Following on form the induction hob thread, I mentioned I'm about to undergo a kitchen refit chez nous.
The old kitchen units and all facilities are being ripped out, leaving us with a shell, which will first be tiled, then have units and appliances fitted.
I imagine we will be without facilities for a few weeks, which will be quite inconvenient what with having children around.
Has anyone been through this sort of thing before and got any tips for setting up temporary facilities elsewhere perhaps? It would be great if we could get some form of hob facilitiy in place, and sink, or get the outgoing freestanding dishwasher working somewhere else.
Any thoughts?
|
|
Prepare some stuff and freeze the Microwave is your friend ! Otherwise it's BBQ in the garage !
|
...Any thoughts?...
Depends if you want to throw money at the problem.
There are a lot of smaller 'bedsit' appliances which are very good and can be used on any flat surface.
One of the dearest, but most useful and stylish in a retro sort of way, is the Baby Belling:
www.belling.co.uk/baby-belling
|
Yes been through this with 2 kids ( eventually did every room) in our place. I bought a 6 berth caravan with water/elec hookup, parked it next to the house and we cooked/dined/washed up in that for the required period.
BTW we ended up with the van for 6mths, put a great deal of wear and tear on it but lost just £400 buying and selling on EBay... a tiny amount compared with the cost of the works in the house and the way it helped us.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Wed 12 Jan 11 at 14:44
|
Yup
I did this when I fitted out our kitchen and it was stripped down to bare walls with just hot and cold water pipe and waste pipe into the wall.
I constructed (from the old worktop and a floor unit) a free standing legged sink unit. The taps were connected by washing machine hose* and the waste by a flexible waste pipe. It was the work of minutes to disconnect and move out the room, and then put back when required.
* Terminate your feed pipes with a washing machine hose tap, with another washing machine tap connected to a copper pipe in turn connected to the tap.
And get a second hand electric freestanding cooker or combination microwave. use a commando connector for the cooker.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 12 Jan 11 at 14:47
|
Great stuff, Z & Iffy. I can see that working. I can put the old kitchen sink in the dining room next door and run water/waste to/from it through the doorway.
And there seem to be cheaper mini cookers out there than the Belling.
What's a commando connector?
Last edited by: Alanović on Wed 12 Jan 11 at 14:56
|
Its an in line 30 amp connector.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_connector
Available at your local electrical outlet, (might not get it in one of the diy sheds)
|
For cooking,why not buy a couple of those very cheap camping stoves for about a tenner each + the microwave I am sure you have.
www.outdoorworld.co.uk/campingaz-bistro-stove-p-3948.html.
When your kitchen is being fitted, there will be no room for a temporary kitchen sink, so use the utility room (if you have one) or the bathroom.
|
|
Presumably, when you say tiled first, you mean floor tiles ?
|
|
Yes, floor tiles. The wife wants them up to the walls, even though I know it's a waste of money. Best do as you're told sometimes.
|
>> Best do as you're told sometimes.
Yes, that's the approach I'm taking with our kitchen :)
|
...The wife wants them up to the walls, even though I know it's a waste of money...
I've got a few behind the cooker, which I thought was quite a common way to make the surface wear and fire proof.
|
"The wife wants them up to the walls, even though I know it's a waste of money"
When we bought our house it was unfinished, just a shell with windows and a front door so there was a lot to do and a limited budget. We had three bathrooms to tile, the kitchen and we wanted floor tiling on the whole ground floor, garage and patio.
My wife also wanted the walls tiled throughout the kitchen so we needed to do it on the cheap without it looking cheap. When we had chosen the tiles we drove right to the factory to see if there was a deal to be done. We chatted to a guy who suggested we look at their "seconds" or slightly imperfect and showed us a few samples. I couldn't see the difference even when it was pointed out to me. We agreed on the price with a condition that we drove away with them there and then (a few hundred kilos distributed all around the cabin of the car just for the kitchen). I can't remember now what the saving was, but it was something like a third of full price.
To get the labour costs down we had brought three builders from a village near where my wife grew up who had a flat-bed truck and they slept in the house till it was done. As we gradually chose the tiles for the rest of the house we did the same thing but took the guys and their truck along to bring the tiles back.
|
I have twice experienced a leak around a bath resulting in floorboards having to be replaced. One due to a slight leak in a pipe, the other due to the silicone seal at the edge not being up to the job of a shower overhead.
If the tiles had been down the full wall and across the floor underneath the bath then maybe the water leak would have been more obvious, more quickly as opposed to waiting till the bath fell through the floor in the first occasion!
|
There's nothing wrong with mini gas hobs, but I think you will get fed up with buying/changing the canisters if this arrangement goes on for much more than week.
Assuming the Baby Belling is rejected, I would go for a single or double electric hob.
Some here for £15 to £30:
tinyurl.com/6ap9ewx
|
|
After you suggested the baby Belling, I googled and found a BEKO version at a third of the price. I'm now watching a second hand one on fleabay. The BB itself looks pricey, but the idea is sound.
|
...The BB itself looks pricey, but the idea is sound...
I did wonder about a used one.
Build quality can change over the years, but the Baby Bellings I've seen have been sturdy and durable - decent enamel finish.
The electrics must be simple as owt, so a used one which has been reasonably well looked after would be a good buy.
Bear in mind most models use an ordinary 13-amp plug, but there's a higher spec version which needs a cooker point.
|
I went through all this in 2009 with the added hassle of removing a chimney breast and supporting wall between the kitchen and dining room. The bits of kitchen on that wall were the built in oven and integral freezer. There was a wall cupboard for some foodstuffs.
I got the whole wall out and put in an RSJ with the oven and freezer in place.
I re-plumbed the washer into the extension, where it now lives and the dishwasher took a sabbatical in the garage. I left the sink in situe supported by 3X2 legs. The gas hob was left in and all other cupboards removed. The fridge went in the hall and was plugged in.
I put in a new ceiling, moved the boiler position and did lots of socket/light fitting while we had ythe basics still in place. The hob was new, so it got covered well every day.
The dining furniture was removed and the room became a mini workshop and storage for the new kitchen.
It took a couple of months but it all came together with careful planning. So many things depend on others...the hob and the new sink couldn't be fitted until the worktop fitter had been...and he couldn't come 'til I'd finished all the base units....etc.
Well worth it though. I reckon I saved about £5K....and I enjoyed doing it although SWMBO had her moments of tears and grief. She loves it now....all is forgiven !
Good luck. Get a C4P team in to do it with you !
Ted
|
|
DIY? No fear on this job! I'll leave it to a pro. Seem to have found a reliable and reasonable carpenter who will probably get the job.
|
|
Just out of interest, what will your worktops be made from ?
|
The good wife has decreed granite. Which will be purchased from (and fitted by) the cheapest internet supplier available, rather than a high street rip-off merchant.
Same goes for the appliances, and tiles.
Cabinetry is likely to come from Howdens Joinery, as that's who the local carpenter I've found works with, and can purchase at trade prices from them.
|
|
We had Howdens units. I built them up myself in another room over a few days to keep the work/price down for the carpenter.... and also to ensure all the bits were there.
|
I would love to help the fitter but my wife works away a lot and I'm usually left working full time and dealing with the children and all their logistical and domestic demands. Along with all the other domestic/shopping etc demands. Actually, I tend to do all that even when she's home come to think of it.
I just don't have the "bandwidth", as my intolerable ex-boss would say.
|
I don't know how many here have real granite. It was an option for us but after some research and various reports we decided against it. Our friends, the ones with the white carpet, spent over £20K on a new kitchen about 3 yrs ago. In spite of being careful, the black granite has deteriorated considerably and has been replaced already. Likewise, the very expensive floor tiles, which they had imported, have been very difficult to keep clean and good looking. I think they've been replaced as well.
On the basis of their experiences we opted forB & Q best quality rolled edge worktops in black granite effect and Amtica floor tiles. As a busy working kitchen, SWM's hobby is cooking, we've been very impressed with the quality and sturdiness with everything B & Q have supplied. Likewise, the service and friendliness of the staff has been spot on.
Ted
|
>>>On the basis of their experiences we opted forB & Q best quality rolled edge worktops in black granite effect..
Same here. I've seen standard worktops go 20yrs plus and still look good. On that basis I saw no need to spend more.... if they do by any chance look tired in 5-10yrs it's easy to pull them out and replace.
|
|
Bandwidth issue understood. I took over a year out to do all of our place fitted around the school run and teenagers taxi demands.
|
Howdens ready built units are very good.
we have Corian at home. v expensive but Espadrille likes the look and the seamless join from work surface to base of sink which keeps everything very clean.
|
Granite is great.
Provided you never put anything wet and vaguely acidic on the surface. So no more cooking with lemons, no more drinking wine, no more vinegar on your fission chips.
I have white B&Q value kitchen tops (not my choice, they were there). They seem to have a 10 year life, gently looking shabby over the period, following which they unscrew, remove old mastic at back, insert new. Job done in a few hours, I can take the 3m long pieces of new worktop on the bendybus from B&Q.
My previous kitchen had quarry tiles on the floor, and matching tiles on the unit. Built c1988 (there was a date on the unit somewhere) and because when I moved in I hated them I used to abuse them. Hot trays from the oven straight onto the top. etc. etc. Twenty years after installation, when I last saw them, they looked as good as the day they were laid. Wonderful!
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Wed 12 Jan 11 at 16:58
|
Thanks for all the comments on granite.
I would have preferred a nice standard laminate - I shall run all your comments past the lady of the house, and then she'll choose the granite.
|
Pah ! No problem living without a kitchen.
Try this: a few years back when work was very short I got my guys to fit a new kitchen and a new bathroom at the same time. Two weeks from start to finish. The microwave, fridge and freezer was in the dining room and we did the washing up in the basin in the downstairs loo. All other washing was done there too.
The kids were mid/early-teens at the time.
Was it fun - er, no. But we did enjoy a good few pizzas.
|
You'll have to get her to see the wider picture, if she doesn't already.
I told my beloved that she could have what she wanted, the cash was there. But I also insisted that she looked carefully at what problems might arise with some items and also the practicality. I said that the input I was making was because I could see where cables/pipes etc would go and she had to be bound by my suggestions to a large extent.
I think her excitement overcame her vision.. She would have put the boiler on the wall venting into the lounge, I'm sure ! She wanted a carousel unit. The only way was to create a corner by turning the worktop 90 degrees at the end and making a breakfast bar....fine .
She wanted me to do it on the run of units down the outside wall. The gas meter was just where the units turned. She couldn't understand why I just couldn't move it somewhere else. We compromised and put the unit return on the other side of the room and her carousel went in. Happiness once more !
I wasn't being a ' know all ' or patronising her but her only DIY skill is painting or stripping paper. She's very pleased she didn't have the granite and often comments on it.
I'm sure if I was trying to bake a fruit cake then the positions would have reversed with me needing all the advice she could give.
Teamwork !
Ted
|
I think you need this
www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_17220.htm?WT.mc_id=2011-01-14-13-34
going by the description, I think the only thing it doesn't do is eat the dinner and wash the dishes for you!!
|
|
How on earth do you fry something on that?
|
This one costs a bit more but does have a fridge!
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00037923
|
Mis -read advert so tried to remove one I posted.
Blushes madly - as this still appears.....
Last edited by: DeeW on Fri 14 Jan 11 at 15:41
|
|
Just get take aways or eat out every night, let your wife have a rest from cooking.
|
|
Ha. I do all the cooking in our house. Can't really feed 6 and 3 year old children on take aways either, not for weeks on end.
|
... Can't really feed 6 and 3 year old children on take aways either, not for weeks on end...
I suspect there are a lot of single mothers who would give you an argument.
|
Granite???
At the insistence of Mrs FC we fitted black granite with silver speckles. Looks beautiful and you do not have to worry about putting something hot on top, BUT its a pig to keep clean. Smears and water stains.
Needs regularly wiping and polishing with some product or other. I found that wiping with a warm wet cloth and the finishing off with an artificial leather type product keeps it looking reasonable without all the products.
|
|
Try cleaning your granite tops with a bit of Pledge and a micro fibre cloth, they come up looking beautiful.
|
|
And I suspect there are a lot of single mothers who wouldn't but so what. What are you trying to say?
|
...What are you trying to say?...
That some posters on here would try to pick a fight in an empty forum.
|
|
Certainly not trying to pick a fight but why make a gratuitous slur on single parents on a post about a completely unrelated topic. Not relevant or funny.
|
...Not relevant or funny...
There is a relevant point here about what parents feed their children.
Where I live in the North East there is a long and well-documented tradition of a poor diet - pies, chips, those sort of nice things.
Like it or not, the children of single mothers from the poorer parts of town are more likely to be covered in pastie flakes then the offspring of the local bank manager.
But I'm sure you know all that, which is why I say your reply is merely confrontational.
Anyway, I'm starving, a bag of crisps and a bar of chocolate awaits.
|
>> I suspect there are a lot of single mothers who would give you an argument.
My single (widowed) mother wouldn't have dreamed of such a thing. And we started family life in a two room caravan with neither electricity nor water. I was born in 1970, not 1930.
|
...My single (widowed) mother wouldn't have dreamed of such a thing...
My mother was widowed when I was a child, but that was getting on for 50 years ago.
Funnily enough, we lived in a caravan for a while, not that I remember it.
We had no access to burgers, pizzas and the like.
|
Kitchen refit - temporary facilities - R.P.
