This guide covers the full range of residential carpentry work: structural repairs to the framing and load path of your home, finish carpentry and trim work, door and stair installation, built-ins and cabinetry, and the repair of exterior wood elements exposed to weather. It is written for homeowners in San Francisco and surrounding areas who are trying to understand what a carpentry problem is, when it needs attention, what to expect from a contractor, and how to verify that contractor's credentials and insurance before work begins.
The guide does not assume you know the trade vocabulary or have experience with building repair. It explains the distinction between structural and finish carpentry, describes how the local housing stock and climate affect wood over time, and walks through how to triage a repair need and what to look for when choosing a carpenter. If you have a specific repair in mind, this guide will help you understand it before you call for an estimate.
Structural Carpentry vs Finish Carpentry
Structural carpentry is the work that carries the load of your home. It includes the floor joists and subfloor that span between supports, the sill plates and rim joists at the perimeter of the building, the stud framing of the walls, the headers that span openings in load-bearing walls, the beams that carry floors and roofs, and the stair stringers that support treads. Any carpenter working on these elements is working on the load path. Finish carpentry is everything you see and touch: the casing around doors and windows, baseboard and crown molding, wainscoting, custom built-ins and shelving, cabinets and vanities, interior doors, and railings and balusters. The distinction matters because structural work often requires permits and inspection, while finish work usually does not.
A second reason the distinction matters is that a carpenter who does both structural and finish work can catch a hidden problem. A sticking door jamb might be cosmetic, or it might signal that the framing around it has settled unevenly or that rot has softened the stud behind the wall. A sagging baseboard often means the floor joist beneath it is deflecting. A shop that understands both the visible and the hidden can explain what is actually happening and propose a repair that addresses the root cause. When you ask for a quote, it is worth knowing whether the carpenter you are calling has experience with both sides of the work.
How San Francisco Housing Stock Actually Fails
San Francisco's residential wood-frame housing stock spans more than a century and a half, from Victorian and Edwardian mansions and row houses with original millwork, through 1920s to 1940s stucco-clad wood-frame buildings, to mid-century Doelger and Westlake tracts built in the 1950s and 1960s. Nearly all of this building stock is wood frame at its core, and nearly all of it was built or painted before 1978, which means lead-safe work practices apply. The marine fog and salt air that define the local climate keep exterior wood damp for much of the year, making wood rot a year-round structural concern rather than a seasonal one. Interior wood damage accelerates during winter rains, when existing leaks become visible water damage and drive much of the repair demand.
The other defining feature of the local housing stock is age and settlement. A Victorian built in the 1890s or a row house from the 1920s has settled for a century. Sloping floors, doors that stick in their frames, windows that are out of square, and openings that have gone rhomboid are the normal condition of these buildings, not a defect to be alarmed about. The wood itself often remains sound despite the movement. What does fail over time is the exterior wood exposed to weather: siding, sills, fascia, and deck framing develop wood rot as moisture penetrates the paint and sits in the grain. Termites and wood-boring insects, found commonly in pest inspections, consume framing from the inside out. Both of these are problems that develop gradually and are worth addressing promptly once found, but neither one turns into an emergency overnight.
When to Call a Carpenter, and When It Can Wait
Call a carpenter promptly if you find soft or probing-through wood in the sills, fascia, or framing of an exterior deck or porch. These are load-bearing elements exposed to weather, and decay here will continue to advance as long as the moisture source remains. Similarly, if a floor has become noticeably softer underfoot, bouncy, or visibly more out of level than it was before, that is worth examining. A change in how a floor feels often signals that a joist or subfloor has lost strength to rot or insect damage. If you have had a pest inspection and the report notes termite or wood-boring insect damage in the framing, photograph the report and call to discuss what you saw and what repair makes sense. These are all things to look at within a few weeks, not emergencies, but not things to ignore for years.
Cosmetic finish work, by contrast, can be planned and scheduled at your convenience. Cracked or separating casing, worn baseboard, or a door that is difficult to close but not stuck are examples of things that are worth fixing but do not require urgency. Sloping floors and sticking doors in an old building are usually settlement, which is gradual and permanent. They can be addressed if they bother you, but they are not a sign of active failure. When in doubt, a free estimate will give you a clear picture of what you are looking at and what the options are.
How a Carpentry Project Runs, Start to Finish
A carpentry project typically begins with a free inspection and a written estimate. During the inspection, the carpenter will look at the scope of work you have described, ask questions about what you have observed, and examine the area to understand what is visible and what might be hidden. For structural work like floor joist and subfloor repair or wood rot repair, this often means probing or opening up a small area to see what is underneath. The estimate will describe the scope in writing, list the materials and labor, and explain the timeline. Once you and the carpenter agree on the scope and price, the work is ready to begin.
For structural work such as beam replacement or load-bearing wall removal, stair alteration, or exterior deck work, permits and building department inspection are commonly required. Requirements vary, and the San Francisco building department should be consulted to verify what applies to your project. The carpenter can advise on this and help coordinate the permitting process. Once work begins, the job site will be protected to contain dust and debris. In homes built before 1978, lead-safe work practices will be followed throughout, since lead paint is common in the local housing stock. The actual carpentry work follows, and when it is complete, the site is cleaned and left ready for any finishing trades that follow.
Price ranges for carpentry work depend on how accessible the damaged area is, how much decay or damage is found once the work is opened up, and what materials you choose. Discovering additional decay behind a surface is common and should be handled by a written change order to the estimate, not a surprise bill at the end. A good carpenter will show you what was found, explain why the scope has changed, and get your agreement before proceeding with the additional work.
Choosing a Carpenter in San Francisco: What to Verify
Before you hire any contractor, verify three things: their licence status, their insurance, and the scope of work in writing. Ask the contractor for their Contractors State License Board number and verify it yourself on the CSLB website. This takes five minutes and is your protection against unlicensed work. Ask for a certificate of insurance naming general liability and workers compensation coverage, and verify that the certificate is current. Get the scope of work, timeline, and price in a written estimate or contract. Ask how change orders will be handled if the work uncovers additional damage or scope changes. These steps protect you whether you are hiring a large company or a small local shop.
One meaningful difference between a local carpentry shop and a national handyman franchise is who actually shows up to do the work. A local shop typically sends the same carpenters who gave you the estimate. A dispatch franchise sends whoever is available that day, and you may never see the same person twice. Ask directly: will the carpenter who gave the estimate be the one doing the work? If not, how will the scope and quality standards be communicated to the crew on site? San Francisco Carpentry is fully insured and available for a free estimate. We do not claim a contractor licence, but we do the work ourselves, and we can explain what we find and why it matters for your home.
What a Carpenter Does Not Do
A carpenter repairs and replaces wood. We do not treat, fumigate, or exterminate termites, wood-boring insects, or any other pest. Pest treatment and extermination are separate regulated trades. If you have had a pest inspection and the report notes insect damage, we can repair or replace the damaged framing working from your pest report. We do not assess whether an infestation has been eliminated or make any claim about pest control. For termite damage repair, you will work with both a pest control professional and a carpenter, and those are distinct services.
We do not offer structural engineering services, engineered drawings, load calculations, or engineering opinions. When a repair involves altering a load-bearing wall, replacing a beam, or changing the load path of a floor or roof, a licensed structural engineer commonly produces the design and calculations, and a permit is required. We build to those designs. If your project needs engineering, we can explain what that means and help you understand when to call an engineer.
We do not offer mold testing, mold assessment, or mold remediation. We do not make any claims about health, medical conditions, or indoor air quality. Moisture and mold in a building are material topics we can discuss in the context of wood damage and decay, but testing and remediation are separate services outside our scope.
On insurance claims, we can help you document the damage with photographs and a description of what we find, and that documentation may be useful to your insurance company. We cannot promise that a claim will be approved or that the work will be covered. We do not waive, absorb, or pay deductibles. If you are filing a claim, contact your insurance agent directly and follow their guidance on documentation and scope.