Carpentry and Joinery in Chichester

In the centre, the spend goes on joinery

Very little of the money in central Chichester goes on making houses bigger. It goes on what you touch: fitted work built into the fabric, structural alterations made good properly, and repair rather than replacement of timber sash windows.

On a central or a listed address the detail gets looked at hard — joinery profiles, the section of a glazing bar, the way a sash sits in its box. So we take a profile off what is already in the house and run the new piece to match it in our workshop at Middleton, because the nearest thing on a merchant's rack is visibly not the same thing.

One nuance saves people money. Conservation area status does not automatically catch your windows; that takes an Article 4 Direction, and the city's covers solar equipment only. Listing is different: on a listed building, replacing a window needs consent whatever the designation does.

Ask before you order anything. James on 07470 078236 — a free visit from a builder working in West Sussex since 2002.

Whyke Close: doors, decking and fencing

After the loft conversion went in on that house, every internal door was replaced with an oak fire door. Later phases brought the decking, then all the fencing. One household, one contractor — which is why the joinery reads the same from the hallway to the end of the garden. See the joinery at Whyke Close, Chichester.

Fire doors, and what the guidance actually asks

The commonest carpentry call here starts with a loft. Once a new storey sits more than 4.5m above the ground, Approved Document B expects the whole escape route dealt with: doors of at least E 20 and partitions of at least REI 30 along it, existing doors included.

Hold on to the word "upgraded". In a city with this much period stock, the guidance allows historic doors to stay where they are upgraded as needed, and swapping four panelled doors for flush blanks is rarely right in a house whose doors are part of why you bought it. An alternative using sprinklers where the ground storey is open-plan rescues a knocked-through house from being closed back up. Where the loft itself is the job, see loft conversions in Chichester.

Garden joinery runs on a six-week clock

Fencing and outdoor work look like the part of a project with no paperwork attached. In a conservation area they are not. The council must have six weeks' written notice before any but the smallest tree is felled, topped or lopped. A fence line past a mature tree is a programme item, not an afternoon with a chainsaw.

On a listed building, consent reaches the garden wall

Protection is not confined to the front elevation. Consent covers the whole structure from basement to chimney pots and reaches the curtilage — outbuildings, boundary walls and garden structures, even where they carry no separate listing. Staircases, doors and fireplaces are precisely the internal joinery the system exists to control, and unauthorised work is a criminal matter rather than a paperwork one. Establish the position with the conservation officer first; we will not quote a price that assumes an answer nobody has given yet.

Working in a tight townhouse

A made-up carcass will not always turn the half-landing of a Georgian stair, so some pieces get built in the room they will live in. What we are usually asked for here:

• Internal doors hung, and certified fire door sets supplied and fitted, most of it under Building Control supervision
• Sash window repair, and matching new joinery to what survives
• Skirting, architrave and box-outs run to an existing profile
• Fitted storage, alcove cupboards and wardrobes scribed to sloping ceilings
• Loft floors, stud partitions and structural first fix
• Decking, close-board fencing, gates and posts

The full trade is set out under carpentry and joinery.

All workmanship guaranteed for 24 months from completion. Manufacturer warranties on all materials and installed products passed to you in full — many run to 10 years or more. Structural work is signed off by Building Control and covered by our £2m public liability insurance. We're working towards an insurance-backed guarantee scheme and will offer it as soon as we're eligible.

Send the list, or a photograph of the doors, and every item comes back costed on its own — get an itemised quotation. Over 100 projects behind us, £2m public liability, employers' liability as well.