New galley kitchen needed

DanielDeronda

Am looking at renovating my 1 bed flat, room by room.  The kitchen needs most work.

Given the size of the space, I won't be changing the structure of the room. But want more than just changing colour schemes. The existing cupboards, worktops & flooring needs to be taken out & replaced.

I've got 11 cupboards in total, one which has 3 drawers instead.  9 of the cupboards are along one side of the kitchen & other 2 are under the sink area.

I've got a freestanding fridge freezer & cooker, as well as a washing machine under the sink. Am replacing the washing machine but new 1 should fit under sink.

Ceramic tiles I think on the floor, what advantages do any other flooring offer me?

Don't need to change lighting & have a double glazed window looking over the sink & washing machine area.

Have a reasonable budget but want maximum value.

Who should I ask to give me a quote? And how long would jobs take? And could I live in the flat when work is being done?

I've not really had much significant work in the flat, more just me refreshing paintwork & little else.

Brie

we had a refit done by B&Q at the beginning of the year.  you can go in and get them to design something and you can then either buy the bits and do it yourself or hire someone to do it OR get the fitting done through them as well.  I think most of the major firms do similar.  Or you can take their design and go to someone local and get them to deal with it all.  We replaced all the applicances (built in fridge/freezer and dishwasher plus electric double oven, gas hob and sink.)  Cost was north of £15k but we also paid for extra work to be done to some electrics since there was going to be someone doing bits in the kitchen as well.  

Ceramic tiles are nice on the floor but don't drop anything heavy on them as they'll crack.  We went with something else, like laminate but look like tiles, from some company...Amico or something??  

Job took about 10 days, so Monday rip everything out, Tuesday start prepping, fitting bits together, a couple of dead days waiting for gas chap etc.  Everything made easier by us having an empty room to have everything stored in prior to start and patio space outside for them to do the sawing etc so the mess was relatively minimal.  

Moved the toaster and kettle into the dining room and we have a second fridge/freezer in the garage so we could manage breakfasts, coffee etc but went out for dinner most nights.  You could of course live off microwave meals and takeaways but it's the washing up that's a fuss.  Seems a bit ick to be washing mugs, plates in the bathroom sink.  

If I was doing it again....I wouldn't get doors with a matt finish.  And I would have got a hob splash back custom made.  Saw this at an arts event recently and it's surprisingly not that much more than the shop bought ones.  

Glass splashbacks for the kitchen and home (galiani.co.uk)

Bookworm105

floor tiles chip if heavy thing dropped on them
also what is the floor made of? If wood then will need extra work to make a tile adhere property and not bounce/break away 

as we have no idea where you are, then who to do it is down to you, get some quotes from the usual places 

TELLIT01

If you are on a budget have you considered just having the doors and worktop replaced if the carcases are still in good condition.  Far less disruption to the kitchen and probably completed in a couple of days.

Flugelhorn

if they are within budget then consider pan drawers rather than all cupboards - we have all our pans and crockery in them and they are great as everything much easier to get to 

Emmia

I'd have glued down LVT e.g. Amtico on the floor rather than ceramic tiles. We replaced the cracked ceramic tiles on the floor with this when we re-did our kitchen, and it's so much better.

Flugelhorn

Emmia said:

I'd have glued down LVT e.g. Amtico on the floor rather than ceramic tiles. We replaced the cracked ceramic tiles on the floor with this when we re-did our kitchen, and it's so much better.

agreed we have got Karndean and am really pleased with it 

FreeBear

Flugelhorn said:

if they are within budget then consider pan drawers rather than all cupboards - we have all our pans and crockery in them and they are great as everything much easier to get to 

Long thin kitchen here (3.4m by 2.4m). Two 600mm drawline cupboards, a 900mm pan drawer, and another two 600mm drawline cupboards. On the other side, 600mm fridge, 600mm cooker/hob, and a single 600mm drawline cupboard (got the main door filling much of the remainder). No wall units.

Admittedly, storage is not great, but it reduces the temptation to hoard "stuff". On the plus side, not having wall units gives the impression of a lot more space.

Loanranger21

Howdens kitchens were brilliant and Polyflor Camaro luxury vinyl tiles glued down with grouting strips. Both floor and cupboard doors are so easy to clean . We retained the carcasses and tiles and appliances and granite worktops. We had top of the range wooden cupboard doors grain effect. The carcasses we kept are 22 years old no need to get rid of them. In my view Polyflor are better quality than Karndean.

MysteryMe

All the big box and kitchen stores have free kitchen design services, some they come to your house others you do the measuring up and either go into the store or have an online consultation like a teams meeting. Or you can get a builder in and they sort out trades and may have an account with someone like Howdens.

There would normally be no reason to move out whilst the work is being done.

I've just had a new kitchen put in, I have used the trades that were recommended by a builder friend who is doing other work on the house. 19 units with new integrated washing machine and dishwasher, built in oven to replace a free standing cooker. New free standing fridge freezer. Quite a few additional sockets, new electric oven point, cooker hood, new lighting and gas pipe moved.

All in including appliances, trades and materials just under £11,000. 

You will need some boxes to store away your kitchen stuff and use the opportunity to chuck anything lurking in the back of cupboards that you haven't used for yonks. 

If you use the kitchen suppliers own fitters and trades you are hoping the people they use are up to scratch. A poor kitchen fitter can make an expensive kitchen look nothing special. It does appear to be an easier option though as far as the customer is concerned.

If you use your own trades it can take a little longer than if the kitchen supplier does everything because it can be like trying to herd cats getting plumbers/electricians/tilers turning up on the days you want them to. I also had a 4 months lead in time as the kitchen fitter is good and was in demand. Took him 6 days to fit a flat pack kitchen from Wickes Lifestyle range so he was building everything from scratch. It will take less time with your layout and even quicker if the units are delivered made up.

If you decide to "project manage" it yourself, allow a day for rip out, you may need first fix electrics if any sockets are changing, likewise plumber for the sink and possibly washing machine. Ideally, don't book them to come the same day. You decide whether you want the floor to be entirely covered with units placed on top or flooring to end underneath the front of the units only. The floor will need to be prepped whatever you decide to put down.  You may need new tiling/painting. 

I had no functioning kitchen for 3 weeks because I asked for rip out the week before fitting so I could get the walls, woodwork and ceiling painted and it took nearly a week after the kitchen was in for second fix electrics and tiling to be done. 

It is a PITA, with no cooker/grill washing machine or hot water supply in the kitchen. As long as your bathroom cold water tap is mains supply you can use that for drinking water, or buy bottled water. At least in a flat you are all on one level. I set up a little kitchenette in the dining room where I had the kettle, microwave, wash up area. I think if I had an air fryer I could have made a wider variety of meals but I tend to find once you are in the situation you are in, you just get on with it. Short term pain for long term gain.

ThisIsWeird

DanielDeronda said:

Am looking at renovating my 1 bed flat, room by room.  The kitchen needs most work.

Given the size of the space, I won't be changing the structure of the room. But want more than just changing colour schemes. The existing cupboards, worktops & flooring needs to be taken out & replaced.

I've got 11 cupboards in total, one which has 3 drawers instead.  9 of the cupboards are along one side of the kitchen & other 2 are under the sink area.

I've got a freestanding fridge freezer & cooker, as well as a washing machine under the sink. Am replacing the washing machine but new 1 should fit under sink.

Ceramic tiles I think on the floor, what advantages do any other flooring offer me?

Don't need to change lighting & have a double glazed window looking over the sink & washing machine area.

Have a reasonable budget but want maximum value.

Who should I ask to give me a quote? And how long would jobs take? And could I live in the flat when work is being done?

I've not really had much significant work in the flat, more just me refreshing paintwork & little else.

Pros and cons of ceramic tiles floor? Well, the cons are that they will most likely require far more prep, depending on how much movement is in the existing subfloor, or else you may get one or two cracking in a few years time. And they will cost a lot more due to both the material, and amount of labour involved.
Then, as said before, they can chip if heavy objects are dropped on them (as can other surfaces, of course, but most alternatives are more absorbent), but also they are more likely to cause dropped objects - mugs, plates, glasses - to break if dropped.
Pros? I guess the quality look, which will be important if you are going smooth and shiny.
But, if going non-shiny and textured, consider alternatives such as SPC (rigid core tiles) which are strong (if thick enough), easy to lay (so quicker and cheaper), fully waterproof, and the woodgrain ones I've seen have had accurate and well-defined textures.