Tenement Kitchen Fitting in Glasgow

What makes a Glasgow tenement kitchen different?

A Glasgow tenement kitchen is different because the building is: most tenements are solid sandstone with plastered walls, timber floors and high ceilings, built long before standard kitchen units were designed. Five features change how a kitchen has to be fitted.

Walls that aren't straight

Tenement walls are usually lath and plaster or plaster on stone, and after a century or more very few are flat, plumb or square. A worktop cut straight leaves a gap at the back that grows along the wall, and wall units hung without packing tilt forward.

Floors that slope

Timber floors in older tenements often fall towards the middle of the building or the window wall. A floor can drop noticeably across the width of a kitchen, which throws every base unit, door and worktop out of line unless each unit is levelled individually.

High ceilings

Tenement ceilings are much higher than in a modern house. Standard wall units leave a tall, empty gap above them that gathers dust, unless the kitchen is planned with taller units, a second row of storage or a deep cornice.

Two kinds of tenement kitchen

Most tenement kitchens are one of two types: a narrow galley kitchen off the hall, or a larger kitchen that once had a bed recess, a built-in alcove for a bed. Many owners now use the recess for tall units, a fridge-freezer or a small dining space.

Old pipework and wiring

Behind an old kitchen, it's common to find pipework and wiring from several decades, added to and adjusted by different owners. We check what's there before fitting, because a new kitchen should never be fitted over services that aren't safe.

What goes wrong when a tenement kitchen is fitted like a new-build?

A kitchen fitted as if the room were square and level looks wrong within weeks and can fail within a few years. These are the most common problems with tenement kitchens fitted that way:

• Gaps behind worktops, filled with silicone that splits and lets water and crumbs in
• Doors and drawers out of line, because the units follow the slope of the floor
• Wall units pulling away, because they were fixed with the wrong fixings into lath and plaster
• Worktops that wouldn't go up the stair, cut short on the landing and joined in the wrong place
• A damaged close, with scraped walls and chipped stone steps that the neighbours and factor notice straight away

Each one costs more to fix than it would have cost to get right first time, and in a shared building some of them cause friction with neighbours that lasts long after the fitter has gone.

How do we fit a kitchen in a tenement flat?

We fit tenement kitchens using a method built for old buildings, from the survey through to cleaning the close.

1. Tenement survey. We measure how far each wall is out of square and how much the floor falls, check what the walls are made of, and look at the stair, landings and doorways the kitchen has to come through.
2. Plan around the building. Worktop lengths and joint positions are planned so every piece will go up the stair and round the landing. Tall units are planned for the ceiling height and the bed recess, if there is one.
3. Fix into the wall properly. Wall units and rails are fixed with fixings suited to lath and plaster or stone, or into timber battens where the plaster won't hold the weight on its own.
4. Level every unit. Base units are levelled individually to a single line, so the worktop sits flat and the doors line up, however much the floor slopes.
5. Scribe to the walls. Worktops, end panels and fillers are scribed to the shape of the wall, so there are no gaps to fill with silicone.
6. Protect the close. Stair walls, banisters and steps are protected while units and worktops are carried up, and the close is left as clean as we found it.

Gas and electrical work is carried out by our partner Gas Safe registered engineer and certified electrician, as on every job.

How do you make the most of a small tenement kitchen?

Make the most of a small tenement kitchen by using its height and its recess. These ideas work well in Glasgow tenement flats:

• Ceiling-height wall units turn the space above standard units into storage for things you use less often
• The bed recess fits a tall larder unit, an integrated fridge-freezer or a built-in bench and table
• A slimline 45cm dishwasher saves space in a narrow galley without giving up a dishwasher
• Shallow units along one wall of a galley keep the walkway clear
• Corner solutions such as carousels or pull-out shelves use awkward corners in an L-shaped kitchen
• A sink under the window keeps the worktop clear and often suits the original waste pipe position

If you'd like us to plan and supply the whole kitchen, our supply and fit kitchens service includes the layout. If you've already chosen one, our fit-only kitchen fitting service will fit it around your tenement.

Closes, factors, neighbours and parking

Fitting a kitchen in a tenement means working around a shared building, and planning it in advance keeps everyone on side.

• Neighbours: we suggest letting your neighbours know the dates of the noisiest work, usually strip-out and the first day of fitting
• Your factor: some factors and title deeds have rules about using the common stair, working hours or leaving materials in the close, so check before your start date
• Skips: a skip on the street needs a permit from the council, and many tenement streets have no room for one, so we take the old kitchen away in our van instead where we can
• Parking: many tenement streets in the West End, Southside and City Centre have parking restrictions, so we plan van access before the start date
• The close: we protect the stair while we work and never leave units, worktops or waste in the common areas

Do you need permission for a new kitchen in a tenement?

Usually not, for a like-for-like kitchen inside your flat. Replacing units, worktops and appliances doesn't need planning permission or a building warrant. Permission can be needed in three situations:

• Removing a load-bearing wall, or opening the kitchen into another room, needs a building warrant from the council, and opening a kitchen into the hall of a flat can affect the fire escape route. See our guide on when a building warrant is needed
• A new extractor vent or flue through an external wall in a conservation area may need consent, especially on a front elevation; much of the West End and parts of the Southside are conservation areas
• Any change to a listed building, inside or out, can need listed building consent from the council

We'll flag any of these at the survey, before you've committed to anything.

How much does a tenement kitchen cost to fit?

A tenement kitchen costs the same to fit as any other kitchen of its size, plus any extra time for uneven walls, sloping floors and stair access, which we price at the survey. Our November 2026 prices, with no VAT added:

A full tenement renovation, with re-plastering, rewiring and new flooring, is covered on our kitchen renovation page, and new worktops alone on our kitchen worktop fitting page. Our Glasgow kitchen fitting price guide includes a worked West End tenement example.

Tenement kitchen fitters near you

We fit kitchens in tenement flats across Glasgow and Renfrewshire, travelling in from Johnstone. If you've searched for a "tenement kitchen fitter near me", these are the tenement areas we cover:

Our areas page lists every town we cover, and our kitchen fitting services page compares every service side by side.