Replacing damaged kitchen worktops

Theimaginator

I'm renting a room in London from a private live in landlord who is currently abroad on holiday. They've mentioned getting 'the housing people' to fix things before, perhaps they were referring to a housing trust or association.

Last night I dropped a bottle on the rounded edge of one of the kitchen worktops and dented the laminate surface.

I thought I might be able to repair it by cutting out a square section and sticking in an identical laminate strip (found at B & Q) and started picking off some of the loose bits, but quickly realised that I was out of my depth and had no idea what I was doing. Made a 3cm squared dent into a 6 by 2 cm scar, but didn't glue anything or apply any product at all.

The wood underneath isn't damaged at all.

The flat is new build, and the kitchen is small, opening up onto the living room. There are two kitchen work tops joined together into an L shape, with a hob installed into one of them and a sink into the other which also has a dishwasher and washing machine underneath.

I'm pretty sure an identical worktop could be obtained, possibly from B & Q. The laminate strip I bought matched exactly in pattern and shade.

I know that I need a professional to remove the worktop and replace it, and probably to replace both sections plus the splash guards. The worktops themselves might cost less than £300 to replace, and I think that I'm going to end up paying £300 to pay the professional for their labour.

I paid a £500 deposit before I moved in, plus rent in advance.

I'm going to tell the landlord and landlady when they get back from holiday, and offer to pay to replace everything.

So now I have four questions:

1. Do I hire a kitchen fitter or a joiner?
2. How do I find a reputable kitchen fitter/joiner?
3. Do I need to order the materials, or does the kitchen fitter/joiner do this?
4. How much will this all cost me, given that I'm renting in London?

bmunky7

You should probably do nothing until LL confirm what they expect / want to happen, if you are going to tell them all anyway.

1. Either a joiner or kitchen fitter can help. A joiner may be cheaper but get a few quotes. A general handyman / builder could also do the job.
2. Sites like ratedpeople.com is one option but word of mouth is better. Check if LL has a regular they use. Otherwise Google is your friend.
3. Depends. If you don't really know what's needed then best let them get materials so they have no excuse for not being able to do job and so you won't have to pay twice for materials.
4. Hard to say. £300-£500 perhaps. Your estimate of labour costs seems high for the work you describe. We recently paid £250 to get a boiler "boxed in" including materials and labour - about 2 or 3 hours work. That's in SE London / Kent.

buglawton

The landlord might have docked a fixed depreciation fee if it had been left as-is. Also, work top should be insured under the landlord's Fixtures policy so you would only pay the excess (max £200?)

Or try a quote from
http://www.magicman.co.uk/pages/kitchen-units-doors.php
Or
http://www.laminatesolutions.co.uk/examples/worktops.php

Theimaginator

bmunky7 wrote: »

You should probably do nothing until LL confirm what they expect / want to happen, if you are going to tell them all anyway.

1. Either a joiner or kitchen fitter can help. A joiner may be cheaper but get a few quotes. A general handyman / builder could also do the job.
2. Sites like ratedpeople.com is one option but word of mouth is better. Check if LL has a regular they use. Otherwise Google is your friend.
3. Depends. If you don't really know what's needed then best let them get materials so they have no excuse for not being able to do job and so you won't have to pay twice for materials.
4. Hard to say. £300-£500 perhaps. Your estimate of labour costs seems high for the work you describe. We recently paid £250 to get a boiler "boxed in" including materials and labour - about 2 or 3 hours work. That's in SE London / Kent.

I'm thinking of getting quotes via the Federation of Master Builders.

Do I need to order a new worktop or will the builder take measurements and order the worktop for me?

Annie1960

Don't do anything until you have discussed it with LL.