New Kitchen

pepp77 · 8 Jul 2016 at 16:10

I am currently in the process of getting some quotes to redo my kitchen, but I am still struggling to decide on worktops and floor.

Units I know I want a Grey Shaker style.

Worktops I cannot decide between real wood and laminate ie, something like these two

real - https://www.howdens.com/kitchen-col...d-wood-block-worktops/oak-block-27mm-worktop/

laminate - https://www.howdens.com/kitchen-col...-38mm-worktops/grey-oak-block-effect-worktop/

Then for the floor I am not sure whether to go engineered wood to match the worktop or go for a laminate in say a slate/limestone look to contrast.

The basic kitchen layout will be

After any thoughts

pepp77 · 8 Jul 2016 at 18:03

I have Wren and Howdens doing quotes. I also have another builder who is quoting based on Benchmarx.

Currently they are all quoting for the same style cupboards with solid wood worktops and engineered floorings.

Am also going to ask them all to quote for laminate worktops and flooring.

pepp77 · 20 Aug 2016 at 12:33

So more than a month later and after getting quotes from Wren (came in at £5200), Howdens (£4300), Benchmarx (£4900) I have finally given my builder the go ahead to go with one of the quotes.

Of the 3 my favourite was the Benchmarx units so I spoke to them this morning and got them to beat the Howdens quote by £50

For that I am getting the following

Sherwood Grey Shaker units with Cinnamon Grain Square edge worktops and upstands. I am getting a total of 16 units to inlcude built in Oven, 50/50 Fridge Freezer, Washing Machine and Slimline Dishwasher. Also getting a fitted 20l bin for recycling and a simple fitted cutlery tray.

pepp77 · 22 Aug 2016 at 14:51

My £4300 is for all the units, worktops, handles, any specific fitting parts required. This doesn't include getting the kitchen stripped, reworked and then the new units installed.

pepp77 · 3 Sep 2016 at 23:43

Paid for the Kitchen today, builder starts on the 12th. Have also ordered all the appliances, sink, tap and bought a load of other bits and bobs (knives, plates, cutlery).

I won't bore you with all the appliances, but I went for this oven

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/home-appliances/cooking-appliances/electric-ovens/NV75J5540RS/EU

pepp77 · 4 Sep 2016 at 17:44

Builder is costing £2500. This includes

Removal of all old units and appliances.
Removal of tiles and walls to be made good.
New plumbing and electrics for washing machine, oven hood and extraction fan
Painting of all walls and ceiling.
Removal of old floor and installation of new
Installation of units, worktops etc
Installation of all appliances
New sockets all round

About 5 or so days, the units are to be delivered on day 3.

I had 4 quotes in total, £2500, £2400, £2800 and £3200

The one I picked was almost cheapest but was also a recommendation rather than through mybuilder.com or trustatrader.

pepp77 · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:43

My kitchen is now coming along. Builder started last Monday and my initial comment on 5 days was a wee bit under. He reckons he will be finished on Wednesday (possibly Thursday) so 8 or 9 days.

Day 1 was basically just stripping out of the old kitchen/tiles etc, day 2 was some plastering and first coat painting. Day 3 was further painting, electrical and plumbing work. Day 4 was first day of units starting to be installed, day 5 had more units installed as well as sink and tap, hob and the fridge/freezer, day 6 was more units being installed with worktops and day 7 (today) should be the washing machine and dishwasher installation along with the unit doors and the start of the flooring. Day 8 tomorrow should be the floor being finished along with the niceties, knife rack mounted and all sockets swapped from rubbish white to nice metal ones.

Starting to look like a nice kitchen now.

pepp77 · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:51

I am taking pictures each evening and will provide a before and after once it is all finished, small house with lots of stuff in it means that there is just piles of stuff everywhere.

I ended up going with Benchmarx for the units and worktops, then got the appliances from a selection of places (Currys, AO, Appliances Direct and Co-Op) and the floor from B&Q.

pepp77 · 21 Sep 2016 at 23:21

My kitchen was finished today

Before (council kitchen)

Now

Much better. Units are Benchmarx Sherwood Grey with Cinnamon Grain Square Edge Laminate worktops. Main paint is Valspar Quiet Interlude and Hob wall is Valspar Bottlenose Dolphin.

Just need to give everything a good wipeover and then start filling the kitchen again!

pepp77 · 22 Sep 2016 at 08:41

I would recommend them or Howdens over say Wren or Magnet, the experience of dealing with both was generally much better. I opted for Benchmarx over Howdens based on the colours of the units as the price was the same from both (after I got Benchmarx to match Howdens).

The only issue is neither will provide you with a quote until you provide them with the details of your contractor, so I had a delay in getting prices as I needed their designs so the contractor could quote based on the plan.

pepp77 · 22 Sep 2016 at 12:22

The pipes for the boiler are still there

The worktop upstand and grey you can see below the cupboard door for the boiler is a removable piece of the same material used for the ends of the units and a piece of upstand glued to it. It means the pipes are accessible by just moving it out, but they are out of site.

The floor is B&Q Harmonia Laminate - http://www.diy.com/departments/harm...ct-laminate-flooring-205-m-pack/172416_BQ.prd

I got them when they were slightly reduced to £20 a pack, so the flooring (just the laminate) only came to £100!

pepp77 · 23 Sep 2016 at 16:55

The old setup was the same and without a hood and had no issues with that. Did have issues whereby the steamer used to live under one of those wall cupboards (window side) and that had completely blown the structure of that cupboard over the years.

For anyone looking to update kitchen appliances I can highly recommend the oven I got It is a Samsung dual cook one with a very techy display

I only had a small tray to cook last night so thought I would use the dual cook aspect and just heat the top half of the oven, I expected the bottom to get warm at least, but even after 40 minutes of cooking with the top at 170c I was able to touch the bottom of the oven with my bare hand no problem, it was very odd opening an oven and removing cooked food whilst still being able to touch some of it!

pepp77 · 2 Oct 2016 at 21:15

Thought I would put up a few pictures now I have added all the extras to the kitchen, so now it is completely finished.