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

thanks Piglet! as you appear to be an expert do you have any comment on the installation of an RCD unit costing £500 ? would be grateful of your opinion..apparently 1 out of 20 of the buggers constantly trip in the property and the householder can't reset it ?.. however it is a good idea for us to upgrade as the old one is 30 years old !
ta

I think you are talking about fitting a new consumer unit with RCD. For the finest installation, if you can afford it, have RCBOs which include a separate RCD for every circuit, so that a fault on one will not affect the others.

To conform with regulations, the electrician must test and verify that every circuit he has worked on is safe and passes test, before he can issue your certificate. Fitting a new CU affects every circuit in the house. If the wiring is very old, there may be a lot of remedial work required.

£500 to fit, test and certify a new CU with no remedial work is rather high. But if it is "£500 plus an unknown amount for remedial work without which your circuits cannot be reconnected" then it is much worse. Best to have the installation tested beforehand, and a quotation which includes all the remedial work as well as the new CU. You will have to pay for the test and report.

Ask any electrician which "Competent Person" scheme s/he is a member of before asking him to do any work. Look him up on their website before letting him/her into your home. S/He should have been registered for several years (you don't want a beginner) and should not be just a "Domestic Installer" which is the lowest level of qualification and somewhat looked down on. Confirm that the work will be done by the qualified person, and not by some unqualified labourer working for him. It is OK to have an apprentice working under the supervision of the electrician.

NICEIC is an example of a trade organisation with a Competent Persons register. Such organisations usually have a website where you can search for qualified people local to you. But try to get local recommendations from friends and neighbours as some qualified people will be better than others.

waving
90% of induction hobs need to be hard wired on its own circuit back to the fuse box
neff and bosh offer 60cm induction 13amp plug in inductions.
the neff one is nicer looking

brilliant Piglet ! ur a treasure really:
we're going to take this option :
"....Best to have the installation tested beforehand, and a quotation which includes all the remedial work as well as the new CU. You will have to pay for the test and report..."

thanks for the warning, ours is a 30+ years old 1-bedroom flat so do you think that alters anything ? i mean in the way of remedial work ?
certainly going to have the installation tested and a quote for the remedial work ...

thanks anna for the info re hob

you will probably need the main earth bonds changed to a larger size, which is probably easy. You may have a lack of green/yellow sheathing in switches, sockets and light fittings, which is tedious, and you might take opportunity of changing to new ones. If you are unlucky (but 1980's should be OK) there might be lack of earth wire in lighting, which at the very least means all fittings must be plastic, no metal.

Your cables will be PVC T&E and serviceable unless they have been overheated in lights or by hot pipes.

You probably have insufficient sockets, which is not a fail, but if you are using adaptors (grrrrr) or extensions, you should add more.

You may have bodged alterations or additions. You may have cracked or damaged sockets which is easy.

Flats can be difficult if cables are inaccessible in concrete floors and ceilings.

You are under no obligation to rewire the flat to modern standards, e.g. height of sockets and switches above the floor, though the modern standards are better if you ever plan to be pregnant, fat, disabled or have a bad back.

hi Piglet thanks for the info. but there is no way we're doing any major re-wiring in our flat such as the above, as least not atm.,

its just this new kitchen that is the main priority. is it possible that a good electrician could only test and report for the kitchen only and thereby identify any remedial in this room only.. surely it is ..please get back to me appreciated.
BIG thanks

yes

the earth bonds and the green/yellow are trivial little jobs

You ought to know if your lighting circuit is safe with metal light fittings or light switches

You ought to know if there is anything dangerous

No reason not to have a full report

Piglet sorry i'm confused now

you said "no way we're doing any major re-wiring in our flat"

so I am saying have the full inspection and report done, so you know what defects there are and if any parts are unsafe. You can then decide what you need and can afford to do. The things that are most likely to need doing may not be expensive.

The electrical certification after work done- does this apply in Scotland? We had our bathroom done with new (better) electric shower on a different wall 2 yrs ago. Nothing from the bathroom fitter, although he was def gas registered and seemed v pernickety about regulations. Should I have something, does anyone know? Was thinking of using him for new kitchen, to link back to thread!

Scotland uses a different system of Building Warrants. There may be a guide on the website of your local authority.

ok thanks piglet just one thing more..for the full test how is it run ? becos we've stacked up stuff from our overflowing kitchen against furniture totally blocking access to some sockets...

Most tests are performed at the CU. But it would be a pity to not be able to see a socket that was cracked or broken.

hi piglet you mean they just plug the tool in at our currently 'fusebox' location ? does it run a series of automatic tests then ? i was told it takes 5 hours to complete ? £150 + vat

thanks

The multifunction tester runs at the CU, but there is plenty more inspection and test to do.

ok thanks piglet for all info, going to be busy!

kitchen fittter just phoned and we kick off in couple of days must say it is pretty daunting especially as kitchen won't be ready until 4 weeks time..

humph ! it is late March and kitchen still not completed ..

What is he doing?!

Mine started last Monday, due to finish tomorrow only returning to fit plinths after we get the vinyl down. This has included some skimming, new radiator, new coving including ripping down the solid plaster stuff that was up, the isolation units as mentioned above, concreting the floor and some extra unforseen bits like pipe work and the inbuilt oven not being done properly so they have had to redo all that. Plus they have sorted the botch job done on my bathroom a few months ago and sealed bits in the downstairs bathroom that were potentially leaking.

going to tell you the whole sorry story tomorrow ..too late atm

Ours was supposed to take 2 week to fit but ended up taking 5 weeks. This wasn't because of any problems with the actual fitting, just the lazy a**e that we had the misfortune to end up having to do the work.
So I say GOOD LUCK!

Hi everyone

I just bought a German Haecker kitchen and need to have it fitted. Can anyone recommend a good fitter in London?

Merry Xmaas to you all