RPG Carpentry & Joinery works from a Liskeard base across East Cornwall — from the Tamar at Saltash and Gunnislake to the clay country around St Austell, and from Bodmin Moor down to the Looe and Polperro coast. Bespoke doors and windows, oak flooring, staircases, barn renovations, cladding and fencing.
East Cornwall is not a single kind of building. Within half an hour of Liskeard you will find granite moorland farmhouses with two-foot walls, slate-hung terraces in the old mining towns, Victorian villas in Bodmin and St Austell, render-and-block bungalows from the seventies, and a growing number of new builds along the A38 corridor. Each one wants a different approach to timber.
That matters most where the building and the weather meet. Properties on the Looe and Downderry coast take salt-laden wind that finds any weakness in an external joint. Moorland-edge homes around St Cleer and Pensilva get driving rain and long damp spells. Older granite and cob buildings need timber that can cope with walls that are rarely square and floors that are rarely level. We survey what is actually in front of us rather than working to a standard detail.
Strictly, a joinermakes timber components — doors, windows, staircases, fitted furniture — and a carpenter fits and assembles timber on site, from first-fix joists and roof timbers through to second-fix skirting, architrave and door hanging. In practice almost every firm in East Cornwall does both, and the words are used interchangeably across the county.
What actually matters when you are choosing is whether the person quoting has done your kind of job before. Fitting a staircase into a square new build is a different trade problem from replacing one in a Liskeard miner's terrace where nothing is plumb. We take on both, and we will tell you plainly at survey stage which category your job falls into and what it means for the price.
We work within roughly a 25-mile radius of Liskeard. That takes in most of East Cornwall, plus Plymouth and the Tavistock fringe across the Tamar. We do not work west of around St Austell, so Truro, Redruth and the far west are outside our area — if you are there, you are better served by someone local to you.
Our base — Menheniot, St Cleer, Dobwalls, Pensilva
Carpenter in Liskeard→St Stephens, Burraton, Pillmere, Landrake
Carpenter in Saltash→East & West Looe, Polperro, Duloe, Downderry
Carpenter in Looe→Lanivet, Lostwithiel, Cardinham, Blisland
Carpenter in Bodmin→Gunnislake, Landrake, Stoke Climsland
Carpenter in Callington→Charlestown, Pentewan, Roche, Bugle
Carpenter in St Austell→East Cornwall has an unusual concentration of listed property for its size, and Liskeard, Looe, Bodmin and St Austell all have conservation areas. If your building is listed, altering or replacing original joinery — sash windows, a period staircase, panelled doors — normally needs listed building consent from Cornwall Council before work starts, and that responsibility sits with the property owner rather than the tradesperson.
What we can do is build to match. We take profiles from the existing mouldings, match glazing bar sections and timber species, and make new work read as part of the building rather than an obvious modern insertion. On barn conversions, Class Q permitted development may apply to agricultural-to-residential changes, which is covered in more detail on our barn conversion planning guide.
Day rates across East Cornwall typically run £200 to £350 in 2026, with larger projects priced per job after a site visit rather than by the day. As a rough guide: doors from £150 to £400 fitted, oak flooring £45 to £90 per m² installed, timber fencing £80 to £120 per panel, bespoke staircases £2,000 to £8,000, and barn conversion carpentry £800 to £1,500 per m².
Those are starting points, not quotes — a straightforward job in a square modern house sits at the bottom of each range and a made-to-match repair in a listed granite property sits at the top. Our full 2026 carpentry price guide breaks down what drives the difference.
We work from a Liskeard base across roughly a 25-mile radius, which covers most of East Cornwall: Liskeard and its villages, Saltash and the Tamar Valley, Looe and the south-east coast, Bodmin and the moor fringe, Callington, Gunnislake and Landrake, and St Austell and the clay country. We also cross the Tamar into Plymouth and as far as Tavistock. We do not cover west of roughly St Austell, so Truro, Redruth and Penzance are outside our area.
A joiner makes timber components — doors, windows, staircases, fitted furniture — traditionally in a workshop. A carpenter fits and assembles timber on site, including structural first-fix work such as floor joists, roof timbers and stud walls, and second-fix finishing such as skirting, architrave and door hanging. Most East Cornwall firms, including ours, do both, which is why the words get used interchangeably locally.
Yes. East Cornwall has a lot of listed granite and slate-hung property, and Liskeard, Looe, Bodmin and St Austell all have conservation areas. Listed building consent is normally needed before altering or replacing original joinery such as sash windows or a period staircase. We build to match existing profiles and mouldings, but consent is applied for through Cornwall Council and is the property owner's responsibility.
Day rates across East Cornwall typically run £200 to £350 in 2026, with larger work priced per project after a site visit. As a guide: doors from £150 to £400 fitted, oak flooring £45 to £90 per m² installed, timber fencing £80 to £120 per panel, bespoke staircases £2,000 to £8,000, and barn conversion carpentry £800 to £1,500 per m². Every quote is free and itemised.
Free, no-obligation quotes anywhere within about 25 miles of Liskeard — usually back to you within 48 hours of a site visit.
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