Kitchen Fitters Melbourne

Melbourne and the countryside around it

Melbourne is a market town in South Derbyshire, about eight miles south of Derby and two miles from the River Trent. Its parish church of St Michael with St Mary dates from around 1120 and is often called a cathedral in miniature, while Melbourne Hall, rebuilt by Thomas and George Coke in the early eighteenth century, keeps one of the best-preserved country house gardens of that period in England. Thomas Cook, the travel pioneer, was born here in 1808, and Staunton Harold Reservoir lies between the town and Ticknall.

The town did most of its growing between about 1760 and 1870, and much of the centre is a conservation area of red-brick Georgian houses, artisan cottages and workshops, along with the premises of the market gardens that were once a mainstay of the local economy.

Our kitchen fitting services in Melbourne

Any of these services can form part of a Melbourne kitchen, from a fit-only job in a modern home to a careful refit in a Georgian town house.

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

Brick fronts, stone backs

One detail of Melbourne’s older houses matters for a kitchen. Stone rubble was often used for side and rear walls, with brick kept for the street front. As the kitchen is usually at the back, the wall the units are fixed to may be uneven stone, with thick plaster over it and hardly a straight line anywhere.

We deal with that by scribing end panels and fillers to the wall, templating the worktop once the base units are set, and fixing wall cabinets into the stone itself rather than relying on the plaster. Old solid walls can also hold damp, so the visit includes a look behind the existing units before we recommend materials. Solid oak or walnut worktops and painted doors in quiet colours tend to suit these rooms well.

The floor deserves the same attention. An old tiled or flagged floor laid without a damp-proof membrane behaves very differently from modern concrete, and it affects how the units are levelled, which flooring can go on top and whether underfloor heating is worth considering at all.

Article 4, listed buildings and permission

Melbourne is one of the places in South Derbyshire where Article 4 directions are in force, which means planning permission is needed for most alterations and extensions, including replacement windows and doors. If your new kitchen involves a different back door, a widened window or a new vent on a visible wall, speak to South Derbyshire District Council first.

Listed buildings need listed building consent for changes that affect their character, and that can reach inside the house. We will flag anything at the visit that ought to go to the council before the old kitchen comes out.

Liam Taylor founded Derbyshire Joinery Specialists after more than a decade in property and joinery. Our joiners do the fitting themselves, and partner electricians, plumbers and tilers cover their trades within the same written quote.

Kitchen fitting questions — Melbourne