kitchen fitting

[wavingfuriously]

Hi there, can people share their experiences and any useful tips about their kitchen fitting experience ?
Mine is starting in two weeks with the kitchen being totally trashed, some plastering (which i know is very messy!) then floor tiling...etc.
the following week the actual install work starts in earnest the fitter says he does 2 installations per week !! just keeping fingers crossed ours is going to be straightforward..but pre-warned is fore-warned, so WHAT CAN GO WRONG ? any wisdom on the subject gratefully received

[dementedpixie]

ours went quite smoothly. The first week (just 2 days of it) they knocked down a wall between the kitchen and dining room (the gap area was filled in and plastered), took up the dining room carpet and the kitchen floor tiles. At the start of the second week they ripped out the old kitchen units and then started fitting the new ones. The flooring was put down last.

The only thing that went wrong was that the new sink was cracked when they went to fit it so we had to get a new one sourced and bought as it turned out to be on back order so we couldnt get the same one as originally ordered.

[dementedpixie]

prepare for lots of noise and mess. I had been going to stay in the house but once the noise started I escaped to the gym!

We bought plastic plates, bowls and cutlery as we didn't have access to a sink downstairs and it saved washing everything. We lived on ready meals that could be microwaved and also had a kettle handy. We have a converted garage so we turned it into a mini kitchen and had the fridge freezer, microwave, kettle, etc in there.

[PigletJohn]

Hide your hoover in the boot of your car, and buy a canister vac.

[wavingfuriously]

thanks demented for the advice..unfortunately we have no garage to escape to but could barricade ourselves in a bedroom i suppose.
don't get hiding the hoover bit ?!..explain

don't know when its all happening now as far as i can make out this installer is too busy even to phone me and talk over all my questions !!

[obsessedwithinteriors]

waving, may I ask how much you're paying your fitter and how long it's taking? trying to get a rough guide for my own.....

my advice would be don't have children in the house at the same time = nightmare.

[dementedpixie]

I think it's in case the builders use your hoover to hoover up lots of dust/debris that you wouldn't want hoovered up.

[PigletJohn]

builders dust and grit will ruin a domestic vac.

[wavingfuriously]

ok thanks demented and piglet yes good tip going to hide my dyson don't want it broken.
3k + is price so far, there are extra bits to do..
how much is your obsessed ?

[wavingfuriously]

still can't make up my mind about whether tiles or paint for the walls. but have chosen porcelain tiles for the floor- just hope they're not too slippy !
any1 got any feedback about porcelain please ?

[dementedpixie]

We got vinyl tiles (kompact klick I think) which are more durable and less cold than other tiles.

[wavingfuriously]

ta demented didn't go for vinyl as am used to hard tiles on the kitchen floor & better the devil u know..

[mandy214]

If you are able, check you have all the bits and correct doors / panels before fitter arrives in case you need replacements. I would also have kitchen company on speed dial so when the fitter can't decipher plans or measurements dont stack up, you can work out a solution! Also be around if you can to make decisions for things you perhaps haven't though about - do you want door hung to the left or right / height of internal shelves / position of light switch / plug sockets etc. Good luck, it'll be worth it when its finished

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Hi waving, 3k to fit? I presume that's for everything?

I was wondering how much you're paying the fitter to fit it? I have a small L shape and have been quotes 3.5k for units and 1k to fit. Neither of which I will be paying after reading extensively on MN.

I will paying a handyman that can fit kitchens a day rate of £140, but pinning him to a time agreed to fit - 2/3 days?

I will be calling in all the big boys to design for me, smile and nod at their prices and then use the designs to source it myself online. DIY Kitchens and the Kitchen Collection seem to be favourites here!

Petrified but the thought of saving 3k is unsurprisingly, spurring me on!

[fussychica]

Our fitting was a fixed price and was meant to be 4 days. Unfortunately there were a number of issues, not helped by Xmas and NY shutdown of the manufacturer and the fitting time was doubled but we only paid the contracted price. All finished now except a couple of non fitting things and looks great.

Not sure what we would have done without the ability to store stuff in the garage and the conservatory. Our conservatory was also our temporary kitchen. Glad we are back to normal.

[wavingfuriously]

good you had extra space fussy, we live in a smallish flat in London and will be holing up in a bedroom for the duration ! but hey ho we've had to do that b4. our chosen installer apparently does 2 kitchens per week so has quoted 3 days only but i'm thinking there may be some issues .. life is like that..

Thanks so much Mandy for the tips hadn't really thought about those things..
Good luck obsessed!

[lemonemmap]

We had a kitchen/diner extension added in 2013. Our kitchen fitter was painstakingly slow - took over two weeks to fit everything...

I agree with others that you must be there to make decisions, particularly on the first day when so many things get set out and you need to know where you want everything to end up. If you're having wall units, you need to know how high you want them - I think a 50cm gap between worksurface and bottom of wall unit is normal, but we had to adjust ours due to a sloping roof on one side.

Worksurface height is another decision - 90cm from floor is normal, but you need to think about how level is your floor. Unfortunately, our fitter measured the 90cm perfectly in the corner where he started, but the floor is about 1.5cm higher by the sink - so our sink is only 88.5cm off the floor, which is irritatingly low.

Are you having new lights fitted too? If so, you need to be clear about where they should go to avoid casting shadows. One of our (accidental) successes was having one light either side of the sink, so we don't cast a shadow as we wash. One failure was the fitting of downlights so that they illuminate the top of the fridge more than the floor that we wanted to be lit!

If there are any 'temporary' measures you put in place, make sure fitters know where the final position is meant to be. Our telephone wire was plastered in to the wall because we had moved the phone while we had no electricity in one part of the room.... the phone is now stuck and can't be moved to the place we wanted it to be...

If you're getting walls plastered, make sure you know the dimensions that you need to end up with. Agree with PP about having kitchen designers on speed dial as our wall ended up a couple of cm too short and we had to get a cupboard rebuilt.

Put in more sockets than you can possibly imagine you'll ever need!

We bought our own sockets as we wanted particular ones. However, we didn't bargain on needing to have isolation switches for the cooker/cooker hood/dishwasher/fridge etc etc above the worktop - apparently regulations determine that many of these need to be easily accessible so can't be tucked in a cupboard. You will therefore need many more switches than you might realise!

Biggest thing is to keep your mind on the end prize - it's worth the aggravation to get there in the end. Good luck!

[wavingfuriously]

just re-reading your post lemone, thanks SO much to you for all this comprehensive advice. i'll actually be on my own with the installer during the day so going to have to put assertive stance on..and not really looking forward to that have to say. the installer is doing everything except the plastering, he is emptying the kitchen on the first day, 2nd day plasterer does his stuff, 3rd day installer comes back and does the floor tiles and carries on with the rest of the week. then second week he actually fits the kitchen so i guess its a 2 week job similar to yours..
I know that plastering is SO messy & wondering who exactly is clearing up the mess ..
don't get why you had to have isolation units ? they said for us a RCD unit costing £500 was advised. we just agreed.. when someone mentions safety you do tend to go along with whatever they say..

[PigletJohn]

the isolation switch is just a switch fitted above the worktop so that you can immediately turn off the power to the appliance e.g. if your tumbledrier catches fire or your washer starts spraying water.

In such an emergency it would not be helpful to start burrowing in cupboards to find a hidden switch or socket.

They are not at all expensive, and are usually put 150mm above the worktop, in the same row as your sockets.
www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MKK5423.html

[wavingfuriously]

wow thanks Piglet..time to chat with installer ..

[Marmitelover55]

Our kitchen fitter charged us £1200 last year and did a fab job. This didn't include electrics, plumbing, plastering or floor as these were all being done as part of the extension. It took him 3.5 days to actually fit it, but he had been on several other occasions to liaise with builder/electricians/plumber and make sure all of the services were in the right place. We are delighted with the result

[SmellTheGlove]

Can I squeeze in a little hi-Jack and ask if anyone can recommend a kitchen fitter in Surrey/south west London who doesn't charge the earth. It's only a tiny galley kitchen. Sorry, thanks, as you were!

[wavingfuriously]

oh god just had a conversation with fitter and he coming across as a sloppy bugger, doesn't take any notice of important email we sent him days ago..2 busy earning loads probably. WHY OH WHY is life so difficult ?

PIGLET help ! we changed the original order to include a lovely Which recommended AEG induction hob but just now installer has casually mentioned there may not be a cable for this induction hob in our kitchen..ie..from the fusebox to the kitchen and we should have asked him 1st. maybe it will be back to boring old GAS hob..
pissed off..

[PigletJohn]

did you have an electric cooker before? Is there a (big) electric cooker switch and wall outlet?

[wavingfuriously]

NOPE and yay just found an electric point with a RED switch and the word 'Cooker' on !! and it does work cos i use microwave for that point, thanks piglet, are we out of the woods now pls ? ie..induction hob ok ?

[PigletJohn]

have a look at your consumer unit ("fusebox") and see if one of the breakers is labelled "cooker" that, when you turn it off, means the cooker point (but nothing else) goes dead.

It will probably say "B32" or "B40" on it, or it might, if very old, be red or yellow