Owning your own home

Think they had one of those at Butlins in the 90s

Hey, I like cooking.

I don't criticise your Warhammer room.

Haha deep cut!

I'm like boiling pasta too but where space is limited and I need to combine kitchen and dining/living, I'd rather it was more like 25% kitchen and 75% dining/living

@Crispin_Glover is saying good and correct things.

We went to wickes and got our kitchen measured up & designed then we went to Ikea and bought one of theirs- kitchen looks good, didn't have any issues.

i find kitchens quite problematic actually

We fitted our own kitchen again (we weren't planning on doing so).

Can't say much on Howdens, we didn't look at them, and were put off by the amount of space taken up for the pipe work gap. We went with DIY Kitchens, who got into the WHICH ratings for the first time the other year, and came out top. They were pretty good and happy to correct my mistakes. They do only have one showroom (Leeds way) though. DIY Kitchens also had good deals on worktops, and are happy for you to not order a worktop at all.

Re IKEA, they didn't used to have a gap down the back, I don't know if the new design now does, but that made fitting them a bit of a pain. Also, as they are flat pack, if you're paying someone to put them together, don't forget that you have to factor that time into the cost vs prebuilt ones.

Also, don't forget that you can also get handles from elsewhere too. Ironmongery direct has a pretty good range, and were helpful when a supplier switched their handle design (but not the product ID) leading to us getting two handle designs that looked different, but should have been the same.

While we're on the kitchen chat. Has anyone owned a decent white work surface for a decent period of time (at least >3yrs)?

How has it held up?

Corian is decent and expensive

Yeah I know. I was looking at those white zinc ones with a matt surface as a cheaper option. Then also looking at the fake(?) Corian-style ones - sort of like a '00 white MacBook.

We used DIYKitchens last time and it was pretty good. They made a couple of mistakes but rectified. Mainly the stuff was decent quality for the money and it came assembled because fuck ever doing flatpack. Delivery was VERY late on the day (after midnight...) which I didn't appreciate but the guys doing the delivering (4ft Bulgarian dude with the physique of a victorian circus strongman) was a good guy.

Actually in dire need of a new kitchen at the new place so may revisit but the thought of the design work is exhausting me already. Also practical aspects like: half the floor is sloped rough painted concrete, the other half is wooden boards. Wondering whether the concrete is an essential part of the floor as the house is dug into a hill and could be supporting the walls against a landslide or something.

I’m filling out the fittings and contents form - is there a general rule here? We have fitted white goods in the kitchen, do we include these or not? Or offer everything at an extra cost?
Should we find out what the vendors of the property we’re purchasing are intending to do first?

I don’t want to be an arse but also don’t want to be forced to buy brand new stuff if I don’t have to

Integrated white goods should be (ie are considered to be) included in sale.

Also, what use are they gonna be to you if you take them with you? More hassle than it's worth to attempt to retro fit into another kitchen.

Edit: free standing stuff can either be taken with you or negotiated as an extra outside of the sale price (who wants to pay stamp duty on a fridge?)

We have fitted white goods in the kitchen, do we include these or not? Or offer everything at an extra cost?

Could you realistically take these with you?

Would have thought freestanding whites could be offered at a small cost or free as a 'sweetener', as the buyer can force you to take them and that's a ball ache because they probably won't survive or fit your new place well.

Fitted...eh. Included I'd have thought. Unless you are desperate for the money which you'll probably lose another way because the buyer might think you are a bit odd not including the fitted stuff and punish you elsewhere.

Maybe. Could be completely wrong.

Yeah this was my thinking - I just wanted to ask others as I haven’t done this before. Thanks guys

My parents have had one since about 2002 in corian. It's held up really well and still looks good now.

I’d get some other opinions tbh.

Just in case there is some interesting case law on integrated dish washers?

genuine lols. and there ain't much of that in this thread. sound work

Chattels iz srs bsnss!

High street agents insisting they won't negotiate fees.

Who pays 2% + VAT to an EA for a sole agency sale? Bonkers.

At that point might as well suck up the 3% multi agency fee.

While we're on the kitchen chat. Has anyone owned a decent white work surface for a decent period of time (at least >3yrs)?

How has it held up?

We have white quartz from these lads in Plumstead http://www.superior-stonesolutions.co.uk. Had it about 4.5 yrs.
It was a 8/10 cutting and fitting job, but the slab itself has held up really nicely.
Almost anything buffs out with a bit of that old school kinda grainy/abrasive Cif stuff.

Only issue we have is that my belt is at the same height as the vertical face of the slab and so there are lots of black scuffs and scratches that we need to periodically tend to.

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Looks 👌