Kitchen Remodeling in Melrose, FL

Kitchen Remodeling in Melrose is different from remodeling a tract home. Melrose was settled in the second half of the 1800s where Bellamy Road crossed the Starke-Orange Springs Road, and a 1,250-acre historic district was designated here on January 12, 1990. Many kitchens sit inside houses with plaster walls, tall ceilings and older framing, so the goal is a room that cooks like a new kitchen but does not look dropped in from a catalog.

Old houses, real surprises

Opening walls in an older home often reveals things a newer house never has: wiring that was added to over the decades, plumbing in more than one material, floors that are not level, and framing in sizes that are no longer sold. We build time and a contingency into the plan for this. Before demolition, we look in the attic and crawlspace where we can, so the written quote reflects what is likely behind the walls rather than a best-case guess.

Design choices that fit an older home

• Inset or shaker-style cabinet doors that suit traditional trim
• Cabinets run to the ceiling to use tall walls and avoid dust-collecting soffits
• Honed or soapstone-look counters, or quartz with a matte finish, instead of high-gloss stone
• Subway or handmade-look tile for the backsplash
• Keeping original windows and trim where possible and building cabinets around them
• Refacing when existing built-ins are solid and worth saving

Two counties, one town

Melrose is an unincorporated community that spans the line between Alachua County and Putnam County. That means there is no town building office; permit questions go to whichever county your home sits in. The rules and fees can differ from one side to the other, so the first thing we do on a permitted kitchen job here is confirm the county for your parcel. If your house is a contributing building in the historic district, we also ask whether any review applies before exterior changes such as a new range-hood vent through a wall.

Life on Lake Santa Fe

The community lies on Lake Santa Fe, where steamships once loaded citrus in the late 1800s before two freezes in 1894 wiped out the local groves. Lakefront living brings its own kitchen concerns. North Florida's humidity is hard on kitchens anywhere, and a lakeside house is no exception, so we choose plywood cabinet boxes, seal every cut edge, and vent the range hood to the outdoors. Many lake homes also have a view worth building the kitchen around, and a sink or island facing the water is a natural layout change to consider.

What we offer Melrose homeowners

• Full kitchen remodels for older and lakefront homes
• Cabinet replacement and refacing
• Countertops in quartz, granite, quartzite and solid surface
• Layout and island changes, including opening a kitchen to a lake view
• Backsplash and kitchen flooring
• Smaller updates that respect the existing house

Pricing an older home

Older houses can cost more to remodel because of hidden repairs, so we quote a base price plus a stated contingency. Our service pages list published national cost ranges for each kind of kitchen work; your written estimate, prepared after we see the house, is the number that counts.

Start with a visit

Call (352) 790-5741 to set up a walk-through. We will look at the kitchen, the house around it and what you hope to change, then give you a free written estimate.

Get a Free Estimate