Joiner Jobs
Joiner jobs include working with wood. Joiner jobs work on building sites or in workshops, joiners make, fit or repair doors, windows, staircases, floorboards, roof trusses and partitions.
Joiners use traditional woodworking tools, as well as specialised power or hand tools, for cutting, shaping, smoothing and finishing.
There are four different types of joiner jobs, bench joiner jobs who are mostly based in workshops, using woodworking tools and machinery to make parts such as doors, roof timbers and skirting boards, site joiners who work on site, fitting the prefabricated parts into buildings, shopfitters who specialise in producing and fitting shop fronts and interiors
Formwork joiner jobs make moulds (formwork) for concrete structures, such as pillars for motorways and multi-storey car parks, bridges, suspended floors and staircases.
Joiners usual working week is 37.5 hours, Monday to Friday. Many joiner jobs involve travelling to different sites, sometimes with time away from home. Joiners spend a lot of time standing, bending, kneeling or crouching.
Outdoors joiner jobs can be cold and windy, and the work can involve climbing ladders and working on scaffolding. Bench joiners work in workshops and have to get used to a lot of wood dust.
Salaries for joiners may range from around £12,500 to £21,000 a year.
Joiners need practical ability and good hand skills, the ability to follow drawings, plans and written or spoken instructions, to be fit and agile to cope with the physical demands of the job.
As well as working on new buildings joiner jobs may include working in a variety of different areas such as building maintenance and repair, adding fittings and extensions in existing houses, and working for building contractors, local authorities and shopfitting companies. Many carpenters are self-employed.
It may be possible to train to have joiner jobs through an Apprenticeship.
Experienced joiners may be able to move into construction management, or set up their own specialist firm. There may be opportunities for joiner jobs to take place abroad on contracts.