HELP!! Kitchen Help - Kitchen rebuild advice needed

furrypig · 11 May 2005 at 11:09PM

As some of you know, after my slug invasion I found out I had a major problem with damp in my kitchen! Now we have to have all the floating floor removed along with all the lower part of the kitchen cupboards etc and dehumidifiers put in to dry it all out.This is happening tomorrow which means no kitchen for 3-4 weeks!
:eek:

So my first cry for help is Edit by Board Guides: We have left your first question in the original thread in "Old style"

Second cry for help is we need to replace the kitchen and not sure how it will all go. The insurance company are paying out for some of it (not sure of amount yet) and they are paying for the builders to fit it. We want to choose our own kitchen and replace the existing one now we have this opportunity. This was not something we were budgeting for this year but were thinking about doing it and now this has happened we think it best to make the best use of resources. Anyway hubby has some great ideas but I am getting concerned about the cost going up and up and up!! He asked for a quote for granite work tops and it was about £1500 more than laminate ones! But he says 'I think I would regret not having it'. We don't want lino but tiles, now hubby says we should get under floor heating, cost about £500 plus installation costs!! How do we do the best without getting carried away??? Anyone have any ideas about how to get the best value for kitchens without poor quality?? Anyone had their kitchen replaced??

Long long post hope you are all still awake!!

Looking forward to all your replies and help!

Thanks in advance:T

Lillibet_2 · 12 May 2005 at 8:32AM

My parents recently upgraded their worktops from inlaid tiles to a granite overlay, a very thin layer of compressed granite chippings was laid over the top of the tiled work tops, cost just under £2K for a HUGE (+16ft by 20ft!) kitchen including 2 long window sills, the company came out & measured up which took about an hour then came back & fitted about 2 weeks later, all fitted in one day & not at all messy. The end result looks just like solid granite work tops. I believe they could have had the granite overlay put straight onto cheap but strong MDF worktops for a granite look in a new kitchen.

I cook beef burginon (Sp?) & roast chicken in my slow cooker without pre-browning or any other cooking. Have also tried doign a pork casserol but wasn't very pleased with this, maybe because we don't like pork very much though.

HTH & good luck

Magentasue · 12 May 2005 at 9:06AM

I had more or less exactly the same thing happen a few years ago in our old house. Major difficulties were stopping toddler opening kitchen door and falling in to abyss and where to put allthat kitchen stuff.

Can you get a neighbour or use a dry garage to store stuff? Preparing meals without a kitchen is hard enough, doing it without any space is hell.

Galtizz · 12 May 2005 at 9:07AM

Did you see Relocation, Relocation last night?? It was a revisited and the guy had done up his kitchen in a modern homely-cottagey style. He bought some cheap units (from B & Q or wherever) then bought some cheap MDF doors (if your hubby is handy he might be able to make you some??) they were shaker style with a 'frame' around the door (bit like THIS) and then he had painted them.

Getting cheap units and doors left him money left over to buy fancy tiles and fancy worktops.

It is possible to get a cheap kitchen by just shopping around. I had to get a new one a couple of years ago and it cost around £1400 and that was for everything, units, doors, handles, wall tiles, floor tiles, new cooker, new sink etc. It's a big kitchen too (biggest room in the house) I used places like Topps tiles buying their offer tiles, but shopping around for everything so the grout and the tile cement came from Wickes. Another thing that made it cheaper was that OH fitted it himself at weekends and evenings. It took a couple of months rather than a couple of days but it saved a fourtune.

cristin · 12 May 2005 at 10:40AM

furrypig wrote:

So my first cry for help is what can I cook without my kitchen??
Second cry for help is we need to replace the kitchen .......hubby has some great ideas but I am getting concerned about the cost going up and up and up!! He asked for a quote for granite work tops and it was about £1500 more than laminate ones......How do we do the best without getting carried away??? Anyone have any ideas about how to get the best value for kitchens without poor quality?? Anyone had their kitchen replaced??

Hi Furrypig,

hope you don't mind me jumping on your bandwagon, but me and hubby are going through the exact same crisis with our kitchen, only difference is that we have to replace ours as the cabinets are literally falling apart (it is over 20 years old). I am dreading being without a kitchen even for a minimum of 2 weeks, especially as I have two children (one 4yo and a 7month old that I am weaning hellpppppp!). I am in the process of stocking the freezer with meals to cope with not having a cooker and an oven, but will be borrowing a microwave or buying one to cook these meals in, as I don't have one at the moment.

We are trying to save money on the kitchen cabinets by getting them though a builders merchants, we are keeping our existing fridge, cooker, dishwasher and washing machine (we already have these and they are almost new, which will also save money) and because of this money saving, we are considering granite worktops. We went to see a granite company this week, and if anything it really helps to "see" the stone for real, rather than choose from a photo. I am really interested in any advice others can give especially about the granite, flooring and the splashbacks.

Squeaky I know this is a little bit off topic, but I still need some ideas on stocking up my freezer as cheaply as poss

Furrypig if you like, please PM me as I live in Surrey too

My parents recently upgraded their worktops from inlaid tiles to a granite overlay, a very thin layer of compressed granite chippings

Lilibet do you think you could PM me the name of the company please as this sounds really good. thank you

catznine · 12 May 2005 at 12:03PM

Hi Furrypig

We have just come thru this situation and now have a new fitted kitchen. We were having a fair bit of structural work done too and now have a utility room and downstairs cloakroom so was quite messy for a while (lovely now though so worth it)

Anyway we moved the microwave, slowcooker and kettle into our dining room and managed to cook most meals using that combination. Often main course in microwave e.g. bolognaise, curry, stew, casseroles etc and a pudding in the slowcooker (once so busy we forgot we had baked apples in slow cooker for 2 days they were lovely and melted in mouth when we did get to them

)

I did miss being able to bake though but main problem was the dust so you won't want to do anything too complex. We did open a lot of tins during that time

As for where to put contents of kitchen while the work is going on well we were lucky our daughter was at uni so everything went in her room! lol Did have a bit of a problem finding her bed though on the odd weekend when she wanted to come home :eek:

As for units we had fairly cheap beech ones MFI but from Howdens the company that our builders like to use. You can choose from several different handles to get the look you want. We had a dark colour laminate worktop, cheaper - we have pets, and we can always change the look of the kitchen at a later date just by changing the worktops! But I really like them at the moment as they don't show up every mark and I just dettox them (I know vinegar in some form would be more MSE

) everyday.

Good luck with your kitchen!

Hth

Lillibet_2 · 12 May 2005 at 12:18PM

Hi Catznine

I too have a Howdens kitchen, comming upto 3 years old now, my builder recommended them & gave me a catalogue, I picked the cupboards & worksurface I wanted & he ordered it & had it delivered directly to me so we got it at his trade discount price:D . The builder fitted it for us, we sensibly went on holiday for 3 weeks & left him to get on with it so it was all lovely & done when we got back (only recommended if you trust your builder though!:eek: . He gave us a big discount on the labour beacuse we weren't going to be around to rush him to finish ASAP, he could do it at his leisure & leave the house in a mess overnight with no problems)

I am impressed with the quality of the Howdens kitchen, especially for the price, total was less than £3K fitted inculding all new plumbing & appliances & wall tiling for kitchen & conservatory/utility room plus a further £500 to get the floor quarry tiled, although we only got around to that this year:o & we don't have underfloor heating.

Tip for anyone getting a new gas cooker/hob : Make sure you get it checked between installation & first use by a corgi gas plumber to make sure it is safe especailly if you fit it yourself or your builder/fitters aren't Corgi registered, the most likely time for a fault or gas leak is first use of new installations & if you haven't had it certified & have a gas explosion, not only is it potentially deadly (& very very messy in your nice new kitchen) but your insurance may not pay up beacuse you didn't take all reasonable precautions.

Savvy_Sue · 14 June 2005 at 11:35PM

furrypig wrote:

He asked for a quote for granite work tops and it was about £1500 more than laminate ones! But he says 'I think I would regret not having it'. We don't want lino but tiles, now hubby says we should get under floor heating, cost about £500 plus installation costs!!

I think you have to work out what you can afford. If that means he 'regrets' not having his granite worktops, tough. How hard is it to replace just worktops later?

And if you are using floor tiles, remember that nothing will bounce on them like they would on lino or something more forgiving. And yes they may be cold, so underfloor heating might be nice. But would a 'warmer' floor surface be more sensible? Also you can get fan heaters which fit into the plinth of the cupboards, that might work out cheaper and do a similar job.

Rosey... · 18 June 2005 at 10:14PM

Hi pig.

We just got a kitchen from wickes'. don't bother using them unless you want to write a 3 page complaint. however we did get a good rebate...

Just in the process of getting one from "howdens" they are a trade company but dont let that stop you. They are the same firm as MFI only better. They are cheaper and will save 3-4 days of work because they come ready assembled. P.s. Every carpenter I have spoken to about my problems all winked knowingly and then said something along the lines of should have gone to howdens!

Buy appliences seperatly. They are cheaper if you use a shop bot. also you can take them with you when you next move.

Under floor heating. Most tile companies stock a product we used that is electric. very easy to install provided you can wire a plug. and it works like an electric blanket under the tiles costs about 3p per month to run. unit price varies on size of kitchen.

Ted_Hutchinson · 18 June 2005 at 10:28PM

Just in the process of getting one from "howdens" they are a trade company but dont let that stop you.

The application form for a "Trade" account does seem very straightforward and the fact you may pay cash on collection makes it fairly straightforward. The units do seem very good quality to me.

newfunk · 19 June 2005 at 9:35AM

Howdens units are great, and the fact they come put together against flat pack is brilliant! The trade discounts they give are very good, and can make for a cheapish kitchen refit...Ive used them a few times and have never had a problem, compared to MFI ( which is the same company)

HELP!! Kitchen Help - Kitchen rebuild advice needed

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