Kitchen Fitter Central London

SisterMichael

We have the misfortune of living in central London and would be very grateful for any recommendations for a kind, compassionate and understanding kitchen fitter - we understand that this will probably not be cheap but we have to get it right first time (unwell parent who is heavily kitchen-dependent and who I am carer for in the flat).

We have sadly previously been the target of less than scrupulous workmen more than once, even when we thought we had taken quite a lot of precautions after a lot of research the last time it happened. Very keen to not repeat the experience as we neither have the time nor the funds!

Thanks. 

Emmia

Who are you buying the kitchen through/from?

We used John Lewis and bought everything from them + fitting. Not the cheapest but the DH wanted end to end with a single company, rather than arranging (and chasing) our own tradesmen.

gwynlas

If possible you are best getting word of mouth recommendations from your local community so you could ask local groups whether church, knitting, keep fit etc. Another way is to check out those who advertise locally as it will be cheaper for them regarding travel

Are you having the kitchen designed for your parent? it is useful to fit as many deep drawers as possible as they are easier to access than under counter cupboards. Similarly you need accessible plugs and switches for appliancances

Most of the chains offer design it depends upon your budget where you go. Make it clear that you need to have have any electrical plastering and plumbing completed as part of the same job.

SisterMichael

We have paid an independent designer to help us devise something that works for our needs - we need attention paid to bringing light into the space and storage solutions as it is a very small kitchen.

We have been swerving between DIYK, Howdens (we know that the price of our kitchen will heavily depend on the type of account the fitter has with Howdens hence we are trying to avoid Howdens), Benchmarx and 1 or 2 German suppliers.

We realise the German suppliers may come with an in-house fitter anyway, depending on which independent company we buy from.

We hadn't thought of John Lewis, but will have a look.....

For various reasons, it is not as easy for us to get local word of mouth recommendations (I often wish we lived in a town or village). There used to be a website for the local community we used to use for this type of thing (although one of the cowboys came from that site) but it has not been maintained since the pandemic. Central London is a place that seems to be targeted frequently as many have the idea that people living here are steeped in money when in fact it is very varied and the vast majority live here not by choice and do not have money (it has taken us 7 years to save up to do this kitchen for example).

The kitchen is being designed to help people to look after mum but it is being designed to be bomb-proof and low maintenance as past carers have treated it with zero respect and it is now literally falling apart. Deep drawers and the electrics are both on our list!

The sheds no longer design unless you are buying from them. Well, that was certainly the response from Wren and Wickes, neither of which I wanted a kitchen from anyway. As the fitting will need to be done with mum and I in the flat, we are looking for something a little more than the usual fitters as we have previously had tradesmen who saw us, not as people in an already difficult situation, but as a way to make money - and it ended up hurting mum in ways I absolutely will not allow in future.  

silvercar

Surely your independent designer has links to kitchen fitters? That’s where I would start. Any kitchen designer must have contacts to all sorts of trades.

When I had my kitchen done recently, my aim was to reduce the number of contractors I directly used, so the kitchen fitter was a contractor of the designer.

Emmia

SisterMichael said:

We have paid an independent designer to help us devise something that works for our needs - we need attention paid to bringing light into the space and storage solutions as it is a very small kitchen.

We have been swerving between DIYK, Howdens (we know that the price of our kitchen will heavily depend on the type of account the fitter has with Howdens hence we are trying to avoid Howdens), Benchmarx and 1 or 2 German suppliers.

We realise the German suppliers may come with an in-house fitter anyway, depending on which independent company we buy from.

We hadn't thought of John Lewis, but will have a look.....

For various reasons, it is not as easy for us to get local word of mouth recommendations (I often wish we lived in a town or village). There used to be a website for the local community we used to use for this type of thing (although one of the cowboys came from that site) but it has not been maintained since the pandemic. Central London is a place that seems to be targeted frequently as many have the idea that people living here are steeped in money when in fact it is very varied and the vast majority live here not by choice and do not have money (it has taken us 7 years to save up to do this kitchen for example).

The kitchen is being designed to help people to look after mum but it is being designed to be bomb-proof and low maintenance as past carers have treated it with zero respect and it is now literally falling apart. Deep drawers and the electrics are both on our list!

The sheds no longer design unless you are buying from them. Well, that was certainly the response from Wren and Wickes, neither of which I wanted a kitchen from anyway. As the fitting will need to be done with mum and I in the flat, we are looking for something a little more than the usual fitters as we have previously had tradesmen who saw us, not as people in an already difficult situation, but as a way to make money - and it ended up hurting mum in ways I absolutely will not allow in future.  

I wonder whether taking your mum away whilst the kitchen is being ripped out and refitted is an option - living in the same place as the refit isn't easy and you'll probably end up needing takeaway/delivery food or eating out for a few days.

Also, I'm sorry if this seems unkind, but the job of the fitter is to fit the kitchen, not to empathise with your situation. 

SisterMichael

@silvercar - we live in Central London, but the designer is one who came recommended by people who know and understand our particular situation and lives in Yorkshire so all of the trades they have contacts for are unfortunately in Yorkshire! I would actually absolutely hire someone from Yorkshire but things get difficult when it comes to travel costs and the cost of them staying locally to do the job...


@Emmia - taking mum away is an idea we had very early on but we sadly can't replicate the adjustments and modifications in the flat elsewhere so will not be able to care for mum properly elsewhere. 

Regarding "Also, I'm sorry if this seems unkind, but the job of the fitter is to fit the kitchen, not to empathise with your situation." - not unkind at all, we are not looking for empathy. We are looking for tradespeople who understand why it is critical that we get it right first time and who will therefore not tolerate substandard work in any of their subcontractors. To the extent that we are trying to manage the cost of the kitchen itself (without compromising on quality or durability of the kitchen) so that we can spend a bit more on professionals who come with a code of ethics and unwavering standards.

A few years ago we needed a new boiler urgently. We did our research, actually took the time to try to get it right and unfortunately managed to hire someone who has since been taken off Worcester Bosch's approved installer list and who Gas Safe then started looking into. We have had to hire tradespeople on more than one occasion since that time to correct his shoddy work (none of them know each other, they all tell me we overpaid for the initial work). Mum went without central heating through several winter months because of this.

So, no, I am not looking to hire someone to come and emote with us, I am looking to hire someone who is going to do a high standard job, get it right the first time and with an extremely low risk of having to call them back to correct shoddy work that is then affecting my mother in ways that are cruel. We have saved to pay for that.

silvercar

Having lived through a kitchen fitting in recent months, I wouldn’t try to do it with anyone not in good health. The dust and the noise are off putting, having tradesmen around your house difficult. Managing without a kitchen while they do the work needs careful planning, we ended up washing dishes in a bath! Even with a microwave, mini oven and plug in Hob, cooking wasn’t easy. It may be better to go away. Living in sub optimal conditions away is difficult, but you should be comparing it to unpleasant conditions at home.

Emmia

SisterMichael said:

@silvercar - we live in Central London, but the designer is one who came recommended by people who know and understand our particular situation and lives in Yorkshire so all of the trades they have contacts for are unfortunately in Yorkshire! I would actually absolutely hire someone from Yorkshire but things get difficult when it comes to travel costs and the cost of them staying locally to do the job...


@Emmia - taking mum away is an idea we had very early on but we sadly can't replicate the adjustments and modifications in the flat elsewhere so will not be able to care for mum properly elsewhere. 

Regarding "Also, I'm sorry if this seems unkind, but the job of the fitter is to fit the kitchen, not to empathise with your situation." - not unkind at all, we are not looking for empathy. We are looking for tradespeople who understand why it is critical that we get it right first time and who will therefore not tolerate substandard work in any of their subcontractors. To the extent that we are trying to manage the cost of the kitchen itself (without compromising on quality or durability of the kitchen) so that we can spend a bit more on professionals who come with a code of ethics and unwavering standards.

A few years ago we needed a new boiler urgently. We did our research, actually took the time to try to get it right and unfortunately managed to hire someone who has since been taken off Worcester Bosch's approved installer list and who Gas Safe then started looking into. We have had to hire tradespeople on more than one occasion since that time to correct his shoddy work (none of them know each other, they all tell me we overpaid for the initial work). Mum went without central heating through several winter months because of this.

So, no, I am not looking to hire someone to come and emote with us, I am looking to hire someone who is going to do a high standard job, get it right the first time and with an extremely low risk of having to call them back to correct shoddy work that is then affecting my mother in ways that are cruel. We have saved to pay for that.

Can you check your mum in for short term care somewhere, not a flat/property where you are doing the caring?

moneysaver1978

What are you looking to do - replace the whole kitchen, new layout, with/without appliances?

Is IKEA an option? My parents had IKEA and while there were a few building/fitting issues, it worked better than their previous kitchen.

SisterMichael

silvercar said:

Having lived through a kitchen fitting in recent months, I wouldn’t try to do it with anyone not in good health. The dust and the noise are off putting, having tradesmen around your house difficult. Managing without a kitchen while they do the work needs careful planning, we ended up washing dishes in a bath! Even with a microwave, mini oven and plug in Hob, cooking wasn’t easy. It may be better to go away. Living in sub optimal conditions away is difficult, but you should be comparing it to unpleasant conditions at home.

Thanks for sharing that silvercar, that is actually very helpful.

Perhaps we need to revisit the whole plan to keep mum in the flat altogether. I am quite worried how it will all be for her (the noise and dust particularly). The issue is also the equipment we will have to bring with us to wherever it is we go, as mum also has mobility issues. If we do this, I will have to find a way to hire a carer to look after her while I stay in the flat for the kitchen refit - it will be distressing for her (one of the issues is dementia) as it will be new surroundings and new people but perhaps overall it might be less distressing than trying to keep her in the flat with everything going on around her...  

I can find ways to cook her meals (we have a Ninja 15-in-1 multicooker that I have learned how to use inside out partly because of the upcoming kitchen reno), but the ability to wash up in a clean space is very important to us and we need good access to clean drinking water for her (I had been planning to get around this by ordering in bottled water on a schedule even though I realise that will be expensive). 

The thing is, I am sure we are not the first to try to do this in our circumstances so there must be tradespeople out there with experience in it but it is proving hard to find them...

How long did it take them to fit your kitchen from start to finish, if you don't mind me asking? Ours is a tiny galley kitchen which is only 4m x 1.9m so we were hoping that would help to cut the time down considerably although we may be fooling ourselves!