Kitchen extension and saving costs

d0nkeyk0ng

I know - best way to save is to not spend the money on an extension. But it needs to be done. 

At what points can we save money without ending up with something cheap and nasty? I have minimal DIY skills so plan to get people in to do much of the work. We’ve decided to go for laminate worktops rather than anything fancy like quartz. 

Appliances - we will reuse our dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer. We will need a new grill and oven but I don’t know which brands would be good to go for. Bog standard stainless steel sink and taps. 

There will be a set of bifolding doors into the garden (non-negotiable) and some skylights. One run of kitchen units against a wall and then an island (too wide to have just units either side). 

theonlywayisup

The biggest saving to be had is in labour but you've ruled that one out.  

Unless you are having aluminium bifold doors you should not consider them.  If you are thinking of plastic then opt for sliding instead.  I personally would still opt for sliding (we have aluminium bifolds and they do not get used as much as we had anticipated). 

I would not be compromising on the quality of finish - units, flooring, worktop, taps and appliances - as these things are the bones of the extension and you should be investing in them.  If this is where you prefer to cut your costs - have you considered a second hand kitchen or ex display? Are you able to do part of your kitchen and add other units/the island when you can afford to?

edgex

If your having a big expanse of door/window, then do you need skylights?

Use as many 'standard' kitchen units as possible, so no wine racks etc.
Does it need to be an island? An L shape would use less end panels & might be cheaper for the worktop.

Doozergirl

edgex said:

If your having a big expanse of door/window, then do you need skylights?

Use as many 'standard' kitchen units as possible, so no wine racks etc.
Does it need to be an island? An L shape would use less end panels & might be cheaper for the worktop.

Re: standard size kitchen units - make the extension fit the kitchen units, not the other way around!!   So you don't end up paying ridiculous prices for pointlessly small units. 

This double counts if you buy an ex-display kitchen.  The hardest thing about them is working out how they fit your space.  If you can make your space fit the kitchen, you're quids in. 

Our kitchen (and our lounge cabinets) look  bespoke because we built the rooms to fit standard sized units with a little bit of play for fillet panels.    

GDB2222

We've never had a kitchen that fell to pieces, despite generally buying cheap cabinets. So, if the op needs to economise that’s where I’d start.  Painted doors look good, and you can repaint them to keep the kitchen looking fresh. 

d0nkeyk0ng

edgex said:

If your having a big expanse of door/window, then do you need skylights?

SWMBO's demands. Bifold doors alone would have sufficed for me

Brie

If you have a good recommended second hand appliance shop local that could save you a lot.  Personally I wouldn't get a separate fridge and freezer.  We have ones hidden behind cupboards (IYKWIM) and they are tiddly.  Lot's of wasted space and I wonder what we'll need to do if something happens to one bit or the other. (kitchen was fairly new when we bought the place)

Go to someplace upmarket to get a design plotted out but ignore the sale pitch and then get the same things from B&Q or someplace similar.  

Another thing about standard sizes....do the same for the sink.  Again - previous owners had this plastic(?) finish 1.5 sink fitted and the drain plug is not a standard size.  The plug is partially broken but is still useable but it's just a matter of time before it stops working to keep the water in the sink.  When it gets to that we will need to replace the entire sink and possibly all of the counter.  If it was a standard stainless kitchen plug it would cost about £5. 

Brie

d0nkeyk0ng said:

edgex said:

If your having a big expanse of door/window, then do you need skylights?

SWMBO's demands. Bifold doors alone would have sufficed for me

Stamp your little foot and say as king of the castle you say no and she's wrong.  (then duck)

Or nicely point out that a fully functioning kitchen on a hot day is bad enough without having all that extra sunny heat pouring in from above.  

(sorry - and just noticed you'd already said about using standard stainless for the sink - much easier for you to keep clean as well as the other concerns.)

d0nkeyk0ng

We've been to a few more kitchen places - it's amazing how a kitchen can cost between £5k and £20k (Wren) for the same design and layout. Gloss finish, true handleless design, laminate worktop. Some of the cheaper ones are making everything in-house behind the office/showroom (I've visited). We've also found a small company that will supply and fit quartz worktop for the side run, and for the island (which means we can have a wider island than the 900mm limited by laminate).

I think the only thing left is appliances - there's a small company that does ex-display/end of line appliances. I don't know how reliable the different brands are.

RE: fridge/freezer - we've currently got an American style fridge freezer so can't see us going back to tiddly 70/30 design. We're looking at full height built in separate fridge and freezer.

d0nkeyk0ng

Brie said:

Or nicely point out that a fully functioning kitchen on a hot day is bad enough without having all that extra sunny heat pouring in from above. 

SWMBO now wants blinds for the bifolds. I'm having to argue her down from integrated blinds to having them attached to the back of the bifolds.

NSG666

Brie said:

If you have a good recommended second hand appliance shop local that could save you a lot.  Personally I wouldn't get a separate fridge and freezer.  We have ones hidden behind cupboards (IYKWIM) and they are tiddly.  Lot's of wasted space and I wonder what we'll need to do if something happens to one bit or the other. (kitchen was fairly new when we bought the place)

Go to someplace upmarket to get a design plotted out but ignore the sale pitch and then get the same things from B&Q or someplace similar.  

Another thing about standard sizes....do the same for the sink.  Again - previous owners had this plastic(?) finish 1.5 sink fitted and the drain plug is not a standard size.  The plug is partially broken but is still useable but it's just a matter of time before it stops working to keep the water in the sink.  When it gets to that we will need to replace the entire sink and possibly all of the counter.  If it was a standard stainless kitchen plug it would cost about £5. 

OP sorry to hijack your post but.....
It bugged me reading this as I used to encounter this problem every so often and I can't remember the solution but  I think McAlpine Plumbing do the sink waste that you will need.