carpenter or builder to repair wooden pillar? Damp can be a major issue in the home. Find answers to questions or post your own here.

[Funkydad]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I didn't have a clue.
We have a wooden pillar outside/exterior or front door which holds up the porch.
It is rotting at the bottom before it goes into the sandstone block.
It hasn't gone very deep as far as I can make out, so I'm not sure if it would just need drying out, and some wood hardener put in etc etc.
It is rotting behind the paint, which you can just peel off.
My question is, would I need to get a carpenter in, since it's wood, or a builder.
Sorry if this sounds stupid.
Link to an image, since I couldn't get it to insert even with the IMG option.
https://i.imgur.com/rzkfChf.jpg

[stoneyboy]

Hi funkydad,
It’s very likely that the rot in the bottom of the pillar will be far worse than appears visually. It is an involved task to replace the whole pillar so suggest you find a carpenter who can provide a hardwood plate to replace the bottom section. The plate can be bigger than the pillar forming a base feature.
Regards S

[Funkydad]

Thanks very much.
I have a nephew who runs his own sparky company, so knows a lot of people in the building trade. (Which I didn't even think about)
We have a carpenter coming to have a look.
Thanks very much for taking the time to reply, and the advice.