Who has had their kitchen re-done? Talk me through how you did it...

[hmc]

Ours is 9 years old and looking old and tired.

Might want to combine re-doing the kitchen with a bit of downstairs reorganisation (knocking through walls between kitchen and utility room and putting french doors on utility room directly out into garden)

Don't know where to start - how do you find the reputable high quality companies rather than rougue tradesmen.

How did you approach it?

I am planning to replace rather than refurbish...

We had ours custom made which sounds infinitely more posh than it actually was. Turned out the be cheaper than an Ikea kitchen as the installation was extortionate. Personal recommendation is best, but if this isn't possible, check out what trade bodies they are members of. Master Builders is one, I think.

We had our kitchen totally re-done and a bit of extra work done at the same time. We went to Wickes and they sorted it all.

Having ours done at the moment (argh).

One way of finding reliable builders is to go to a local builders' merchant and ask them who they would recommend. The rationale for this being that the yard will probably only recommend those who pay their bills on time, etc and those who they've heard good things about.

Good luck.

Hadn't thought about that Aitch - good tip! How is yours going - how long will you be out of action for?

Also Master Builders suggestion is good Ilove...

Go ont the Screwfix website and check out the 'trade chat' section.There is a kitchen fitters bit and it is a mine of information on what kitchencompanies they rate,what they charge,length of time jobs should take,quality of worktops-everything really.You can ask advice from them and get an idea of cost too.I found it very useful indeed.

We had our kitchen from Wickes but used a tradesman to fit it,saving £1000's.He was fabulous and has just finished fitting a bathroom for us too.Ours needed gutting completely,skimming,new gas pipe,new floor,new door,it was a lot of work.

Whereabouts are you? I might be able to recommend him [now he has finished my jobs].

That sounds like a great site Mirage - thanks.

We are between Southampton and Salisbury...

Oh poo,we are in the East Midlands,not much use to you then.

Shame!

Yes,but I can tell you that we paid £150 a day and he was a real craftsman,very exacting about getting things just right.He also got us new doors and door furniture at cost price,which helped keep the costs down a bit,if you can find a fitter who will do that,grab him with both hands!

He sounds fab....

We are having ours done too at the moment. Using a local company that friends recommended. We are at the demolishing walls/filling in giant holes stage. Builders are great but blimey the house is disintegrating by the minute.

I've taken to hiding upstairs and my osteopath thinks I should be planning once a week sessions until it is over because of the having to wash up in the bath. He is normally a 2-3 sessions and there you go chap - so that tells you something.

How are you holding up Aitch?

We are having ours done at the moment. Its been a long process! Our house has an unusual layout and we have knocked two walls down to make a kitchen-diner.

Firstly, we went to lots of kitchen showrooms, and looked at what the kitchens were like, the quality of the units and how knowledgable/professional the staff were.

Following that we had 3 companies come out to give us a quote-B&Q, Wren and a local company.

We have gone with B+Q- Cooke & lewis Solid Oak- as it was reasonably priced, we can get 0% interest free credit over 5 years and we had a very good rapport with the bloke who sold it to us- he lives around the corner from us.

We found a fitter going on recommendation- obviously this is the ideal but if you don't know anyone whose had a kitchen done recently you could look at the association of Kitchen Bedroom and bathroom instalers (think thats what its called- KBBI?)and find one of their members. Also look out for vans in the area- whose vans do you see out and about?

We did ours last year with a combination of DIY, local tradesmen and a couple of friends who are kitchen fitters.

I worked on the design over a few weeks, trying various ideas out before we came up with the one we wanted. We looked at units and worktops in various shops before deciding to buy on-line after seeing some samples of a company's products. Everything else was sourced from various different places. On-line companies, eBay, Homebase, B&Q. This meant we could get exactly what we want without paying a huge markup.

All of the tradesmen were found on Check-a-Trade and apart from the roofer were very, very good. Managing and planning it all ourselves saved a lot of money.

Thanks for latest messages - not heard of check-a-trade, brilliant

Also I now know who you mean Aworryingtrend, since I bought some kitchen mags at the weekend and one of them is the official magazine of the KBSA (the UK kitchen bathroom bedroom specialists association)