Carpenter and kitchen fitter in Eastleigh
Kitchen fitting and general carpentry for Eastleigh homes, from the old railway terraces near the town centre to the later estates to the north.
Eastleigh is a short drive from my base in Botley, and it is one of the towns I get asked about most for kitchen fitting. I fit Howdens, IKEA, Wren and trade kitchens, and I take on the general carpentry that comes with owning an older house: doors, skirting, shelving, boxing-in and repairs.
Why Eastleigh houses need a bit of patience
Eastleigh grew up around the railway. When the carriage and locomotive works came to the town at the end of the 1800s and start of the 1900s, streets of terraced houses went up quickly for the people who worked there. A lot of those terraces are still the backbone of the town centre, and they shape most of the kitchen jobs I see.
The kitchen in a railway-era terrace is often in the back addition: long, narrow and with a door at one or both ends. Floors are rarely level from one end to the other, the walls may be solid brick on one side and a later stud partition on the other, and the room has usually been refitted two or three times already. Each previous fit leaves its own patches, pipe runs and filled holes. None of that is a problem, but it does mean the first job is to work out what is actually behind the old units before anything new goes up.
Further out, the housing changes. There are inter-war and post-war semis, and the larger estates to the north, such as Boyatt Wood, were built much later. Kitchens there tend to be squarer and easier to plan, but they are often due a first full replacement, and I regularly find wall units hung on fixings that were never meant for the weight of a modern kitchen.
Kitchen fitting in Eastleigh
Most people come to me with a kitchen already designed, either from a Howdens depot, an IKEA plan or a trade supplier. I'll look over the plan before you order, because a narrow room is where small mistakes cost the most: a corner unit that stops a drawer opening, a dishwasher that clashes with the back door, or a tall housing that won't clear a sloping ceiling.
On the day, my job is the carpentry: carcasses level and fixed properly, doors and drawers aligned, worktops cut and jointed, plinths and end panels scribed to the floor and walls. Gas and electrical connections need to be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer and a qualified electrician, and I'll plan the fit around their visits so you are not left without a working kitchen for longer than necessary.
If you are still deciding whether you need a whole new kitchen at all, read my guide to replacing doors and worktops versus a full refit, linked below. For the practical side of fitting into a narrow terrace, the related article covers deliveries, measurements and layout traps.
Other carpentry around Eastleigh
Alongside kitchens I hang and adjust internal doors, change locks and door furniture, build alcove shelving either side of a chimney breast, and repair decking and timber. I also repair fences and gates, though new fence lines and patios are handled by our family firm, Moore & Sons Landscaping. See my carpentry and joinery page for the full list, or the kitchen fitting page for how I work.
To get a price, send me your kitchen plan, a few photos of the room and your postcode through the estimate form. I'm City & Guilds trained, insured, and I'll give you a straight answer on what's involved.