New Kitchen - after too many years ! A COMPLETED live experience November 2019.

[walt4it]

Well after so many years after moving into our lovely home and having adapted , repainted and cherished a new worktop or two. Reality has hit us. Our kitchen needs sorting out.
Not only does it look tired , it is dated and possibly qualifies for an antique roadshow appearance too. The carcases were fitted 40 years ago.
I will avoid describing the clutter , mess and hole that is prior to today but will give everyone some extra reading instead.

This thread was seemingly the first step in the right direction- acknowledging you need to do something


Just click here to have a read and some of the excellent advice offered.

Thank you all for the handy hints and tips provided too by this thread just a couple of weeks ago

Click here to read

So many great ideas we had never even thought of and so helpful in preparing for something we all know will be massively difficult to manage in our house.

Last Friday

This happened - We took delivery of the kitchen. Ordered from Magnet and having visited every kitchen place know to mankind to find something that was what we wanted, I can just add what an excellent delivery service we received via the company who were in charge of that - 3 phone calls in the last two weeks just to check everything was Ok to receive the kitchen and a follow up letter last week too.

I did take a photo of how full the garage was but I have to admit it did not make for good viewing - imagine Tetris and you possibly will get a good idea!

DAY 1

Having spent last night clearing away the final bits and pieces - and having received a phone call from the kitchen fitter too, a day we never thought we would ever see was upon us.



The excited feeling going to bed was strangely similar to that felt the night before a holiday- as was the mental tick list of things you need to do or forgotten to do or things that could go wrong!


The first day started well with the old kitchen being dismantled and flooring ripped up within the first couple of hours.
I did read in one of the above threads that here was some embarrassment about the look of the kitchen was removed - we had a new boiler installed a couple of months ago and I have to say it possibly improved our kitchen

Last night it looked like this

By lunchtime we were at this point (even the tiles has come off without too much of a fight)

The afternoon was filled with some cupboard building being done already. Along with a lot of electrical prep work by the kitchen fitter - we had received a couple of quotes for the electrical work after the boiler was replaced and re-sited - just so we knew what the damage could be. The work done today was included in the fitting price and the future work with the whole fuse board has already been indicated as similar to the two quotes received.


Apart from blowing the main fuse of the house after socket decided to really go for it when removed with wiring that was not of the spec expected for an ordinary plug socket, it appeared as if there was loads done today.

Once again the fitter took time at the end of the day to explain every single inch of what had been done and what he intended to do- and also what the sparky will do. He did this on a pre visit to the house and I have to admit he has provided so much reassurance so far.

With the heating off all day and the back door open for much of it, the temperature in the house dropped to the chilly November day it was outside.

Electric and heating restored over half an hour before he left - just to ensure it was all in working order, a clean kitchen left and with family home from work and school the transformation was duly noted.

There was some space now visible in the garage and the big skip type bag in the front garden told its own story!

Food tonight was a trip to the Pizza shop. I will avoid food photos!

A positive start and fingers crossed for the rest of the week.


DAY 2

Today needs a title - DAY OF DUST!

With the tiles removed yesterday the plan this morning was to smooth the walls - the sight of an orbital sander and dust mask meant that I attempted to close all the doors - the dining room door has a gap since the floor was lifted and I missed that

Thankfully the lounge was not impacted as I really did try to ensure the recently decorated and carpeted room was not in need of a deep clean afterwards.

The very helpful advice provided in the second thread above, really did help prepare for today and thank you for that advice fellow Dibbers

By lunchtime the kitchen had developed even more rapidly than expected.

This was the sight in the kitchen

The kitchen fitter was agitated and on the phone before he called me through - was there anything else delivered that was not in the garage?

He was already speaking to Magnet on his phone, but thankfully the tall cupboard he was looking for was in the front room as it was too tall for the garage and there was no space for it either - it was well packed and he mistakenly thought it was some of our stuff from the kitchen!

No, I did not have enough time to store all of the kitchen contents in such an organised manner

He was relieved, and the call to Magnet ended very quickly!
From that moment, he really did crack on at a pace .

This was the debris on the floor in the dining room, we had already put down a cover to try to protect it.
It did provide for an easy to see layer of plaster dust.

Spending the rest of the afternoon, working on the house and not getting in the way - I made a start on this mess and still wished I had sealed the door properly this morning.

With tea, coffee and biscuits all left for consumption , I just enjoyed the afternoon listening to the conversation about the music they were enduring on Radio 1

If I hear that new Coldplay song again today it will be too soon.
At least Absolute Radio have the no repeat workday, along with a far better choice of music!

I made a deliberate attempt not to sneak a peek at the afternoon work, I could only look in awe at the result.

WOW!

Oven fitted, fridge fitted and the tall larder was also fitted with a session spent ensuring this was fitted with precision.

No reason for this photo but I know how much our house does not have a straight or plumb line in it - the adjustable legs of each cabinet must bring about such pride when you find a spirit level that has this !

Even when the boys came home from school their reaction was the same- WOW

When Mrs walt4it came in, we both just stood in the kitchen and soaked it up - we were both so excited by what we were seeing and also challenged by seeing the colour of the units in our own home, we had always envisaged them as being darker than they are - this was a good thing as we were seriously considering white for the walls in the rest of the kitchen -looks like we are needing another few shades of paint tester pots before we can make a decision

I hate this bit as it is so difficult to match colours and also make a statement in the décor.


Know there is still a lot to do but really did feel as if there was such a rapid step forward today.

Chinese for tea tonight saw the bath, upstairs, being put to dishwashing duties dishwashing.

Thanks for reading and for all of your comments so far - really appreciate your comments and having read so many of these refurbs on here , I hope that I can answer some of the questions you may have if faced with such a project.


DAY 3

A day of calm and loads done.
When the only question asked was about how I wanted something to look when fitted on Friday.
With young apprentice in tow and with an electrician who was proving as elusive to the kitchen fitter than they seem to for us - undeterred he just cracked on.
Lots of worktop cutting today, which I have to say, made a mess on the driveway and the young apprentice swept every single bit of it up before they finished for the evening at 5.

by tonight it looks like this

With a plan of a wall colour close to white for the rest of the kitchen, we are back to rethinking that - great transformation today with worktops and upstands completed , wall cabinets in place, lighting in place and some of the walls filled too.

There is now space in the garage!

Off to look for wall colours that will provide a nice way of complimenting the cabinet colours.

Tea tonight was a microwaved Chicken Tikka from the supermarket with Naan Bread - nothing like you would get from the local Indian and a million miles away from Sanaa

Thanks for reading and for so many comments too, I don't like to curse things when I describe it as a day of calm but at least I'm prepared for the worst!


Day 4

Once again work started on time and much of the work today was all the fiddly bits that don't look like progress has been mad, yet speed up the route to completion.
All of the cupboards had the fronts completed and the lighting was installed too (not connected yet) all fiddly jobs and time consuming.
We also found out we had the wrong microwave ordered - so that is being changed in the morning at Magnet.

Sink installed and just a couple of other features added for when the washing machine goes back in.
Plug sockets and light switches added and all without major incident- I'm thinking that will fall to the electrician tomorrow morning

Updated photos

Sink installed - range of quality biscuits provided this week has been noted - thanks to the handy tip from my earlier thread

Biggest bombshell of the day came when the fitter asked me something I think he has been dying to do all week...

You like Disney then..?
Having spotted the not too delicate theme to our downstairs loo - with pins, pictures and annual licence plates from all of our adventures.

He had recently returned from his once in a lifetime trip to Florida - with his family. They seemed to have done loads in their trip and his enjoyment of all of that was plain to see - with his apprentice at college today, it then turned into a Florida holiday discussion with two blokes stood in a half finished kitchen enjoying the waffle about Flight of Passage, Car Hire and all things Florida

I think he will be back and hopefully we might have another listener to The Great British Mickey Waffle podcast too and another dibber too

Getting there and hopefully the electrician signs us off tomorrow and we get the fitting finished.
Still unsure about colours to add to the look, but kitchen blinds have dispatched today too with flooring due on Tuesday - Decorating looming for me I feel!

Tea tonight was spent with the in-laws at a local pub/restaurant with the fish and chips option being rather good.

Day 5
We need a fusebox and we're going to use it!

Well - you could see it coming a mile away!

When the electrician finally arrived this morning there was a duel of rolled eyes - kitchen fitter that he was not here on Tuesday and the electrician that the fitter had fitted the worktops and made the electrical work a challenge!

We needed a new fusebox in order to make our home legal and to update an antique wired fusebox. Everyone has told us that a new fusebox with trip switches will be more susceptible to any faults in the current wiring

All was going well with the new wiring in the kitchen passing the first test by electrician and the new fuse board in place.

The kitchen fitter was kicking his heels at this point as much of his work was in the same area.

Then came the first bit of bad news - the swing out tray in the cupboard could only fit one tray, due to the size of the new fuse box
No matter how he tried there was no way of getting a second tray in there.
Secondly, the sink waste unit and overflow had not been included in the box, plus the seal for the opposite side of the sink( hence the circle on the sink unit being unfinished) - will be with us early next week.

Then the system test , when all the electric went live - for a millisecond. I chose to ignore the angst from the kitchen and indeed the expletive too. (he had another job to go to today)

Well, without heat, light, wifi and electric there was only one thing for it - I went for a bacon butty and coffee at my local café of choice.
I also needed to get some charge into my phone, having enjoyed the morning catching up on paperwork and also the fact the home insurance renewal is due ( what a minefield that is- )

Warmed up and ready for the next step we got to 1.30.
Kitchen fitter close to having a fit and electrician close to running away!

To cut a long story short - we got to 4.30 having removed every plug from the downstairs plugs and sought to ensure there was nothing else plugged in.
The thought of a night without heat, electric, Tv and wifi had crossed my mind - I do confess I did price up a night in a hotel for us

At that instant there was a lightbulb moment - well not literally as we had no lights and it was dark outside by now.

Having spent the afternoon rewiring so many different links to the fusebox and testing each circuit repeatedly to try to narrow down the source - " Is the garage on the downstairs socket ring?"

Two minutes later the culprit had been identified - the electric in the garage was causing the inside stuff to trip.

We finally had everything back on inside - heating, electric and since the boys were back home the addition of wifi helped too!
Cue fitter frantically cutting the extractor hood, finishing off the installation of the final worktop we had included into the design and then everyone finally admitting defeat at 5-45 that Saturday was calling!

There is not much left to do ..

Kitchen fitter - just needs to sort out a couple of things in the under sink cupboard and to finish the windowsill ( we have since snagged a couple of questions for him for tomorrow)
We have all the handover paperwork to share too.

Electrician - coming back to look at the issue in the garage in the morning, before returning on Monday to complete the electrical certification of the house.

For me the work starts here

Decorating and ensuring we are ready for the flooring on Tuesday

Won't be finished by then but blind for the window arrived today and I have to admit we ordered an Indian delivery tonight and just stood in OUR kitchen.

In awe of the change since Monday and just so thrilled at what we saw before us.

Not finished just yet but I think this will be the final daily update until the flooring goes in on Tuesday.
Will update on the electrician by then - he may still be here

As of tonight this is what we have been thrilled to just sit and enjoy a beer and a glass of wine looking and seeing what our previous embarrassment of a kitchen was - to this before our eyes tonight.

Might need some daytime photos to see the whole thing too, however the lighting really has added so much to all of this


Next update on Tuesday

Thank you so much for so many lovely comment sand the hints and tips provided - they have given us so much strength to get to this point and also a recognition of the quality of service we have received.

Did make the 16 year old apprentice blush tonight - he has worked his backside off all week and has been a star - he needed telling and I have been so impressed by his desire to learn the trade, but also his work ethic too- once again today, after so much cutting, the driveway was immaculate at the end of the day and his attention to what has been done second to none.
If I ever meet his mum, I will tell her too - she should be so proud of him, I know his boss has been


Thanks for your continued reading and the end really is in sight ( unless you're the electrician )

Tuesday Update

Well Saturday Morning was quickly sorted , window sill in place and everything installation wise sorted as much as possible ( still need to sort out the sink.

Electrician returned for 20 mins, we found the issue and found it was isolated to the fridge in the garage - nothing else. Phew!

He then returned on Monday to test and sign off all of the electrics of the house - have to admit this was the great unknown and one thing we had always been concerned about - passed with flying colours


In between times we had cooked our first family meal in the oven - a lasagne just to bring an old and a new comparison in the photos

An oven with a light - what a novelty that was

I then was tasked with stripping the rest of the old wallpaper from the other walls and painting the ceiling whilst listening to the football over the weekend. I also spray painted the radiator that hopefully we will replace once a plumber decides they want some work in radiator replacement and possibly some more work too!

We then bode farewell to something that started as a Disney/Universal ride height calculator and then got continued for a few years. Was sad to remove it although I think we have enough photos to ensure we don't forget that our boys are growing much more quickly than we are!

Alison also included a splash back in a small strip behind the sink and under the windowsill - was going to be a difficult one to sort out until she found these tiles.

...and so to today

Flooring fitted and boy was that feeling of relief so good when the vinyl was opened and put into the room.
We had bought this a few weeks ago and guessed on colours and how it would look, the intention being to avoid getting to this stage and then making the flooring decision.
Yes it saved some time and given that we were impressed that the kitchen itself did not look as dark as we had imagined, we were left with one final question mark...

?

from minute one I fell in love with the floor.

Not even completed, and I then got a phone call from the Magnet Area Installations Manager asking if he could come round to see me and more to see the kitchen too.
He was in the area and could come round in an hour or so.

I ended up trying to explain everything we had been through since my very first post last December about new kitchens and how the communication throughout had been appreciated and how the lack of a hard sell in the shop was a selling point.

The communication from the distribution centre about delivery and all of our dealings with the store in our town have been everything we would have hope for and more.

He insisted that not every installation is as good to see or hear about, but he stayed to absorb the whole excitement thing and was probably glad to escape in the end

We have had some fantastic service all along our journey and that was indeed proved when the fitter returned for the final time, sink parts in hand and a missing soft closure unit.

His first reaction as he walked back in was a moment to behold, having been away a matter of days it was so nice to hear the reaction to the floor and just what he had done last week.

Always appreciated and I'm sure now he knows where The Dibb is, he will join us for his future holiday planning and with the great British Mickey Waffle will be able to listen to some of that insight too.


Sink done, and a couple of other things we had not noticed tweaked, his work was complete.

His final ask of us was if we could send some photos of the decorated and completed kitchen to include in his company website and facebook page.

I took that as such a sign of working pride in something that has transformed our house and an indication that he left us with that warm feeling that he had done a good job.

Hopefully he will be able to see it on here

Final update will follow once I get the decorating done - and yes the white option has won out - thank you so much Sutheli :

Final Update

Apologies for the delay - we have been finished around a week and have simply been so busy with other things that Dibbing has not happened much.

Anyway-
painting completed and blind installed - we have a kitchen that none of us can actually believe.
It has been such a joy to simply sit and just listen to music and enjoy the space and the whole end to this project.

Paint was carefully chosen - mixed at our local dulux decorator centre, as they don't do the colour in regular tins, we then added a little bit of glitter effect to it to complete the look - it is difficult to see in the photos and this one possibly captures it a little.

Will let the photos do the talking to end !

As always thanks for reading and sharing our journey.

Appreciate all those who have shared a comment and also to everyone who has read this thread - having seen so many other Dibbers post their renovation photos, I 'm just glad we have a kitchen complete and ready for the festive season!

[Joshie1]

Very exciting! We got our kitchen done about 10 years ago and it still makes me smile.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Coming along well. I love Magnet kitches, great quality.

[mason1]

Great start. Which kitchen did you get? We fitted a Magnet kitchen earlier this year and love it.

[deeley]

Had our kitchen done in spring this year. It will be worth it but I’m enjoying reliving the journey!

[Taffy1959]

Great start all the upheaval will be worth it when you see the end result.

[Jaspercat10]

Love a project, Magnet kitchens are great as the carcasses are already assembled not like Ikea, looking forward to reading more, and then coming round for that lasagne you look like you were thinking of making 😂

[walt4it]

Originally Posted by Joshie1

Very exciting! We got our kitchen done about 10 years ago and it still makes me smile.

See more...

Not sure we are at the smiling stage just yet- amazing how much the kitchen being empty impacts on the rest of the house!😧

[walt4it]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

Coming along well. I love Magnet kitches, great quality.

See more...

We have been really impressed by magnet so far- no hard sell but willing to sharpen their prices.
So many recommendations about the quality too. Appreciated yours in the earlier thread too👍 Reassuring when people in the trade make similar comments.

[juless77]

Oooo how exciting !