Kitchen Fitters Derby

Fitting kitchens across the city

Derby sits on the River Derwent and has run its own affairs as a unitary authority since April 1997, when Derby City Council took over the services the county used to provide. It was granted city status in 1977. For anyone planning a new kitchen, that matters in one practical way: planning questions, listed building consent and building regulations inside the city boundary all go through Derby City Council, not Derbyshire County Council.

We fit kitchens in every part of the city. That takes in the older inner districts around the station, Normanton and Little Chester, the 1930s suburbs such as Chaddesden, the former villages of Darley Abbey, Allestree, Mickleover and Littleover that Derby absorbed over the twentieth century, and the large estates built since, Oakwood among them. A job can be a straight swap of an old kitchen for a new one in the same positions, or it can mean moving the sink, opening up a wall or turning a cramped back room into something more usable.

Our kitchen fitting services in Derby

What we fit in homes across Derby, from terraced galley kitchens to open-plan kitchen-diners:

• Kitchen unit installation
• Worktops & countertops
• Appliance installation
• Supply and fit
• Fit-only for any supplier
• Plumbing, wiring & tiling

How a kitchen fit runs, stage by stage

On a full kitchen the order of work matters as much as the quality of any one trade. Tile before the pipe positions are settled, or fit units before the floor level is known, and something has to come back out. This is the sequence we follow.

1. Survey and measure. We measure the room, check how far the walls and floor are out, and find where the pipes, waste and cables run. Anything structural is picked up here, not on fitting day.
2. Plan and order. If we are supplying the kitchen, the plan is drawn to our measurements. If you are buying your own, it is worth having the plan checked against a site measure before you order.
3. Strip-out. The old kitchen comes out and the water, gas and electrics are made safe.
4. Structural work and first fix. Any wall work happens first. The plumber and electrician then run new pipes, waste and cables while the walls are open.
5. Making good. Walls disturbed by the strip-out are plastered or boarded, and the floor is levelled or laid if it is going under the units.
6. Units. Wall and base units are fixed, levelled and tied together, and tall housings are set out to the exact sizes of the appliances going in them.
7. Worktops. Laminate and timber are cut and fitted on site. Stone and quartz are templated at this point and fitted on a return visit.
8. Second fix. The sink, taps, hob, oven, extractor and integrated appliances are connected, and sockets and lighting are finished.
9. Tiling and finishing. Splashbacks go up, then plinths, end panels and cornice, and every door and drawer is adjusted.
10. Snagging and handover. We go round the kitchen with you and check every door, drawer and appliance before we leave.

Our joiners fit the units, worktops and panels. Partner electricians, plumbers and tilers handle their trades on the same job, all on one quote and with one person to deal with. Derbyshire Joinery Specialists was set up by Liam Taylor, who has more than ten years in property and joinery, and he keeps the sequence of trades in the right order so tiling is not done before the plumbing positions are fixed. Finance is available through Ideal4Finance, subject to status.

Matching the kitchen to the house

Derby’s housing covers almost two centuries, and each era brings its own kitchen problems. Some of the oldest purpose-built homes in the city are the railway cottages in the Railway Conservation Area near the station, built for North Midland Railway workers and fully occupied by 1843. Further out, New Normanton is mostly late Victorian brick terracing. Kitchens in these houses tend to be narrow rooms at the back, sometimes with a separate back room or dining room next door. Suspended timber floors are common, walls are rarely square and older plaster can come away when units are fixed. We scribe worktops and end panels to the walls rather than leaving gaps, pack and level base units off uneven floors, and check joists before loading them with heavy stone worktops.

Between the wars the city spread fast. Derby Corporation bought Roe Farm in Chaddesden in 1930 for what became its largest pre-war council estate, and private semis followed on the Wood Road estate from 1936. Allestree grew in the 1930s and again in the 1960s and 1970s. In a typical 1930s semi the original kitchen is small and the obvious improvement is to take out the wall to the dining room. That usually means a steel beam, a structural engineer’s calculation and building regulations sign-off, so it is worth raising at the first visit.

At the newer end, Oakwood was built mainly in the 1980s and 1990s and was one of the largest new housing estates in Europe at the time. Kitchens there are often on their first or second replacement. The rooms are usually square and the floors are often concrete, which makes fitting quicker, but space is tight, so careful planning of tall units, corner storage and appliance housings makes a real difference. In newer homes with an open-plan kitchen-diner, the layout question is usually whether an island or peninsula will fit without blocking the walkway.

Choosing a layout

Most kitchens end up as one of six shapes, and the room usually makes the choice for you. Our kitchen layout planning guide goes into each in more depth, and the small kitchen design guide covers rooms where every centimetre counts.

• Galley

  One run or two facing runs. It suits the narrow back kitchens in Derby’s terraces. Leave around a metre between facing runs, more if two people cook at once.

• L-shaped

  Units along two walls, which leaves room for a table at the other end. The corner needs planning: a corner larder or pull-out fittings stop it becoming dead space.

• U-shaped

  Three walls of units and the most worktop for the floor area. It works well in a square room, as long as the two corners are dealt with properly.

• Island

  A free-standing block for prep, storage or seating. It needs clear floor all the way round, usually at least a metre, so it belongs in the larger rooms and extensions.

• Peninsula

  A run that juts out from a wall or the end of the units. It gives much of what an island does in a room too narrow for one, and makes a natural breakfast bar.

• Kitchen-diner

  Cooking and eating in one space, often after a knock-through or an extension. Keep the hob away from the seating and plan the extraction properly.

Worktops compared

The worktop is the part of a kitchen people notice most, and it changes the price, the fitting process and the care it needs afterwards.

• Laminate

  The most affordable option, with wood, stone and plain finishes. It is cut on site. The joints and cut edges near the sink need sealing, and hot pans should not go straight on it.

• Solid timber

  Oak, walnut and iroko bring warmth. Timber needs oiling before use and again from time to time, especially round the sink. Iroko copes best with water.

• Quartz

  Engineered stone that is non-porous and does not need sealing. It is templated after the units are fitted. Use a trivet, as high heat can mark the resin.

• Granite

  Natural stone, so every slab is different. It takes heat well and some stones need sealing now and then. It is heavy, so the units and the floor under them are checked first.

• Solid surface

  An acrylic-based material with almost invisible joins, which can include a moulded sink. Light scratches can be sanded out. Keep hot pans off it.

• Mixing materials

  Many kitchens pair a laminate perimeter with a timber or quartz island, which puts the budget where it shows.

Fit-only or supply and fit

Fit-only suits you if you have already chosen your units, perhaps from Howdens, Wren, Magnet, IKEA, B&Q, Wickes or an independent showroom. Before fitting day, check the delivery against the order. A missing plinth, end panel or handle set, or one damaged door, can hold up a fit while a replacement comes. The appliances need to be on site too, because their housings are built around their exact sizes.

With supply and fit, we source the kitchen through our trade partners and handle the ordering and deliveries, so the units arrive in the order the fit needs them. Either way, the joinery is the same and the partner trades come in at the right stage.

Every job starts with a visit to measure the room properly and look at the walls, floor, pipework and electrics. You then get a written quote, free of charge. You can buy the kitchen through us, or have us fit units from Howdens, Wren, Magnet, IKEA, B&Q, Wickes or an independent showroom. Worktops can be laminate, quartz, granite, solid surface or solid timber such as oak, walnut or iroko.

Permission, regulations and older homes

Most kitchen work needs no permission at all. Building regulations come in when a load-bearing wall comes out, when new drainage is added, or when the kitchen moves into an extension. New electrical circuits must meet Part P of the Building Regulations and be certified, and any gas connection, such as a gas hob, must be made by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Derby has sixteen conservation areas. Some cover the city centre and Friar Gate, some cover Victorian districts such as the Arboretum, Strutts Park and Little Chester, and others protect former village centres including Darley Abbey, Mickleover, Spondon, Allestree and Markeaton. Replacing a kitchen inside a house in a conservation area does not normally need permission, but outside changes can, such as a new extractor outlet on a front wall or a different window. Listed buildings are stricter: work affecting their character, inside as well as out, may need listed building consent from the council.

The southern end of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site runs into the city, finishing at the Silk Mill, now the Museum of Making. Darley Abbey falls within it, including the village that the Evans family built for their mill workers between 1792 and 1826. If your home is one of those terraces, we will talk through what can and cannot change before any units are ordered.

Kitchen fitting questions — Derby