Bespoke Carpentry
Custom Woodwork Belfast
Stock mouldings look wrong next to a Victorian original, and everybody notices even if they cannot say why. CSW makes woodwork that matches the house it goes into.
Why Stock Trim Looks Wrong
There is a particular kind of disappointment that comes from a well done renovation where something is subtly off, and more often than not the culprit is the trim. A Victorian Belfast terrace has skirting with a specific profile, usually taller than anything sold today, and an architrave to match. Put a modern ogee next to it and the eye picks it up immediately even though most people cannot name what is wrong.
That is the honest case for custom woodwork. Not that bespoke is inherently better, but that houses have a language, and a piece made to speak it reads as part of the building while a near miss reads as a repair. The same applies to an alcove unit that follows a chimney breast, a stair balustrade that matches an original newel, or a door made to fill an opening nobody would call standard.
We make and fit. Alcove and media units, bookcases, window seats, stairs and balustrades, internal and external doors, matched mouldings, panelling and the awkward one off pieces that no supplier stocks because there is no market for one of them.
Alcove And Fitted Units
Bookcases, cupboards and media units built into chimney breast recesses, scribed to walls that are neither straight nor plumb and finished so they look original to the room.
Stairs, Doors And Panelling
New stair flights, replacement balustrades and newels, internal and external doors made to non standard openings, and wall panelling in hall or dining room.
Matched Mouldings And Repairs
Skirting, architrave, picture rail and dado run to match an existing profile, and repairs to original joinery where replacing the whole thing would be a waste.
Why CSW For Custom Woodwork
We Match Profiles
An existing moulding can be copied rather than approximated. That is the whole difference between new work reading as original and reading as new.
Made For The Space
Every recess in an old house is a slightly different width. A piece made to the opening beats a stock unit packed out with filler every time.
Builders Too
If the wall behind the alcove needs making good, or a floor levelling before a unit goes in, that is our work rather than somebody else's problem.
Repair Before Replace
Original joinery is usually better timber than anything you can buy now. Where a piece can be repaired we would rather repair it.
50 Years Of Combined Experience
Enough period Belfast property between us to know what the original detail probably was even where none of it survives.
Finished Properly
Filled, sanded and prepared for paint or finished in the workshop, so what arrives is ready rather than something you have to sort out afterwards.
Where Joinery Meets The Regulations
Most custom woodwork sits outside building control entirely, which is worth stating plainly. There are three specific places where it does not, and stairs is the one that surprises people. This is general guidance and your district council's building control service is the authority on your own job.
Fitted Furniture Is Not Notifiable
An alcove unit, a bookcase, a window seat, panelling or a run of matched skirting is furniture and finishing rather than construction. None of it attracts a building control application on its own, and there is no consent to obtain before making it.
Where that changes is if the joinery is part of a larger project that does need approval, or if making room for it involves altering the fabric of the building rather than fitting into it.
- Building a cupboard into a recess is not notifiable work.
- Cutting an opening through a wall to link two recesses may be, if that wall is structural.
- Boxing in a boiler or a flue has ventilation implications that are worth checking rather than guessing.
Stairs Are The Exception
A new or replacement staircase is regulated work, not furniture. Rise, going, headroom, handrail height and guarding are all matters the building regulations deal with, and a stair that fits beautifully but fails on headroom is a problem.
Building control in Northern Ireland is administered by your district council under the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012. There is no private approved inspector route here, so it is the council's building control service you are dealing with whichever district you are in.
- Replacing a balustrade on an existing stair is usually a much simpler question than replacing the flight.
- Opening up a stairwell or changing the stair position is structural work and a Full Plans matter.
- A Building Notice can only be used for minor planned work to a single domestic property.
Listed Buildings And Conservation Areas
Joinery is exactly the thing that listing protects. On a listed building, original doors, staircases, shutters, panelling and mouldings are usually part of what is listed, and altering or replacing them can need listed building consent even though the work is internal.
Similarly, permitted development rights under the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 are removed where an Article 4 direction applies. Belfast City Council has made Article 4 directions, Malone Park being a published example, and external joinery such as windows and front doors is often exactly what they are protecting.
- Assume internal joinery in a listed building is protected until you have checked that it is not.
- Replacing an original front door on a property in a conservation area is a planning question, not just a purchase.
- Where original joinery is protected, matched repair is usually the route that gets approved.
The Work In Detail
Copying A Moulding
To match an existing profile you need a clean section of it. Usually that means taking a short offcut from somewhere it will not be missed, behind a radiator or inside a cupboard, and working from that rather than from a photograph.
The height matters as much as the shape. Victorian and Edwardian Belfast skirting is frequently far taller than anything stocked today, and running a correct profile at the wrong height still looks wrong. Both dimensions have to be right for the eye to accept it.
Alcove Units In A House That Moved
Chimney breast recesses in an old terrace are not rectangles. The two sides are different widths, the back wall bows, and the floor falls towards the chimney. A carcase built square to those numbers will not fit.
So the unit is built slightly undersize and scribed in: end panels cut to follow the wall, plinth scribed to the floor, cornice packed to the ceiling line. Done properly, the finished piece looks as though the room was built around it, which is the entire point.
Stairs And Balustrades
Replacing a whole flight is a regulated job with real constraints on rise, going, headroom and guarding, and it is worth being clear that a stair which fits the space beautifully can still fail on headroom.
Far more common, and far simpler, is replacing a balustrade while keeping the flight. A new handrail, spindles and newel caps to match an original profile transform a hall for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the disruption of a new stair.
Repairing Rather Than Replacing
Original joinery in a Belfast period house is generally made of better timber than anything you can buy today: slow grown, dense, and already through a century of movement. Replacing it with new softwood is usually a downgrade dressed up as an improvement.
Where a door bottom has rotted, a sash has failed or a section of skirting has gone, splicing in new timber and matching the profile keeps the original and costs less. We would rather do that than sell you a replacement, and on a listed building it is often the only approach that will be approved.
How A Woodwork Job Runs
Look And Measure
We look at what is there, take an offcut of any profile to be matched, and measure the space at several points because it will not be square.
Agree The Piece
Function first, then proportion, then material and finish. Whether it is painted or clear finished changes the timber choice, so it is decided early.
Check For Protection
If the building is listed or in a conservation area, or the street has an Article 4 direction, we establish that before touching original joinery.
Make In The Workshop
Built to the survey and prepared for finish off site, which means less dust in your house and a better result than site made work.
Fit And Scribe
Installed and scribed to walls, floors and ceilings as they actually are. This is where a made piece beats a bought one.
Finish And Make Good
Filled, sanded and left ready for decoration, or finished if that was the arrangement, and any making good to the surrounding wall done.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you match the skirting in my Victorian house?
Usually yes, and we work from a physical offcut rather than a photograph. Take a short section from behind a radiator or inside a cupboard where it will not be missed and we can run a matching profile. Height matters as much as shape, because period Belfast skirting is often much taller than anything stocked today.
Why does new trim look wrong next to old trim?
Because the profile and usually the height are both different. Modern stock mouldings are shallower and shorter than Victorian or Edwardian originals, and the eye registers the mismatch immediately even though most people cannot articulate what is wrong. Getting both dimensions right is what makes new work read as original.
Do I need any approval to have an alcove unit built?
No. Fitted furniture is furniture, not construction, so an alcove unit, bookcase, window seat or run of panelling does not attract a building control application. That changes only if making room for it involves altering the fabric of the building, for instance cutting an opening through a wall that is structural.
Is a new staircase regulated?
Yes, and this catches people out because it feels like joinery. Rise, going, headroom, handrail height and guarding are all matters the building regulations deal with. A stair that fits the space beautifully can still fail on headroom. Building control here is your district council, as there is no private approved inspector route in Northern Ireland.
Can I just replace the balustrade and keep the stairs?
Very often, and it is the job we would usually suggest first. A new handrail, spindles and newel caps matched to an original profile transform a hall for a fraction of the cost and disruption of a new flight, and it avoids the constraints that come with replacing the stair itself.
My house is listed. Can I change the internal doors?
Assume not until you have checked. Joinery is exactly what listing tends to protect, and original doors, staircases, shutters, panelling and mouldings are often part of the listing even though they are internal. Where original joinery is protected, matched repair is usually the approach that gets approved rather than replacement.
Should I repair the original joinery or replace it?
Repair, in most cases. Original joinery in a Belfast period house is made of slow grown, dense timber that is better than anything available now and has already been through a century of movement. Splicing in new timber and matching the profile keeps the original, costs less, and on a listed building is often the only acceptable route.
Why do alcove units never fit properly?
Because chimney recesses in an old terrace are not rectangles. The two sides are different widths, the back wall bows and the floor falls towards the chimney. A carcase built square to a single measurement will not go in. Units have to be built slightly undersize and scribed to the room as it actually is.
Do you make things in a workshop or on site?
In the workshop wherever possible, and prepared for finish before it arrives. That means considerably less dust and noise in your house and a better result, because bench work beats work done off a pair of trestles in a hallway. Scribing and fitting are the parts that happen on site.
Can you make a door for a non standard opening?
Yes, and in older Belfast houses almost every opening is non standard. Rather than trimming a stock door until the stiles are uneven, which is what usually happens, we make the door to the opening. It also lets us match the panel arrangement of the other original doors in the house.
More Joinery & Carpentry From CSW
Get Your Free Quote Today!
Show us the space and, if there is a profile to match, keep an offcut for us. Most custom woodwork conversations get useful within about ten minutes of standing in the room. No charge for the visit.
- Call us: 07703 433214
- Email: Cswbuild@gmail.com
- Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland