Installing a new kitchen!!

[flyinglouise]

Hi there,
Can anyone help? After MFI wanted to charge a stupid amount to install my kitchen I have taken it upon myself to fit it... after 3 months I am now begining to regret this decision... I am a complete novice so please forgive my ignorance.
I have two problems...

1. My wall units, which have glass doors, appear to have no form of fixing to the wall like the other cupboards which just hook on. Am i supposed to just bolt them to the wall or the middle unit which is hooked on the wall. If so which fixings should I use?

2. My cooker hood has the wiring coming out of the top, however, the electrics are directly behind the cooker hood. Can i feed the wire back in or should I put in a fcu? (It's not an external extractor).

Hope someone can help as I'm now very stressed and stumbled on this website!!

 

[anobium]

I had exacly the same problem when fitting wall units with glass doors. You can, but only if the back of the unit is thick enough, ie 12mm or more drill straight through the back and fix using plugs and screws. I put 3 at the top and 3 at the bottom using no 10 screws with cups.However if the back of the unit is to thin you will have to fit a rail inside the cupboard approx 37x18mm and screw through this into the wall as above.I would put one at the top and one at the bottom and I would use some offcuts of the panels supplied to match the internal finish.
Sorry I cant help with the electrical query.
Good luck

 

[flyinglouise]

Thanks for your reply,
I'm off to buy some screws now. I just didn't want to put something in them and they fall off the wall and I wasn't sure that screwing them to the wall would work. Fingers crossed it will.

I'm never doing it again on my own!!!!

 

[masona]

Can you not use unit bolts on the side of the wall units?

 

[anobium]

Can you not use unit bolts on the side of the wall units?

Quite right if there is a wall unit either side of the one with glass doors, but otherwise there is no alternative but to fix to the wall. You could use unit/barrel bolts in addition to wall fixing for a belt and braces job

 

[AdrianB]

I'm looking for a new kitchen, but not found anything for a sensible price yet. Do you mind me asking what MFI quoted to fit?

 

[Mick Leek]

Firstly, can i say i DO NOT work for the following company i am going to recommend, nor do i get any fee for advising people to use them ( Wish i did)

I fit my own kitchen in June last year. Like the rest of you, i shopped around not only for the cheapest price but also reasonable quality.

didn't like MFI stuff. Found the hinges and carcases cheep. In the end i opted for B&Q. The quality of the carcas was far better, thicker Chipboard was used and better quality hinges. Focus kitchens were disgusting. I couldn't believe they could sell such cheap crap.

I also fitted units with glass doors but the B&Q cabinets came with the usual rear adjustable mountings. I thought the cabinets were the same and it was just the doors that made them into glass fronted ones ?

I mounted a fused spur on top of the cupboard for the extractor fan The top trim hides it and it isn't visible.

In all the kitchen cost just under £1000.00 for everything excluding the tiles for wall and floor.

My advise for people thinking of DIY ing there kitchen is the following,

1, don't always opt for cheapest,
2, check to ensure you have the tools for the job,
3, Get one of the DIY chains to plan your kitchen for you ( Free)
4, Ask the usually helpful experts in store for advice
5, plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time (don't rush)
6, if you unsure about something, ask

 

[AdrianB]

Sorry for the slight hijack of this thread, thanks for post Mick, your kitchen looks really good!

£1000 for all that is a good price. Also I love what you've done with the lighting and the floor tiles are very smart. Did you do the lights with overhead access?

I've looked at some kitchens in B&Q but didnt think you could get anything for that price, once I saw a worktop in there for £800 I just assumed they were really expensive.

You've done a good job with the fitting but I'd have to get it fitted,my diy just arent that good.

 

[Mick Leek]

Hi Adrian,

The ceiling is lowered slightly about 3" the boards are then secured to the stud work There is no access above as the lights are mains voltage and NOT 12V i hate low voltage stuff.

The floor was a pain. We previously had a white and blue kitchen fitted about 6 years ago. Hated it right from day 1 The floor tiles were blue, so hence the picture with the hilty chisel. Tokk a full day to lift the old tiles.

New tiles were from Focus, It just so happened they were clearing them just as we were looking for some. Got the lot 16sq meters for £50.00

Kitchen was purchased when they have one of these 60% off days. The units and doors were £714.00 the remainder was for the worktops and so on. Its hard to see from those pictures but the kitchen is 12x12 with a bit taken up where the halway stairs are (thats were the radiator is mounted..

 

[nettie2006]

I can add my vote to B&Q.

I have helped install three kitchens now. (on my own on the latest and B&Q are causing me no problems at all. It's the rest of the stuff!)
To fit wall and floor carcasses, with doors, glass doors, oven units and drawers units, I have used

a philips screw driver
a small wood glue container with nozzle
a battery drill with 3mm, 4.5mm and philips screwdriver attachments
a 1m spirit level
some screw in plasterboard fixings
some slot in plasterboard fixings.
a handle hole template (from B&Q)

All carcases done, doors on, handles fitted.

Now if I could just get the unecessary tiles off the wall, the glue off the back, the sockets moved, the worktop cut, the old worktop raised and some cutoff valves in to move the taps and the rising damp found fixed, I'd be done!

PS. The instructions for the B&Q Oven Housing aren't the most obvious.

 

[AdrianB]

Thanks for the replies really helpful!

I'm really liking your ceiling Mick, I wouldnt mind doing something like that myself to cover the artex. I'm not 100% sure what you mean when you say secured to the stud work but I guess you mean the walls on each side?

Are those ceiling boards something that you made up yourself or a kit you can buy? Dont suppose you made a thread with more pictures when you did it all do you?

 

[Mick Leek]

Adrian,

Sorry no, i dont think i have any more pictures. The ceiling boards are only 1 meter in legnth so you have to work from the center outwards. If you do it this way you will stagger the joints to make it look simetrical ( that how you spell it ?)

The boards came from B7Q warehouse... not sure if the smaller places stock them.. they are available in White, Light Oak, and Maple
I will take a few more piccies for you and post them of the ceiling if you want.

Stud work is basicaly 3x2 screwed to the walls and then pieces stretching across spaced about every 600mm

I installed a lighting ring before i fitted the boards. Once i had finished i simply drilled the holes with a 65mm hole drill for the lights and the wiring was there waiting for me... Forward planning...

I heave a shed full of cladding clips if you need any, found a VERY cheap source for them so dont buy the ones from B&Q

 

[ajwt2]

I have recently installed a new kitchen in my house too! Luckily i had the expertise of my father who runs his own kitchen business. Anyway I kept a log of how we did everything (it took a couple of weekends) here is the link if you are interested www.whatprice.co.uk/household/DIY-kitchen.html.

The kitchen isn't 'quite' finished yet, I'll post some pictures when it is. I still have to do the tiling, which I'm not looking forward too.

To be honest, if I were to do it again I would pay the money and get some fitters in. Spreading the work out over several weekends was a right pain, as it involved shifting a lot of stuff from the kitchen to other parts of the house on several occasions!

 

[AdrianB]

Would be nice to see some pictures ajwt2.

 

[Aquaman]

B&Q Gets my vote too, on price and quality.

I decided to plan and fit my own kitchen, and went for B&Q on nearly everything and it wasn't a mistake.

My only advice to anyone considering fitting a kitchen is think how long you think it's going to take and TREBLE it!