Having lived with the laminate falling off the kitchen cupboards, a lack of power sockets and the lighting leaving you struggling to see since we moved in, I’d finally had enough by 2018 and the time had come to do something about it (we only lived with it for 6 years!). The first hurdle to overcome in any of these big projects always seems to be getting the company supplying the units to actually play ball, accept that my ideas and designs may actually be better than their stupid ideas, and do what they say they will.
Having sat through their pointless and tiring sales patter, played the pointless game with their stupid initial quotes (just tell me what it’s actually going to cost and stop trying to rip me off, because I'm not paying £11,000 for a £3,000 set of units!). Threatened to cancel the deal twice due to their broken promises and corrected their mistakes, we finally had a date to make a start.
Tools and materials gathered, preliminary works completed where possible to get us a step ahead, kitchen emptied into boxes and the rest of the house protected as well as possible, we could put off the inevitable no longer.
As it was, May 2018. I replaced the worktops, sink and Kick boards when we moved in (2012) in an effort to make it a bit more usable.
If your going to drill a hole you might as well make it a big one!
The workmates seen some action over the years I can tell you! Possibly the most useful Christmas present ever.
Extractor vent hole.
Swiss cheese ceiling - Pulling wires through.
H'mmm I'm not sure where the old units were. Oh, wait a minute!
Dust anyone? Cutting out for electrical works.
Everything went smoothly until the kitchen unit company got involved again! Having insisted my measurements weren’t good enough and insisted they sent their own surveyor, it turns out their measurements were incorrect, and the new units didn’t fit!
When I got my original drawings out, showing what we initially wanted and all my dimensions they were spot on. Why oh why didn’t I double check their work or insist that I had it right in the first place! Much frustration, more delays while they insisted on sending back their inept surveyor, made new units to correct their error, replaced units that were damaged on delivery and generally caused problems later and we were back in business.
Once the dust finally settled.
The start of making good - Plastering, another self taught skill that I'm not very good at!
Floor, first fix plumbing and electrical work in - "The Emma" smashed a massive chunk out of one of the tiles within a week of finishing them. How I didn't cry I will never know.
Note the gap in the units. Never trust the surveyor to measure correctly!
Progress.
Home made door to fit the cupboard under the stairs.
It took a few months to get from habitable, too finally finished, mainly due to me spending the summer off playing bikes, walking, running and generally having a good time instead of grafting. But we got there eventually and finally got it finished to my liking. It’s been finished for a couple of years now and generally I’m happy with how it turned out. There’s a few little niggles and things that could have been done better, but for an amateur I think it’s a job well done. If there is one lesson to learn from this little job though, it’s that even the biggest companies are inept, incompetent and quite happy to try and rip you off. Quality control is non-existent, it being cheaper to just replace things, than ensure they leave the factory correct in the first place and you can’t trust anyone to actually do their job right in the first place!
If you want something doing, the best bet is to do it yourself.
Tiling done.
Plinths, Coving, Cornices, etc completed.
I hate tiling (and painting) - Looks alright though?
Upvc panels replaced with gloss white (were cream), Under cupboard lights installed, finishing touches and painting ongoing.
Not the best view, but job done (Just pretend that the missing radiators there!)
Relevant Blog Posts; Unfortunately this little lot took place PB (Pre Blog) so there's nothing to see here.