Decks and decking, deck repairs and oiling, timber pergolas and verandahs, door installation and repairs, built-in wardrobes, sash window and floorboard repairs, from Salisbury to Morphett Vale.
Carpenters Adelaide takes enquiries for decks and deck repairs, timber pergolas and verandahs, door installation, built-in wardrobes, skirting, sash windows, floorboards and timber fences across metropolitan Adelaide: Norwood and Burnside, Unley and Mitcham, Prospect and North Adelaide, Henley Beach and Glenelg, Modbury and Golden Grove, Morphett Vale and Salisbury. The work is done by licensed South Australian building work contractors who carry out that type of job: the contractor who quotes is the business that does the work, and their name and BLD licence number go on the quote.
Adelaide’s housing sets a lot of the work: stone villas with timber verandahs, sash windows and Baltic pine floors, 1920s bungalows with deep porches, post-war brick homes due for new doors and robes, and new infill with decks built close to the fence. Tell us about the job with the details that change the price: the size, the height off the ground, the timber and when the house was built.
Decks, pergolas and verandahs outside; doors, robes, trims, windows and floors inside; fences and gates at the boundary.
New timber and composite decks off the back door: treated pine, merbau, spotted gum or composite boards on a pine or steel frame, with steps down to the lawn. Licensed Adelaide deck builders quote from the size, the height off the ground and the boards you want.
Split, cupped or loose boards, nails lifting, wobbly steps and timber gone grey in the sun. The usual fix is new boards and fixings where they’ve failed, then a sand and two coats of decking oil.
Timber pergolas over the patio or deck, freestanding or fixed to the house, open-topped for a vine or shade cloth, or roofed in polycarbonate or Colorbond.
Front verandahs on stone villas and cottages: rotten post bases and beams, loose brackets and fretwork, sagging bullnose framing and timber verandah floors, plus new timber verandahs at the back of the house.
Internal doors hung in existing frames, pre-hung doors and jambs fitted, front doors replaced in the same opening, and doors that stick, drag or won’t latch planed and rehung. Period four-panel doors in villas are matched rather than swapped for flush doors.
Built-in wardrobes and robe fit-outs: shelves, drawers, hanging rails and sliding or hinged doors, built into an alcove or across a bedroom wall.
New skirting boards and architraves after new floors or a repaint, damaged lengths matched and replaced, and tall period profiles run to match the rest of a villa.
Double-hung sash windows with broken cords, sashes painted shut or rattling in the frame, rotten sills and bottom rails, plus soft weatherboards, fascias and door jambs. Decayed timber is cut out and new timber spliced in, so the original window stays.
Damaged, lifted or squeaky tongue-and-groove boards, boards stained by a leak, and patches where a wall, hearth or heater has come out. In older homes that usually means Baltic pine, matched with recycled boards of the same width.
Timber paling fences, side gates, screens and repairs to leaning posts, broken rails and sagging gates rehung on heavy hinges with latches that close.
Tell us what needs doing and the details that change the price.
Choose the job, describe it and add your suburb. Photos help.
We review your enquiry. An inspection is not booked by this form.
Your enquiry may be passed to suitable licensed businesses that can quote for the job, and they may contact you about it.
Carpentry is priced per job after seeing it. As a guide, here are published Adelaide deck, pergola and hourly prices, with who publishes each.
| Deck | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| New deck, per m² installed (pine, hardwood or composite) | $200 – $350 per m² | Bella Carpentry, Unley |
| Small basic deck, 10 m², treated pine or hardwood (Elizabeth South price bracket) | $3,000 – $5,000 | Paul’s Decking and Pergolas, Hectorville |
| Small deck, hardwood or composite (Unley price bracket) | $7,000 – $10,000 | Paul’s Decking and Pergolas, Hectorville |
| Large deck, 25–30 m², composite boards and built-in seating (Elizabeth South price bracket) | $12,000 – $18,000 | Paul’s Decking and Pergolas, Hectorville |
Published by two Adelaide deck builders, checked 28 October 2026: Bella Carpentry (undated page; “depending on the materials used, the complexity of the design, and site conditions”) and Paul’s Decking and Pergolas (24 July 2025, prices by suburb price bracket). Neither says whether GST is included. These are their published guides, not a quote: height, steps, access and the boards chosen set a deck’s own price.
| Pergola | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Open timber or steel pergola, 3 m × 4 m, installed | $2,550 – $8,000 | SA Quality Home Improvements |
| Roofed pergola (Colorbond or polycarbonate), 4 m × 5 m | $8,000 – $17,000 | SA Quality Home Improvements |
| Gable pergola (pitched, custom), 5 m × 6 m and up | $15,000 – $30,000+ | SA Quality Home Improvements |
From an Adelaide pergola and verandah builder’s 2026 price guide (published 1 July 2026, updated 12 October 2026), checked 28 October 2026. GST isn’t stated. Its structures are timber or steel, and its roofed figures cover Colorbond and polycarbonate. A pergola’s own price depends on the size, the timber, the roof and how it fixes to the house.
| Charge | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First hour | $150 + GST | The Complete Handyman, Adelaide |
| Each half hour after | $75 + GST | The Complete Handyman, Adelaide |
| Full day (7 hours) | $1,000 + GST | The Complete Handyman, Adelaide |
| Materials | At cost | The Complete Handyman, Adelaide |
The only Adelaide rate card we found, checked 28 October 2026: a handyman business that lists carpentry (doors, windows, skirting, shelving and deck repairs) first among its services. Its homepage is undated.
Deck costs in detail Pergola and verandah costs Carpenter rates Door installation costs
The house decides a lot of the job: what the windows are, what the floor is made of and how close a new deck sits to the fence.
Stone villas and cottages
Bluestone and sandstone villas and cottages with timber verandahs, tall sash windows and Baltic pine floors.
1920s and 1930s
Brick and stucco bungalows with deep front porches on brick piers, timber-framed windows and low brick front fences.
Post-war brick homes
Red- and cream-brick homes and semi-detached double units from the post-war decades, many built by the South Australian Housing Trust.
New builds
Two-storey infill on subdivided blocks and newer estate homes, built close to the boundary with small yards.
Some outdoor carpentry is exempt from development approval in South Australia, as long as it stays within the limits below. Every job still needs a licensed contractor, whatever the approval answer.
| Job | Exempt when | Needs approval when |
|---|---|---|
| Deck | No point of the floor more than 500 mm above the natural ground, and no part within 900 mm of a boundary | Higher or closer to the boundary, or in a bushfire-prone area, the Historic Area Overlay or a heritage place |
| Pergola | No solid roof, open on each freestanding side, no part higher than 4 m, and not in front of the house | A solid roof, enclosed sides, or a local or State heritage place |
| Verandah | Never exempt: a new verandah is development | Always; usually building consent only, more in heritage areas |
| Fence | Up to 2.1 m high, measured from the lower side | Flood overlays, masonry over 1 m, corner sight lines, the Historic Area Overlay, brush fences near homes, pool fences |
From Schedule 4 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017, checked 28 October 2026. Exemptions don’t apply to a State heritage place, and most don’t apply to a local heritage place. Check your own address with PlanSA’s approval wizard.
Deck and pergola approvals in SA Dividing fences and the Fences Act
Metropolitan Adelaide, from Salisbury and Golden Grove in the north to Morphett Vale and Hallett Cove in the south. Each area page covers its homes, the overlays that apply there and what to check.
Six things to check, whether it’s a new deck or one sticking door.
Ask for the BLD licence number and check it covers the work: some licences are limited to carpentry, decks up to 1 m, or fencing. See how to check a licence.
The price, the materials and what’s included should be in writing. From $20,000 the law requires a written contract with the licence number and a deposit of no more than 5%.
Ask whether the job needs PlanSA approval before it’s quoted. See deck and pergola approvals.
In a house built before the mid-1980s, ask how asbestos will be identified before linings, trims or eaves are cut.
Ask what timber and fixings will be used for a deck or fence: Adelaide’s summer sun greys timber, and coastal air corrodes plain steel fixings.
Old decking and fence posts are often CCA-treated timber, which EPA SA says must go to an authorised landfill, never be burnt. Check it’s in the price.
Licences, approvals, costs and older homes: the questions that come before a carpentry job in SA.
Yes, when they carry on a carpentry business for others. SA’s Building Work Contractors Act 1995 covers building, altering and repairing any building or structure, and Consumer and Business Services lists decks, pergolas, verandahs, doors, trims, floors, built-ins, windows and fences among the licensed work. There is no dollar amount below which the licence isn’t needed. See how to check a builder’s licence in SA.
Most carpentry is quoted per job after the carpenter has seen it or photos of it. The only Adelaide rate card we found is a handyman business that lists carpentry: $150 + GST for the first hour and $75 + GST for each half hour after (checked 28 October 2026). See carpenter rates in Adelaide.
Not if it fits SA’s exemption: no point of the deck floor more than 500 mm above the natural ground, no part within 900 mm of a boundary, and the house isn’t in a bushfire-prone area, the Historic Area Overlay or a heritage place. Otherwise the deck needs development approval. See deck and pergola approvals in SA.
A new verandah is development, so it needs approval: in most areas that’s building consent only, lodged through PlanSA, and in heritage areas it can need planning consent too. Repairs that keep the verandah’s form are maintenance, except on a local or State heritage place. See verandahs.
asbestos.sa.gov.au says to check for asbestos before repairs or renovation in a house built before the mid-1980s, and the WHS Regulations make the business doing a refurbishment identify asbestos likely to be disturbed before it starts. Mention the build year in your enquiry. See asbestos before renovating in SA.
Under the Fences Act 1975, neighbours are presumed to benefit equally from an adequate dividing fence and share its cost. The owner who wants the work serves a notice, and the neighbour has 30 days to object. See dividing fences in SA.
Yes. A list of small jobs, such as a sticking door, a run of damaged skirting and a sagging gate, is often cheaper quoted together than as separate call-outs. List them all in your enquiry.
Either the carpenter or you. Say in your enquiry if you’ve already bought the doors, robe system or decking boards, so the quote covers fitting only.
Metropolitan Adelaide: the eastern suburbs, Unley and Mitcham, the inner north, the western suburbs, Glenelg and Marion, the north-east, the southern suburbs and the northern suburbs.
Describe the job, the size or quantity, and where it is on the property. Photos help, and mention when the house was built.
