Finally replacing the kitchen your Templestowe house was built with? Homes here from the 1980s and 90s rarely make it easy: floors that have settled out of level, plumbing fixed where the old sink sat, a switchboard already working hard before an induction cooktop joins it. DPV Construction has delivered kitchen renovations across Melbourne’s east since 2011, and Director David Vastbinder prices, plans and supervises every project personally. You talk to the builder from the first conversation, not a sales team. Call 0431 234 491 and the first consultation costs nothing.
If your kitchen dates from the house’s original build, the room is carrying decades of settlement and superseded services. Out-of-level floors change how cabinetry is scribed and set. Waste and water sitting in yesterday’s positions decide whether your new layout is a straightforward fit-out or a re-plumb. An older switchboard may need capacity added before modern appliances go in, and the rangehood needs a duct route that actually exists, not one drawn hopefully on a plan.
None of this should scare you off. It should shape the plan. David walks the room, checks what the house will and won’t allow, and prices the renovation around those realities rather than discovering them at demolition. That early inspection habit comes from a carpentry background and hundreds of completed projects, and it is the difference between a schedule that holds and one that unravels in week two.
The honest answer is that layout decides most of it. Keeping the sink, cooktop and fridge where they are keeps trades to a minimum. Moving services, or removing the wall between kitchen and dining, moves your project into another bracket. That fork matters more than any single fitting you choose.
We don’t publish a standard price list, because no two established homes carry the same conditions. What we do instead is put real numbers in front of you early. During design, DPV prepares an Opinion of Probable Cost so the kitchen renovation cost conversation happens before documentation is finished, not after. Once the scope is settled, you receive a detailed fixed-price proposal that spells out inclusions and exclusions line by line. Initial consultations and budget discussions are free, and there is no pressure to rush a decision.
An open plan kitchen renovation is the most requested change we see, and in Templestowe it usually means asking a load-bearing wall to come out. That is builder territory. DPV coordinates the structural engineer, installs the specified beam, and manages the certification chain so the work is approved, inspected and documented.
This is where a registered builder and a cabinet showroom part ways. As a Registered Unlimited Domestic Builder (CDB-U 73005), DPV can own the structural scope, the trades and the joinery in one contract, with one person answerable for all of it.
A like-for-like renovation, new cabinets, benchtops and appliances in the existing footprint, generally proceeds without a permit. Remove a structural wall, relocate significant plumbing, or renovate one of the area’s heritage-overlay pockets, and approvals enter the picture. DPV confirms which side of that line your project sits on before quoting, and coordinates the building surveyor and any consultants if permits apply. You won’t be left chasing paperwork mid-build.
Most clients arrive with a folder of kitchen remodel ideas; Melbourne’s established homes then decide which of them will actually work. Our job is matching the wish list to the room. Custom kitchen design earns its keep in houses like these, because made-to-measure carcasses absorb walls that aren’t square and floors that aren’t flat in a way flat-pack never will.
Decisions we help you weigh:
The cabinet makers and joiners on our projects have worked with DPV for years, and a modern kitchen renovation only reads as modern when those details line up.
DPV Construction is a boutique building company founded by David Vastbinder in 2011. David started on the tools as a carpenter, and more than 300 residential projects later he still runs every job personally, deliberately limiting how many run at once. Clients keep one point of contact from first walkthrough to handover, on kitchens and bathroom renovations in Templestowe alike. There is more about how we work across the DPV Construction site.
The process starts with a conversation about goals and budget, on the phone or at the house. If the design brief warrants it, we produce 3D renderings so you can walk the new kitchen before committing to it. Once you endorse the design, the contract sets a firm start date.
Two realities shape every kitchen schedule. Cabinetry is manufactured to order after final measure, and stone is fabricated only once the installed cabinets have been templated. Locking selections early is what protects your timeline; we flag the decision deadlines so nothing drifts. Through the build you receive updates by email, synced to your calendar, and the site is left respectful of the fact that people live there. At handover you get our post-handover document management system covering warranties, maintenance reminders and trade contacts, backed by free aftercare if anything needs attention later.
Templestowe and Templestowe Lower share the same council, the same housing eras and, in practice, the same renovation questions, so we treat the pair as one patch. The same team handles bathroom renovations in Warrandyte and bathroom renovations in Park Orchards. If you’re a street either side of a boundary, nothing changes about how the project is priced or run.
Structural changes, major plumbing relocation and heritage-overlay properties are the common triggers. We confirm the answer for your specific property and scope before you sign anything.
The recurring ones are floors out of level, waste pipes in inconvenient positions, switchboards short on capacity and awkward rangehood duct routes. We look for all four before pricing, so they arrive in the proposal as line items rather than mid-build variations.
It depends on scope, and we would rather give you a real schedule than a brochure number. Cabinetry is made to order and stone is cut after templating, so selections drive the timeline. Your contract sets a firm start date and you’ll know the sequence before demolition begins.
Usually, yes. It becomes an engineered job: the engineer specifies the beam, we install it and manage the inspections that certify the work. It is the single change that does most for an entertainer’s kitchen in homes of this era.
A Templestowe kitchen still running its original layout has usually earned a rethink. Tell David what the room needs to do and he’ll walk the space with you before you commit to anything. Call 0431 234 491 or email info@dpvconstruction.com.au.