How to become Carpenter in 2024

Carpenter Construct, erect, install, or repair structures and fixtures made of wood and comparable materials, such as concrete forms; building frameworks, including partitions, joists, studding, and rafters; and wood stairways, window and door frames, and hardwood floors. May also install cabinets, siding, drywall, and batt or roll insulation. Includes brattice builders who build doors or brattices (ventilation walls or partitions) in underground passageways.

Carpenter is Also Know as

In different settings, Carpenter is titled as

  • Bridge Carpenter
  • Cabinet Maker
  • Carpenter
  • Concrete Carpenter
  • Construction Carpenter
  • Form Carpenter
  • Framer
  • Maintenance Carpenter
  • Rough Carpenter
  • Scaffold Builder

Education and Training of Carpenter

Carpenter is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Carpenter

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Education Required for Carpenter

These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Degrees Related to Carpenter

Training Required for Carpenter

Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Carpenter in different industries are

What Do Carpenter do?

  • Follow established safety rules and regulations and maintain a safe and clean environment.
  • Study specifications in blueprints, sketches, or building plans to prepare project layout and determine dimensions and materials required.
  • Measure and mark cutting lines on materials, using a ruler, pencil, chalk, and marking gauge.
  • Shape or cut materials to specified measurements, using hand tools, machines, or power saws.
  • Install structures or fixtures, such as windows, frames, floorings, trim, or hardware, using carpenters' hand or power tools.
  • Verify trueness of structure, using plumb bob and level.
  • Select and order lumber or other required materials.
  • Arrange for subcontractors to deal with special areas, such as heating or electrical wiring work.
  • Maintain records, document actions, and present written progress reports.
  • Build or repair cabinets, doors, frameworks, floors, or other wooden fixtures used in buildings, using woodworking machines, carpenter's hand tools, or power tools.
  • Erect scaffolding or ladders for assembling structures above ground level.
  • Anchor and brace forms and other structures in place, using nails, bolts, anchor rods, steel cables, planks, wedges, and timbers.
  • Inspect ceiling or floor tile, wall coverings, siding, glass, or woodwork to detect broken or damaged structures.
  • Assemble and fasten materials to make frameworks or props, using hand tools and wood screws, nails, dowel pins, or glue.
  • Bore boltholes in timber, masonry or concrete walls, using power drill.
  • Maintain job records and schedule work crew.
  • Remove damaged or defective parts or sections of structures and repair or replace, using hand tools.
  • Install rough door and window frames, subflooring, fixtures, or temporary supports in structures undergoing construction or repair.
  • Finish surfaces of woodwork or wallboard in houses or buildings, using paint, hand tools, or paneling.
  • Examine structural timbers and supports to detect decay, and replace timbers as required, using hand tools, nuts, and bolts.
  • Apply shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative paneling to ceilings or walls.
  • Cover subfloors with building paper to keep out moisture and lay hardwood, parquet, or wood-strip-block floors by nailing floors to subfloor or cementing them to mastic or asphalt base.
  • Fill cracks or other defects in plaster or plasterboard and sand patch, using patching plaster, trowel, and sanding tool.
  • Perform minor plumbing, welding, or concrete mixing work.
  • Prepare cost estimates for clients or employers.
  • Construct forms or chutes for pouring concrete.
  • Build sleds from logs and timbers for use in hauling camp buildings and machinery through wooded areas.
  • Work with or remove hazardous material.
  • Dig or direct digging of post holes and set poles to support structures.

Qualities of Good Carpenter

  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Carpenter

  • A-frame levels
  • Air compressors
  • Auger bits
  • Baluster jigs
  • Band saws
  • Bandsaws
  • Beam saws
  • Beam-lifting jacks
  • Belt sanders
  • Biscuit joiners
  • Brad tackers
  • Bubble levels
  • Bullseye levels
  • Calibrating electronic levels
  • Calipers
  • Carpenters' levels
  • Carpentry transits
  • Cat's paws
  • Caulking guns
  • Chain saw jigs
  • Chainsaw jigs
  • Circular saws
  • Combination squares
  • Compound miter saws
  • Cordless drills
  • Cross-curve tape measures
  • Dado blades
  • Digital levels
  • Disc grinders
  • Draw chisels
  • Drill presses
  • Drum sanders
  • Electric impact wrenches
  • Electric planers
  • Extension ladders
  • Fall arrest systems
  • Fold-up ladders
  • Framing hammers
  • Framing squares
  • Hammer staplers
  • Hammers
  • Hand planers
  • Hand saws
  • Handheld calculators
  • Handheld rotary tools
  • Hard hats
  • Impact wrenches
  • Infrared laser levels
  • Joiners
  • Ladder jacks
  • Ladder levelers
  • Ladders
  • Laser levels
  • Laser measuring tools
  • Layout bars
  • Level jigs
  • Lock levels
  • Magnetized levels
  • Marking gauges
  • Measuring tapes
  • Mini pry bars
  • Miter saws
  • Moisture meters
  • Morticers
  • Mortise jigs
  • Multi-tip screwdrivers
  • Nail guns
  • Needlenose pliers
  • Non-conducting ladders
  • Notebook computers
  • Pencil compasses
  • Personal computers
  • Personal digital assistants PDA
  • Pettibones
  • Phillips head screwdrivers
  • Planes
  • Plumb bobs
  • Plumb lines
  • Plunge routers
  • Pneumatic nail guns
  • Portable routers
  • Power drills
  • Power generators
  • Power routers
  • Power sanders
  • Power saws
  • Power staple guns
  • Protractors
  • Pry bars
  • Pump jacks
  • Push sticks
  • Rabbet planes
  • Radial arm saws
  • Random orbital sanders
  • Reciprocating saws
  • Respirators
  • Right triangles
  • Rotary hammers
  • Rough terrain forklifts
  • Rulers
  • Saw guides
  • Screw jacks
  • Self-stopping levels
  • Shapers
  • Sledgehammers
  • Sliding t-bevels
  • Snips
  • Spirit levels
  • Squares
  • Story pole tape measures
  • Straight screwdrivers
  • Table saws
  • Templates
  • Theodolites
  • Torpedo levels
  • Transit levels
  • Trim routers
  • Truck cranes
  • Utility knives
  • Visible beam laser levels
  • Wall-lifting jacks
  • Water levels
  • Wood chisels
  • Wood files
  • Work boots
  • Worm-drive saws

Technology Skills required for Carpenter

  • Bosch Punch List
  • Craftsman CD Estimator
  • Drawing and drafting software
  • Estimating software
  • Intuit QuickBooks
  • Job costing software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Microsoft Word
  • Quicken
  • Renaissance MasterCarpenter
  • Turtle Creek Software Goldenseal
  • VirtualBoss
  • Web browser software
  • Web page creation and editing software
  • Wilhelm Publishing Threshold