One crew, one contract, start to finish. Northcote's Victorian cottages are solid local-brickworks brick, and heritage permits through Darebin can take 8-12 weeks. We know what we're walking into before we quote.
Flat-pack, semi-custom or fully custom, built to fit a solid brick cottage's actual kitchen footprint, not a stock size.
Laminate, reconstituted stone or engineered stone, templated to your cottage's real dimensions, whatever the wall configuration.
Tile, glass or stone, installed to AS 3958 and fitted to solid brick wall lines. Our tiler, not a sub.
Rough-in and final connections to AS/NZS 3500 and AS/NZS 3000, planned around which walls are load-bearing before any wall opens.
Ovens, cooktops, rangehoods, dishwashers, connected and tested before handover. No half-finished punch list.
The number we agree on after checking which walls are load-bearing is the number you pay. No cracks appearing after the fact.
A load-bearing wall opened without an engineer's check is how a Northcote kitchen job goes wrong. We check structural walls and quote in writing before we start, so nothing cracks later.
Solid local-brickworks brick Victorian cottages, extensive Darebin heritage overlays around High Street and the Victorian streets west of it. We check all of this before we quote, not after.
Tradies who know which of Northcote's solid brick walls are load-bearing, not a call centre reading a script. We say the thing, then stop.
Yes, and it's worth planning for from day one. Unlike the timber cottages common in many inner suburbs, Northcote's Victorian workers' cottages were built predominantly from local brickworks brick, giving the suburb a solid terracotta building stock. Opening up a kitchen wall in a solid brick cottage means identifying which walls are load-bearing before any demolition starts, not after. We assess your specific construction at the site visit.
Longer than most people expect. Darebin Council's heritage overlay applications typically take 8 to 12 weeks to process. Northcote has extensive heritage overlays, particularly around the High Street precinct and the Victorian cottage streets west of High Street. If your kitchen renovation involves structural or external changes on a heritage-listed property, we factor this timeline into your written schedule from the start.
Most standard, internal kitchen renovations in Northcote do not require a planning permit. If your property is in one of Darebin's heritage overlay precincts and you're making structural or external changes, a permit will likely be required. We check your specific heritage status at the site visit and advise you before you commit to anything.
A kitchen renovation in Northcote typically runs $28,000 to $65,000. Standard scope (flat-pack cabinetry, laminate benchtop, ceramic tile) starts at $28,000 to $40,000. Mid-spec (semi-custom cabinetry, 20mm stone benchtop, porcelain tile) runs $40,000 to $55,000. Structural work in solid brick construction and heritage compliance can add to cost. We give you a written fixed-price quote after a site visit, not an estimate from photos.
Yes. gutted. is a BPC registered building practitioner (Building and Plumbing Commission) and fully insured for domestic building work in Victoria. We provide our registration details before you sign anything.
A rough scope is all we need. We come to you, look at the job, and give you a written fixed-price quote. We do not price from photos.
