Day one of kitchen. Please tell me it gets better!

[Ostryga]

Victorian terrace with awful, cheap kitchen I’ve been dying to get rid of.

I’m already stressed after one day and this is going to take a month! (Both bathrooms are also being ripped out and redone, downstairs one at same time as kitchen)

I keep forgetting there’s no kitchen and going to fill the kettle up, or put my cup down!

Just wanted a moan. I know it’s worth it, but the living with it is not so great.

I find it exciting! We camp a lot so used to 'roughing it' and I love watching the progress of a new room coming together. I'm quite an organised person though and would have planned every meal and clear up. Enjoy the result and come back with pics.

Also discovered that the electrics had just been plastered into the wall instead of chased in, so already upping the bill. And have been living in a danger home for 4 years. Renovating is so fun

Yes it does get better and this will all be a distant memory.
I came home one day not long ago to find concrete being pumped in through the front door and the bannisters had been knocked down. There was just mess EVERYWHERE!
We’re still a way off the final outcome but whenever yet another workman is here I just have to think it’s one step closer to it being finished.

I remember I posted on my FB those exact words just over a year ago! I went off to work then came home to this. I sooo regretted convincing my DH that we needed a new kitchen.

But it was definitely worth it though. Hang in there!

Is it normal for a new kitchen to take a month?? I last had one fitted 9 years ago and thought it took a week but my memory might be dodgy!

(I'm commenting because I'll have to get a new kitchen fitted when we move. I am dreading the stress.)

It could be worse. This is what happened to our kitchen today, and it won't be back until they've demolished the wall, put a roof on the extension and remodelled the whole side of the house.

@Icequeen01

I remember I posted on my FB those exact words just over a year ago! I went off to work then came home to this. I sooo regretted convincing my DH that we needed a new kitchen.

But it was definitely worth it though. Hang in there!

Can you post 'after' photos? I love looking at kitchens!

ours before and after

It definitely gets better and it's absolutely worth it - although mine is quite small and was pretty much done in less than 2 weeks.

Before and after below for those interested (ignore the bare plaster ceiling and unfinished walls, I'm still having fun trying to get a painter!)

@Shapesorted Here you go 😀

We’re currently on approximately day 1273 and I really really hope it gets better one day. Currently washing up in the garden and living on crisps.

Oh god, ours starts in a couple of weeks and I'm half dreading half excited. We're having a wall taken out so it's going to get messy. Hang in there OP, it will definitely be worth it!

We’ve not had a kitchen or washing machine since March and it’s all getting to me now! The house is in complete chaos with stuff/boxes everywhere (we didn’t put anything in storage). I started off being organised and as tidy as possible but as time has gone on I’ve found I’ve had less and less energy for it all. We should be done in about 3-4 weeks now and I can’t wait for some normality!

It’s like childbirth: you forget all the pain almost as soon as you’re done and start thinking you’d like to do it again.

I’m at a month though, our kitchen and bathroom took 11 days total for both! Building site to everything that used to be in the kitchen dumped in the living room awaiting disposal (the absolute worst bit) to finished job as pictured.

Downstairs extension and new kitchen here. Started November and finished January. No oven on Xmas Day! The dust! OMG the dust! Washing up in the bath for a month was fun and we lived on cold pasties/sausage rolls and microwave rice. Worth it now but very nearly lost it at the time. images removed by MNHQ at OP's request

We’re 5 months in to a major renovation. Currently not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Plus a lockdown and a new baby, it’s fair to say it’s been horrible.

We pulled out our old kitchen last year Jan 2020 thinking it was only going to be a month or so & then in April, NZ went into lockdown for Covid - so all the workmen & material deliveries were on hold for a month or so.
This all happened just as the water & power were about to be connected so ferrying dishes & cooking utensils to our wee laundry got very tiresome. We also found wiring issues in our house, plus the benchtop & splashback created other challenges since our kitchen room is in the middle of our living space (not against an external wall) & these internal walls that the oven etc backed onto were supposedly not straight!! Anyway its all done now but I never expected it all to take nearly 5 months

Day 1 for us here to and similar scenes OP,

I however seem to be the only one in the house who is bothered by it.

Plenty of to get us though.

I must have a very slow builder! He is lovely though so that does make it easier.

Loving the before and afters! Bathroom is getting taken out today, so no shower for 2 weeks. Thankfully my friend lives round the corner so I’ll be seeing a lot of her I think.

A month??!

I've never had one run over a week and that's too long

We had loads of plans when we moved in here but the list has gradually got shorter and shorter because I just can't face any more builders. Sympathies OP.

A month is speedy for a kitchen and 2 bathrooms coordinating tilers, electricians, plumbers and kitchen fitters means these jobs are rarely quick. Refitting a kitchen to a similar plan as the one removed compared to a complete rewire and new layout accounts for the time difference so don't let other posters freak you out OP they know not of what they speak

Our kitchen just took 4 months purely because our builder was horrendous and dishonest, never turned up when he said he would. I am never having building work done again! Love my new kitchen though.. finally!

Mine was started in May and is scheduled to be finished in August. We’re also remodelling the utility and downstairs loo, and will be redecorating the rest of the ground floor afterwards (including moving some radiators) so it’s a big job.

Totally feel your pain op. Dust everywhere and although we have a temporary kitchen installed in the dining room, it’s far from practical. I hate it.

In our last house we had a new kitchen & utility room installed, went for a B&Q kitchen, thinking we will probably change it in 10 years as fashion changes etc. After the first day of the install, I thought never again, the same kitchen was there when we sold 18 years later, and to be fair not didn’t look bad at all.