Ikea kitchen advice please.

[Equimum]

Hi, U know there have been posts on this before, but we are completely clueless. We finally have the money to replace our very aged kitchen and are looking at Ikea. We have used the home design software and done a rough calculation of the cost for the units, appliances we would like etc, but have no idea about fitting costs and any special requirements. I know it is apparently costly to use Ikea fitters, but how much roughly do other fitters cost, and are they happy fitting Ikea stuff?

I know cost will depend on size/ extent of work etc, so I'm just after a rough guide. I think we are looking at having 11-12 units, with an integral double oven, fridge-freezer, dishwasher and basin. Electrics/ water etc will all be in similar places.

Also, if you had new flooring put down, did your kitchen fitter do this, or did you get someone separate to do that?

Finally, are there any bits of your Ikea kitchen that you don't like/ wouldn't reccomend?

Sorry for all the questions and nativity, but we really are clueless. TIA

Bumping for you as I'm interested too!

We built the cabinets ourselves and just had a joiner for a day to fit the worktops, sink and hob. We did it to keep costs down but building the units yourself is very simple - they are just like any other IKEA piece of furniture. The hardest bit was drilling the holes for the handles on the door fronts.

We put new flooring in afterwards and only fitted to the edge of the kick boards.

Thanks Tranquility. Were they really that simple to put together and attach to the wall? We've put Ikea furniture together without any problem, but thought a kitchen might be beyond us. Have you been happy with the kitchen?

I'm interested in this too! Must admit the thought of removing the old cupboards from the walls fills me with thoughts of chunks of plaster coming off with them. My current cupboards go to the ceiling, and I'm thinking will have to get ceiling re skimmed ...have no idea how to manage order of works..

Yes, just the same as any other IKEA thing with the allen keys etc. The drawers were more complex (as all the chests of drawers are) but the instructions were clear.

I've been really happy with the result, and especially with the nice storage solutions you find in IKEA, like the wire drawers that fit inside cupboards and the larder units.

The only thing I wasn't happy with was that we ended up with a bit of a gap at one side where the gap to be filled was not divisible by 10cm (all the cabinets were 40cm, 50cm 60cm etc). In retrospect I think we should have asked the joiner to fill it in some way - perhaps by cutting a kick board to cover it, for example. This was only a problem because we had an enclosed space in which to fit the units - mostly I think at least one end is open.

Thanks Tranquility. We will also need to think about the gap filling issue as we will be working along an entire, enclosed wall.

Zinxie, we are also struggling to know about the ordering if work. We were planning to consult with a kitchen fitter, whether we eventually use them or not, to get their advice.

We fitted ourselves. 1planned carefully and took it slow but it was fine. Plumbing was the hardest bit but we managed.

Old kitchen was easy and fun to remove. No replastering.

For ikea to fit it it will vary I number of cupboards ratet than value of kitchen
It's easy to do and many local people will give you a better rate