How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

could be that or external grade ply, I imagine they'd want to use the one with the least flex. I don't really care apart from the price.

Some extra bathroom bits going begging:

Lusso stone 1000mm countertop, matte white. BNIB

Lusso stone 600mm sink, grey. This has been fitted and removed and has some visible but livable scratches at the bottom (that said I asked fitters to replace it - I have photos if anyone is interested.)

Not a clue how to price these things so will consider any sensible offer/input.

Thanks!

The bath is really nice, it had a date stamp and a fitter's signature from 1946, and it's really deep and retains its heat really well. The guy who does re-enamelling did a superb job as well, including filling two tap holes.

There are a couple of things about the bathroom that we don't love, but they're all because of our poor decisions or lack of foresight rather than the fitting.

You can get door stops like this that mount on the door hinge. Though you may need to replace the hinge if yours don’t have removable pins.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225426073436

Is it possible/feasible/worth it to save this floor? (It was this state when we moved in). Cost effectiveness is weighed against a new wooden floor - but it's original to the house so would be keen to keep if could.

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Floor looks great! Others will chip in with more specific recs but a sand and refinish and it'll be better than a new floor. You can get someone in to do it or hire a sander and have a go yourself.

I'd recommend these guys for renting equipment, and if their service is anywhere near as good as their Instagram suggests, for their sanding too:

https://www.absolutefloorsanding.co.uk/

If you're doing it yourself, look at Ben on Floors on YouTube (a previous forum tip, I think from @Bobbo).

The floor looks great and absolutely should be refreshed rather than replaced.

Yes. See the pics of our floor further up the thread. Can recommend Lee at dreamwood flooring in Beckenham as he did the final filling and sanding and is very knowledgeable in how to deal with floors that have a bit of wear and age

EDIT: was just the single coat of oil in previous pic, here is second coat with the full sun on the floor, ours looked not dissimilar to yours if very pale and yellower due to the thick lacquer and years of UV light.

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Cost effectiveness is weighed against a new wooden floor

Fwiw c. 45m² cost us >£10k....which buys a lot of Osmo and sandpaper.

So don't underestimate how much a new floor costs.

Not to mention potential difficulty in sourcing materials. Which may well be inferior to what you have now.

If you are NE london, I have a Reccomendation for a flooring company. Did ours, dbr’s and at least one neighbour. Originally recommended by @Fox I believe.

Where are (ordinary, five-figure salary) people buying their kitchens from nowadays?

Which? says that Ikea's Enhet range, followed by one from Magnet and then the Ikea Metod are the best.

We had a Metod kitchen previously and a lot of the bits were shite - crap plastic plinths and edges that popped off when you swept the floor - but I think this time we'd use a local company to make the doors, plinths, etc. anyway.

Howdens isnt bad, tbf alot of the kitchen at that price point are sameish. Even the really high end stuff, isnt as good as the prices say.

Decent fitter will do a good job with a howdens

Enhet is level below Metod I think and we have that and although it's been good as a starter kitchen I wouldn't recommend it.

I've heard good things about Howdens and DIY Kitchen with mixed reviews on Wren

we used DIYkitchens, pretty happy with it still 18 months later.

our kitchen is about 2.5x2.5m, u-shape base cabinets and hanging cabinets both sides came to 2.8k

We were originally getting a Howdens one, then the guy we were having to fit it (also a carpenter, has reno’d Eames chairs for the design museum so I guess he’s good) said he could make a bespoke solid door job for the same money.

Since then, Howdens came back with some offers though we’d already committed so I don’t know how low they were willing to go.

Also, we’re definitely going over budget now, but I guess that would likely have happened with any supplier

I imagine kitchen suppliers are in the same sinking ship as everyone else so discounts are more forthcoming than normal, even if not advertised

If you can find a builder / fitter you like and trust - ask them where they have accounts. I wanted ikea Metod but builder price matched to magnet. It is not better quality tho. But IKEA plastic legs and plumbing bits are known to be a bit crap and they don’t have a service void behind so often need modification to work with uk plumbing.

It's a shame that that's probably the right way to do it.

It's going to be a brand new kitchen in a new extension so we don't yet know who'll be building/fitting it but we're trying to reduce next year's decision fatigue by spreading it out between now and summer.

@tbc
We got ours from here (well mainly the developer who owned the place before us got it from there, I just got some extra cabinets and stuff to finish it off)
https://www.tknb.co.uk/

Slightly more expensive than IKEA (although if you were buying a full kitchen I imagine you'd be able to push for a decent discount) but pre-built cabinets that seem of decent quality and doors that, three years on, seem as good as new.

Mixer tap with spray hose, any recommendations for something good under £150? Or is it worth spending a bit more?

Ah - well that's not too bad if you want IKEA - service locations can be factored in. Cabinet sizes and features can vary between companies too. I specified IKEA because the combined unit sizes would give me max optimisation and hardly any filler pieces. In the end I had to pivot to magnet and tweak layout. Most builders will have an account with howdens also and most of it is pre built and off the shelf but having a good kitchen fitter is really important as to how it all turns out.

Having doors made to suit carcasses will be much more expensive than using off the shelf doors. I looked at plykea etc and ended up with basic bitch matt white.

I'd start with layout and aesthetic first and figure out supply later tho really.

might be tricky finding something nice at that price point - was about to link the one we got (Clearwater Pioneer) for £178 last year, but it appear it's now about £240 everywhere :/

If it’s your main kitchen tap I’d be tempted to spend a bit more. The IKEA taps are ok and they do a pullout hose one for £100

We have the Lusso Stone one and happy with it so far.

our chimney breast has a plasterboard in front of brick; could I:

1. Mount a TV on this?
   
2. is there a way to make a channel for cable(s) in the plasterboard or am I better off with a trunking?
   

Pls no