Kitchen Fitter Central London

travis-powers

Unfortunately it would be unlikely for to have worktops cut off a plan there are too many variables, all the kitchens I’ve done with solid surfaces have been measured up when the base units are fitted.
 

MysteryMe

TBH I got the opposite impression judging by the products they have been mentioning. 

FWIW I would actually do what you suggested but the OP has made in pretty clear in this thread and their previous one that they have dismissed the likes of IKEA and the DIY stores. 

If I wanted a bomb proof kitchen I would look at what they use in a professional kitchen and it's largely stainless steel with open shelving

Emmia

MysteryMe said:

TBH I got the opposite impression judging by the products they have been mentioning. 

FWIW I would actually do what you suggested but the OP has made in pretty clear in this thread and their previous one that they have dismissed the likes of IKEA and the DIY stores. 

If I wanted a bomb proof kitchen I would look at what they use in a professional kitchen and it's largely stainless steel with open shelving

The OP has mentioned looking at Howdens/ DIY kitchens and needing to save up more if mum would need off-site care whilst the kitchen is being fitted - for these reasons it looks like the budget won't stretch to professional standard stainless steel... 

OP what is your budget for this, and what are you expecting it to cover?

MysteryMe

Maybe it wont, maybe it will but the bottom line for the OP is,  if they want a "bomb proof" kitchen as they have stated on numerous occasions, that is what they would need to budget for. 

SisterMichael

Our budget for the entire thing (ripping out old kitchen, kitchen units, fitting, decorating, sorting electrics and if needed plumbing, flooring, worktop, splashback, lighting, hob and extractor hood) is approx £20K. We have a £5K contingency - mainly due to our particular circumstances (which is where extra costs for mum may have to come from). The kitchen is 4m x 1.9m.

We are on the boundary between zone 1 and zone 2 but, apparently (according to the research we have done so far), this still means £20K might not be enough - blows my mind somewhat. 



@Emmia - We will try to speak to John Lewis to at least try and get an idea - the fitting being included is a very attractive option. I was told at the outset that the worktops and splashbacks were where the delays may creep in so I guess this will weigh heavily in whether or not we find somewhere else for mum temporarily. 

We had Howdens in to have a look a couple of months ago - the man seemed to think pre-built would be fine (though he was not a fitter), he was more concerned about where we would store it when it arrived.  

Mum (unusually for this type of scenario) turns 70 this year. She is likely to be with us for years to come. 

I get everyone's motivation for suggesting IKEA but I am really trying to not again be in the situation where I have to undertake a job this big - I can only do so at the moment because I stepped out of work to look after mum. If I were working right now and we had carers in for mum, I would not be able to do something like a kitchen refit if an IKEA kitchen got trashed (have almost lost my job before because of having to deal with things you would think a carer could sort given that the job requires common sense, good judgement and autonomy). 

We are priced out of a stainless steel kitchen - we looked into that early.   



@silvercar - It is not just the tradesmen, it is also the security issues with an open door which the workmen may need. We are routinely actively warned against this in our area. I worked in zone 6 a year before the pandemic - it was leafy surburbia and might as well have been countryside compared to where we live!  

SisterMichael

@MysteryMe - we are priced out of heavy duty stainless steel (I already checked), which is a shame. 

Emmia has hit the nail on the head - there are just no independent kitchen shops here which I now many find hard to believe. I have had Howdens in, spoken to both Wickes and Wren and I have 1 ex-colleague and 1 family friend who both had poor experiences with Magnet so I crossed them off the list almost immediately.  

We are priced out of Poggenpohl, Nolte, Harvey Jones etc. We are actually considering a German kitchen (thinking about the need for relatively bomb-proof) but then had a couple of people questioning whether we would truly get the benefit of a German kitchen in such a small space - I started a previous thread asking that question but still could not really answer the question unfortunately.   

I now have an appointment to go to a South London independent shop to have a look but I already get the impression that they may be trying to sell us expensive things that we don't need and wont use. The Dekton we have opted for is because the research suggests it doesn't stain, bow, scratch, crack or need any maintenance, pans can be put on it 
 and I will hopefully never need to think about it ever again once it is in. 

Thanks for the Which Trusted Traders suggestion - we have had a Which subscription for a long while but hadn't used them for years (the Gas Engineer mentioned in my earlier post was on that site although we originally came across him on a different website - he is no longer listed on Which). 

silvercar

I found that good independents get recommendations from previous clients and don’t need high street shops. All the ones I talked to operated from industrial estates.

SisterMichael

@travis-powers - Thanks, that is helpful, it reinforces what others have said on this thread and in real life - I think we are just going to have to accept our initial plan about pre-prepping for the worktop is unworkable. 


@MysteryMe - We are trying to be smart about things as we go along. We want quality but we don't have a massive budget and even if we did, we would never buy something just for the name - just not who we are. So we are spending money on something expensive where we think it would make a difference to our quality of life (Dekton worktop) and spending less where we think spending more wont serve us or make a difference (our number one preferred kitchen supply shop is and has always been DIY Kitchens as they seem good value for decent quality, sturdy, they are pre-built and people seem able to get replacements easily if things go wrong). 

We have sourced most of our appliances already as we knew we could use discounts, buying cheaper online, buying ex-display etc etc and that would save us money (also those almost every single one of those appliances except for the washing machine had been broken by a carer). 

If we could be convinced that an IKEA kitchen would withstand the carers and still be there in 20 years, IKEA would be our number two preferred kitchen supply shop.

If you know somewhere we could get a professional stainless steel kitchen for £20K all in, I would be delighted if you could please pass on their details to me! (I hope this is not against forum rules as I am relatively new here...)


@Emmia - Again, you've hit the nail on the head. We had Howdens in to take a look (and we like the Hockley Mirror Gloss) and part of the reason for this thread at all was so we could get an idea of what price the branch gives a fitter. Our only real gripe with Howdens is the opaque pricing and the fact that more people seem to run into trouble with things later breaking with a Howdens kitchen than with a DIYK kitchen...

If it is looking like longer than 3 weeks for the reno (which is looking increasingly likely), we will need more to fund mum being elsewhere for that duration of time and care (even very basic care) costs an arm and two legs now so the budget will take a hit and make a stainless steel kitchen even less likely - unless you might know of a reasonably priced supplier???    

£20K for the entire kitchen reno all in, £5K contingency (which will quickly be eaten up by mum's care costs and even then may not be enough....)

SisterMichael

silvercar said:

I found that good independents get recommendations from previous clients and don’t need high street shops. All the ones I talked to operated from industrial estates.

Do you have the contact details for any of these independents by any chance?