Carpentry Repair and Finish Carpentry in Chicago
We're HandyBandi, the carpenters down the block, and most carpentry services Chicago neighbors book with us start small. A door that rubs the door jamb. A baseboard that pulled away from plaster and lath. A soft stair tread on the back porch. We handle everything from detailed finish carpentry to the small repairs an older house quietly collects, built to survive Chicago winters. Our crew works in a bungalow one day and a two-flat the next, and every job starts with a written price. When a job outgrows a carpenter, you hear that from us on the first visit.
Why Choose Us
We’re the carpenter Chicago homeowners can book the same week, and carpentry is one branch of our handyman services in Chicago. That helps when a visit turns into a little of everything. One trip can cover a prehung door, a loose handrail and a strip of chair rail, with one invoice instead of three separate ones. Our handyman carpentry services come with shimming stock and a coping saw on the truck, because old Chicago walls are rarely straight and every piece of trim gets fitted on site. You see the price in writing before we start, and that price holds.
Why Choose Us:
Carpentry Services We Offer
Deferred maintenance has a way of turning a Tuesday inconvenience into a weekend project. HandyBandi’s general carpentry keeps that from happening, covering everything from a sticking door to a new run of trim, cleanly and on schedule. Four services cover most of what Chicago homes need, each with a written quote.
What's Included with a Service?
Trim and Crown Molding Installation
Our finish carpentry Chicago work covers baseboard, crown molding, door casing, window casing and chair rail, installed with the kind of care that makes a room feel intentional. Plaster corners are never square, so we cope inside joints by hand. The crown molding installation cost depends on linear feet and ceiling height. Wainscoting lives on its own page for picture frame molding and wainscoting, and a fresh coat goes to our trim painting crew.
Built-In Shelves and Storage
Custom carpentry for shelves, fitted closets, and storage that uses every awkward inch of your space intelligently. The built in bookshelves Chicago owners ask for most are a built-in bookcase beside the mantel, a window seat with storage below, and closet shelving cut to the room. We build to the joinery standards of the Architectural Woodwork Institute. Floating shelves on a plain wall are a separate job for our shelf and picture hanging team.
Porch and Wood Rot Repair
From a few loose boards to a rotted step, exterior carpentry repair is squarely in our wheelhouse. Most porch repair Chicago jobs mean a new porch floor board, a railing picket or a tread. Our wood rot repair starts by probing the frame for soft wood rot, then small spots get epoxy filler and bigger ones a dutchman patch. Once the boards are sound, deck and porch staining seals them before the next Chicago winter.
Door Repair and Installation
Professional carpenter door installation, new units, replacement frames, or hardware upgrades. Hanging a prehung door in an old opening takes shimming, a trued door jamb and a reset strike plate. We match the new casing to the old trim, so the door looks like it was always there. Average interior door installation cost runs $444 to $675 per door, hardware aside. For hinges, latches and doors that stick, see our door repair in Chicago page.
What Carpentry Costs in Chicago
Here is what carpentry services Chicago usually cost across the city. Trim and door figures are national averages from Homewyse, May 2026, and the rot range is a Chicago figure from Homeyou. Stairs, ceiling height and old walls move the number, so your written quote comes after we see the job.
| Type of Work | Cost in Chicago |
|---|---|
| Carpentry repair visit | By request |
| Baseboard or door casing installation | $7.94-$13.71 per linear ft |
| Crown molding installation | $14.28-$21.85 per linear ft |
| Interior door installation | $444-$675 per door |
| Built-in shelves | By request |
| Porch board or stair tread replacement | By request |
| Wood rot repair | $367-$420 typical |
| Emergency service | +$250 fee |
Carpentry Repairs in Older Chicago Homes
Most carpentry repair Chicago calls come from older housing, and the numbers explain it. 38.8% of homes in the city, about 495,715 units, went up before 1940, and the median year built is 1953. Houses that old settle, walls drift out of square, and the wood keeps moving every single season.
- Doors that stick or miss the strike plate
- Baseboard and door casing pulling off the wall
- Squeaky or loose stair treads
- A soft, rotted window sill
- Open joints in crown molding after a dry winter
None of this means the house is failing. In a greystone or a bungalow, it usually means the frame shifted a fraction of an inch over a century. We deepen a hinge mortise, plane a door edge, reset loose trim and swap rotted wood for matching stock, cut on site.
Porch Repairs and Chicago Permit Rules
The wooden back porch is as Chicago as it gets, and snow, salt and sun work on it every year. A lot of porch work needs no permit at all.
According to the Chicago Department of Buildings, if you have not received a building violation, an in-kind replacement of a deck board, a stair tread or a railing picket needs no permit in any building. In-kind means the same type, size and shape.
- Painting or washing the porch: no permit
- Boards, treads or pickets replaced in kind, no violation: no permit
- Whole porch up to 6 feet high, landing up to 50 sq ft, residential building up to 4 stories: no permit
- One-story porch, up to 50% of the structure replaced: Express Permit
- Enclosed porch: full permit with drawings
A violation notice changes the math, because the notice itself names the permit you need. Bring it to the first visit, and we read it with you line by line before quoting anything.
Tall stacked porches behind a two-flat, and anything past half the structure, go to a licensed contractor with a permit. We tell you that plainly, put it in writing, and still fix the boards and pickets that sit inside our lane.
Older Trim, Doors and Lead Paint
In a pre-1978 home, we look at the paint before anything else. Old casing, sills and doors in Chicago often hide lead paint under newer coats, and planing a door edge or pulling trim turns those layers into dust.
The federal rule is clear. Under the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Program, paid work that disturbs lead paint in housing built before 1978 has to be done by a certified firm, with a certified renovator responsible for the job from start to cleanup.
- Ask whether the crew follows lead-safe work practices
- Expect plastic sheeting and HEPA cleanup, never dry sanding
- Chicago may require a lead paint form with CDPH before work starts
We check the age of the house and the condition of the trim before we quote. If the job needs a certified renovator, you hear it from us first, along with what that changes in time and cost.
What a Carpenter Handles and What Needs a Contractor
A search for carpenter near me turns up everyone from cabinetmakers to general contractors, so here is exactly where our work stops.
Our crew takes:
- Trim, doors, sills and built-ins
- Porch boards, treads, pickets and handrails replaced in kind
- Rot repair on sills, casing and porch parts
- Wall patches behind new trim, with drywall repair when the wall needs more
A licensed contractor with a permit takes:
- Load-bearing beams, joists and posts
- Porch work replacing more than half the structure
- Enclosed porches and anything that needs drawings
If your job lands on the second list, we tell you on the first visit and write down what we saw, so the contractor you hire starts with facts and measurements instead of guesses.
When the door starts rubbing or a porch step gives, get a carpentry quote and we will send the scope in writing before anyone picks up a saw.
Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers to what Chicago neighbors ask us most about repairs, trim, porches, permits and old paint, straight from our crew.
+− What carpentry repairs do you handle in Chicago?
Sticking doors, loose trim, squeaky stair treads, rotted window sills, porch boards and pickets, plus crown molding and built-in shelves.
+− How much does crown molding installation cost in Chicago?
Market averages run $14.28 to $21.85 per linear foot installed. Ceiling height, corners and plaster walls decide where yours lands.
+− Do I need a permit to repair my back porch in Chicago?
Not for in-kind boards, treads or pickets without a violation. Bigger repairs may need an Express Permit, enclosed porches need drawings.
+− Can you replace rotted porch boards and stair treads?
Yes. We swap rotted boards and treads in kind, and fix small rot with epoxy filler or a dutchman patch.
+− Do you build custom built-in shelves and bookcases?
Yes. We build bookcases, window seats and closet shelving to fit the room, including walls that are out of square.
+− Can you work on trim and doors in a pre-1978 home?
We check the paint first. Disturbing lead paint in a pre-1978 home falls under EPA RRP rules and needs a certified renovator.
+− When does a carpentry job need a licensed contractor instead?
When it touches load-bearing beams, replaces more than half a porch structure, or involves an enclosed porch that needs drawings.