small kitchen budget refurb/rebuild

Joanthebone

Davesnave wrote: »

I bought some basic, but solid units from Howden's last week for less than the price of a screw-it-together-yerself alternative from one of the sheds.

Which is why I suggested he find a fitter first, who will advise and have access to trade deals.:)

FatVonD

Try googling ex display kitchens, there are a couple of good websites.

Failing that you will be able to get a b&q kitchen, cabinetry and fitted for less than £5,000.

knightstyle

Ask friends and neighbours for recommendations, Plus see if anyone is having a new kitchen soon, if you get together you will be in a good position to negotiate a discount.
As others have said cheapest flat packs can work out dearer in the long term.
For a really cheap kitchen, if selling for example, a coat of special paint on the doors or replace the doors with check curtain works!

Rambosmum

Why do you need a new kitchen? Is it to use, or to sell? The reason I ask is if it's to sell then new doors and worktop will be fine. If it's to use then ikea's most basic kitchen is £1500 plus fitting for a 10ft by 8ft room.

AlexMac

noclaf wrote: »

Im hoping this (£5k 'enough' )will be the case. its not in great condition guys, the main surfaces and especially around the cooker are covered in stubborn grease, some of which has been there a while. we had someone do work on the kitchen over 10 years back..was a bit shoddy in places but did the job. The kitchen is a fairly small box one so that should help keep costs down too....I think the units could be sourced for less than 1k if I find a good deal

Based on 15 years experience of several DIY kitchen jobs (using electricians, plumbers or if necessary, carpenters for the tricky bits), plus, latterly, getting kitchen fitters in, I'd say £5k is loads unless you want top-end kit. My last (admittedly very small) kitchen cost about £3.5k all in for kit and labour including a compact steel sink, new tap, waste etc, new gas hob (although we used the same oven). If the kitchen's 20 years old you probably won't get away with new doors, sink, hob, etc- but as carcasses cost very little that's no big deal.

Search for a couple of fitters from local ads, local papers, small local independent suppliers, word-of-mouth, or if all else fails, the sub-contarctors used by the big suppliers (below). Ask for quotes ensuring that any new electrical work will be certificated (or you could have problems if selling later) and if any gas fitting is done other than a simple re-connection of a hob that its a 'gas safe' registered fitter.

Builders prefer Howdens and Magnet as their carcasses come pre-assembled, which saves time (but see my comments below about costs) . So clarify if any quote by the fitter reflects flat-pack or pre-assembled units, and that it covers tiling, decoration, makinbg good and a new vinyl floor

Don't buy units before getting prices from the fitter as they may have their own supplier and bigger discounts, but look at B&Q, Magnet, Howdens and Wren kitchens to get an idea of style of door/drawer fronts. (ignore Magnet and Howdens' silly 100%+ over-quoted prices as these are artificially inflated to let your fitter pretend they're getting you a good deal ).

IKEA and B&Q prices are at least true, with only a 10% or so trade discount which you can get yourself at B&Q by asking for their 'tradepoint' card (which anyone with a brain and ID can get). While B&Q's quality and value ain't as good as IKEA's , IKEA are a time-wasting nightmare to deal with, whereas B&Q, if you (or the fitter) choose from stock, will deliver in days. I've used both and while some IKEA kit (e.g their glass-fronted wall units) is half the price of B&Q, I've used B&Q twice for DIY over the years and IKEA only once (because of their useless supply chain!)

For a small kitchen you'll spend between 1-2K on kit and less than that on fitting. So £5k should be stacks; the key thing is finding a decent fitter

noclaf

I will focus on finding a fitter first whether it be via friends or the shops then see what they say..if they are good and experienced am sure they will know what will work well etc 5k was just a rough figure I put out there, if I can do it for even less then certainly will do so.its unlikely this house will be sold anytime soon so not taking into a account how it would affect house valuation or resale value..just need a kitchen to do the job since the current one is in a bad state.

MisterB1959

5k will get a pretty decent kitchen - flat packs are very easy nowadays so don't worry about them - you can even get the worktops cut to size and cut outs for sinks etc - though it all depends on ur plans for the property, to live, sell, rent etc as to the final decisions

lil.smartie

The chippy who fitted our Ikea kitchen was actually really impressed with it! They like to sell you a Howdens one as they can make a chunk from it!

celyn90

I have an IKEA kitchen and I love it It was really reasonable cost-wise and it's really solid and well built.

We did use an independent fitter though - which worked out less than half the cost of what we were quoted by IKEA's in-house fitters.

abbyfabulous

I'm about to have an ikea kitchen - £2200 for the kitchen, keeping my freestanding fridge freezer/dishwasher/washing machine, having induction hob (ikea), pyolitic oven (zanussi), chimney hood (belling) and built in micro - to be bought. New appliances about £1000, fitting £1100.Tiles were £130 on wall/£350 floor (but I splashed out there). I'm also having the room rewired & need new fuse box & few other jobs around the house (£800 all inc) - so £5.5k but would be £5k if it wasn't for my crap electrics. And I am having everything I want! Ikea is great if it's near you, you can place order and keep looking in bargain corner to shave some off the total cost, return the new stuff after it arrives - I reckon I'll save £200 from doing that. Plus they often have built in appliances with 5 year warranty in bargain corner too - a dent or scratch probably doesn't matter if it's built in!