Sarasota County · about 5 min (3 mi) from the shop
Kitchen Remodeling in Desoto Lakes, FL
Lake-lot block homes off DeSoto Road deserve cabinetry built a few miles away and fitted by the people who made it.
- Built in our Sarasota shop since 2011
- 4.4★ from 52 Google reviews
- 3D model before anything is built
- Solid-wood boxes, dovetail drawers
Yes, we serve Desoto Lakes for kitchen remodeling, cabinet replacement and refacing. The neighborhood sits about three miles north of our Lewis Ave shop, roughly five minutes up the road, in the area off DeSoto Road between Lockwood Ridge Road and Honore Avenue, just south of University Parkway.
What sets it apart is the water. Many homes back onto the neighborhood's lakes, so kitchens and family rooms face the view, and the 2020 Census counted only 843 housing units for 2,137 residents, a small, settled pocket where original block houses stand beside complete rebuilds. That mix means no two kitchens start from the same place.
Kitchen Remodeling in Desoto Lakes: Replacement, Refacing and Vanities
Most calls from this neighborhood ask for one of the following. The measuring visit tells us which one actually fits your boxes and plans.
Kitchen Remodeling
A kitchen remodel that reorients an older closed kitchen toward the lake, with drawings and a 3D model before any wall comes out. Rebuilds that already face the water may only need new cabinetry.
Custom Cabinetry
Full cabinet replacement in solid wood for block homes whose original boxes have seen decades of humidity and leaks. The boxes beside the sink and dishwasher usually show that damage first.
Cabinet Refacing
For a rebuild or later kitchen with sound boxes, refacing changes doors, drawer fronts and veneer without disturbing counters or plumbing. It suits a newer rebuild whose layout already frames the lake.
Bathroom Remodeling
Bathroom updates built around a custom vanity, matched in wood and finish to the new kitchen cabinets. Original-size baths in the older block houses gain drawers without moving the drain.
Custom Kitchen Islands
An island that faces the lake is seen from the living room, so its back gets finished panels and a seating overhang, and any floor outlet is planned with a licensed electrician who may need to trench the slab.
Outdoor Kitchens
Lake-facing lanais suit an outdoor kitchen, and its cabinetry is chosen for the morning damp off the water and the hard afternoon sun on the back of the house.
Lockwood Ridge to Lewis Avenue: How We Run a Desoto Lakes Job
Look at the room and the view
We measure, note sight lines to the lake, and mark plumbing, gas and outlet locations.
Design on paper and in 3D
Working drawings and a 3D model let you see the island, the cabinet heights and the window wall before anything is built.
Line up the trades
Moving the sink, the range or a wall puts a licensed contractor in charge of permit and rough-in; our dates follow theirs.
Shop build
Your cabinets come off our Lewis Ave benches in the hardwood you picked, and every drawer box is dovetailed.
Fit and finish
We install, adjust doors and drawers, and hand off to the stone fabricator for countertop templating, or set a wood top we built.
Block Homes and Rebuilds on the Lakes Off DeSoto Road
Older Desoto Lakes houses are single-family concrete-block homes with kitchens closed off from the living space. Their plaster-on-block walls take masonry anchors, not stud screws, for every wall cabinet. Newer rebuilds open the kitchen toward the back windows and lake. Both cases tend to lead to the same request: a layout that looks out at the water, with an island or peninsula and cabinets that look good from the living room, not just from the stove.
Living beside water raises the moisture stakes. Damp mornings, west sun through big rear windows and a dishwasher running daily all work on cabinet finishes. Plywood and hardwood boxes, sealed in the shop, shrug that off far better than particleboard, and a sun-facing wall can take a finish chosen to resist fading. Species matter too: cherry darkens quickly beside a bright lake window and walnut slowly lightens, so the 3D model is the place to decide which wall gets which wood before the back of the house starts aging it unevenly.
Bathrooms in these homes are often the original size, with vanities too shallow for real storage. We build custom bathroom vanities in the same shop and woods as the kitchen, so the house reads as one piece.
Permits, Roads and Landmarks Around University Parkway
Because Desoto Lakes lies outside city limits, Sarasota County, not the City of Sarasota, reviews any plumbing, electrical, gas or structural change. Getting there from the shop is a straight run north on local roads toward University Parkway, which keeps trips for measuring, sample checks and installation short. University Parkway also marks the Sarasota-Manatee county line along this stretch. Homes on its north side, Palm-Aire among them, carry a Sarasota mailing address and a 34243 ZIP code yet permit with Manatee County; Desoto Lakes, south of the parkway in ZIP 34235, stays with Sarasota County. Because a mailing address can mislead, we confirm the parcel's jurisdiction before the contractor applies. The usual route from the shop is north on Lockwood Ridge Road.
Unsure whether to keep your boxes? Our guide to cabinet refacing vs. replacement walks through what we look for: water damage at the sink base, sagging shelves, and whether the layout itself is worth keeping.
Reviews
What customers near Desoto Lakes say
4.4★ average from 52 reviews on Google. Quotes are from public Google reviews, shortened where marked.
“SRQ Woodwork did a terrific job with our kitchen cabinet project. Not only did they understand and embrace our design concept but they executed it with a remarkable level of attention to detail and professionalism. Further, their price was very reasonable.”
“SRQ recently installed lovely built-in shelves that has become the focal point of our living room. i highly recommend Graham's workmanship.”
FAQ
Desoto Lakes kitchen remodeling questions
Do you replace kitchen cabinets in Desoto Lakes?
Yes. Desoto Lakes is about three miles from our shop, and full cabinet replacement is one of the most common requests there. We measure, draw the new layout with a 3D model, build the cabinets in solid wood on Lewis Ave, and install them. If plumbing stays put, the job is usually simpler on the permit side; Sarasota County decides when one is required.
Could I reface the cabinets in my Desoto Lakes home instead of replacing them?
If the boxes are dry, square and in a layout you like, yes. Refacing means new doors and drawer fronts, plus matching veneer on the exposed frames. We check the sink base and lower cabinets for old water damage first, because swollen or delaminated boxes near a lake-side home's sink are the usual reason refacing is ruled out.
Do you build custom vanities for Desoto Lakes bathrooms too?
Yes. Vanities are built in the same shop and from the same woods as our kitchen cabinets, sized to your bathroom to the inch. That lets a shallow original vanity in one of the older Desoto Lakes block houses become a deeper one with drawers that work around the plumbing. Disconnecting and reconnecting the sink is a licensed plumber's job, and the top is templated once the vanity is fixed in place.
Can a closed Desoto Lakes kitchen be opened up toward the lake?
Often, but the wall decides. Many older block homes have a load-bearing or plumbing wall between kitchen and living area, so a licensed general contractor or engineer has to assess it and pull a Sarasota County permit. We design the cabinetry and island around whatever opening is approved, and the 3D model shows the new sight line to the water before demolition starts.
Nearby
Also serving near Desoto Lakes
- Kensington Park, FLAbout 5 min (2 mi) from the shop
- The Meadows, FLAbout 10 min (4 mi) from the shop
- North Sarasota, FLAbout 5 min (1 mi) from the shop
- Sarasota, FLAbout 5 min (2 mi) from the shop
- Fruitville, FLAbout 10 min (5 mi) from the shop
1121 Lewis Ave, Sarasota
About a quarter mile east of US 301, off 12th Street. Shop visits are by appointment. Please call ahead before stopping by Lewis Ave.
Living Well Crafted
Planning a kitchen in Desoto Lakes? Talk it through with the shop.
- Built in our Sarasota shop since 2011
- 4.4★ from 52 Google reviews
- 3D model before anything is built
- Solid-wood boxes, dovetail drawers