There are three ways a carpenter in Delhi can quote you, and picking the wrong one is how small jobs get expensive and big jobs get abandoned half-finished.
By the hour or the day suits open-ended work — a list of small repairs, fitting things you have bought, a day of odd jobs around a flat. By the job suits anything with a defined end: a door realigned, a bed assembled, a lock changed. By the square foot is how fitted furniture and polishing are priced — a wardrobe, a kitchen, a run of veneer — and it is where the single most expensive misunderstanding in this trade lives.
This guide covers all three, what each is worth in Delhi NCR in 2026, and how to tell which one you are being offered.
A note on these numbers. XpertWorker is a marketplace, not a service company. We do not set any professional's price and we never charge you a paisa. Every figure below is an indicative market range collected from what independent carpenters in Delhi NCR generally charge — a guide to help you judge a quote, not a quote itself. The carpenter you choose sets their own price and gives you a free quote before starting.
In this guide
Carpenter rate list — Delhi NCR, 2026
The hourly rate is the anchor: a full day is normally quoted at less per hour than a single call-out, because the carpenter is not spending half the job travelling. Per-square-foot rates for polishing sit further down.
| Job | Typical market range | What it usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Carpenter visit / hourly labour | ₹300–600/hr | The base rate. A day is negotiated down from this, not up |
| Door alignment / sagging-door repair | ₹300–900 | A typical per-job task — an hour or so of work |
| Hinge / handle / tower-bolt fitting | ₹150–500 | The kind of small job worth batching into one visit |
| Furniture repair (chair / table / sofa frame) | ₹400–2,500 | Priced by the piece and the damage, never by the day |
| Bed repair or assembly | ₹500–1,500 | Assembly of flat-pack or delivered furniture |
| Wardrobe / almirah repair | ₹500–2,000 | Wide range — a sticking door and a collapsed carcass are different jobs |
| Flat-pack / IKEA furniture assembly (per item) | ₹200–800 | Per item, and cheaper per item the more you have |
| Wood / PU / Duco polishing (per sq ft) | ₹25–90 | The commonest per-square-foot job in Delhi homes |
| Modular kitchen installation (labour) | ₹12,000–45,000 | Quoted as a project, not a day rate — see below |
Indicative Delhi NCR market ranges, 2026. Each professional sets their own charge and quotes you free before starting. Parts are normally billed on top of labour.
Want a real quote for your own job?
Get free quotesWhat is a carpenter's day rate in Delhi?
There is no fixed published day rate in this trade, and anyone presenting one as a standard is guessing. What actually happens is that a day is priced down from the hourly rate above — a carpenter who charges by the hour for a single call-out will quote a working day of roughly eight hours at a discount to eight times that, because one journey serves the whole day.
As a rough guide, a full day of general carpentry labour in Delhi NCR is commonly quoted at somewhere between four and six times the hourly figure. Where you land depends on three things:
- Skill level. A finishing carpenter who does veneer, laminate and polishing work commands more than a general handyman who fits and repairs. Both call themselves carpenters.
- Whether you supply the tools and material. A carpenter bringing their own machines to a site with no power point is pricing a different day.
- How many days. A single day costs more per day than five consecutive days. If the job is genuinely a week, say so up front — it is the strongest thing you can do for the price.
When a day rate is the right call: a list of unrelated small jobs, fitting things you have already bought, or work where nobody can say in advance how bad it is until something comes apart. When it is not: anything you can describe completely in a sentence. If you can say exactly what finished looks like, ask for a per-job price and let the carpenter carry the risk of it taking longer than they thought — that is what a fixed quote is for.
Per square foot: "with material" vs "labour only"
This is the one to slow down on. Fitted furniture in Delhi — wardrobes, kitchen units, TV units, storage beds — is quoted per square foot, and the same phrase means two completely different prices depending on who is buying the board.
| What is quoted | What it includes | What you must check |
|---|---|---|
| Labour only, per sq ft | The carpenter's work. You buy plywood, laminate, hardware, adhesive | That you have actually costed the material — it is usually the larger half of the bill |
| With material, per sq ft | Everything: board, finish, fittings and labour | Which board and whose hardware. This is where the number really lives |
| Polishing, per sq ft | Surface preparation and finish on existing wood | How many coats, and whether preparation is included |
A "with material" square-foot rate is only meaningful alongside the specification. Commercial plywood and BWP marine-grade plywood are not the same product and are not the same price. A mid-range laminate and a premium acrylic finish are not the same either. Two quotes per square foot that differ by forty percent are usually not one carpenter being greedy — they are two different materials, and the cheaper quote is often the one that will swell in a Delhi monsoon.
- Ask which board, by name and grade. Write it into whatever you both sign.
- Ask how the square footage is measured. Fitted furniture is usually measured on the visible face, but shutters, internal shelving and loft units get counted differently by different people. Agree the method before the number.
- Ask what hardware is included. Hinges and channels are where a "with material" quote is most often quietly thinned out — soft-close and basic are a large price gap and an even larger lifespan gap.
- For polishing, ask how many coats. Our wood polishing cost guide goes into the finishes in detail.
Repairs or new furniture — you are hiring two different people
"Carpenter" covers two trades that overlap less than people expect, and asking the wrong one is a common way to be disappointed by someone perfectly competent.
- Repair and fitting carpenters fix doors, windows, drawers, beds and cupboards, and assemble what you have bought. Fast, per-job, usually on site within a day or two. This is who most people actually need.
- Furniture-making carpenters build fitted units on site or in a workshop. They work per square foot, over days or weeks, and they carry different tools and different finishing skills.
A maker will often take a repair job and price it high, because it interrupts a bigger one. A fitter asked to build a wardrobe may well do it, and the finishing will show. Say which you need when you book — our per-job carpenter charges guide covers the repair side in detail, and the modular kitchen guide covers the build side.
Getting a fair price, whichever way you are quoted
- Batch small jobs. Most of what you pay on a small carpentry visit is the trip. Four jobs in one visit costs far less than four visits.
- Ask for the basis, not just the number. "Is that per day, per job, or per square foot?" A quote you cannot categorise is a quote you cannot compare.
- Buy your own material where you can. You will usually pay less than a marked-up supply and you control the grade. Ask for a labour-only rate against material you have chosen.
- Get the scope written down for anything over a day. It does not need to be formal — a list on WhatsApp that you both agreed is enough, and it is the single best protection against a day rate that keeps going.
- Do not pay the full amount up front. A material advance on a fitted job is normal and reasonable. Paying all the labour before it is done is not.
Need an Carpenter professional?
Get free quotes from independent, local professionals near you. XpertWorker never charges you — you pay the professional directly.
Get free quotes →Frequently asked questions
What is the carpenter rate per day in Delhi NCR?
What is the carpenter labour rate per square feet in Delhi?
Should I hire a carpenter per day or per job?
Is a carpenter rate list 2026 the same across Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon?
Should I hire an independent carpenter or an app-based service?
Does XpertWorker set carpenter rates?
How we put this guide together
The ranges in this guide are indicative market rates compiled from real jobs across Delhi NCR and reviewed by the XpertWorker pricing desk. They are not quotes, and they are not our prices — every independent, local professional sets their own charge and quotes you free before any work starts.