New worktop, sink and taps in kitchen

Snakey

Just been quoted £1,475 plus VAT for supply and fit of a new worktop, stainless steel sink and "monobloc" tap and get rid of the old stuff.

Kitchen is about ten foot by eight - I very roughly measured it as being around fourteen feet of worktop in total. Worktop will be cheap as this is what I specified.

I wasn't expecting it to cost this much (the price of the stuff looks like it should only be £2-300), but I have zero experience with having work done and have no idea how long it might take etc etc - I don't want to make myself look stupid if it's a bigger job than I'm thinking and that is really what it costs. But it sounds a lot. I mean the kitchen's already there with old worktops, tap and sink in situ, and I don't want anything moved around or anything, just replaced.

Location is central London, which I'm sure doesn't help.

Am I being ripped off?

cddc

Materials will probably be a bit more than you are thinking, and nothing is cheap if you live in inner London, but to me it looks a lot for what is probably little more than a days work for two people.

I would certainly get another quote..

This is for laminate worktop I presume?

Snakey

Yes, assuming laminate is the cheapest.

I've just moved into a new flat and the cunning plan was to "just" do the bits I couldn't live with (the tap drips, the sink doesn't drain properly, and the worktops are covered with burnt-pan marks and cuts and look really bad) while saving up to get a fancy new kitchen in 3-4 years' time. But this is going to be the best part of two grand with VAT, and if that's really what it costs I'm wondering whether to just live with it and put that money towards the new kitchen.

I kind-of had it in my head that it'd be a couple of hundred quid for the kit and a couple of hundred quid for someone to install it, say £6-700 for the lot including VAT, but I'm starting to realise I'm being wildly unrealistic (I also had a quote for doing up the bathroom which was about three times what I'd imagined, so - not having much financial wriggle room having sunk nearly all my spare cash into buying the place - I'm reeling a bit this month all round. I was too busy dealing with the purchase to properly research the aftermath).

cddc

Three lengths of worktop £200-£300, sink and taps probably £120 for something basic but reasonable, plus waste kit, tails, colourfill and a few other bits, and allow him a new router bit. Lets be very generous and allow them £600 for materials inc vat. That still means they are charging £1100 labour inc vat.

You are being unrealistic in expecting it to cost 6-700, but I would have thought that you should be able to find someone to do it for £1000-1300 all in.

Yes it is London. Yes you are being unrealistic, but I think someone is trying to make a fast buck out of you too.....

uk_messer

You can fix the dripping tap with a new washer for pennies. You can fix the slow draining by unscrewing the trap and clearing the crud out. That will cost you nothing.

Fill up the bad cuts with worktop filler if it helps and save your money. It's not emergency stuff, is it? Especially when you're strapped for cash.

That's way over the top but this is rip off London where tradesmen know they can get away with it. Plus we don't even know if he's going to be doing a proper butt joint with a router, he might just stick one of those tacky joining strips on it.

Snakey

Good point messer. Absolutely not life-threatening. I was just excited about finally owning my own place, one big part of this was the belief that I could get it done up exactly how I wanted it. I realise now how much I had underestimated the cost of putting right all these things that I had noted when viewing the place, much less making improvements.

I need to get over my fear of flooding myself and my downstairs neighbour and see what sort of DIY I am capable of, and the money I save can go towards eventually getting a new kitchen.

The only thing close to "essential" is replacing the apparently-too-small pipes in the central heating system, since I hear the flats are hard to heat anyway so I want something that's properly efficient. Everything else, I can save up for - and I'll use the time to do some proper research so that I know more about what each job involves.

uk_messer

You're not alone. Every new home buyer has done that. Luckily, today it's so easy to get information on doing it yourself from websites/youtube etc. Good luck.