New Kitchen Advice

snapyou

I have a large kitchen/dining room with 10'
high ceilings.

I am planning on a complete overhaul:old kitchen thrown out/walls skimmed/painted/new flooring(currently wooden flooring)/new lighting and new kitchen units/appliances.

Any advice on the order I should get the work done?
Is there anywhere that would do the whole lot for me?
I'm in Edinburgh

Thanks in advance

Mikeyorks

snapyou wrote: »

... and new kitchen untits ....

Decent local kitchen supplier is the best if you want the whole job doing. (don't touch any of the nationals) They may not do all the work but should integrate with the plasterer / tiler ... as the work proceeds and save you the hassle. Particularly crucial if you need to live in the place at the same time, so need some services still on and place electrically safe etc.

Ours were brilliant and made sure we knew what they were doing each day. It's not fun - and the odd takeaway will probably help - wash the plates in the bathroom! But the finished job will be worth it - provided you plan it well and keep it relatively simple.

Order of work can be relatively complex (eg I did a bit of decorating first, in an area I knew would be tricky once the wall units were in) - which is why it's best, and generally no more expensive, to get one reputable firm to manage it all - if you're in any doubt.

But struggling with the bit I've quoted above ..... some of the workmen can probably get their heads ... and hands ... around those?;)

ormus

sounds more like a local builder jobby, rather than a kitchen fitter specialist.

girlsmum

you could try a property maintenance company,.
DH works as a kitchen and bathroom fitter he is self employed, he does however sometimes does work for a local company, other guys come in do the plastering, bulding electrics etc, he fits the kitchen

Benny24

This is exactly what we are having done at the moment. But thankfully we are living elsewhere!

We took the old kitchen and the flooring & tiling out ourselves. Then our builder organised everyone else, Plummer, tiler, plasterer, and he will be fitting the kitchen.
First, we had a wall knocked through to make a kitchen diner and a stud wall put in. Electrics were done, and piping for new combi boiler. The kitchen has just been plastered, and next job is the floor tiles, and the the drill through for the down lighters. Plummer will be doing the stuff for the gas and sink.

As for the kitchen our builder organised us an appointment with Howdens. Nice girl came and I was expecting a lap top etc. She just had pen and paper and the Howdens kitchen book, said she would measure up, we pick our kitchen, tell her where appliances are going and anything in mind we fancied cupboard wise....and she'd go away and design it! mmmmm?

Two days later, Howdens came back with the price and design £2903. Design was ok, but there were a few issues with siting of the cooker and hob. We didn't feel as though we were involved in the process, if we could have watched her on the computer doing the work we could have discussed alternatives, and pointed out the issues.

We then went to B&Q with measurements, and got them to design the exact same kitchen, same standard of units, cost £2317 with an extra 15% off to be taken off this for their October sale. We were then able to tweak the problems that Howdens had, mainly because B&Q have a 925x925mm corner base unit, and Howdens don't. This allowed us much more flexibility in our design.

Howdens have said they will price match, but we are going with B&Q and the corner cabinets!

I hope any of this helps. Good luck!

majjie

You can do it either way. Get a builder in who will organise all the different trades - or get a kitchen company in, who will project manage for you.

Depends really on what quality of kitchen you want. If you're looking at MFI, B&Q and the like, then a builder can save you money by sourcing a similar kitchen from Howdens. Not all builders will pass on the saving to you, though. The trade discount is obviously designed to give the builder some profit on the kitchen.

You also need to be wary of a builder who doesn't organise a proper kitchen fitter. Fitting a kitchen isn't rocket science ... but it's like anything ... if you do it all the time you get to know all the tips and wrinkles and the end result can be quite a lot different.

If you're looking at a better quality kitchen, then a kitchen company might be a better choice. As Benny said there are quite a lot of differences in the units available from different suppliers (and they're obviously not going to tell you that the design could be made a lot better if you went to a company with different units!). In general, the more expensive the kitchen, the more unit options you get.

The main disadvantage of a kitchen company is likely to be extra cost. The ones who project manage obviously need more staff than the ones who just supply, or supply and fit the units.

The quality of service provided by either will also vary - like anything. If you can get either a builder or a kitchen company with recommendations then that makes a big difference.