Kicthen re-vamp... on the cheap!

Wee-Bee

Our kitchen is desperately old and dreary and the dark wood and stained white work surfaces are dying for a re-vamp! Also, the sink unit is stained and the tap is constantly dripping and can only be fixed through a re-fit.

Sadly, we can't afford a total re-fit so I'm thinking of a bit of a makeover where we buy a new worktop and sink and some cupboard doors and then polish the existing wall and floor tiles and paint any exposed dark wood panels. I'd need a joiner to install them (well maybe not the doors)- do you think a joiner would do that for such a small job? If so, what kind of money are we talking for installation? And can anyone recommend a good supplier? (Our work-tops would need to be cut as the cooker stands in the corner of our kitchen at a weird angle with the worktops meeting it at either side.

Thanks! :j

phill99

I run a Maintenance Company and do a lot of kitchen installs.

A few weeks ago a customer asked me to price for doing exactly what you are doing ie replacement doors and drawer fronts and replacement of the worktops. Because the kitchen was the original builders install and some 20 years old, all of the door sizes were no longer available 'off the shelf' from the usual outlets. I got a couple of the online companies to quote for having the doors made (there are a number of companies that do this).

I then, out of interest, asked Howdens to quote on supplying a brand new kitchen including carcasses and doors, plinths, cornice etc based on the existing layout of the customers kitchen (ie a like for like basis). Bizarrely it was cheaper for me to buy a brand new kitchen for the gentleman than it was to have the doors made.

Therefore, you need to consider a couple of things. If the kitchen units are non current standard sizes, it may be very expensive to replace just the doors etc rather than the whole kitchen. Obviously it is dearer in labour to replace the kitchen rather than just replacing the doors etc, but this expense may be offset by the material saving cost.

Also bear in mind that if the carcasses are old and falling apart, it may be false economy to try and put new doors on them.

If your kitchen is more modern and you can do a like for like replacement with the doors, there are a number of outlets where you can buy doors on there own quite cheaply - B + Q, Wickes, Howdens etc. These places will also supply sinks taps etc as well as worktops, as do many web based retailers.

Most joiners will take the job on, so get a few quotes.

nickj_2

if your doors and units are in a reasonable condition , why not just give the doors a lick of paint and maybe get some new handles

Waterlily24

I was going to suggest painting the doors too. We've recently had a new kitchen and I used the old kitchen cupboards for my craft room (they were laminate). Hubby painted them, used a special undercoat/primer for laminate and then painted them with satin finish paint. They look great but wouldn't be suitable for a kitchen now as they are pink and blue. lol