The Sims 4 Handiness Skill

Woodworking and Household Upgrades Lists

Woodworking is part of the Handiness Skill in The Sims 4


The Sims 4's Handiness Skill allows you to Repair Objects, Upgrade your home and make things unbreakable, while also improving their functionality. The Skill goes one further in this incarnation of the franchise, bringing in the ability to make money via Woodworking. As your Sim grows in ability, more and more upgrades will unlock, and you'll be able to furnish your home with a variety of hand-crafted objects. This Guide will teach you all you need to know about Handiness in TS4 and I'll list all the unlocks that come with levelling the skill. Handiness level 10 is required to access the Forgotten Grotto Hidden Area.

How to: Handiness Cheats
Press Control + Shift + C then type testingcheats on and press enter. You can now set your skill level with stats.set_skill_level major_handiness x (fill in 1-10) - we also have a full listing of Skill Cheats and a master list of Cheats in The Sims 4

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Repairing and Upgrading Objects

This situation calls for a repair!
This Situation calls for the Handiness Skill!


Getting Started with Handiness
To get started, you can read a skill book at the library or by ordering one on the computer. Most Sims will start this skill by trying to repair something broken in the household. You can also start with a Woodworking Table, found under Buy Mode > Objects by Room > Study > Hobbies and Skills. The Woodworking Table is $1800. I suppose it must come with some unseen power tools, for the price is quite high. If you start this way, you can improve skill fairly fast and begin to make a return on your investment. I would read Skill Books and upgrade items around the home until level 4 or so, then start working at the Woodworking Table.

Buy Upgrade Parts with the Computer. They'll appear in your Inventory


Parts - Common Upgrade Parts, Plumbing, and Electronics
In order to Upgrade objects, you must have parts. These are found a few ways. First, you can rummage through the trash pile that's left after repairing an item. Second, you can order them through a Computer (see the Library if you don't own one), and finally, you can eventually break down Electronics to get parts. Electronic Upgrade Parts cost $120, Kitchen $90, Plumbing $30, and Common $10. Plumbing Objects (Shower, Toilet, Sink) cannot be directly broken down and salvaged, but Computers, Televisions, and Stereos can once you've levelled up some. I've also found parts while on Space Missions, and I'm sure that they can pop up randomly elsewhere. You should expect upgrading your home to cost some money this time around, but not often more than $500 for a big upgrade on a Computer. However, there is a way to reduce this:

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Salvaging for Upgrade Parts is important
Get Free Upgrade Parts by Salvaging after Repairing


Once you've reach level 10 in Handiness, you will always get Rare parts from Salvaging. You can make a net gain and save money by purchasing the Kaboom Box for $150. This is only $30 more than an Electronic Upgrade Part, and sometimes you will get up to 3 of them from a salvage. No other item is quite as good as this, so it's the go-to for those parts. In the end, to Upgrade a whole house, you will have to purchase parts, so I'm not bothering to list the parts cost for Upgrades. These are unlisted because the cost of, say, a faucet upgrade, varies by whether you're putting it on a Sink or Bathtub. It is an inevitability that you need to order Plumbing and Common Upgrade Parts.

Upgrading a Fireplace with Handiness
Be careful upgrading Fireplaces. I'd not do this at level 4.


Handiness Upgrade List
Here are the basic Handiness level unlocks, with what you can upgrade and other benefits the skill gives to you. Woodworking is listed further down.

Handiness Upgrades and Skill Unlocks

LvlUpgrades and Abilities
1Salvage Parts from scrap piles leftover after Repairs
2Talk about Handiness. Purchase Upgrade Parts on Computer. Can now add Superior Flush to Toilets, Sturdy Faucets on Sinks and Tubs, Water Flow Regulators on Showers. All these make them less likely to break.
3Can now find rare parts when Salvaging.
4Self-Cleaning on all Plumbing Objects. Bidets on Toilets, Auto-Soap Dispensers on Sinks, Clean Coat on Tubs, and Pulsating Massage Jets on Showers. The Bidet will eliminate the Hygiene loss from using a Toilet, while the Sink and Shower Upgrades increase the rate of Hygiene. With a Bidet and Auto-Soap Dispenser, your Sim will get a net gain of Hygiene from using a Toilet. You can also upgrade the Fireplace to Auto-Light and Fireguard it to reduce or eliminate the risk of fires.
5Brag about Handiness Social Interaction and less chance of Electrocution when working with Electronics. Coated Exterior on Stoves and Coated Interiors on Microwaves reduce the need for cleaning. Reinforced Door on Refrigerators reduces the rate of breaking. Stick-free Pot on the Tea Brewer also eliminates the need for cleaning. These dirt-resistant upgrades are made pointless at level 7 with Self-Cleaning.
6You may find Rare Electronic Parts from Salvaging - this just means you'll get Electronic parts, which are considered rare.
7Your Sim will perform Plumbing Upgrades twice as fast. All Kitchen Objects can have Self-Cleaning. Infusers can be installed on Coffee and Tea Brewers, making their quality higher. Heat Sensor on Oven improves food quality, as does Fresh-Maker on Fridge and Flavor Enhancer on Microwave. Refrigerators can be made Unbreakable via 'Fridge of Steel'.
8Upgrade Radios and Televisions with Better Components, Motion Gaming with Sturdy Panels Observatory with Reinforced Telescopic Pivots and Microscope with Robustify Inner Workings, all of which making these devices less likely to break.
9Upgrade Computers with ECC Ram (less breaking), IP Spoofer (better Hacking), and add a better Video Card which makes it more fun. Firaxium Wiring on Stereos and Televisions make them Unbreakable. Super Reception can be added to Stereos and Televisions as well, which increases the amount of stations (Retro Music) and channels (Music TV and Fireplace Channel). You may also upgrade the Microscope with Perfect Inner Workings, making it unbreakable. Augment Eyepiece on Microscope and Observatory will increase the rate your Sim finds objects with those devices. If Observatory has upgraded pivots, the Temper Armored Telescopic Pivots upgrade unlocks, allowing it to be made unbreakable. Motion Gaming machine can be upgraded to increase video gaming skill gains with Emotion Engine, Unbreakable with Crytacoo Casing.
10Rare Parts are always acquired from Salvage. Upgrade Kitchen Objects twice as fast and may now Mentor Sims in Handiness, teaching them the Skill quickly.


Making Money with Handiness: Woodworking

Woodworking Sculptures
A Display of the Woodworking Sculptures


Woodworking: Making Money from Handiness in The Sims 4

Woodworking is a side attraction of the Handiness Skill in The Sims 4. It is still one of the most profitable abilities in the game, allowing you to live off the earnings and upgrade everything in your house.

The Sims 4 Video

Woodworking
Woodworking allows your Sim to make a variety of objects, all of which cost a bit of money to make (think materials). However, you are guaranteed to at least get your money back if the object's quality is Okay. If it's Good, you'll double your money. If it's Excellent, you'll get four times the money back! To do it, get a Woodworking Table, found under Buy Mode > Objects by Room > Study > Hobbies and Skills for $750. The cost will not take long to recover, as by level 3 you can make mirrors, then at 5 wall hangings. You start to make bigger money as you unlock higher priced objects. Small objects go to your Sim's inventory, but the better ones are placed in the Household Inventory (F2, bottom left selection) where you can place or sell them.

A Sim that is Very Focused will be great at Woodworking
Being Focused will help immensely with Woodworking


Item Quality and Getting Focused
As noted above, items' quality determines their sell value. It also increases Comfort or Environmental scores if you want to use the objects yourself. A bad chair could be Uncomfortable, as well. There are a few things you can do to get Focused. First, browse the Simipedia on the Computer (under Web). Second, get Focused that way then click a Painter's Easel. You can make a Mathematical Diagram and hang it in your Woodworking area, enabling its Aura. Making a few of these, or finding Elements around the world will let you get up to +2 Focused from the environment. When you make an object and have Focused, your Handiness activities will give another Focused buff, so you can get Very Focused in combination with the Simipedia. At level 10 with Very Focused, almost all your items will be Excellent and you can make $1500 bath tubs, profiting around $1100 each for just a couple hours' work.

Emotional Scupltures
Four varieties of Emotional Sculpture can be created with Handiness should your Sim enter those Emotional States. Sims who are Flirty, Angry, Sad, or Playful can produce one of these for $7. There are a variety of different scupltures for each Emotion, so there are more Sculptures than just those listed here. Sims who have the Expressionistic Reward Trait from completing the Painter Extraordinaire Aspiration can produce these at any time, no matter the Emotion. At Excellent Quality, they sell for up to $30 and have the ability to produce associated Emotional Auras, so Flirty Scupltures would be great in the Bedroom, while Playful might be nice for a child's room or a Comedian's office.

The Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat Woodworking Schematic
The Outdoor Retreat Game Pack adds several schematics as you level.
Click this Mascot in the Campgrounds to learn to make a smaller version.

Woodworking Sculpture/Furniture Unlocks

LvlUnlocks: (Crafting Cost/Sell Value at Excellent)
1Knife Block ($5/$20), Horse Sculpture ($10/$40)
2Barstool ($15/$60), Garden Pot ($15/$60 + Outdoor Retreat) Garden Planter ($17/$70 + OR). Angry, Flirty, Playful, and Sad Sculptures ($7/$30)
3Bunny, Dragon, and Elephant Sculptures ($10/$40), Mirror ($87/$350 + OR)
4End Table ($52/$210), Wall Shelf ($87/$175 + OR)
5Large Bear and Lumberjack Sculptures ($15/$60), Wall Hanging ($125/$500 + OR)
6Dining Chair ($45/$180) and Dining Table ($157/$630)
7Camping Mascot Sculpture ($375/$1500 + OR) schematic from Granite Falls is learnable by clicking it.
8Craft Violin ($212/$850), Child's Violin ($45/$180), Guitar ($300/$1200). You must have level 8 in either Musical Instrument Skill to see this option.
9Craft Bathtub ($377/$1510)
10Craft Toilet ($55/$220)

The bigger the investment, the more you can make! Furnish your home or make money selling Bathtubs and Dining Tables!

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Comments (19)

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New
SabrinaEastsays...
Hi! What career would be the most useful with the Handiness skill? Since my Sim Sabine is going to be a handy Sim, then what career would be most useful? Thank you ;D Grin Tongue
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Regular
Michaelsays...
As far as I know, there are no careers that require you to go deeply into handiness, or that directly benefit from it. Any on the careers that have Focused as their favored emotion would be a compatible choice though, as handiness also benefits from that emotion.

If you have Get to Work, Science would be a great choice, because you can level up your focus based skills at work, The career also has a lot of unique benefits and opportunities to complete collections/earn side money. Nerd brain is a good aspiration to work on because it requires some use of handiness, although it requires Rocket science as well, which can be expensive to skill up.

Handiness is also a great skill for a stay-at-home utility Sim as long as you have some other way to make money.
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New
Maiquasays...
The criminal career requires mischief and if you go to the boss option: handiness. The daily task is to upgrade objects or have mean interactions (not woodworking, but it's the closest I have found).
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Regular
Michaelsays...
I just wanted to point out that the price of the woodworking bench is no longer correct in this guide. It has been greatly reduced and now only costs 750 simoleans. That's a substantial difference so it should probably be updated when you get the chance. Great guide, as always.
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Thanks for catching that. I'm sure Carl will change that soon. Smile
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New
Michelesays...
Is it worthwhile selling furniture with the Get To Work expansion? It would take longer to replenish out of stock furniture.
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Admin
Playalotsays...
The restock feature doesn't involve your sim actually making the item so it is instant. I don't know about value, that would depend on quality and mark up etc.
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New
Zahoelersays...
How do you mentor handiness? I see under your notes you mention that at level 10 it is possible to mentor. Would be nice if you add a 'how to mentor' section to your skill guides.

(Other than that the guides are great!)
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Senior
Playalotsays...
When a sim is using the handiness skill, maybe repairing a shower etc, with a sim that has L10 Handiness click on them and in the social menu there will be the option to mentor.
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Regular
Michaelsays...
It's easiest to mentor while a Sim is crafting on the workbench, although it might be possible during repairs. Mentoring essentially works the same for all skills. Have Sim A (mentee) start working on the skill, then switch to SIm B(mentor) and have them select Mentor in the social context menu. The Sim to be mentored must be actively working on the skill. It usually boosts the mentored Sims relevant emotion to very (whatever) and it provides a substantial boost to skill gains.
Admin: Mentoring on repairs is quite easy as usually the plumbing breaks often!
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Regular
Michaelsays...
I should have clarified. It isn't necessarily "easier" on the workbench. I just prefer that route because it is controllable for sustained skilling. I like to grind out handiness early because it is a generally useful skill. Things break a lot, but there is the randomness/waiting/ chance of electrocution that makes the workbench my preferable method. Plus the crafted stuff can be sold for a profit.

Handiness is a strange skill in that it is useful in its own right, but it does not have much application to most aspirations/careers (it's used in nerd brain, but doesn't need to be leveled for it). For that reason I try to level it up before my sims get caught up in other things. Once I start aspiration hopping it gets harder to devote the attention to handiness, so it's easier to knock it out early if you really want to max it.
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New
Monicasays...
I directed my sim to pick up a dirty plate, it automatically bags the refuse, on the way to the bin I canceled the interaction which then made another pile of trash to rummage through. My sim has collected several upgrade parts just by eliminating all sinks in the household and having him bag then redrop his trash time and time again. It can be tedious but if you're out to make money and do not want to buy upgrade parts this will work.
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Senior
Playalotsays...
Great tip! Smile
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Regular
Michaelsays...
Woodworking crafts are effected by the marketable trait, so the workbench can be very profitable at high levels if you have it. There is a lot or randomness to the multiplier, but it is not unusual for bathtubs to sell in the 3-4K range. It should be noted that item sold from the household inventory DO NOT credit toward fabulously wealthy, so painting and writing are still better for completing that aspiration. My random tip of the day. Smile
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New
Mixiesays...
Is there a cheat to level up faster?
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Yes there is.
testingcheats on> Stats.set_skill_level major_handiness 10
You can read about how to use this by following the link to Carl's guide on cheats.
Cheats Guide
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New
Shansays...
Is there a place I can store the parts in my home, so they're not in the Sims inventory, and anyone in the household can access them?
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Admin
Playalotsays...
The only place they can be stored is on the floor or on some of the shelves/storage units. A sim won't 'take' any, they need to be dragged by the player into a sims inventory. I keep mine in a sub-basement on shelves sometimes but mostly I do leave them in the inventory or sell them when I get to many as they are easy to reorder.
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New
Korachsays...
Kinda sad that the Handiness wasn't in-depth as it could of been. There could of been much more crafting recipes for the woodworking and what not. I like how it has upgrading part of it, but I feel like the woodworking part was left unfinished.
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New
Theasays...
image

Thnxs for the article Grin
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New
Annesays...
Hey, since the "Kids Room Stuff" I can't find the option to buy parts on the computer as they have been replaced by Voidcritters packs. Are there any other way to order parts for handiness?
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Admin
Playalotsays...
I have all the DLC and ordering works in my games. Maybe delete the computer and buy another one? Also delete the localthumbcachepackage. file from your TheSims 4 folder. You could also try repairing your game. Or even a Factory Reset.
Factory Reset
Repairing The game
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New
Pollysays...
So I have a question. Is there a way to paint the stuff we make on the woodworking table? Everything's the wood color and it's sometimes hard to see if it's on the ground. Also some variety in color would be nice, like white or red/green/even blue lol
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Admin
Playalotsays...
Nope, no variations are possible. It would be nice to be able to color for sure.
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New
ThatGreenChickensays...
Just wondering how do you make stuff in poor quality instead of normal and excellent?
Would like to know so I can get the more rustic look of the stuff.
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Admin
Playalotsays...
A sim with a low skill level in handiness will make low quality woodworking items. So you could cheat your sims skill down (pause your game then with the correct sim selected testingcheats on then Stats.set_skill_level major_handiness 1) but then some objects won't be unlocked for your sim to build. You could also try having your sim in the incorrect mood, so not inspired or focused, maybe try uncomfortable or even flirty.
Some of the lower quality items are available with cheats. (testingcheats on then bb.showhiddenobjects) and then search for the item.
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New
Ashley Northernsays...
Where can I store all these extra upgrade parts until I need them? I'm sick of them being in my Sims inventory.
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Admin
Playlotsays...
The only other option is to make a basement and lay them along the floor. I sell any extra and just purchase what my sim needs as I agree they become super annoying to keep them in your sims inventory.
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New
snoochenprunersays...
You can't purchase parts from the library computer, only from your own. I've tried Tongue
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Admin
Playlotsays...
Correct, parts can only be bought from a home PC.
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New
Kristi Luchisays...
You can also use the Pumpkin Carving Station to gain Handiness. It’s about $350.
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Senior
Playlotsays...
You can however you need the DLC Spooky Day to get the pumpkin carving station and this guide is really just for Base Game. Smile
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New
Kris Carpentersays...
This is kind of out of date, so the woodworking table is only $750, with a Carpentry quality of 4. Obviously, it gives the handiness skill, but how cool would it be if it also gave a Woodworking skill, or Carpentry skill?? One that would allow us to make more things for our homes? Or does it do that in the "Get to Work" expansion??

While the guides are still helpful and useful, some of the information is outdated and inaccurate. I see that you recently updated the appearance of your website, which isn't exactly my favorite, but maybe next you can update the information in the guides? I know that would probly take at least 6 months bc you have so much information on here, but I think it would be greatly appreciated by the rest of us, and I'm sure there's some fans out there that wouldn't mind helping you out lol!
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Admin
Playalotsays...
We actually go through the guide constantly updating and checking information. As you pointed out there are a lot of pages with a lot of sentences so catching each live update is a lot of work. Especially as most of the changes are not in the patch notes and so rely on game play or helpful readers pointing out a change. The price, while being the old price doesn't distract from the relevancy of the guide, of course I'll update that price now that you've pointed it out. Smile
As to your question, no Get To Work added no other handiness items for sim to craft. A Pumpkin Carving Station was added in the Spookly Stuff pack that allowed sim to level handiness while crafting a variety of pumpkins. Spooky Stuff Pack Review

Also we have a forum thread for members to post suggestions about the Guide if you are interested: Guide Suggestions and Corrections

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New
Zaesays...

Do you have a list for all the upgrades possible in game? I remember in TS3 there was a list of all the upgrades you can do, tied to some achievement for doing one of each unique upgrade

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New
SimuLordsays...

One great way to get upgrade parts is to go to college and live in the dorms. There are a ton of objects on those lots and they break constantly! Be the dorm handysim and you'll have more parts than you'll ever need once you move out after graduation.



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