Oakleigh VIC
Complete kitchen renovations, measured before anything is demolished
What a complete renovation actually includes
Everything downstream of the layout is set at design stage: appliance sizes, tap and waste positions, power for a range hood or integrated dishwasher, the height of a rangehood cut-out, the clearance between a bench run and an island. Once those dimensions are agreed, the build is a sequence rather than a series of decisions.
A full renovation typically covers:
- Strip-out of old cabinetry, benchtops, splashback and flooring junctions
- Rough-in coordination for plumbing and electrical against the new plan
- Made-to-measure carcasses, fronts, hardware and internal fit-out
- Templated benchtops, cut-outs and edge profiles
- Splashback, cornice, kick, scribes, handles and final adjustment
Rebuild or refresh
If the existing layout works, the carcasses are sound and the services sit where you want them, replacing doors, benchtop and splashback can give you a new room without a rebuild. That is a kitchen makeover.
A complete renovation is the right call when the plan itself is the problem — a wall that blocks the run, a sink under a window you want to move, no room for a dishwasher, or a pantry that needs to become real storage.
We measure the room before advising either way.
Strip-out
Cabinetry
Services & surfaces
The decisions that are made at design stage
Layout comes first. Where the sink, cooking and cold storage sit determines how the room works for the next twenty years, and the walkway between a bench run and an island decides whether two people can use it at once. Zoning — prep, cook, wash, store — is worked out on the plan alongside appliance sizes and door swings. Custom kitchen design covers that stage in detail, and kitchen islands covers sizing and seating.
Materials follow, chosen together rather than one at a time: benchtop material and edge thickness, whether the splashback is tiled, glass or a full-height stone return, and the cabinetry finish — matte, satin polyurethane, woodgrain laminate or a handleless front with a shadowline rail.
Storage is the last of the big decisions and the one most often left too late: drawer banks instead of low cupboards, a dedicated bin drawer, and whether a butler’s or walk-in pantry can be won from the adjoining space.
How the thirteen stages apply to a full rebuild
01 Consultation — we walk the room, discuss how you cook and what fails about the current kitchen.
02 Measure — a full dimensioned check-measure including services, windows and out-of-square walls.
03 Design — layout, zoning, module widths and elevations resolved on the drawing.
04 Quote — scope priced against the drawing so inclusions are visible line by line.
05 Materials — benchtop, splashback, fronts and hardware selected and ordered.
06 Demolition — protection laid, old joinery removed, services capped.
07 Cabinetry — carcasses set out, levelled and fixed.
08 Plumbing & electrical — rough-in completed against the installed setout.
09 Benchtops — templated to the cabinetry, fabricated and installed.
10 Splashback — measured to the finished benchtop, then fitted.
11 Installation — fronts, drawers, handles and appliances fitted and adjusted.
12 Finishing — kicks, scribes, cornice, silicone and paint touch-ups.
13 Handover — clean, function check and a walk-through of hardware and care.
Questions asked before a full renovation
Can we stay in the house during the work?
In most homes yes. Setting up a temporary kitchen — fridge, microwave, kettle and a sink elsewhere — is worth doing before demolition. The renovation checklist covers what to organise beforehand.
How long will the kitchen be out of action?
It depends on scope, stone lead time and whether walls or services move. Our guide to how long a kitchen renovation takes maps the variables to each stage.
What drives the cost of a complete renovation?
Cabinetry construction and finish, benchtop material and thickness, appliance selections, and how much plumbing and electrical work the new plan requires. What drives kitchen renovation cost breaks each factor down.
Can the layout change, or do we keep the existing plan?
Layouts can change — sinks and appliances relocate, walls open up, islands are added — provided the services can be rerouted. Start with kitchen layouts explained, then bring the room to us at measure stage.