At the risk of sounding thick.. kitchen question

BoltonMinx

Hi guys

AFAIK, kitchens cost a lot right ? I've been hearing figures of about £10k to 15k for a fully fitted kitchen. So I was quite suprised to see an advert for a shaker kitchen at B&Q for £2k, so whats missing ? Installation alone can't take up to £8k....

trafalgar_2

You'd be surprised,labour is very expensive ,the units from other places are possibly better quality,but don't forget you might also be adding in things like retiling or moving sockets.......................which if your fitting your own kitchen you will do yourself before collecting the kitchen from B&Q

moneysavingplumber

It does depend alot on what kitchen you want and what other work is involved. It's alot like a bathroom, things like plastering, tiling, flooring and electrics and lighting tend to get overlooked. A decent kitchen fitter should be able to get an averaged sized kitchen fitted within 1-2 weeks and at £200 a day that's only £2000 labour at the most, if he/she is Corgi registered and Electrical 'Part P' registered then the only other tradesmen needed in worst case scenario is plasterer and floor/wall tiler. So with a £2K kitchen you should still be able to get it fitted for an additional £3/4K.

Average bathroom replacements cost around £5K if ceilings, lights, wall tiles, shower valves and flooring are all renewed as well. The suite might only cost £600!

Joto_2

Don't forget that when a company advertises 12 Units for £2k for example, that the price doesn't always include plinths, cornices,door knobs,interiors, worktops, end panels etc. All the little extras quite often cost more than the unit themselves. The manufacturer may also have different quality units that they supplier to different outlets.

micko2602

I bought a kitchen from Wickes for £1400 including stainless stell oven, hob and extractor. This included 7 base units, 5 wall units, oven housing, 8 doors, 4 drawers and drawer fronts, stainless handles ans a shelving unit,all plinths and cornices. All doors have dampers fitted so they dont slam shut and the drawers have a soft close mechanism so its like closing a bentley door. Also got it on 10 months interest free. I then bought all my worktops from B&Q, ebony granite gloss (black shiney stuff) 6 metres for £80 (i think), 9 metres of matching upstand for £45 (again i think), round stainless bowl and sink also B&Q £95, curved stainless steel single mixer tap with ceramic washers £35 ebay ( exact same one in B&Q £99) Integerated dishwasher from appliances direct £299 (wickes had quoted £599)
I removed the old kitchen myself, removed a partitoin wall (including removing a cloakroom toilet and sink and moving a radiator) and plastered the walls myself (this took a bit of time but saved me a few quid. I put in new lights and helped with the installation of the new sockets (because you need to be approved to do that ). Decorated the room ready for the new Kitchen, put together all the units myself and got a mate in to help with installing it all. finally tilled th efloor.
Only thing I didn't do was connect the hob as I don't like messing with gas, done by a Corgi registered fitter for £20.
Total cost of the Kitchen including fitting was under £2000. Not sure how much I saved in total but well worth it.
Bet advice I can give is;
A) Get a few designs and quotes for the kitchen from vaious places, with and without fitting.
Get a few prices for fitting make sure it includes everything, ie electrics, tiling etc.
C) Look at what jobs you can do and see how much of a difference they make to the overall price.
D) Break down the cost of all th eparts in th ekitchen and see if you can get the same or similar elsewhere for cheaper, Items like taps can be found online alot cheaper.

gizmoleeds

Good for you micko! :T

micko2602 wrote:

...and plastered the walls myself (this took a bit of time but saved me a few quid.

I'm amazed! Did you actually get it all smooth and flat? I could never attempt this - it looks like an art form.

moneysavingplumber

gizmoleeds wrote:

Good for you micko! :T


I'm amazed! Did you actually get it all smooth and flat? I could never attempt this - it looks like an art form.

Fair play to Micko2602, it's great if you can do all this and some people enjoy it. The above post highlights something important though. Just make sure you are confident before trying even tiling yourself, if the result is disappointing it's the first thing everyone will notice and may be a constant reminder of the disappointment. If you're one of those irritating people that is naturally good at everything, then go for it and proceed with caution! Don't forget as previously pointed out, all electrics and gas have to be done by qualified people.

micko2602

gizmoleeds wrote:

Good for you micko! :T


I'm amazed! Did you actually get it all smooth and flat? I could never attempt this - it looks like an art form.

I used plasterboard first, then lightly skimmed with finishing plaster, before giving them a quick sanding. It took me probably 4x longer than a professional but its money in my pocket and beer in my belly!

I've done a lot of DIY so I'll try most things and I watch alot of Home and Leisure so get loads of hints and tips of there. Best thing is know your limitations, don't try and do something you know you have no chance of doing right.

BoltonMinx

I'm beggining to think learning a lot more about D.I.Y will be worth it, if labour costs so much :eek:

P.S A month ago I put together a flat pack shoe cabinet bought for £14.99 from LIDL. oooh I felt so macho with my power tools

gizmoleeds

micko2602 wrote:

don't try and do something you know you have no chance of doing right.

What if you have never tried something before but have loads of confidence though? :rotfl:

I would never try plastering. I have done lots of flat pack furniture, though (and have repeatedly sworn I will never do it again :rolleyes:, never shop at Argos again because of their deliberately misleading instructions etc.) and having seen our kitchen being installed am quite confident I could have a go at that one day!

tightgit_2

Well done micko. Out of interest how did you get on with doing the mitres on the worktops ?