For carpenters
Quoting for carpenters
Decks, pergolas, door hanging, skirting, a wardrobe fit-out: a carpenter's quotes range from an hour's work to a week's. Quote Desk puts your day rate, your hourly rate and your standard items on one list so the small jobs go out in a minute and the big ones in ten.
Quote from Harbourline Plumbing
Hot water unit replacement
| Remove old unit and dispose | $180.00 |
| 250L electric unit, supplied | $1,290.00 |
| Install, valves and compliance | $420.00 |
| Total | $1,890.00 |
Sent from the ute. Follow-up goes out Thursday if there is no answer.
What gets in the way for carpenters
Quoting the small stuff takes longer than doing it
Hanging two doors is an hour's work and twenty minutes of quoting if you do it from scratch. From a price list it is two lines and a send.
Timber prices
Timber moves. A quote that shows materials as its own line, with a note on how long the price stands, protects you without scaring the customer.
Who does the painting
A deck is oiled or it is not, a door is primed or it is not. One sentence in the note settles it before the job, not after.
Yes by text, no record
A thumbs-up on a text is not a record of what was agreed. An accepted quote with lines and a date is.
A worked example
Carpenter work, with Quote Desk
Suppose a fictional sole trader, Jarrah Lane Carpentry. Price list: carpenter day rate $720 a day, hourly rate $95 an hour, door hang (door supplied by customer) $180 each, skirting supply and fix per metre $38, pergola per square metre supply and build $420, deck per square metre supply and build $395, hardware allowance $60 each.
A customer pastes a request for three internal doors hung and new skirting in a hallway. Quote this: door hang x3, skirting per metre x14, hardware allowance x3. Note: price includes GST, doors and handles supplied by the customer, painting not included, one day on site. Total around $1,250. Sent from the kitchen table in two minutes. Accepted while he is still there.
A pergola over a patio is a longer quote: pergola per square metre x16, a typed-in line for the footings, a typed-in line for a polycarbonate roof, labour for a second person as day rate x2. The note states the price holds for 14 days because of timber pricing, and that council permits are the owner's. He presses Follow up automatically and the customer accepts on day five.
Questions from carpenters
Can I quote by the day and by the hour on one quote?
Yes. Both are items on your list with their own unit. Pick either on any line.
How do I show materials separately from labour?
A line for each. Materials as a typed-in line with the price you have been quoted, labour from your list. The customer sees where the money goes.
Are carpenters listed on Talk of the Trade?
Carpentry is not one of the 28 trade categories the directory ranks as of October 2026, so there are no carpentry figures to quote here. Quote Desk works the same for every trade and does not depend on a listing.
Also for
Other trades and shops
Send the next one from the ute.
Free is five quotes a month with no card. If you send more than that, Starter is $39 a month. Either way the set-up is typing in your price list.