Preparing for a new kitchen

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Can I ask what you mean by a "breathable" paint? I've just worked on the basis of Dulux or Dulux Kitchen & Bathroom - and have ended up with some problems with paint peeling off new plaster (though the workmen assured me the plaster had finished drying:cool:). Are this standard type of paint "breathable"?

You want a watered-down first coat called a mist coat on first of all. This should be a trade type matt paint. Then a further coat or two of a matt finish, rather than vinyl.

We've done this all over the many wall/ceilings we've had skimmed or re-done from scratch. No peeling problems at all.

moneyistooshorttomention

Dave

While you're thinking about kitchens - there is a possibility I will end up having one built specially for me in the event. Cue for "attack of nerves" at the thought.

If so - I will have to arrange for the room to be empty at the outset. Some friends of mine promptly told me they would be coming round to help me clear the room of existing kitchen if that's what I decide:D:T.

How long/how difficult do you think it is to strip an existing kitchen room bare - all units and worksurface removed?

madeinireland_2

To remove existing kitchen a day at most - maybe a bit more if you have to strip the floor back to concrete as well if you have tiles.

Davesnave

As above, but it took me an extra two days to remove the tiles carefully, because I wanted to re-use them elsewhere.

My kitchen is 20' x 12'. Yours might be a little quicker.

And of course the Aga went earlier! :rotfl:

moneyistooshorttomention

Thankfully - no floor tiles to remove. I think it's bare concrete probably underneath the base units.

Thankfully - the Rayburn went shortly after I bought the house and all its surrounding tiles, etc, are long gone.

I would think, as kitchens go, it shouldnt be a particularly hard one comparatively speaking. No lights connected to units. No built-in appliances. There's an L shaped run of base units (with worktop on) and a couple of wall units.

I presume we would leave my sink in place and working and just break out the stuff around it?

The cooker is a free-standing one sitting on its own - so that's not a problem.

I'm assuming that means we'd just have a fairly straightforward load of undoing screws and carrying the bits out of units and worktop out to do? Followed by bashing some tiles off the wall near those units and that that is basically that?

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I presume we would leave my sink in place and working and just break out the stuff around it?

Possibly. A lot of sinks have shut off valves in the pipework leading to them so they can be disconnected.

Depends who's doing the plumbing bit really as well.

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

Possibly. A lot of sinks have shut off valves in the pipework leading to them so they can be disconnected.

Depends who's doing the plumbing bit really as well.

Is there an easy way I could tell by looking as to whether mine has a shut-off valve?

If that's a way that's even a little bit more expensive and/or difficult to do - then I'll hazard an educated guess that this house won't have that (ie with the way everything had been done on the cheap and in bodged sort of way basically - and I've been putting right the bodges ever since...).

But you never know your luck and it might actually have been done properly....

copperjar

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I'd be feeling more than a little dubious about that timespan as well.

I dont know - but would rather be assuming something as minor as that would be done within half a day.

That's what I thought. He obviously saw I didn't really know what I was asking for and tried it on

glasgowdan

An electrician is going to need to know exactly where things are going to be situated, and will need to make more than one visit in all likelihood. He can fit wiring, then will probably need to come back after the carcasses are fitted to actually plug in the oven etc, unless he fits standard 3 pin plugs.

Regards removing a kitchen, I did mine in about 4-5 hours on my own. Worktops have screws going up into them from the units, which I didn't realise until I'd lump-hammered a few of them out hulk fashion. I unwired the oven and also had to remove a number of old fashioned plugs that were fitted to the back panels of the units for the appliances.

*~Zephyr~*

First things first, remember the essentials:

A plentiful supply of gin
Several gallons of tonic
A tree-load of lemons
A darkened room to lie down in



Sorry to be flippant, but this was the only way I made it through my kitchen install - and my fitters were doing the lot: rip-out, electrics, plumbing, plastering - everything but the tiling. I don't think there's enough gin in the world to get me through organising several trades! You're much braver than I.

Trust me on the gin though