Kitchen fitting - Gas hob, floor tiles

Enigma80

Hi all,

We're having a new kitchen fitted, and I need to clear up a few things.

I was prepared to remove the units myself as I wanted to tile wall to wall before the new units were fitted in. However, after the inspection by the fitter yesterday I have a questions.

1. Can I remove the current gas hob without any 'gas safety' certifications? The idea was to turn off the gas at mains, let the hob burn any gas off and then remove it.

2. How much would I look at being charged for disconnecting a gas hob and having the supply capped off ready for the new hob to go in - I need gas turned back on hence the capping off as we still need heating and hot water.

3. Do most people tile wall to wall or just to under the kickboards? If i tile after units are in, then I can tile under the kickboard, but I already see a number of issues here. Kickboards are fitted, so once I tile the kickboards won't fit back in because the tile will raise the height. Also I won't be able to tile under the edges of the unit.

I'm planning on removing the floor tiling myself. If I remove tiles myself, I can't remove then from under the units until the units are removed. The fitters want to do it all in one go over 3 days. So there won't be enough time in between removing and fitting new units for me remove floor tiles.

Unless I can find a way to prop up the hob and remove the rest of the units myself?

Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way, can anyone give me a better idea/plan?

I've done all this sort of DIY myself including plastering and wiring, but never in a house that's being lived in, always in empty properties. We have two young children and both of us work so we need to keep the kitchen running during this time. We're planning on bulk cooking more than we usually do to stock up during the work and moving things like kettle and toaster in to living room. We'll buy a microwave for then was well.

Any help and advice appreciated.

Aylesbury_Duck

Suggestions included in your text, below.

Enigma80 wrote: »

Hi all,

We're having a new kitchen fitted, and I need to clear up a few things.

I was prepared to remove the units myself as I wanted to tile wall to wall before the new units were fitted in. However, after the inspection by the fitter yesterday I have a questions.

1. Can I remove the current gas hob without any 'gas safety' certifications? The idea was to turn off the gas at mains, let the hob burn any gas off and then remove it. You "can", but you definitely should not.

2. How much would I look at being charged for disconnecting a gas hob and having the supply capped off ready for the new hob to go in - I need gas turned back on hence the capping off as we still need heating and hot water. My gas fitter charged £25 I think.

3. Do most people tile wall to wall or just to under the kickboards? If i tile after units are in, then I can tile under the kickboard, but I already see a number of issues here. Kickboards are fitted, so once I tile the kickboards won't fit back in because the tile will raise the height. Also I won't be able to tile under the edges of the unit.
Just to the underside of the units - why waste time and materials doing more? A decent fitter will cut the kickboards to a height to accommodate your chosen tiles plus cement. Don't forget to leave space for the feet of any freestanding or integrated appliances.

I'm planning on removing the floor tiling myself. If I remove tiles myself, I can't remove then from under the units until the units are removed. The fitters want to do it all in one go over 3 days. So there won't be enough time in between removing and fitting new units for me remove floor tiles. Remove the ones you can get at in advance, then do the rest in the time gap the fitters give you between removal and installation.

Unless I can find a way to prop up the hob and remove the rest of the units myself?

Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way, can anyone give me a better idea/plan?

I've done all this sort of DIY myself including plastering and wiring, but never in a house that's being lived in, always in empty properties. We have two young children and both of us work so we need to keep the kitchen running during this time. We're planning on bulk cooking more than we usually do to stock up during the work and moving things like kettle and toaster in to living room. We'll buy a microwave for then was well.

Any help and advice appreciated.

Owain_Moneysaver

If your hob is connected via a self-sealing bayonet connector hose you can unplug it, but I wouldn't recommend leaving the connector open as sometimes they don't always seal completely.

If the hob is connected via a fixed pipe then you must not do the job yourself unless you are classed as competent under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations.

One- or two-ring tabletop hobs are pretty cheap to buy if you need a hob to keep you going.

InsertWittyName

Replaced my kitchen last year and also replaced the hob.

Previously the hob was connected via a fixed pipe and I got a gas engineer to come out and cap it off.

Do not attempt to do this yourself!

He later came back, fixed a on/off lever to it and fitted the hob.

I paid £80 all in for the two visits.

[EDIT] Just noticed your other question around propping up the hob and removing the units yourself... I was also doing the work while we were still using the kitchen. What I did was leave the oven and hob in place, and took out the units underneath on each side (leaving a sort of oven & hob thing, with the worktop protruding out on either side like wings!) then trim the worktop down so it barely overhung the oven & hob. That meant it was still usable while I was able to pull up tiles etc.

Depending on how your kitchen is laid out will change what you're able to do.

Hope this helps.

Enigma80

Thanks for replying guys!

I just had a thought, maybe a stupid thought... So its currently tiled to the walls. Would it cause any problems to the fitters if I left those tiles on where the new cabs are going? Or is that just a stupid idea? I was looking at it from the perspective of saving time.

I'm still going through stuff in my head and trying to make a clear project plan including timescales etc.

We usually bulk cook at home and freeze as our boys have dairy and soya intolerance so we can control their food. We'll just make sure we cook enough for the week so that we can just defrost. The little one is at nursery fulltime so we cook his meals the night before most of the time. We'll just prepare ahead for the week as best possible.

They will charge £125 to remove old kitchen and hob, but if I can claw some of that back it would make things a little easier. I've just had one quote by a local gas man for £55 including capping and leak testing.

onomatopoeia99

I paid £60 by a local RGI to have the pipe in my loft capped off so I could take out the piping to the kitchen for the freestanding gas cooker, which included before and after leak tests.

I had previously removed the cooker myself, as it was connected by a self sealing bayonet.

Enigma80

Hi all, just an update and another question...

Got a certified gas man to remove old hob and cap off for £40, he's booked now for the 2nd of June.

Regarding the tiles, I'm thinking to leave them until units are fitted. Then take of end panels and plinths to remove old tiles (currently wall to wall) enough to fit new tiles in.

This way the cabs will have a clean and level floor to sit on and I can save money and time by not having to buy tiles for the whole floor or worry about levelling the whole kitchen.