Redecorating kitchen in HMO

Skag

I want to redocorate a dated kitchen in one of my HMO properties, it's in a 4 bedroom house based in Brighton, but I don't know where to start. Are there "kitchen builders" or "kitchen deecorators" ? Also, can I go for something in around £1000-1500 ? It's roughly about 6 cuboards, and a kitchen/oven + extractor fan, any other surfaces and sink. Also, I will need a guy to take out all the existing kitchen and fit in the new one.
If I order it from IKEA, do they unpack/fit it for me or do I have to do it on my own?

Annie1960

A general builder or kitchen fitting company should be able to do this for you. In my experience you are likely to get better value from a general builder, but as usual get a few quotations, meet the people who will be doing the work, and if in doubt ask if you can see examples of similar projects they have done locally.

I suspect your price is optimistic!

AlexMac

You could certainly buy new units and appliances for a DIY job, fit and redecorate well within that budget , but you'd need to double, treble or more it for a job by a local builder.

I really rate IKEA stuff as its cheap, robust and well-designed (for example, a glass-door fronted wall unit costing say £70-80 in IKEA will be twice that in other suppliers). IKEA now fit (ask em), but I usually DIY, getting a plumber or electrician in for the bits I can't handle or which require certification - and I have done a couple of kitchen for less than your budget.

But how bad is it? If the carcasses (the insides of the base and wall units) are still sound, they can be cleaned up and new doors can be fitted, instantly transforming tired old units into clean, modern looking ones. You can even get away with plonking new worktops on top of the old ones and dropping in a new sink and ceramic electric or gas hob where the old ones were to minimise plumbers' and electricians' work. Ovens tend to be a standard size so can also just slot in (or if you had a freestanding cooker, just buy one the same width). If the wall-tiling is still OK then all you need to do is clean and repaint walls and ceiling...

New doors can be tricky (IKEA ones are different sizes from places like Wickes and B&Q) but if you really can't find ones which fit, you can have new ones made to any size - even down to specifying where the hinges fit.

But if you really are useless at DIY- get someone in. If you bodge the finish or take weeks to do the work which a local firm could do in a few days, you'll lose rent so it will be a false economy! Good luck

AdrianC

Do IKEA unpack and fit your kitchen...? Have you ever been to an IKEA?

anselld

AdrianC wrote: »

Do IKEA unpack and fit your kitchen...? Have you ever been to an IKEA?

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/service-offer/kitchen-installation/index.html#

Pixie5740

Skag wrote: »

I want to redocorate a dated kitchen in one of my HMO properties, it's in a 4 bedroom house based in Brighton, but I don't know where to start. Are there "kitchen builders" or "kitchen deecorators" ? Also, can I go for something in around £1000-1500 ? It's roughly about 6 cuboards, and a kitchen/oven + extractor fan, any other surfaces and sink. Also, I will need a guy to take out all the existing kitchen and fit in the new one.
If I order it from IKEA, do they unpack/fit it for me or do I have to do it on my own?

Yes IKEA do offer a kitchen installation service but it will cost you over and above the cost of the units, work tops, oven, etc. I think to buy a kitchen and have it installed you'll be lucky if it only ends up costing you between £1,000 and £1,500.

As someone has suggested getting new cupboard doors rather getting a whole new cupboard would help keep costs down but just check the measurements.

Mallotum_X

Ikea will fit it but they are expensive. We had an ikea kitchen fitted by a local builder for about a third of the cost ikea wanted to charge, they quoted 2k for a 2 day fit.

Unless you DIY you won't be getting it all done on that budget.

Campervanman

I have property in Brighton (and come from there originally). There are a couple of good guys - one Hanover the other in Hove - that have done an excellent job for me in the past. I found them through the local Hanover free magazine (in any coffee shop in that part of town) and then saw they were on checkatrade - you could look there first. As others have said you are looking for durability not design so a good go-over the orginal carcasses with sugarsoap and then new doors made of MDF and worktops from Wickes might come in on your budget with fitting. If the trades know what they are doing this can look good and be lower maintenance in the long run as you can repaint the doors whilst high gloss finish with a scratch is difficult to smarten up.
If the carcasses have died then IKEA ones with the MDF doors can look good as well as durable- I did it in a high end renovation and it looked fantastic - I realise looks aint the issue here however .