What Is The Difference Between A Commercial Joiner And A Carpenter?

There is often a bit of confusion involved when it comes to distinguishing between a carpenter and a commercial joiner. Many people wrongly assume that these trades are one and the same, including fully trained and qualified carpenters. This, however, is not the case – there are a few considerable differences between the work completed by a carpenter and the work completed by a joiner.

If you are a carpenter, you will generally:

be skilled in working with timber to build or maintain buildings and other similar projects

work on site, regardless of whether the project is residential or commercial

be required to do some form of manual labour and to work outside

If, on the other hand, you are a commercial joiner, you will generally:

be skilled in cutting and fitting wood joints together without the use of nails and obvious joins

work in a workshop, as a lot of the machinery used to cut the wood is not portable

In layman’s terms, a commercial joiner joins wood and a carpenter fixes it. There is, however, some crossover between the two professions, which only increases the confusion. The reason for the crossover is that many building apprentices will learn the basics of both carpentry and commercial joinery before choosing which to specialize in. There are also some contractors that are actually quite proficient in both trades; many smaller firms will hire contractors that are able to work commercially as both joiners and carpenters.</>

Commercial joinery is quite often listed under the umbrella term of carpentry in this day and age. The main reasons for this are that the term ‘joinery’ is actually obsolete in some countries and that there are now more specializations in carpentry (so commercial joinery was lumped in as well).

These days, carpenters are able to specialize in the following areas:

Trim – dealing with trimmings and mouldings, as well as ornamental work, such as skirting boards

Joist – laying horizontal boards just below the level of the door to add strength to the floor

Rough – dealing with the ‘rough’ areas of carpentry, such as roofing and other structural work that does not require polishing or joining

Finish – also known as commercial joinery, this area deals with joining wood together to create furniture, cabinetry, and so on

Roofer – dealing with all aspects of the roof in a building, including rafters, beams and trusses

Framer – dealing with the skeleton of a building, also known as the structure or the framework

So, while commercial joinery is quite often confused with carpentry there are some distinct differences between the two trades that can mean the difference between high quality work and passable work.