Doing a tiny bit of the kitchen on the cheap

[Chalatte]

My kitchen is falling apart quite literally. The shelves put in 10+ years ago are not very functional and the wet counter by the sink is wood, which is literally rotting and falling away. We have some marble tiles on top but they only barely mask the crumbling bits, and the part of the counter that attaches to the wall has peeling away grout and is black and ugly.

This is the catch. Me and my partner have both realised we cannot budget for this kitchen renovation. Its' a significant cost but we have an extension to plan in the future, and it won't make sense to do the kitchen if we're going to take it all apart again for the extension. We're also shit at DIY.

So, as an ultra-low-cost option, I'm thinking of getting a secondhand kitchen counter and getting a handyman to install it. Is this totally insane? Can anyone tell me why, if so, or if I'm on the right track, any ideas would be welcome. Thanks in advance!

That’s a good idea. Look on Facebook marketplace place or other local selling sites as people are frequently selling their old kitchen or part of.

also ask stores for any ex-demo you could buy

You can buy a new 3m length of laminate worktop for about £100 (much more expensive products are available). Secondhand ones will have cutouts for sinks and hobs in the wrong places. Then I would suggest a kitchen fitter for a day, rather than a handyman as he will have all the correct tools and be experienced in making any joins you need..

That's a really good idea! I'm having a new kitchen next week but my builder mentioned that he often fits new worktops when they are damaged.

As a PP said, laminate is inexpensive. We have had Duropal in our utility room for around 12 years and whilst it's not particularly pretty it does the job and can withstand getting soaked. I think it might be a little more expensive than other types of laminate though.

Not at all insane, this actually sounds like a sensible stopgap given you’re planning a bigger extension later anyway.

A secondhand or budget worktop fitted by a decent handyman can definitely buy you a few years of use, as long as it’s installed and sealed properly, especially around the sink area.

Just treat it as a temporary fix rather than a full renovation, and focus on keeping water out of the problem areas so it doesn’t start rotting again.

I have more or less the same thing so watching with interest.

We did exactly that re did just our worktops with a company called kitchen wizard. Fraction of the price. If the carcass of the kitchen is ok then replace just the doors. Can sometimes find whole kitchens on eBay for a couple of hundred.

That's all really good to know. We ended up having a leak making our floorboards all swell up so we're now set to do up the whole kitchen + floors -- have gotten quotes in the range of £7k, with materials will likely go up to £8-9k hopefully no more. Oh well!