Home DIY

Remember that electrics in kitchens now come under part p. So fuck ups like Velocio electrics shouldn't happen.

@Bobbo You forgot the stress of no getting the kitchen you thought you ordered, finding decent workforce that don't leave the area like a shit tip or as a useable kitchen.

Oh and finally IKEA kitchens ;)

@TW Search this thread as there are some amazing kitchens people have built. Look at posts from the last 6 months or so for some brilliant ideas.

Have you designed or fitted kitchens before?

No - And the other half has suggested, somewhat firmly, that I will not be doing the latter in the near future.

floor to ceiling cabs

This is on my list of requirements - What's the point of cabinets that stop 50 cm from the ceiling? If I wanted to gather greasy dust, I'd just use the traps from the extractor hood.

that complement an otp kitchen that you've specced.

It's no doubt my lack of experience that has me wondering how this works. I guess the starting point is picking base units that roughly fit the spaces / layout, but then what about the gaps / non-standard spaces?

Not for some time - I think you've probably done a lot of work since I was last there. Did you DIY all of it?

I'm fairly comfortable with the plumbing side of it, and where to locate utilities

(Boiler / washing machine etc... are in a separate room, so not an issue, luckily - other than making sure that I have inspection hatches)

The main problem I have at the moment is usability - The kitchen was designed by someone that apparently never used a kitchen. Sure - it looks pretty, but it's a pain when you have more than one person dong anything.

The real fun is going to be re-plumbing a radiator and installing underfloor heating in a solid concrete floor. Disruption time!

I'd recommend a mix of bespoke and off the shelf. Ikea base cabinets and then custom bits and bobs as you suggested. Mines a mix and super happy with it. Not many people or companies I'd trust to design a kitchen, I've even seen some pretty high end builds (not quite 40K) with odd gaps and spaces and they drive me crackers.

On a different note.. Victorian Cornices... talk to me... anyone bought any? If so any recommendations?

I will not be doing the latter in the near future.

To be honest most of the work involved with fitting kitchens is relatively unskilled (not that your other half is going to like me telling you this). The skill comes with the finishing things like fitting a worktop or scribing decor panels to walls.

This is on my list of requirements - What's the point of cabinets that stop 50 cm from the ceiling? If I wanted to gather greasy dust, I'd just use the traps from the extractor hood.

I'm with you this but to be honest you don't need to go down the full custom route to achieve this. Attached is an example of a benchmarx kitchen I adapted a while ago to resolve this issue. The cupboards at the top of the wall units were formed from decor panels and doors were cut down and re-edge banded to make the fronts. Kitchen suppliers will not deviate from their standard sizes as it will screw up their production lines and margins.

That's how I do it. I've never met you IRL but you seem to be fairly smart give it a little bit of thought and I'm sure you can come up with something great.

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Looking to lay a patio myself. 15sqm (3.6x4.2).

Reckon I can do it for around £750 in materials including skip bag etc.

1. How much of a shit idea is this - assuming the work is back breaking and no fun
   
2. How much would you expect it to cost for someone else to come and do it for me?
   

Depends on how you plan to do it. Digging out and laying your type 1 base will be the worst of it but attention needs to be paid here otherwise the patio will end up with all kinds of shit slopes on it. Also don't forget to hire a whacker plate.

Not for some time - I think you've probably done a lot of work since I was last there. Did you DIY all of it?

No had a chap in to do it, I explained what I wanted and he sketched it out, turned that into a dimensional drawing, we reviewed and agreed it, he had all the wood cut to the diagrams, built the carcasses in a (hired) workshop, then fitted them with another chap.

The entire kitchen is built from sheets of 18mm ply, cabinets go from floor to ceiling and utilise the space to (what I think, but clearly I'm biased) best effect possible.

The plumber we had in recently, when he realised that everything was 18mm ply (and therefore in some places 36mm where cabinets adjoined) said that he'd never seen such a strong kitchen.

Wobbly cabinets are, hopefully, not something we have to worry about.

What's the point of cabinets that stop 50 cm from the ceiling? If I wanted to gather greasy dust, I'd just use the traps from the extractor hood.

My current kitchen has plasterboard on top of the cabinets all the way to the ceiling. It looks very clean, but I guess it only works if the cabinets take the whole length of the wall.

Was planning on digging to 150mm, laying 100mm of type 1 then cementing the slabs down to level.

Quick calcs suggests that’s around 3tonnes of stuff out of the ground before putting stuff back in.

Hadn’t considered the need for a whacker plate.

How much would you expect it to cost for someone else to come and do it for me?

£1-4k depending on location and quality. To have a raised patio plus for fence work my folks were quoted 6 days labour.

If you do want to DIY it's also worth thinking about getting a labourer to help for some of it. London wage is c.£90-120 p/d. I'm forever recommending this to people* I know who are doing major DIY renovation. You can get x3-4 done with two people.

*mainly wives of husbands wanting to do it all themselves.

Hadn’t considered the need for a whacked plate.

The whole point of type 1 is to compact it to form a flat, solid base. This can be done by hand but it will be pretty back breaking and no where near as effective. If you get your type one laid down and evenly raked out you should shouldn't need the whacker plate for more than an afternoon, you'll need to whack it down then assess for low spots fill in the low spots and re whack the whole thing.

What kind of person will be qualified to tell me if I can remove a floor without making the house collapse?

If I can't or it's stupidly expensive, how can I make our bizarre sloped half concrete, half board floor flat? The boarded half comes to a ledge/step down into the hallway so some kind of self levelling stuff likely ain't gonna cut it.

I realised that you can get 44mm square timber from B&Q, and that I've got some 18mm MDF. So 2(MDF)+44 = 80mm, which should work nicely as long as I've thought about how to fasten the timber to the floor.

Yeah you’ll be fine.

Is there a freeholder? Is there a management company. Is it a purpose built flat or is it a conversion? What floor is the flat?

What kind of person will be qualified to tell me if I can remove a floor without making the house collapse?

A structural engineer is usually a good place to start.

If I can't or it's stupidly expensive, how can I make our bizarre sloped half concrete, half board floor flat? The boarded half comes to a ledge/step down into the hallway so some kind of self levelling stuff likely ain't gonna cut it.

So the floor slopes downhill to a step which then goes down into the hallway? I vaguely remember a drawing you did explaining this in more detail but the specifics escape me.

Self levelling could be made to work if you shutter off the top of the step however it has the potentially to be quite a thick pour and therefore require a lot of self levelling compound. You also have to remember that there is a maximum thickness you can pour in one go. While it is possible to do multiple pours to bring it up to thickness it can cause problems.

It may be worth considering getting someone to lay a cementicious screed. Good outfits are fast and will get it flat first time. However you will need to stay off it for a period of time until dry. Also you will need to consider doing something with the step to make sure any steps are not too big and if there are multiple steps they MUST be even otherwise it is considered a trip hazard.

Maybe order the beers in, light the bbq and get some friends round. A lot of that type of work is tough but a great workout and is basically just labour.

You bastard, I love that space.

What self levelling compound do you use? All the stuff I looked at from a packet can only do about 12mm. Anything more and you need to add something to it.

I still say that try and figure out what is there from plans, as getting a structural engineer is going to be pricy as any worth his salt will want to expose to confirm what is actually there and any asbestos tests to as depending of age, they put asbestos in everything. Proof is Central Hill blocks of flats in crystal palace.

All the stuff I looked at from a packet can only do about 12mm

Fosroc make a couple of products that are self levelling that can go deeper than 12mm in a single pour. I think one can actually do 50mm but last time I used it (~ 5 years ago) it retailed at about £120 for a 25kg bag so it's spendy.

The other option is to do a 12mm pour then once completely dry and cured do another and keep building up layers. This also gets pricey and is time consuming, plus down the line there is no guarantee that the layers won't break apart and there is no comeback because you are going against manufacturers recommended usage instructions. There is a misconception that self levelling cementicious products are designed to level a floor that is on the piss, they're not they're really designed to eliminate hollows in a floor that is relatively level.

Sometimes in my line of work you have to explain to a client why their idea is stupid then accept you're going to be ignored and use your experience to make the best of a bad job. Because of this I'm pretty happy to do a 12mm self levelling pour then "top it up" but my level of concern rises exponentially quite soon after this.

If you use a twin slot system wont you need to rebate them in the decor panel? Otherwise you’ll need to have the shelves notched, or cut shorter than the width of the opening, which will look weird.
If the decor panels are 18mm mdf I’m pretty sure they’d support shelf pins. I’ve used them on alcove shelves about triple the width you’re looking at with no issues.
Another option could be to use worktop offcuts along the back of the recess between the shelves as extra support. This would mean they wouldn’t be adjustable though of course.

Have you considered SDS, Sustainable Drainage Systems?

This gives you some ideas, and
the legislation covering domestic areas greater than 5sqm.