You end up with joinery that sits in the opening as though the house was built round it, and the whole difference is in what gets measured first.
What This Article Covers
- Openings are recorded at three heights and both depths, and the smallest measurement governs the carcass.
- Scribe allowances are drawn into the piece rather than found on fitting day.
- Elphinstone runs from nineteenth century village stock to 1958 and 1970 Duries Park streets and later infill, so the fixing method changes with the wall.
- Carcasses and doors are made and sprayed off site, then flatted between coats and stacked to cure.
- Window profiles are taken off the existing frame as dimensions before anything is ordered.
- Balustrade spacing meets current requirements without changing the look of the stair.
George Herkes & Son Joinery has worked across East Lothian since 1989, holds East Lothian Trading Standards Trusted Trader accreditation and is rated 5.0 from 62 reviews, and our bespoke joinery work in Elphinstone is surveyed, built and fitted by the same small family run team.
Send George the room and what you want done and he will come and measure it.
Bespoke Joinery Design
What you end up with is a piece that sits in the opening as though the house was built round it. Getting there is a measurement exercise before it is a design one.
Survey before drawing
Openings are recorded at three heights and both depths. Floor level is taken across the run with a laser rather than assumed from the skirting line.
Drawing to the survey
Scribe allowances of ten to fifteen millimetres are drawn into the piece rather than found on the day. Every carcass is dimensioned from the smallest measurement taken, not the average.
Approval before cutting
Drawings go back before any board is cut. That is the point at which a change costs nothing.
George Herkes & Son Joinery gives free quotes on Joiner throughout Elphinstone. Ask George what your job involves.
Manufacture and Installation Process in Elphinstone
Elphinstone housing runs from nineteenth century mining village stock through the 1958 and 1970 Duries Park streets to later infill at Waterloo Place and Marchwood Court. Four different wall constructions, four different fixing methods.
Fixings by construction
Solid stone takes a resin anchor. Blockwork takes a frame fixing. Timber stud takes a screw into the stud, located rather than guessed.
Off site build
Carcasses, doors and drawers are made and sprayed in the workshop. Doors are flatted between coats and stacked to cure, which is the stage that cannot be compressed.
Access and fitting
Access is measured before anything is glued up, and the same discipline runs bespoke wardrobes in Elphinstone. A carcass that will not turn a landing is built in sections.
Custom Kitchens and Cabinetry
A kitchen in a mid century council built house has a fixed service position and a room shape that was drawn round it. The stack, the meter and the flue are the constraints.
Working to the services
Waste runs need a fall, and in a ground floor slab that fall has to be found within the floor build up. Sink positions are checked against it before the layout is drawn.
Cabinetry to the room
Recesses become full height pull outs. Dead corners take drawers on soft close runners. The same specification covers our built cupboards in Elphinstone, down to the eighteen millimetre dowelled carcass.
Timber Windows and Doors
A replacement frame in a stone opening has to match three things: the sightline, the glazing bar width and the cill projection. Miss one and the elevation reads wrong from the street.
Taking the section
Profiles are taken off the existing frame before anything is ordered. Sash horns and bead widths are recorded as dimensions, not as descriptions.
Doors to the lining
Linings in older stock have been skimmed more than once, so leaves are scribed and hinges let in by hand. The same method runs a joinery service in Tranent job on comparable stock.
Staircases, Panelling and Mouldings for Elphinstone Homes
Village stock here carries profiles that were not standard when they were cut, and matching one is a workshop exercise rather than a catalogue choice.
Matching a profile
A section is taken off the original and cut to match. New architrave beside an original should be indistinguishable at a metre.
Stairs and balustrade
Balustrade spacing is worked to current requirements without changing the look of the stair. A replacement newel is jointed into the existing string rather than face fixed over it.
Commercial and Residential Fit-Outs
Small village premises and domestic work run on the same standard and the same sequence, with the difference being when the work can happen.
Staging around use
Joinery is finished off site and installed in the order that keeps the space usable. Counters, shelving and internal partitions go in as sections.
One team
The person who surveys is the person who fits. Nothing is handed to a squad you have not met.
Fitted Wardrobes and Storage
The one, two and three bedroom stock here rarely has a spare wall. Storage has to come out of alcoves, eaves and stair voids.
Reading the room
Alcove depth either side of a breast is measured separately, because it is rarely equal. The run is built to both and made to read as one.
Interiors
Long hanging, double hanging and drawers are set from what goes in them. Shelf pins are adjustable so the layout survives a change of use.
Free quotes on Joiner across Elphinstone. Speak to George at George Herkes & Son Joinery.
