Hornsby · Hornsby Shire
Kitchen renovations in Hornsby.
Nearly six in ten Hornsby kitchens sit in an apartment on a suspended slab. That single fact decides where the sink can go, what the owners corporation has to approve, and how the joinery gets into the building.
NSW contractor licence 397801C · Hornsby Shire Council area · Showroom at 104 George St, Hornsby
Apartments — 59.1% of Hornsby
Four things that decide an apartment kitchen.
Hornsby has 9,613 private dwellings and most are flats. A unit kitchen is not a smaller version of a house kitchen — it is a different problem, constrained by the slab, the by-laws and the lift.
The sink stays roughly where it is
On a suspended slab the waste cannot be re-routed freely. We design the layout around the existing point rather than around a photograph.
Rangehood venting is the catch
Ducting to outside air means penetrating common property, which most schemes will not allow. Recirculating carbon filters are usually the answer.
That wall may not be yours
Opening the kitchen to the living room is fine if the wall is a stud partition inside your lot. If it is structural, it is a much bigger conversation.
Benchtops have to fit the lift
A three-metre stone slab does not go up every building. We confirm access before you choose a material, not after it is templated.
Hornsby by the numbers
9,613
private dwellings in Hornsby
59.1%
flats or apartments
2.5
people per household — the smallest in the district
43.0%
rented
Houses — 35.3% of Hornsby
And the freestanding third.
3,394 separate houses by the 2021 count. Everything the apartments cannot do — move the plumbing, duct the extraction, take out a wall — is available here, subject to engineering where the wall carries load.
Subfloor access changes everything
Where we can get under the floor, the sink and dishwasher can move. That is the freedom a unit kitchen never has.
Duct the rangehood properly
In a house there is no reason to recirculate. A ducted hood to outside air is a meaningfully better kitchen to cook in.
Open it to where people sit
Most Hornsby houses have a kitchen walled off from living. Removing that wall is the change households notice most.
How it runs
Why a kitchen has two install visits.
Stone is templated off the built cabinets, not off a drawing. Anyone promising one continuous run is guessing.
01
Measure and design
A measured drawing, not a showroom sketch. Appliance dimensions confirmed before anything is ordered.
02
Approval, if it is a unit
Scope document to the owners corporation while you are still choosing finishes, so the two run in parallel.
03
Joinery into production
Cabinetry has a lead time measured in weeks. It goes into production before demolition, not after.
04
Strip out and services
Plumbing and electrical rough-in while the walls are open, then plaster and paint.
05
Install, template, return
Cabinets in, stone templated to the installed carcasses, then a second visit to fit it. That gap is unavoidable.
Credentials
Your local builder, literally.
NSW contractor licence
397801C
Renova Holdings Pty Ltd
Builder
99764S
Alireza Kamalzadeh
Contractor
395823C
Arshia Kamalzadeh
Showroom
In Hornsby
104 George St — walk in
Dwelling and household figures from the ABS 2021 Census QuickStats for Hornsby (SAL11943). Kitchen exhaust and mechanical ventilation requirements sit in the National Construction Code. Verify licences on the NSW Government public register.
Hornsby questions
Apartment and house kitchens.
Can I move the sink in an apartment kitchen?
Usually only a short distance. The waste has to fall to an existing stack and on a suspended slab there is limited depth to work with. Moving it a metre along the same wall is often fine; moving it to the opposite side of the room generally is not. We check the existing set-out at the first visit so the design is buildable.
Why can't I have a ducted rangehood in my unit?
Ducting to outside air means putting a penetration through an external wall or the roof, which is common property. Most owners corporations decline it, and in many buildings there is no route anyway. A recirculating hood with carbon filters is the normal solution — less effective, but it is what the building allows.
How long is a kitchen renovation?
Typically four to six weeks on site once joinery has arrived, plus the joinery lead time before that. The unavoidable pause is stone templating: the benchtop is measured off the installed cabinets and then fabricated, which adds a week or so mid-job. In a unit, add the owners corporation approval in front of everything.
Is it worth renovating the kitchen in a rental?
With 43% of Hornsby homes rented, we get asked this a lot. A dated kitchen is one of the two rooms that most affects what a property lets for. If you do it, specify for durability rather than for show — laminate over stone in the wrong places costs less and survives turnover better.
Can I visit a showroom before deciding?
Yes, and being in Hornsby you can walk in. Our showroom at 104 George Street has cabinetry, benchtop samples, tapware and sinks at full size. Seeing a stone slab in person rather than a 50mm chip changes a lot of decisions.
House or unit?
Tell us which and we'll send back what is actually possible with your plumbing, your walls and your building.
