The kitchen is the centre and soul of every home. It is the first thing that many buyers look at and consider when choosing a new home. A well-renovated and looking kitchen can increase the value of your property and be the key to its successful sale.
Doing all the kitchen renovations on your own is not an easy task and requires proper preparation and planning.
In many cases, the renovation of the kitchen fails because the final price is significantly higher than the set budget or there are surprising finishing works that exceed initially planned expenses. Sometimes the secret to the perfect kitchen fitting is choosing a professional contractor. A good professional contractor like AceKitchens may perform your home into your dream house.
There are a few important things to consider first, whether you want to prepare your home for sale, or you have decided to create a small oasis of comfort for you and your family.
How to Plan a New Kitchen?
Whatever you decide, fitting the kitchen yourself or opting for a professional kitchen fitter in Surrey, the first thing you have to do is planning your space. This is a really important stage because you are going to have to live with this kitchen for many years to come. Your home should suit your lifestyle and even your future lifestyle. It is good to ask yourself a few questions in advance to optimally approach the space:
- What do you like and what do you hate about your current kitchen? Think about what works and what would you keep, and also what really drives you mad. That is going to help you to understand what you want from your new kitchen.
- What is your goal? Do you want to sell the house, do you want to rent it, or you are going to live there and you desire to expand the kitchen and change the design.
- Do you have children? If you have children you will certainly need more storage space. You should focus on stronger materials that are easier to clean.
- How much are you willing to spend? You probably are going to have an idea of what you want to spend which is really important. This information should also be given to the kitchen fitters. They need to have a real idea of how much you are willing to invest. Don’t forget that things are always more expensive than expected so make sure you add about 10-20% to the budget. If you are a little bit worried about budget go and talk to one of the kitchen fitters and get them to give you a bit of a steer. You will be amazed by actually just how much you will be able to afford.
Kitchen Fitters and the Process of Kitchen Fitting
The process of kitchen fitting includes:
- The first thing that kitchen fitters will do is turning off your water and open taps for a couple of hours;
- When the water in the pipework is drained off, the fitters will start removing the existing kitchen – the doors and drawers, oven, hob, wall units, worktops and sink, and so on.
- The next step is moving any cable, plumbing or making any alterations to the electrics if it’s necessary;
- When all pipework is done the fitter normally starts fitting the units and screwing them. The installer is going to measure more precisely which cabinets are going where and he starts with the wall cabinets;
- The next step in the process is fitting the worktops. It also includes fitting the sink into the worktop;
- The installation finished with fitting cornice and pelmet. Normally this stage doesn’t take much time – around an hour for the average-sized kitchen.
What you can do in preparation for the kitchen fitter come in is to remove the old washing machine, the dishwasher, and the fridge. If you want to save a bit of money you can remove the old tiles yourself and the wallpaper. You can also take off some of the doors for the cupboards.
How Much Does It Cost to Fit a New Kitchen?
Kitchen fitting is a difficult process that is better to be done by professional fitters. But how much does it cost? And is it worth being left to the hands of professionals or it’s better to do it yourself?
If you decide to fit the kitchen yourself you may save money but of course, this process is not easy and it comes with a set of challenges. You also risk failing and disliking your new space.
Several companies across Surrey carry out of kitchens. Their services depend on multiple factors. For example, cabinet installation cost depends on the cabinets that you’ve purchased. If you are getting off the shelf cabinets you can probably expect to pay maybe 70 to 80 pounds for cabinet installation. If you are doing something that is coming in flat-pack that requires assembly and installation then you can gauge that anywhere between 200 to 300 pounds per cabinet. That’s for a quality contractor installing quality cabinets that are going to give you a kitchen that will last you for 20-25 years.
You are not going to have any issues with the labour or install anything like that. So just think about paying more to get better quality. If you are doing a cheap flip then you can definitely drop that down but it just depends on the cabinets. You don’t want to go too cheap because too cheap can actually cost you more. A lot of people think they are getting a deal on speciality contractors at the end of the day oftentimes they end up pay paying more for that because of the mistakes that they were made.
The average cost of kitchen worktop may vary depending on the material. For example, the laminate can cost about 30-40 pounds per sqm while marble can cost upwards of £400 per sqm.
There’s a large range of doors and worktops materials on offer in kitchen showrooms and DIY stores. It is almost certain you will find something to suit both the style and the budget you have in mind.
