the job and send a photo, and you get a free quote before anyone comes out.
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Carpentry in the Algarve covers doors and frames, skirting, architrave and trim, stairs and handrails, decking, pergolas and outdoor timber, roof and beam repairs, and fitted storage made to measure. Two thirds of the calls on this hub are repairs rather than new work: a door that sticks, a frame that has split at the joint, or timber outside that has been left to the sun too long. Handyman Algarve quotes carpentry in the Algarve for free, in English or Portuguese.
It is the most common carpentry call in this region and the diagnosis is usually seasonal. Timber takes up moisture in the wet months and gives it back in the dry ones, and a door with a tight fit swells enough to bind against the frame. That is why the honest first question is when it started. A door that binds only in winter needs the fit adjusted with that movement in mind, or the humidity in that room dealt with, and planing it in February leaves a visible gap by August. A door that sticks all year is a different problem: a hinge that has dropped, a screw that has lost its grip in an old frame, or a wall that has moved. The two look identical and the repairs are not.
Outdoor timber here has an unusual enemy list. Rot matters less than in a wet climate, and ultraviolet matters far more. Sun breaks down the finish first, then the surface of the wood greys and opens into fine cracks, and by the time the winter rain arrives there is open grain for the water to sit in. The practical consequence is that a pergola or a deck should be recoated on a schedule, before it looks like it needs it, and that a coating with real ultraviolet protection is worth more than a premium timber with a weak finish on it. Where a deck or pergola has already gone that far, sanding back and rebuilding the finish is usually possible; the boards that have to be replaced are normally the ones sitting in shade and holding damp, not the ones in full sun.
Repairs are quoted as a visit plus materials, and the visit is where the value sits, because most of the work is diagnosis and fitting rather than material. New work is quoted per piece or per metre: a run of skirting is priced by the metre, a fitted wardrobe by the piece after a measure on site. What moves those figures, as of 2026, is the timber species and grade, the finish, whether the piece is made in a workshop or built in place, and access, which for a beam or a staircase can dominate everything else. Made to measure work needs a site measure before a firm price, and that measure is part of the free quote rather than an extra.
For a repair, a photo of the whole item and a close photo of the failure usually answers the question before a visit. See how it works for the process from request to finished job.
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We reply within one business day, usually much faster.
A carpenter works timber into and around a building: doors and frames, skirting and architrave, stairs, decking and pergolas, roof timbers, fitted storage, and the repair of any of those. In a Portuguese house the everyday work is doors that no longer close, wooden window frames and shutters, exposed beams, and built in wardrobes, which are usually made to measure here rather than bought as units.
The split you will meet most often is rough carpentry, which is structure and formwork, finish carpentry, which is everything visible in a finished room, and cabinetmaking or joinery, which is furniture and fitted pieces made in a workshop. Portugal makes the same distinction with two words rather than three: a carpinteiro covers the building work and a marceneiro makes the furniture. Most jobs in a home need one of the two, and knowing which one saves a wasted visit.
Scale and tolerance. A carpenter works on site, to the millimetre, fitting timber to a building that is never quite square. A cabinetmaker works in a workshop, to a fraction of a millimetre, making a piece that is then brought to the house. A fitted wardrobe in an alcove usually needs both: the piece is made in the workshop and scribed to the wall on site, and the second half is what stops it looking like a box pushed into a corner.
Almost always, and the first thing to establish is whether the door swelled or the frame moved. Doors here stick in the wet months and free up in summer, which points at moisture rather than at the hinges. If it sticks all year, it is usually a dropped hinge, a loose screw in the frame, or a building that has settled. Planing a door should be the last resort, because a door planed to fit a wet season is a door with a gap in August.
Whatever is used, the finish decides the outcome more than the species. Hardwoods and thermally modified timbers hold up better against sun and dryness than untreated softwood, and anything outdoors needs a coating with real ultraviolet protection, maintained on a schedule rather than when it looks bad. The failure mode here is not rot in most places, it is the sun breaking down the finish, the wood then greying and checking, and water getting into the open grain in December.
Usually yes, and it is one of the differences that surprises people arriving from countries where a wardrobe is bought in a box. Bedrooms here often have alcoves and non square walls, so a made piece fits where a standard unit cannot. It costs more than flat pack and less than most people expect, and the quote depends on the material, the doors, the interior fittings and the finish rather than on the size alone.