Choosing a carpenter in the Alps: the questions that matter

Workshop or reseller

A firm that measures, draws and manufactures can adjust a piece to the reality of your walls. A firm that resells standard elements has to make the building fit the product. Both can do good work; they cannot solve the same problems.

Ask where the piece is made, and by whom. On a staircase or a set of windows, the answer determines the delay and the ability to correct a millimetre that matters.

The species and the drying

Larch and Douglas fir outside, oak or ash inside, is the usual logic. What matters more than the species is the moisture content at the time of fitting: wood that is too wet moves afterwards, and the joints open in the first winter.

A serious workshop knows the moisture content of its stock and stores the pieces on site before fitting when the building is cold or damp.

The junctions, the guarantees

Where the new piece meets the old wall, the floor or the existing frame: that is where a renovation is judged. Ask for a detail drawing at that junction, not just an elevation.

And ask what is covered, for how long, and what is excluded. A ten-year guarantee does not cover movement caused by a leak or a lack of ventilation; that should be said before the order, not after.