Kitchen diner and utility room renovation

[Participant]

Hi guys

We're having our kitchen / diner / utility / boot area replaced, quite a big project as the layout is changing quite dramatically.

Thought people might be interested to see how it progresses.

The main objectives are to a) make better use of the unused space by the back door (will be accommodating fridge, freezer, double width larder, and boot area) and b) enhance the dining area.

We're using a local 'higher end' company, and currently we're at the stage where the builder, plumber, electrician, plasterer, and carpenter are in at various points in the day doing what they do best.

We've had an unused side door bricked up, we've also had the windows and door replaced with triple-glazed Pilkington-K with a more modern profile than the 90s efforts they replaced.

Large gauge porcelain tiles (750mm x 750mm) are being installed over electric underfloor heating.

Before - just finished emptying the units (nightmare, forgotten how much crap we keep):

Progress: basically ripping out, half way through first fix, and concreting / filling holes in the wall:

The downlights mostly needed relocating so they lined up with the new layout. Undercab lighting is being installed. The whole room is being skimmed.

The kitchen itself is being delivered to our garage tomorrow...the plasterer will have a busy day.

In terms of design, it'll look sort of like this:

...but the work surface will be a light grey Silestone with flecks of aluminium shimmer in it, and the shelves in the last pic will have a piece covering the exposed white bit.

White gloss (I struggled with the Ikea-ness of this, but wifey has spoken) and 'washed stone' handless units, with two full size integrated Siemens ovens and induction hob, Neff fridge / freezer / extraction, and Franke sink and taps.

Should be done in around 3 weeks, as the Silestone templating alone takes 1-2 weeks.

The total cost including windows and door, will be c. £30k . That's more than 10% of what we paid for the whole house .

Having a kitchen in the entrance hall is rather a bore with 2 children. #firstworldproblems.

 

[robfosters]

That will be awesome. Lovely big family space for cooking and dining, and a nice island/breakfast bar. Something I've always wanted. Personally I wouldn't go for white. Always found it a bit clinical in the home, like a dentists or something, but it's your choice. £30k is a big whack I have to say. Maybe I'm just a bit out of touch with prices.

Post pics when completed please.

 

[jpaul]

Look forward to the end result pictures -
- Do the kitchen design company, provide a computer simulated view of the interior
- Franke => stainless ( I believe ) double drainer ?, this remains for me the most practical I have had enough of imitation stone/plastics which are hard to keep clean & mark too easily.
- Is the underfloor in addition to gas for the rest of the house ... what kind of Kw total ?
- Is this you first venture in induction hobs (safety for children seems compelling)

 

[Participant]

Look forward to the end result pictures -
- Do the kitchen design company, provide a computer simulated view of the interior
- Franke => stainless ( I believe ) double drainer ?, this remains for me the most practical I have had enough of imitation stone/plastics which are hard to keep clean & mark too easily.
- Is the underfloor in addition to gas for the rest of the house ... what kind of Kw total ?
- Is this you first venture in induction hobs (safety for children seems compelling)

- Yes the kitchen company provide the cg views of the interior, you can get them from any angle.
- Franke 1.5 Fragranite polar white in kitchen, white Franke double in utility. We wanted more work surface area on the kitchen sink worktop, which meant a 1.5 instead of a double. Apparently 1.5s are massively more popular these days?!

Was slightly wary about the staining stories of Fragranite, but we're taking the risk as stainless didn't fit the look we wanted and also can look scratched and old fairly quickly.
- Yes the house has gas central heating and will have a radiator in the kitchen. Not sure of the power of the ufh, but it's only to warm the floor not to heat the room.
- It's the first time we've owned an induction hob but not the first time we've used them. I think they look great, work really well, and if pro chefs can get on with them then we certainly can.

Today's update is that a couple of walls have been skimmed, the insulation boards have gone down for the ufh, and the kitchen has been delivered:

 

[booyaka]

Can I ask - was you kitchen fairly decent and new to start with?

The reason I ask is that we have a very decent kitchen in terms of granite worktops/decent units etc, however it doesn't really make a good use of the space we have in there (open plan kitchen/sitting area etc).

I am reluctant to start from scratch and loose good quality stuff but unless we do that, we can't really build a kitchen that works for us as a family.

Did you get rid of a good kitchen to build what you wanted is what i'm asking?? I'm torn at the moment with ours.

 

[Biggler]

Did you get rid of a good kitchen to build what you wanted is what i'm asking?? I'm torn at the moment with ours.

I got rid of a **** kitchen when we redid ours but we made the kitchen so much better by changing layout and leveling the floor.

I would have got rid of a good kitchen to do what we did, it made that much of a difference for us.

Only you can can say how much of a difference it would make to you and your family.

You could get cheaper worktops then in a year or two get granite

 

[a1ex2001]

Don't forget you can eBay your existing kitchen for a decent price!

Don't get granite everyone has it and if you must don't get black it is hideous!

 

[booyaka]

Don't forget you can eBay your existing kitchen for a decent price!

Don't get granite everyone has it and if you must don't get black it is hideous!

yeah - i know I can get something back for it if we do go for wholesale change but just interested to know. Thanks

 

[GinG]

Looking forward to the progress of this one.

Do you think you will ever seethe £30k back on the house?

Also what make of kitchen is it please? I sell the wrap they use to protect...a possible good lead! Haha

 

[a1ex2001]

Looking forward to the progress of this one.

Do you think you will ever seethe £30k back on the house?

I'd try not to make this the main focus of a decision like this, yes it is nice to know you would get the money back if you sold but for me it is equally important to consider the improvement and enjoyment you will see in day to day life especially if you're planning to stay 5-10 years!

 

[Participant]

Yesterday's progress was to bury the pipes in the utility room and move the radiator. The latter was OK for the plumber because the the void under the floor and to the rear of the rad was relatively accessible.

Can I ask - was you kitchen fairly decent and new to start with?

The reason I ask is that we have a very decent kitchen in terms of granite worktops/decent units etc, however it doesn't really make a good use of the space we have in there (open plan kitchen/sitting area etc).

I am reluctant to start from scratch and loose good quality stuff but unless we do that, we can't really build a kitchen that works for us as a family.

Did you get rid of a good kitchen to build what you wanted is what i'm asking?? I'm torn at the moment with ours.

The kitchen we ripped out was OK from my point of view, but not from the wife's. It was a boggo Wicke's job done in 2007 and promptly trashed by tenants ever since, from what we gathered. It was a fake walnut laminate with shaker doors and awful (and arguably dangerous with kids) door handles. Here it is just before it was removed:

However the main reason we're changing it is the layout just didn't work for us...poor use of space, lack of built in fridge and freezer space, galley style despite it being a big room, lack of space for dining, etc.

Looking forward to the progress of this one.

Do you think you will ever seethe £30k back on the house?

Also what make of kitchen is it please? I sell the wrap they use to protect...a possible good lead! Haha

It's hard to say if we'll make money back as we got a really good deal on the house because of the state it's in. It's feasible that the kitchen will add close to £30k I suppose, but I doubt it...the main reason we're doing it is to enjoy the space as a family. Even if it was a sunk cost / write off I'd be happy to spend the money for what it'll do for us as a family.

We'll be in the house for a good while I reckon, possibly even another 10 years, so it makes sense.

The make of kitchen is Mereway.

Here's another angle of the design:

...although the doors you can see will be white gloss and we changed the hob extractor for a built in one with storage above it.

View from hob to fridge, freezer, and boot area:

 

[Participant]

Fitter was in today...guessing he gets double time for bank holidays.

Most of the units along the main run are in, installed on legs on top of the UFH insulation board. He was on his own today so couldn't do the heavier things (i.e. appliances):

This is the sink, Franke Kubus 1.5 Fragranite undermount, polar white silk sheen. Looks sexy to me. Would have preferred a double but it wasn't possible with the layout we chose. Irremovable tea stains, here we come!

Tomorrow they finish the prep for the utility, install the oven and dishwasher, and template up for the Silestone.

 

[Participant]

Today's progress...

Larder partially installed:

Wall units and oven housing partially installed:

And the utility room has been insulated and made good.

'Dramas' today are:

- Two units are damaged and have been re-ordered (identified by the fitter)
- The boot bench is too high and too deep, meaning it won't be flush with the fridge and freezer doors. This was a 'special' so is being re-made.
- Nobody's thought about waste for the new washing machine location, meaning it would currently be visible on the floor, which is unacceptable. I've not heard a plan for resolution from the kitchen company yet, but anything apart from 'totally hidden' will fall on deaf ears!

 

[Simon]

Watching with interest. I'm currently trying to plan my kitchen. Those renders look great !

Electric ufh? How big are the plinths going to be and is that insulation going to take the weight. I did assume it would come out before the floor was tiled.

 

[Participant]

Yep electric ufh. I believe the plinths will be 140mm high, but final height depends on what the ufh, tile, and tile adhesive add as the plinths will be scribed accordingly once the tiling has been done.

The insulation board was added specifically for the ufh and cost a fortune, it's very hard like cement backed board and will certainly take the weight. They're strong in compression but not strong in torsion.

Decent progress today.

A couple of units are wrong in that they haven't been thought through properly by the designer, for example there was no allowance for the washing machine plumbing meaning that the front would have sat proud of the housing. This is being sorted, no major problems. He's managed to hide the washing machine waste in the plasterboard too.

Silestone template is tomorrow and tiling is Friday.

 

[Simon]

Nice. Similar units to what I'm looking at. Wickes Sofia.

I used marmox boards for my bathroom. Surprised they can take all the weight without punching through.

 

[Danthus]

How has the dishwasher been secured to the carcass.

The reason I ask is the in thing at the minute seems to be for a builder to fasten on the top of the carcass, then put the worktop on top of the brackets.

 

[jpaul]

Is the ufh also in the utility room (& presumambly no interaction with vibrations from washing machine, which needs good mechanical connection to floor, no earlier pictures showing ufh panels/construction ?)

Are the wall units a depth you chose ? seem to be about half the work-surface depth (I could not see spec on Mereway web site)
seems to be a tendency to have shallower wall units these days (which maybe avoids shadows, but can be more restrictive on the plates/utensils etc that can be stored)

 

[Participant]

How has the dishwasher been secured to the carcass.

The reason I ask is the in thing at the minute seems to be for a builder to fasten on the top of the carcass, then put the worktop on top of the brackets.

I can't really tell, not sure if this image sheds any light? But it's definitely not fastened on top of the carcass, the Silestone wouldn't work on top of brackets I guess:

The dishwasher door was damaged (tiny chip, but still, it's being replaced) so that's on order.

Is the ufh also in the utility room (& presumambly no interaction with vibrations from washing machine, which needs good mechanical connection to floor, no earlier pictures showing ufh panels/construction ?)

Are the wall units a depth you chose ? seem to be about half the work-surface depth (I could not see spec on Mereway web site)
seems to be a tendency to have shallower wall units these days (which maybe avoids shadows, but can be more restrictive on the plates/utensils etc that can be stored)

Ufh is being done tomorrow and is in the utility room also. The washing machine will just sit on the tiles over the ufh.

The wall units are 300mm deep, necessitated by the window position above the sink. Only small plates would go in there but we're planning to store plates on one of those plate tidies in the island.

More progress today...

Fridge and freezer space, also showing MDF box to take up to ceiling:

Tiles delivered, 750mmx750mm porcelain:

800mm Siemens induction hob:

Working utility room, finally:

Extractor (Elica) with storage over hob:

Siemens ovens, both pyrolytic, one with microwave:

More views of the larder and boot areas:

The Silestone template chap also came to spec everything up.

 

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Looking very nice, liking the design and colouring.

Could you not get a bigger island in? I'm just a big fan of a decent island with an induction hob on, and hate people who only put a sink on the island. Cooking = sociable, washing up = hide it away.

Can't see how many sockets you have, need to look at pics more. Definitely ensure you have enough, we're always full up in ours, I might even install another pullup one. Might be more difficult with silestone drilling as it's easy with granite?

UFH is a great choice and helps soo much, would love to build a house with it throughout and never have horrible rads again.

£30k is a lot though, although you do have some nice appliances and new windows.

Looking forward to more updates