My Kitchen Build (pics)
Discussion
Evening all,
I thought I'd share my recent kitchen refurb. I bought a house (3 bed semi in Kent) in January, and am renovating the whole thing, key of which is the kitchen. It's taken a while (not least because we're doing the rest of the house too), but yesterday the flooring was fitted and so we're pretty dam close to finishing
I went with DIY Kitchens in the end, and I must say I've been very impressed - both the quality, and the price of it all. I know it's a big topic open for debate, but when I compared the quality and cost with the other big companies I thought it was exceedingly good value. Anyway, on to the pictures;
The house was perfectly liveable, but my circumstances meant it was a good opportunity to renovate while I'm not living in the house and so I went for it.
Before - perfectly clean and useable, but I fancied something more modern.
Day 1 - taking everything apart. This bits very easy. It's the putting new things back which takes the time
One of my closest friends is an electrician - this has been very useful on this project!
One of the building type jobs was changing what was the 2 windows and a door to simply 3 windows. The long kitchen has patio doors at one end, so I'll use those all the time and I found when designing that closing up the original door really allowed a lot more work space.
So once all the holes for light switches were made, channeled, and the ceiling ripped down and a new one put up (also giving us the chance to repair a leaking pipe which we found only by chance - what luck!) the whole room was plastered
I then ripped up the floor boards, strengthened the joists and put down 22mm marine ply, ready to take the underfloor heating (there was a big long radiator at the end of the kitchen, but I wanted to put fixed corner seating in there - so we decided to do UFH all the way throughout downstairs.)
The underfloor heating uses thermal boards on top of the marine ply, then mats of wire on top of that, and then a concrete/latex screed that encompasses the whole lot. An absolute pain to get level.
Test fitted the kitchen, to make sure stuff fitted. It didn't quite - so had to send a few things back and change around slightly. All part of the fun
Once we'd test fitted the kitchen, we took it back out again and painted. Very light grey and very very red red. It was a risk, but it looks fabulous!
Then we started to fit the kitchen properly;
Working out the exact location on the worktops of where the hood and the hob (a Neff induction 4 x 1, 900mm wide, rather than a 2 x 2 600mm) would go. We used a LOT of cardboard on this job
I pretty much designed my whole kitchen around this thing - a downdraft extractor. A more obviously picture of what it is later, but we had to have the extractor unit mounted within the carcas. When we originally bought it all, we didn't quite know if it would all work out or not. Lots and lots of head scratching and standing-around-with-a-cup-of-tea and we managed to mount it like this, and even get useable cupboards on the back side
Oh, to fit it in the place we did, none of the official fitting kits would allow it (and we'd end up having to take space out of the draws, which wasn't ideal, so we made our own way of joining the extractor to the unit itself);
Because of the stairs cutting the corner off at the ceiling, the fridge/freezer wouldn't go right into the corner, so we needed to fill 150mm. All the shop purchaseable wine racks were too short, so we'd have needed to join (and get a nasty line), so we ended up desiging and making our own. We bought gloss white end panel from B&Q and made the wine rack to suit. It took a surpsingly long while, but I think is very worth it;
The worktops. Lots of umming and arrring, but in the end I went for Black American Walnut. I'm particularly chuffed with the drop down at the end - it really completed the end of the peninsular unit and looks great. Also got a solid window shelf to match, too. I started oiling but ended up getting it much too shiny - I didn't like the look, so sanded it all back again and then oiled with danish oil, which doesn't create quite so much of a shine as the one I had originally - much more happy with the finish.
Not far from finishing now - black vinyl floor to go down.
Floor being fitted yesterday morning. Apparently I'm a git for having them work around that peninsular bit - they ended up having to re-roll the flooring the other way, and roll it away from the wall towards the sink, rather than from one end of the kitchen, otherwise there'd be too many creases. There's still a couple in, but with a bit of heat they should come out;
And how it stands at the moment. Fitted gloss white corner seat to go at the end, with red cushions (identical colour to wall), and white gloss table. LED strip lighting to go under the plinth, and under the 3 wall cupboards I've got (one of which is the boiler), which is all controlled by one of the buttons on the wall. Then black rise/fall circular light and the kitchen is ready;
I thought I'd share my recent kitchen refurb. I bought a house (3 bed semi in Kent) in January, and am renovating the whole thing, key of which is the kitchen. It's taken a while (not least because we're doing the rest of the house too), but yesterday the flooring was fitted and so we're pretty dam close to finishing
I went with DIY Kitchens in the end, and I must say I've been very impressed - both the quality, and the price of it all. I know it's a big topic open for debate, but when I compared the quality and cost with the other big companies I thought it was exceedingly good value. Anyway, on to the pictures;
The house was perfectly liveable, but my circumstances meant it was a good opportunity to renovate while I'm not living in the house and so I went for it.
Before - perfectly clean and useable, but I fancied something more modern.
Day 1 - taking everything apart. This bits very easy. It's the putting new things back which takes the time
One of my closest friends is an electrician - this has been very useful on this project!
One of the building type jobs was changing what was the 2 windows and a door to simply 3 windows. The long kitchen has patio doors at one end, so I'll use those all the time and I found when designing that closing up the original door really allowed a lot more work space.
So once all the holes for light switches were made, channeled, and the ceiling ripped down and a new one put up (also giving us the chance to repair a leaking pipe which we found only by chance - what luck!) the whole room was plastered
I then ripped up the floor boards, strengthened the joists and put down 22mm marine ply, ready to take the underfloor heating (there was a big long radiator at the end of the kitchen, but I wanted to put fixed corner seating in there - so we decided to do UFH all the way throughout downstairs.)
The underfloor heating uses thermal boards on top of the marine ply, then mats of wire on top of that, and then a concrete/latex screed that encompasses the whole lot. An absolute pain to get level.
Test fitted the kitchen, to make sure stuff fitted. It didn't quite - so had to send a few things back and change around slightly. All part of the fun
Once we'd test fitted the kitchen, we took it back out again and painted. Very light grey and very very red red. It was a risk, but it looks fabulous!
Then we started to fit the kitchen properly;
Working out the exact location on the worktops of where the hood and the hob (a Neff induction 4 x 1, 900mm wide, rather than a 2 x 2 600mm) would go. We used a LOT of cardboard on this job
I pretty much designed my whole kitchen around this thing - a downdraft extractor. A more obviously picture of what it is later, but we had to have the extractor unit mounted within the carcas. When we originally bought it all, we didn't quite know if it would all work out or not. Lots and lots of head scratching and standing-around-with-a-cup-of-tea and we managed to mount it like this, and even get useable cupboards on the back side
Oh, to fit it in the place we did, none of the official fitting kits would allow it (and we'd end up having to take space out of the draws, which wasn't ideal, so we made our own way of joining the extractor to the unit itself);
Because of the stairs cutting the corner off at the ceiling, the fridge/freezer wouldn't go right into the corner, so we needed to fill 150mm. All the shop purchaseable wine racks were too short, so we'd have needed to join (and get a nasty line), so we ended up desiging and making our own. We bought gloss white end panel from B&Q and made the wine rack to suit. It took a surpsingly long while, but I think is very worth it;
The worktops. Lots of umming and arrring, but in the end I went for Black American Walnut. I'm particularly chuffed with the drop down at the end - it really completed the end of the peninsular unit and looks great. Also got a solid window shelf to match, too. I started oiling but ended up getting it much too shiny - I didn't like the look, so sanded it all back again and then oiled with danish oil, which doesn't create quite so much of a shine as the one I had originally - much more happy with the finish.
Not far from finishing now - black vinyl floor to go down.
Floor being fitted yesterday morning. Apparently I'm a git for having them work around that peninsular bit - they ended up having to re-roll the flooring the other way, and roll it away from the wall towards the sink, rather than from one end of the kitchen, otherwise there'd be too many creases. There's still a couple in, but with a bit of heat they should come out;
And how it stands at the moment. Fitted gloss white corner seat to go at the end, with red cushions (identical colour to wall), and white gloss table. LED strip lighting to go under the plinth, and under the 3 wall cupboards I've got (one of which is the boiler), which is all controlled by one of the buttons on the wall. Then black rise/fall circular light and the kitchen is ready;
Thanks
The "we" is my dad and I. He's a bit of a DIY king and so has been utterly brilliant in helping with this!
The rest of the house we've not gone quite so nuts. We've moved doors, radiators, done UFH downstairs, but other than that its new ceilings, repaint and refresh of everything (coving, skirting etc). The bathroom we've only done a little bit too as I intend to do that properly next year, rather than now.
The "we" is my dad and I. He's a bit of a DIY king and so has been utterly brilliant in helping with this!
The rest of the house we've not gone quite so nuts. We've moved doors, radiators, done UFH downstairs, but other than that its new ceilings, repaint and refresh of everything (coving, skirting etc). The bathroom we've only done a little bit too as I intend to do that properly next year, rather than now.
KTF said:
Looks really nice. Where was the kitchen from?
Thanks I got just the cabinets from DIY Kitchens. Carcass and doors, basically. A smidge under £3k.
For an idea on the other stuff, prices broke down like this;
Cabinets; £3k
Worktop; £1.6k
Appliances; £3.2k (sourced through a friend who works for a supplier of kitchen appliances so there's actually about £5k's 'worth' if bought on appliancesonline, for example)
Sink/taps; £350
Flooring (vinyl/ply/UFH all downstairs); £1.7k
Lighting; £300
Block door, fit new window and bury gas pipe for boiler; £870
Grand total is about £11k for the kitchen.
(appliances breaks downlike this;
| Unit | AppliancesDirect Price | Brand | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dishwasher | 389 | Electrolux | ESL43020 |
| Hob | 774 | Neff | T43P90N1 |
| Hood | 1350 | De-Dietrich | DHD1100X |
| Fridge Freezer | 485 | Electrolux | ENN2901AOW |
| Wash Machine | 595 | Electrolux | EWX147410W |
| Microwave | 679 | AEG | MCC3881E-M |
| Oven | 758 | AEG | BP8314001M |
Boarder1 said:
Kitchen looks awesome, and love the wine rack!
Where did you get the Marine ply from and how much was it per sheet, if you dont mind me asking?
I got it from Travis Perkins and it was £200 total, but I can't remember how many sheets I needed. I want to say 6, but will check tonight for you on the invoice. I remember them not being the cheapest actually (by £20 or so on the total), but with delivery and whatever else it was close and they were convenient, at the time we were in a rush as that was a last minute decision.Where did you get the Marine ply from and how much was it per sheet, if you dont mind me asking?
TonyHetherington said:
I got just the cabinets from DIY Kitchens. Carcass and doors, basically. A smidge under £3k.
Thanks. Another supplier to add to my list of ones to check for when our kitchen gets done Not heard of them before but seem OK from their site: http://www.diy-kitchens.com/Edited by KTF on Monday 12th August 09:52
Look very nice, well done.
Can see why the floor guys loved you, lol. Too make it easier for the flooring and for a crisper look, whether tile, Amtico, or vinyl, we put the floor covering down, and tuck it slightly under the units, then fit the plinths, end panels on top of the floor covering.
(Not meant as a criticism, just saying how we do them for others reference)
Can see why the floor guys loved you, lol. Too make it easier for the flooring and for a crisper look, whether tile, Amtico, or vinyl, we put the floor covering down, and tuck it slightly under the units, then fit the plinths, end panels on top of the floor covering.
(Not meant as a criticism, just saying how we do them for others reference)
Another question if you dont mind answering. How much (ballpark) was it for the underfloor heating part of the job?
My kitchen is a similar size but has a radiator on one wall that I would like to get rid of when it comes round to refitting it as its taking up valuable cupboard space.
I guess you channel the pipework from the existing rad into the wall down to floor level then hook it up to the underfloor pipework instead so the whole floor becomes an enormous radiator instead?
My kitchen is a similar size but has a radiator on one wall that I would like to get rid of when it comes round to refitting it as its taking up valuable cupboard space.
I guess you channel the pipework from the existing rad into the wall down to floor level then hook it up to the underfloor pipework instead so the whole floor becomes an enormous radiator instead?
KTF said:
My kitchen is a similar size but has a radiator on one wall that I would like to get rid of when it comes round to refitting it as its taking up valuable cupboard space.
You could consider a Myson hydronic plinth heater as a probably lot less expensive option, especially as they connect to your central heating, and if the fuel for that is less expensive than electricity, it will be cheaper to run too.http://www.myson.co.uk/kickspace_hydronic.asp
singlecoil said:
You could consider a Myson hydronic plinth heater as a probably lot less expensive option, especially as they connect to your central heating, and if the fuel for that is less expensive than electricity, it will be cheaper to run too.
http://www.myson.co.uk/kickspace_hydronic.asp
Thanks. I always thought these things were electric rather than being able to be plumbed into the central heating instead of a radiator.http://www.myson.co.uk/kickspace_hydronic.asp
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