Carpenters
Carpenters are often on the job more than most of the other subs. Your GC may be a carpenter. They usually handle demolition, rough framing, cabinet installation and final trim work. Their framing often determines how easy things will be for the other subs. Framing is more than building walls, it means putting in nailers for the drywall sub to attach wallboard to, framing in areas for pipes and vents, locating spots for lighting and switches and preparing surfaces like floors for the final finish materials.
Good carpentry is characterized by work that is plumb and level, has tight tolerances at critical joints and is consistent with accepted building practices like standard spacing of wall studs and nailers. Experienced carpenters will never use substandard materials because they know that the problems they cause are more expensive to resolve than the savings involved. You cannot build a straight and plumb wall with cheap lumber and if you do, every other sub-contractor will have problems when they go to add their work to the project. Framing is the skeleton that all other elements will be attached to and its quality will determine how well the rest of the job goes.
Trim Carpentry
The trim carpenter finishes off the walls and ceilings with moldings, installs cabinetry, may install hardwood floors and often handles many of the smaller finishing tasks like backsplashes and sink installation. Moldings include crown moldings at the ceiling/wall joint, chair moldings wrapping around the room at the level where a chair back hits the walls, baseboards and window and door trim. The quality of this work can have a big effect on the overall finished look of the room. Tight joints, quality detailing and care in getting things plumb and level will make a difference. Materials used should be clear wood with no knots even if it will be painted because knots are full of resins which will inevitably bleed through any paint. Other viable materials are composites and manmade materials.
Cabinetry installation will go quickly if the cabinets were correctly specified to fit the final room. Small variances in size are often covered with panels of wood finished to match the cabinetry and scribed on site to fit any uneven surfaces. Excessive use of filler strips may be a sign of poor workmanship and/or planning during the cabinet specification stage. Here it is useful to have the same carpenter who built the walls install the cabinets and have them involved in the planning process. A miscommunication can mean moving a wall or having to reorder cabinetry. Trim carpenters also hang doors and install windows.
