The typical workday for a carpenter begins early. He or she is often on the job site with a tool box before daybreak, and he or she is hard at work before the sun is high in the sky. Much of the work is outdoors, but modern construction methods have eased the problems of the summer's heat and the winter's cold. The average carpenter usually wears a hard hat, tough, durable work clothes and safety shoes or sturdy hi-top shoes.

Carpenters often bring their lunch from home, unless there is a lunch counter or lunch truck nearby. Carpenters are usually paid by the hour and as a union member the get . . . "time-and-a-half" or "double time" for all work over eight hours of the day. Apprentices often start on a job by helping to build concrete forms, cutting sheets of drywall and performing other beginning tasks. As they gain experience, they move into more complicated jobs.