A Few Commonly Asked Questions About Joiners and Joinery

At Alliance Joinery Ltd, we provide both architectural joinery for residential homeowners and commercial joinery for businesses. Based in Telford, we serve many of the major towns and cities in Shropshire such as Shrewsbury, Market Drayton, Newport, Bridgnorth and Whitchurch. Covering a wealth of projects from wooden porches and wood windows to bespoke staircases, there are some questions that customers ask us time and again. Here, we answer a few of the most common ones.

Do I need carpenters or joiners for my home project?

There can be some confusion between the terms carpenter and joiner. There is, in fact, a lot of overlap. But traditionally, the joiner’s role is to craft or join pieces of wood together, usually in a workshop, while a carpenter fixes the pieces in place on site. So if you are looking for someone to build a wooden staircase, bespoke furniture or the elements that go to make up wooden sash windows, you are more likely to be seeking a joiner than a carpenter. The best approach is to check their website to see the kinds of work they are competent to undertake and then ask them directly if you aren’t sure.

What are the benefits of wooden radiator covers?

It may seem counterintuitive to conceal a radiator with a cover. Don’t they block heat that would otherwise circulate around the room? In fact, well designed radiator covers allow plenty of open space for warm air to circulate and pass through to the room beyond. Provided the radiator cover is sufficiently wider than the radiator itself, it will not block heat.

But why have radiator covers at all? The fact is that many radiators are not aesthetically pleasing in appearance and a wooden cover is far more attractive. Wood is also a good absorber of sound, so a cover made of this material can help muffle noise emitted by an older heating system. Another function is child safety: radiators, naturally, get hot. A wooden cover can protect tiny fingers from getting burnt. As wood is a poor heat conductor, the surface of the cover will never be too hot to the touch. And finally, wooden radiator covers can add much needed shelving or even seating in a room that’s short on space.

Why choose bespoke wooden garage doors?

While standard, ‘off-the-shelf’ garage doors are available, many homeowners opt for bespoke joinery services to ensure that their new garage doors fit properly as well as looking more homely and less industrial than other options such as steel or aluminium. Wooden doors of all sorts, internal and external, can be handcrafted to fit even the most unusually shaped or sized space. It’s also much easier to commission garage doors that perfectly complement your property and its surroundings to add that ‘wow’ factor to your property’s exterior. 

If you have other questions about our work or what we can achieve around your home or business with our bespoke joinery services, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re always pleased to offer advice as well as free quotations for your project.