Kitchen refit on a budget

finnunderwood

Hello,

I am a first time buyer and am currently refurbishing my property.
I was initially not going to replace the kitchen as the units although dated, seemed ok.  However, as I started to use them, I realised they were more broken, damaged and potentially damp that I first thought.  
This has left me with the situation that I need to replace a kitchen but on a fairly tight budget.  I can fit the basics of the kitchen myself and have wired in for all of the appliances (I am an apprentice electrician) but would need to get someone in to fit the plumbing and the worktops.

I am interested in people's experience of buying kitchens online, potentially flat pack or delivered as pre made cabinets.

Has anyone bought from Ebay or Facebook whereby they have taken a second hand kitchen and refitted?

What options have worked best?

Are there any pitfalls to avoid?

Any advice would be very appreciated.

iwebster

Give diy-kitchens.com a look. All prebuilt and ready to fit. I'm halfway through fitting a new kitchen and have been really happy with the price and quality!

ThisIsWeird

Absolutely check Facebook. It may take some time, but it's astonishing what kitchens folk are happy to rip out and let go for next to now't.

You are an apprentice sparky? Cool. But you reckon you'd need a plumber?! What's wrong with you, man! Them wires are pipes, and that leccy is water. Just make proper connections, and no-one will be 'cuted/drowned. 

Yes, the worktops - if they need a corner join - is best left to the pros...

prettyandfluffy

Do sign up for your local Freegle sites and get notifications as things are listed.  It might also be worth putting a “wanted” ad on the site(s).  People do give away very good stuff on there. 

Ganga

One thing we got wrong ,we stripped the original kitchen and then fitted the new one ,no problem but then fitted the floor tiles ,whole tiles ,ok but spent ages cutting tiles to go around the kitchen units ,would have cost a bit more to tile the whole floor but not that much and if the kitchen is changed in the future the tiles will probably not fit.
Also hire or borrow an electric tile cement mixer ( looks like an electric drill with a paddle on the end ) saves a lot of hard work and elbow grease. 

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: Yes, the worktops - if they need a corner join - is best left to the pros...

Corner joints are easy if you have the jig, router, and suitable cutter. The hard one is scribing the worktop so that it fits neatly up against a wonky wall - The cheat way out is an upstand along the back, or tiles fixed to the wall after the worktop is in place.

Savvy_Sue

ThisIsWeird said:

Absolutely check Facebook. It may take some time, but it's astonishing what kitchens folk are happy to rip out and let go for next to now't.

You are an apprentice sparky? Cool. But you reckon you'd need a plumber?! What's wrong with you, man! Them wires are pipes, and that leccy is water. Just make proper connections, and no-one will be 'cuted/drowned. 

:rotfl: at that: we are just having a new kitchen sink fitted even though we do actually need to rip the whole thing out and start again, but the sink was an emergency and the whole thing is not. So I asked a friend who recommended me to their plumber, who is also an electrician, which as you can imagine is jolly useful. Anyway, his first trade was plumbing but he got fed up of getting wet, decided to retrain as an electrician! So the OP is going the dry route ... 

OP, are you going to need someone to provide Certificates for your electricals? Presumably you can get someone to do that through work, but I'd recommend not skipping any need for building regulations etc. Better to do it right from the start. 

Andyjflet

I have done a few kitchens myself, measuring and ordering base units is easy enough, a Wickes or other showroom will plan it for you for free, you can then ask if they have any ex display kitchens perhaps.

In my experience the plumbing is time consuming so get this done, the cupboards do them yourself and then get a pro in to fit the worktops which is a real skill if there are joins and will provide a great finish. 

On tiling you could give this a go yourself but again, the best finish will be from a pro. 

emsi_b

If you are patient and good at fiddly stuff (which I imagine you are, as a sparky) then tiling will be fine. Time consuming, but fine. My hubs tiled our last kitchen (I was heavily, heavily pregnant at the time so couldn't help), and whilst he hated it, he did a very good job.

Part of this was the choice of tiles (rectangular) and pattern (overlapped)- it helped keep everything straight. He does now refuse to do tiling because he hated it, but it is possible. Make sure you get plenty of the tile spacers, keep your work clean (grout wipes off easy, adhesive is a pain) and something to help cut the tiles. We have a tile cutter, our most recent tilers used a score and snap type device. 

A good worktop will really help the overall finish and longevity of a kitchen- if water can't get in a join, the cupboard carcasses will last longer. I'd be happier skimping on cupboards and everything else to have a nice worktop. Our old kitchen  was an "earthstone" one, partly made from resin. The joins are then sealed with resin- not 100% impervious, but miles longer lasting than a run of the mill worktops. I'd definitely get a pro in for that.

Other than that, good luck! And make sure you have a microwave/air fryer/slow cooker so that you can still cook and not need to spend a fortune on going out for meals whilst you're working

boots_babe

DIY Kitchens are highly rated on Which, and when you look at the spec of their product, it is higher than most of the other typical suppliers.

They are coming in at £12k for us for a large kitchen and equally large utility. Versus Magnet who were  quoting £38k!

Albermarle

A good worktop will really help the overall finish and longevity of a kitchen- if water can't get in a join, the cupboard carcasses will last longer. I'd be happier skimping on cupboards and everything else to have a nice worktop. Our old kitchen  was an "earthstone" one, partly made from resin. The joins are then sealed with resin- not 100% impervious, but miles longer lasting than a run of the mill worktops. I'd definitely get a pro in for that.

We have a 'run of the mill' laminate worktop, fitted 21 years ago. Busy family kitchen all that time and still looks fine. Just a bit of fading on the most well used part, where it has had years of hot pans on it. No leaks or laminate peeling at the edges. Generally the whole kitchen still looks OK ( if not a very contemporary grey look) so the local company who did it must have done a good job, and used decent quality stuff.