Kitchen installation - What would you do?

[spiralqueen]

We are buying a 50 yr house whose kitchen consists of the original sink unit and nothing else. It is obviously going to be our first job when we move in but are pondering on the best way of going about it.

We have seen a kitchen we like in Homebase but don't know whether to get them to install it or find somebody locally to do it. We are going to need some additional sockets put in and possibly some plumbing. Would you hand it all over to Homebase's contractors or get another company to do it? We are happy to construct units but the tiling/worktop cutting/electrics/plumbing would be a lot easier to give to someone else to do.

Thoughts everyone?

i wouldn't use homebase. i would find a good joiner to fit the kitchen. get a electrician and plumber yourself and mange it. it is not that hard just a pita but you will probably save money and have a nicer kitchen.

Get a kitchen fitter independant to do it who will probs have an elec and plumber contact - it will save you alot. We just planning our new kitchen (a b and q jobby) - dh building it all and hanging cabinets and fitting base ones then we just getting man in at end to fit worktops while plumber there to move hob and replace sink. Best get ellecy man in first though to put sockets and elecs in situ and plumber likewise if need new gas pipes to hob/ oven.

I would go to Magnet, sit down with an advisor, discuss exactly what I wanted and get them to do the lot.

Sorting out separate plumbers, joiners, carpenters, electricians, tilers et,c is a nightmare. Get it all done under one roof.

But you do pay for the convenience with Magnet, depends how much you are prepared to spend.

We've just done our kitchen. DH put Ikea units together, chippie mate secured it all in place with plinths etc, cut a few bits to size, installed island centrally etc. Electrician did sockets both before and after this. Plumber plumbed in washing machine and sink once they arrived, which was after. Gas man connected gas hob. This needs to be done by someone with the right certificate.

We didn't get a proper worktop for about 2 months, just used a temporary MDF one as we wanted to make sure it measured exactly correct. Local stone place came and measured up and fitted once the temp MDF was in place. We don't have tiles in the kitchen, but the plumber we use is also a tiler so he did our bathroom ones. Maybe see if you can get a jack of a few trades eg chippie/tiler/plumber - they do exist. Actually thinking about it,the gas bloke is also a plumber as well....

We've just had pretty much the same situation as you.We bought a kitchen from Wickes and got our own fitter and electrician,plasterer ect.It has been very smooth running so far and has saved us over £3000 by not using the stores tradesmen.Our electrician recommended the fitter who is great,a real craftsman,I can't remember where we found the plasterer.

Put it this way,we found that the stores charge approx half as much as the kitchen costs to fit it.I found the tradesmens chat section of the Screwfix website very useful.There are sections for kitchen fitters,electricians,plumbers ect,and they discuss the merits of different kitchens,daily rates,all sorts of interesting things.You might find someone near you to quote,or ask if they think a quote you have had is fair.

We went with wicks own fitter which had the benefit that he could go straight to them and resolve problems rather than going through us. He was so good that we booked him to do our bathroom independently a few months later. This time I had to do a lot of the running around to sort out problems but he still did a great job.

Advantage of going direct for the kitchen was that the fitting fees were included in the 0% finance.

I think it made a difference that he wasn't employed with Wicks and was on a contract - easier for them to get rid if he was crap and in his interest to do a good job as it was a regular source of income.

Thanks for the Screwfix tip. They all seem very anti-Ikea but other than the fact that there is no service void at the back of the units which makes fitting more fiddly there weren't many other reasons given for their dislike.

My DP was a kitchen fitter and he also dislikes the ikea units for that very reason, makes the job a bit trickier especially if the house the ikea units are going in don't have straight walls (and which house does lol). But he says the quality of the units from ikea is very good, he just has a preference for the ones with the recess behind.
I have heard good things about wickes units, have you thought of trying them?
Also I would advocate getting an independent fitter too, means you can spend more on kitchen gadgets because of the money you will save on fitting!!

The advantage of having no recess behind the units is that you have more cupboard space. We've just got the gas and water pipes running under the cupboard then up behind the drawers. Didn't seem to be a huge problem.

Definitely get someone independent - ideally a local recommendation. Independent tradesmen rely on their reputations and are much more likely to care about doing a good job than someone working through Homebase.

We have been really lucky (helped by living in a very rural area, IMO) - I would recommend / use again any of the tradespeople we have had working on our house.

that service void shite really annoys me. i got round it by explaining precisely how i wanted stuff fitted. there really wasn't any need for a void.

Going to go for an Ikea kitchen and the price to get them to fit it is comparable with an independent. Given how much of a pain independents find fitting Ikea kitchens (and quite a few seem to refuse to do them) I think it might be worth it to get the Ikea people who fit it all the time to do it as they will be used to the quirks and know how best to fit it. Would you agree?