Those who have completely redone a kitchen...

[Minnie881]

I really don't know where to start.. how do you go about planning and getting quotes? Basically ours needs the paint stripping back, re-priming, new kitchen installed, false brick wall knocked down, spot lights installed in the ceiling and ceiling re-skimmed and painted. Do we need a builder in to start quoting for this or do we find the kitchen we would want first? I'm struggling to work out who would do all the different jobs or whether one good builder would have the contacts to do the electrics, paining and decorating and designing and fitting the kitchen. Anyone with experience would be helpful!

Btw not replacing windows or doors and flooring will need changing as part of it though we will go for a thick but fairly cheap laminate again I suspect.

Sounds like you are doing Similar to what I've just done a few months ago.

We had non supporting partition wall (not brick) taken down between kitchen and dining room. Then full kitchen refurb and separate utility room completed. Spot lights, dining table light, under unit lights, plinth lights, plastering walls, ceiling, flooring, tiling and quartz worktops, 2 new tall radiators.

It cost just short of £13K including appliances, all integrated.

We started with builders quotes and going to Howdens and Magnet. This enabled the builder to quote on our drawings. Also went to b&q just to compare, price wasn't too bad but cldnt knock the wall down n units didn't look as gd.

The builders wanted between £5.5-£6K just for the labour 😮 said it would take a week, we are in central Scotland. I had quotes from 3 builders. It was looking like costing about £15K doing it this way.

We went to a local kitchen firm just for a comparison thinking it would be more expensive but they were actually cheaper and did everything for us. Gave us a few extras for free too like new skirting boards in the bits that were missing from wall being knocked down, new bars for the floors, window sill ended up needing replaced they got us one and didn't charge, also added a small unit during the process for no extra charge.

Oh I also sourced the worktop myself, this was soooo much cheaper. Found a place and visited them they gave me samples away (decent sized off cuts).

I also got some stuff myself from EBay. Taps and sink. Kitchen place wanted £450 per radiator that I wanted, I sourced both for £195 delivered!

We started looking in January last year and we finally got it booked in July for fitting a few months later. It just took so long to get all the quotes and the drawings done. Back and forth changing the drawings, visiting show rooms etc.

Good luck, don't rush in to anything and start ur research ASAP!

For finding a trusted builder gonkn checkatrade and trusted trader. I would only choose one with good reviews. My city has a very busy Facebook page where you can ask for trade recommendations but I don’t find these very impartial - tends to be underemployed tradespeople looking for new business and if they’re underemployed it begs the question why.

You can do it two ways - find a company who will do it from end to end - they will find the electricians, plumbers, joiners and effectively project manage the whole thing. I think this may work out a little more expensive but will be mire convenient.

Or, do the project management/sourcing yourself. I ended up doing this and it does require you to spend a lot more time researching it, finding reputable people etc. The advantage is you have a lot more control over the process. You can also do things iteratively - eg, take the wall down, then you can really see what space you’re left with which will impact on your kitchen design (eg, you may find you want the kitchen a little bit smaller so you can use the other end for a sitting as well as dining area).

Very impressed with your £13k jobuddy. I reckon mines ended up around the £20k mark when I add it all up. Ulp. That’s included
structural engineer visit and plans 300
wall removal 700
all ceiling lighting and some sockets/switches repositioning (1100)
Howdens kitchen (including units, sink, boiling water tap, waste disposal unit) - 4K (hadto haggle them down by getting a cheaper quote from their competitor). Doesn’t include any fancy carousels, but there are a lot of pan drawers
Rangemaster oven and extractor hood - 2k
Engineered wood flooring- 1300k (room is about 30 square metres)
Fridge freezer - 900
Fitting - 6k (includes taking out old kitchen and floor tiles, laying flooring,making good wall removal, reskimming ceiling and all walls, fitting units sink etc, plumbing in fridge water/ice sink taps waste disposal dishwasher etc, removing and fitting new coving and skirting boards)
Skip Hire- 250

Wondering if I’ve missed something....
I already had dishwasher, microwave and washing machine.

Oh, a new back door but that’s included in the 6k fitting quote.
Also had to have boiler pipes repositioned, not sure what that bill is going to yet, I suspect around £300

Ah, that’s what I’ve mussed - granite work tops - 3k

We have an independent kitchen company who do everything all the removal and installation of a new kitchen and all the remedial work.