If you are looking for a carpenter in Dublin to make and fit something for your home, this page explains how The Home Upgrade Co. does it. Our carpentry and joinery is the made to measure work we design and fit ourselves: internal doors, fitted wardrobes, media walls, alcove units, storage, panelling and kitchens. Every piece is measured in your home, drawn in 3D against your own room and fitted by our own team across Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.
What carpentry and joinery does The Home Upgrade Co. do?
We hang doors and build fitted wardrobes, media walls, alcove units, storage, panelling and kitchens, all made to measure and fitted by our own team.
Everything below is designed for your room, made to the measurements taken there and fitted by the same team. Each has its own page with the detail.
- Internal doors, hung and fitted, trimmed to existing frames where the frames are sound and with new frames and architrave where they are not
- Fitted wardrobes, wall to wall, including walk in wardrobes and wardrobes for sloped ceilings
- Media walls and built in TV units
- Alcove units and built in bookcases
- Window seats and banquettes
- Under stairs storage
- Utility rooms
- Hallway storage and boot rooms
- Home offices and built in desks
- Wall panelling
- Kitchens, designed and fitted
The team's carpentry comes with the doors, wardrobes and fitted furniture we design and fit. If you are not sure whether your job fits, send us a photo on WhatsApp and we will tell you straight away.
Is this bespoke joinery or off the shelf?
Bespoke. Every piece is made to the measurements taken in your home and drawn in 3D against your own room before anything is made.
Off the shelf units come in fixed widths and heights, so they rarely fill the wall. You end up with filler panels at the ends and dead space above. Made to measure work is built to the actual width and height of the room, sloped ceilings and chimney breasts included, and scribed to whatever the wall actually does.
The 3D design is where the decisions get made. You see the finished piece in your own room, with its proportions, doors and shelving, while changing it still costs nothing. We compared the two approaches in built in or freestanding furniture and, for bedrooms, fitted wardrobes vs IKEA.
What is the difference between a carpenter, a joiner and a cabinet maker?
Broadly, a joiner makes timber pieces, a carpenter fits them in the house, and a cabinet maker builds furniture. Fitted furniture needs all three.
The words overlap, and many people in Ireland use carpenter for all three. Traditionally a joiner makes the parts, such as doors, frames and cabinets, cut and joined to size. A carpenter works on site, hanging doors, fitting frames and architrave and fixing things into the building. A cabinet maker builds finished furniture, where the doors, drawers and faces are what you see every day.
For fitted furniture you do not need to hire three trades. What you need is a piece designed around your room, made to the measurements taken there, and fitted so it is scribed to the walls, levelled on the floor and fixed so nothing moves. At The Home Upgrade Co. the design, the making and the fitting sit with one team, so nobody is handing your job to someone you have never met.
How does a job run from the free design visit to fitted?
A free design visit within 2 working days, a 3D design and itemised quote 2 working days later, then made to measure and fitted.
- Free design visit. Within 2 working days, at a time that suits you. Stephen measures the room, the openings, the alcoves and the ceiling height, and talks through what needs to fit. No obligation.
- 3D design and quote. Within a further 2 working days you get the design drawn in 3D in your own room and one complete itemised quote. Take your time with both. We never chase.
- Made to your measurements. Nothing is ordered and nothing is charged until you say yes. Internal doors are fitted within 12 weeks of sign-off. For wardrobes and fitted furniture, allow roughly twelve weeks from order to delivery as a general guide, and your order confirmation carries the schedule we commit to.
- Fitted by our own team. The same team fits it, scribing to the walls and finishing the joins so nothing looks bolted on. A built in TV unit is usually fitted inside a day once it is ready, and most door jobs take a matter of days rather than weeks.
Kitchens run on the same process and are fitted within 12 weeks of sign-off. The whole sequence is set out in how it works.
Why does made to measure matter in an older Dublin house?
Older Dublin walls, floors and door openings are rarely square or standard, so pieces made to your measurements fit where standard sizes leave gaps.
Measure the alcoves either side of a chimney breast and they will usually differ, sometimes by an inch or more. Walls lean and floors fall away from the fireplace. A standard unit shows every one of those gaps. A made to measure unit is scribed to the wall so the shelves meet the plaster with no gap, and it reads as part of the house rather than furniture placed in it.
Doors are the same story. In Victorian, Edwardian and mid-century houses, frames are often uneven or out of square and openings are a non-standard height, width or thickness. Each door is trimmed to its own opening, and the core matters: hollow core doors can only be trimmed by a few millimetres, while solid and semi-solid doors allow more adjustment. Our guide to solid or hollow core doors explains why. Where a frame is twisted, replacing it along with the door is the right job, and the quote will say so.
Not sure what your room or your frames need? WhatsApp us a photo and we will tell you.
How much does made to measure carpentry and joinery cost?
Every job is priced individually after a free design visit, with one itemised quote and your 3D design within 2 working days, and no obligation.
We do not publish prices, and we do not quote from a photo or a phone call, because the figure depends on things that can only be checked in the room. For doors, it is how many, the core type, the finish and whether the frames are sound. For wardrobes, it is the width of the run, sliding or hinged doors, the finish and the inside. For fitted furniture, it is the run length and height, how much is closed storage rather than open shelving, and how straight the walls are. A crooked alcove takes longer to scribe.
The quote lists every part of the job so there is nothing to add later. For doors that means each door by room, the handles and hinges, any frame or architrave work, the fitting and taking the old doors away. The guides to what fitted furniture costs and what internal doors cost show how to compare two quotes properly.
Do you cover Meath, Kildare and Wicklow as well as Dublin?
Yes. The Home Upgrade Co. designs and fits across Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, and the free design visit works the same way everywhere.
Message us on WhatsApp with your area and we will confirm straight away. If more than one thing needs doing, the same visit can measure for the doors, the wardrobes, a media wall, a kitchen or windows. That is one contractor, one 3D design, one quote and one schedule, so the skirting and the door frames are finished by the same people. See the rest of our fitted furniture.
Frequently asked questions
Can you fit new doors to my existing frames and architraves?
Usually yes, where the frames are sound and square, because each door is trimmed to its own opening. Where a frame is twisted or out of square, we replace it and the architrave, and that is written on the quote before you sign.
Can new joinery match the skirting and architrave already in my house?
Yes. Matching the existing profile is what makes fitted work look original to the house, and it is decided at design stage.
How long does the fitting take?
It depends on the piece. Internal doors for most houses are fitted in a matter of days rather than weeks, and a built in TV unit is usually fitted inside a day once it is made.
Can I supply my own doors or units for you to fit?
Our quotes are for work we supply and fit together, because we can then stand over the sizing, the fit and the finish. If you already have doors or units, send us the details on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly whether we can help.