We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Cost of updating rather than replacing kitchen...

... by using one of these firms who supply new frontages and worktops to the existing units.

I'm trying, without much success so far, to get some, even very rough ballpark figure for getting this done. Is there anyone here with experience able to shed light?
«1

Comments

  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,888 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You should be able to find material cost  at your local DIY shed. 

    A days labour for 2 - £1500

    Sundries £500

    VAT 20%


    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
  • Anthony147
    Anthony147 Posts: 124 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Robin9 said:
    You should be able to find material cost  at your local DIY shed. 

    A days labour for 2 - £1500

    Sundries £500

    VAT 20%


    @robin9 £750 per person, per day + VAT.
    Is that now considered a reasonable day rate - serious question (what does that rate get you)?
  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 12,888 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Perhaps a little high but I've just had an engineer charging £300 for a 1/2 day
    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
  • Anthony147
    Anthony147 Posts: 124 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Robin9 said:
    Perhaps a little high but I've just had an engineer charging £300 for a 1/2 day
    I’d say £500 / £600 is reasonable for an engineer / sparks or otherwise qualified and regulated trades but general or multi skill, unqualified or unregulated - I see as £250 / £400 range being reasonable (I could however be out of touch)  given some quotes I’ve refused to go ahead on for household work (garage roof replacement, gate install, fencing) which I assumed were simply do not want the job pricing as opposed to market rates - hence the question.
  • RainbowsInTheSpray
    RainbowsInTheSpray Posts: 1,481 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 30 August at 9:29PM
    So I take it that getting an actual firm in - as suggested in my OP - would be more expensive than sourcing the labour and materials separately..?
  • jennifernil
    jennifernil Posts: 5,751 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    We replaced worktops and unit doors in our utility room,  but my OH is great at DIY so we did it ourselves.     Would that be a possibility for you?    Or even just fit doors yourself and get a joiner to do the worktops if they are other than just straight pieces.

    Plenty of places on line sell replacement doors, either standard sizes or made to measure, you can get samples sent out.    They will also drill the hinge holes if you supply accurate measurements.   There are also local places, to us anyway, that advertise supply and fit of doors and worktops, so you should be able to get some prices.

    We bought the doors on line and ordered a custom made worktop, L shape, from Ikea as they have good deep ones.   It was not difficult to install, but OH has done worktops before.

    You could ask locally for suggestions for good joiners.
  • We replaced worktops and unit doors in our utility room,  but my OH is great at DIY so we did it ourselves.     Would that be a possibility for you?    Or even just fit doors yourself and get a joiner to do the worktops if they are other than just straight pieces.

    Plenty of places on line sell replacement doors, either standard sizes or made to measure, you can get samples sent out.    They will also drill the hinge holes if you supply accurate measurements.   There are also local places, to us anyway, that advertise supply and fit of doors and worktops, so you should be able to get some prices.

    We bought the doors on line and ordered a custom made worktop, L shape, from Ikea as they have good deep ones.   It was not difficult to install, but OH has done worktops before.

    You could ask locally for suggestions for good joiners.
    Very grateful for this reply.
  • Slinky
    Slinky Posts: 11,225 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 3 September at 2:21PM
    We had a quote for replacement worktops with a stone effect cover top, new sink, 3 replacement cupboards, new doors and drawer fronts for 11 doors and 9 drawers, some other bits and bobs, came in at over £13K. From a company specialising in replacement doors/drawers.

    We went for new laminate worktops and sink, kept all the existing cupboards and drawers spray painted came in at £4K. This was about 2 years ago. Our kitchen was a good quality German one only installed a few month before the homeowner died. It was just the worktop and colour choice that wasn't to our taste and we would liked to have put a full size dishwasher in, instead of the small one. It's not a large kitchen.
    Make £2025 in 2025
    Prolific £617.02, Octopoints £5.20, TCB £398.58, Tesco Clubcard challenges £89.90, Misc Sales £321, Airtime £60, Shopmium £26.60, Everup £24.91 Zopa CB £30
    Total (4/9/25) £1573.21/£2025 77%

    Make £2024 in 2024
    Prolific £907.37, Chase Int £59.97, Chase roundup int £3.55, Chase CB £122.88, Roadkill £1.30, Octopus ref £50, Octopoints £70.46, TCB £112.03, Shopmium £3, Iceland £4, Ipsos £20, Misc Sales £55.44
    Total £1410/£2024 70%

    Make £2023 in 2023 Total: £2606.33/£2023  128.8%




  • Slinky said:
    We had a quote for replacement worktops with a stone effect cover top, new sink, 3 replacement cupboards, new doors and drawer fronts for 11 doors and 9 drawers, some other bits and bobs, came in at over £13K. From a company specialising in replacement doors/drawers.


    Wow, that's not encouraging.
  • silvercar
    silvercar Posts: 49,932 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Name Dropper
    15 years ago I paid about £3k for granite worktops to replace existing ones from one of these companies. 

    You’ll save time and mess compared to having a new kitchen, I doubt you’ll save much money.
    I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.4K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.