Said I'd help out a friend with doing up her flat ready to let. Somehow a 'bit of DIY' seems to have turned into me re-fitting the entire kitchen- something I've not done before.
It's a small kitchen with only about 8 units total so not too bad but slightly nervous about getting it right!

As a general rule of thumb I'm assuming start with the bottom carcasses, then fit the work top, then fit the wall carcasses and then tile between the 2?

The electric oven is going from free-standing to built into a floor cabinet with a hob. As is the fridge. Anything to bear in mind with these two?

Does the fridge somehow get bolted to the inside of its cabinet? Or is it only attached by the doors?

And the same with the oven. Does it just 'sit' in it's cabinet or does it get attached to the cabinet in some way?


Lots of questions- sorry!

Thanks!
James

Oh, it's a B&Q kitchen by the way!


ETA: Oh, and how long would you expect it to take? I've just realised I'm away for bank holiday weekend and the tenants move in in 2 weeks!

Can I do a good job of it in 7 days work?

Cheers,
James

[Edited on 21/8/10 by James]

I've learned that installing the "upper carcasses" is much easier before the lower ones go in. That way you can stand directlly beneath and they are much easier to install. Then the base cabinets go down, then lastly the work top.

The tile backsplash isn't too hard to do either. Experience has taught me not to try and take shortcuts because they almost always don't work adding a lot more time and money than I originally thought.

I have a couple pictures of my kitchen renno in my photo archive if they can be of any help to you.

Beags

I put the bottom ones in then use stacks of books to rest the top ones on while I fix them Work out the distance between top and bottom so you don't have to cut any tiles to save time. ( I'm not a real kitchen fitter as you probably guessed )

When fitting the base units, find the highest point of the floor, put the unit that belongs there first, make sure its plumb, then you can work outwards either side adjusting the feet (or packing up if it doesn't have adjusting feet) as you go.

Laser lever is very useful. If you don't have one you can use a spirit level and mark a horizontal line along the walls, then measure down from that to find the highest point on the floor (shortest distance to the line)

Measuring down to the lowest part will give you an idea of how far out the floor is, and what you might need in terms of packing/levelling legs

If it's an 'integrated' fridge it won't have a cabinet of its own, just a door to fit to the front of it.

But the oven will have. Normally two screws either side visible when you open the oven door, which screw into the leading edge of the cabinet

[Edited on 21/8/10 by interestedparty]

And find the water pipes before drilling the wall guess how i know

Ill be doing the same at the end of the year but in my own house. Ill take all of these tips on board. Any other tips??

If the worktop needs a join or two, and you don't want to use joining strips, then get a skilled person it to fit the worktops.

using a laser level and chalk line, mark a level for the base of your wall units.

Now afix a some 25 x 50 to the wall under this line. When you come to hang the wall units, it's very handy to just rest them on this until they're fixed in position.

Depending on your hardware of course, this may not even prove necessary.

Whatever the case, a laser level and a chalk line are extremely handy.

As above really.
Some integrated units have a carcass to fit into. The door attach as normal, to the carcass and then there are clips that go between the outer door and the door of the fridge.

Inbuilt fridges just stand in the space either way.
I build up the lower units first and fit them. Be aware of any items that have to be moveable, w/m etc and take any flooring into account.

For example dont build the lower units so that a w/m just slides in and then lay a floor that traps it!

With the lower units in you can mark a line for the top edge of the work top. If tiles are going in the gap this can be a good time to pick the height of the upper units to avoids tile cuts.

On older houses I have found it can be difficult to get the base units firmly attached to the wall.
What I do is get a scrap bit opf wood, cls or what have you and bond this to a clean bit of wall using good grip adhesive you can then screw the base units to this bit of wood.

quote:

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Originally posted by interestedparty
If the worktop needs a join or two, and you don't want to use joining strips, then get a skilled person it to fit the worktops.

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you have to be careful with B&Q kitchens, as the base end panels are only 870mm tall, so you have very little leeway if the floor runs out. As said above, you have to balance this with the washing machine still fitting when you put flooring under it.

Pete has a good point about avoiding cutting tiles, but this only works if theres no larder units (as these determine the height of the wall untis).

You only get about 5mm of adjustment up or down on the wall hanging brackets, so they need drilling precisely.

Dont bother with a laser level for one-off hobby use, just use a normal level, and use it both ways round to make sure it is accurate - should read the same either way. If not, take averages.

One good approach with B&Q kitchens is to use the gloss white one, as it looks quite nice but doesnt need colour matched units - the oak ones for instance look stupid on a white unit, even with the replacement end panels (the innards are still white), and colour matched units add loads.

I supplied a friend with a B&Q kithen and appliances for £1100 last week, charged £800 for all fitting, had it done in 2 days. Could have managed a long day but weren't rushing.

If you can blag tradepoint membership (new screwfix collaboration), then you get them much cheaper - i got worktops at £36 each.

should add, up here they have an oven and gas hob pack for £200, which is a bloody bargain.

One of my favourite tweeks is to use a worktop as an upstand and fit it first. The base units then screw back on to the upstand and are spaced 50mm out from the wall.

Makes more room behind built in units for waste pipes, plumbing etc.

Also looks V expensive especially if the upstand is around 12" high and you stick a mirror above it. By some trick of the eye most people think there is another room beyond it!

Enough secrets.

Cheers

Bear in mind the disasters i've had sorting out the bodge from the boiler fitters over the last week.

I'm now fitting a new kitchen. Its my second B&Q kitchen. The first one was the 'budget' range and this one is the cooke and lewis. The difference is we've got the tall cabinets under cooke and lewis (and paid for the privilage). The budget ones are (in my view) just as good.

I fit the base cabinets, fit the work top, use the ikea lack coffee table as a height guide and rest the wall cabinets ontop of that.

Measure 3 times and drill once. Use the largest wall plugs and screws you can (i'm still paranoid the wall cabinets won't hold but the previous cabinets held for 10 years).

I'd also glue the hardboard backs into the carcases - makes the whole thing a LOT stronger & screw the carcases together when on the wall.

Before you do anything go round the kitchen with the metal detector to find pipes / wires & double check when you've figured out where the screws are going.

I used the joining strips to join the worktops (with some clear silicone under them).

When tiling I just did three rows using small tiles so you have something above the work surface - but you don't go up to the wall cabinets therefore making it a bit easier (And a lot faster). When tiling, measure the centre of the kitchen window & use that as your start point. Work out if you want one tiles in the centre of your line or one tile either side of the line (ie what looks / fits best).

Three words
Call Joel NOW

Thanks for the advice everyone! There's some really good points there.

Very re-assured that it can be done quicker than I thought.

Thanks!

Cheers,
James

If you want a good job doing best get help from an expert. I have seen good kitchen units ruined by bodged DIY attempts. Must be some guys on here that will help you for beer money?

quote:

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Originally posted by macc man
If you want a good job doing best get help from an expert. I have seen good kitchen units ruined by bodged DIY attempts. Must be some guys on here that will help you for beer money?

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did someone mention Yngwie