Our build thread, renovation and extension

[anonymous-user]

We had/have the same problem with kitchens. Had to have some idea of the kitchen layout to decide where the windows would go for the SIPS (we therefore had to decide about 3 months ago) The SIPS are now up so looking at the actual space, it's far easier than some bits of wood on the ground!
Seems that no-one came up with anything particularly revolutionary and, actually, what we think we're going for, is a design we've effectively created ourselves. Sent details to a couple of kitchen companies that deal with the units we want and they never even got back to us. We've found a man in St Neots though - very helpful, very amiable and I get the impression that if we have a problem, he'll sort it rather than simply washing his hands...

[singlecoil]

skintemma said:

We had/have the same problem with kitchens.

Always worth mentioning any such problems here, there are several of us who are involved with kitchens full time, and one or more of us may well have some useful input to offer. We might even be able to quote at PH rates .

[Muncher]

We're looking for something modern but not overly clinical.

I'll try and get some plans up here ASAP and would be happy to see ideas and quotes from anyone.

[singlecoil]

Muncher said:

I'll try and get some plans up here ASAP and would be happy to see ideas and quotes from anyone.

I won't be able to quote, unfortunately, (curved units are really not my thing) but I will certainly see if I can come up with some ideas. When the plans appear (which I assume will be in 2D) I will knock up some 3D representations of the space, which might help with visualising some possibilities.

[RevHappy]

singlecoil said:

skintemma said:

We had/have the same problem with kitchens.

Always worth mentioning any such problems here, there are several of us who are involved with kitchens full time, and one or more of us may well have some useful input to offer. We might even be able to quote at PH rates .

Yeah, there's one or two kitchen based folks here

[RevHappy]

Great thread, shame a lot of the early pictures are gone

[Kneetrembler]

Muncher said:

We're having a few nightmares with the kitchen layout at the moment, we are struggling to fit everything we want into there (although it is a big space) and the designs which people are coming back with either don't "work" or don't look special enough.

In the meantime, does anyone have any experience with the Neff Aqua-assist ovens and the Neff steam ovens? I am assuming the functionality of them is sufficiently different that it's still useful to have both of them?

One of our friends completed a development in Nantwich and used various kitchen layout and appliances.

The one appliance that they assured me they would never buy again was a Neff Steam Oven because of the amount of water it produced and the mopping out after use.

[singlecoil]

Kneetrembler said:

The one appliance that they assured me they would never buy again was a Neff Steam Oven because of the amount of water it produced and the mopping out after use.

I have no experience whatever of the Neff steam oven. However, I have enough experience of their other appliances to make me wonder whether there is actually something wrong with the unit your friends have, or maybe even a problem with the way they are using it?

[RevHappy]

singlecoil said:

Kneetrembler said:

The one appliance that they assured me they would never buy again was a Neff Steam Oven because of the amount of water it produced and the mopping out after use.

I have no experience whatever of the Neff steam oven. However, I have enough experience of their other appliances to make me wonder whether there is actually something wrong with the unit your friends have, or maybe even a problem with the way they are using it?

Virtual pint on user error, small cover bet on faulty unit, although the plumbed it ones are easier to maintain due to not needing the power sponge!

[tuffer]

I know people will probably slag me off for this but here goes anyway:

I looked at a lot of kitchen designs from various suppliers but eventually chose Smallbone of Devizes. The design was exactly what we were looking for, contemporary yet classic and something that I believe will not date to quickly, we went with the Chelsea design in Oak which is a bit unusual. The design service was excellent and exactly matched our brief with some interesting features. Being fitted this week so will post some pictures up as soon as I have them.

[singlecoil]

tuffer said:

I know people will probably slag me off for this but here goes anyway:

I looked at a lot of kitchen designs from various suppliers but eventually chose Smallbone of Devizes.

I can't think why anyone would want to slag you off for that, you are obviously a man of means and one would expect one of the most expensive suppliers of kitchens in the country to provide a damn good service. I'm going to guess that plenty of space is available too, something which makes designing an effective layout a great deal easier, allowing aesthetic considerations to carry as much weight as ergonomic ones.

[cuneus]

tuffer said:

I know people will probably slag me off for this but here goes anyway:

I looked at a lot of kitchen designs from various suppliers but eventually chose Smallbone of Devizes. The design was exactly what we were looking for, contemporary yet classic and something that I believe will not date to quickly, we went with the Chelsea design in Oak which is a bit unusual. The design service was excellent and exactly matched our brief with some interesting features. Being fitted this week so will post some pictures up as soon as I have them.

Let's hope they don't go into administration again. Must refrain from any other comments.

[GTO-3R]

Kneetrembler said:

One of our friends completed a development in Nantwich and used various kitchen layout and appliances.

The one appliance that they assured me they would never buy again was a Neff Steam Oven because of the amount of water it produced and the mopping out after use.

90% of our appliance sales are Neff and i've never heard of a steam oven doing that. User error or a faulty machine by the sounds of it

[Muncher]

GTO-3R said:

90% of our appliance sales are Neff and i've never heard of a steam oven doing that. User error or a faulty machine by the sounds of it

PH rates?

[RevHappy]

cuneus said:

Let's hope they don't go into administration again. Must refrain from any other comments.

Thought about the above but is that under the name and shame rule?

[tuffer]

singlecoil said:

tuffer said:

I know people will probably slag me off for this but here goes anyway:

I looked at a lot of kitchen designs from various suppliers but eventually chose Smallbone of Devizes.

I can't think why anyone would want to slag you off for that, you are obviously a man of means and one would expect one of the most expensive suppliers of kitchens in the country to provide a damn good service. I'm going to guess that plenty of space is available too, something which makes designing an effective layout a great deal easier, allowing aesthetic considerations to carry as much weight as ergonomic ones.

Because this is Pistonheads...... Usual conversations about kitchens come down to "I could have done the same for X less", "Should have gone to xxxxxx, you have been ripped off" etc etc.
It's actually a pretty small space, 3.2M x 3.4m but I think they have made good use of it. And they were a lot cheaper than Bulthaup

[tuffer]

cuneus said:

tuffer said:

I know people will probably slag me off for this but here goes anyway:

I looked at a lot of kitchen designs from various suppliers but eventually chose Smallbone of Devizes. The design was exactly what we were looking for, contemporary yet classic and something that I believe will not date to quickly, we went with the Chelsea design in Oak which is a bit unusual. The design service was excellent and exactly matched our brief with some interesting features. Being fitted this week so will post some pictures up as soon as I have them.

Let's hope they don't go into administration again. Must refrain from any other comments.

That was a concern, especially as I just had that problem with my window supplier, thankfully that is now resolved.

[Muncher]

Well I now have 4 days straight with my Dad to get the bifolding doors in, along with the French doors and windows either side of them. All the rear scaffolding came down today, which I'm looking forward to seeing tomorrow. With any luck my Monday the back face will be pretty much finished and enclosed, which will mean we can safely store power tools in there again and hopefully it will make it feel a little warmer.

[Muncher]

Frustrating day today. We fitted the remaining screws in the headrail and also fitted the French door frame. This involves drilling into quite thick steel and screwing into it, very slowly so the screw cuts it's own thread. However, once we tried to level up the frame we found that the cills were not protruding far enough forwards. We had a few calls to building control, our architect and the window suppliers but eventually decided to resolve it by removing all the fixings and sliding them further outwards. That will now be a job for tomorrow morning as it was getting cold and dark. To keep vaguely on track we need to do that tomorrow morning and cast concrete slabs to support the lower frame frame in the morning, as we have plans in the afternoon.

Basically, the regulations changed 6 years ago saying that windows had to be fitted covering 30mm of the cavity, therefore they had to sit back in the reveal. According to our architect for 6 years the window industry have ignored that completely and continue to fit them too far out. That of course means the supplied cills are never as deep as they should be.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics of the rear of the house with the scaffolding down.

[Muncher]

Here's the kitchen space we have to work with.




Here's a design Benchmarx came up with. Ignore the odd looking wood around the wooden units. We asked them to vary the island to have different heights for the seating area, but they haven't and that area just isn't working for me. There is a full height fridge freezer next to the ovens (which will be evened up into a square with warming drawers). They also haven't included a full height freezer which we are thinking of having over next to the bifolding doors with a curved cover unit next to it.