Carpenter and Joiner in Redhill (RH1)
Redhill runs in bands: Victorian terraces near the station and out towards Earlswood, then the 1930s semi belt, then newer estate housing further south around Whitebushes and Salfords. The bedrooms in each of those need a different answer to the same question, which is where anything is supposed to go.
The 1930s bedroom
Where the main bedroom in a semi of that period has a chimney breast on one wall and a bay on another, it leaves two alcoves and very little uninterrupted run.
A freestanding wardrobe in a room like that blocks the bay, wastes both alcoves and stops well short of the ceiling. Fitted wardrobes built into the recesses take both of them, run right up to the ceiling, and can be divided into hanging, shelving and drawers according to what actually gets stored rather than a standard internal layout. The doors are set out from the chimney breast so the fronts line through, which is what stops two units reading as separate cupboards. Where a picture rail or a deep skirting is staying, the unit is scribed around it rather than the moulding being cut away to make life easier. Carpentry sits on our own books, so the joiner setting all that out is the one building it, and the electrician for any lighting inside the run is ours to find, ours to programme and ours to answer for.
The small third bedroom
In a box room, built-in storage is not a preference but the only way to get a bed and somewhere to put clothes into the same space. That means shallower carcasses than standard, sliding or bi-fold doors where a hinged door would need floor space the room has not got, and storage taken up to the ceiling and over the door head where the room allows it. All of it is set out from the room itself, because in a space that size the difference between fitting and not fitting is small enough to miss on paper. Getting the door swings right at the drawing stage saves more grief than any other decision in that room.
Terraces and the newer housing to the south
In the Victorian terraces closer to the station the rooms are taller and the original rear additions often create awkward returns, which suits built-in work made to the actual space rather than bought to a size. The newer estate housing to the south has simpler rooms and stud walls, so the work shifts to finding the timber to fix into and adding noggins where there is none. Neither is harder than the other. They want different fixings, different setting out and, in an older house, more allowance for what turns up once a wall has been opened.
More in Redhill
Everything we do in Redhill is on the Redhill area sheet, and the full detail of how we approach this trade is on the carpentry & joinery page.
Common questions
Q.01Do fitted wardrobes make a small room feel smaller?
Usually the opposite. They take less floor depth than a freestanding wardrobe, they use the height above it, and the room stops having furniture standing proud of the walls.
Q.02Can you fit wardrobes into the alcoves either side of a chimney breast?
Yes, and it is the natural place for them in a 1930s bedroom. The two recesses are rarely identical, so they are made as two units and set out so the fronts line through as one.
Q.03Can we have lighting inside the wardrobes?
Yes, and it is much easier if it is decided before anything is built, because the cabling wants running while the wall is open rather than cut in afterwards.
Q.04What can be done with the box room?
Shallower units, doors that need no floor space to open, and storage taken over the door head where the room allows. In a room that size it is set out from the actual measurements rather than a standard depth.
Thinking about carpentry & joinery in Redhill?
Tell us what you are planning. We come out, look at the job properly and give you a price for it.