[Closed] Complete new kitchen - how much disruption?

Have you got any other space you can use? We used the utility room as a kitchen. Took a bit of shuffling things around, temporary plastic curtains, water off occasionally, but it wasn't that big a deal. Without a working sink, oven and worktop space it would've been a much bigger problem. Neighbour is having hers done at the moment and has set up a kitchen in a spare bedroom.

We are going through this at the moment.

Currently washing up in the bath and using two microwaves to cook food.

Was told 5 weeks from start to finish but that includes knocking down an exterior wall and fitting two steels.

Builders have been in nearly 3 weeks already but we worked it out and they have probably only done a week's worth of work. Building work won't be fully complete before the kitchen install starts on Thursday.

Dust everywhere too.

Wife is going mental 😂

I don't do complete kitchens because I work alone and it takes too long. The couple of independents I work with always co-ordinate the trades so they get the whole job done in one week, blitzing it, rip-out, structural, plastering, floor, plumbing, electrics etc.
You don't really have access to anything during that week.
Speak to some local firms to see if they do this. I don't expect anybody good will have availability before March.

Sadly no utility room etc. Suspect fridge and freezer will go in the dining room with a microwave on top, washing up in the bath and round my mum's for a washing machine

I don’t do complete kitchens because I work alone and it takes too long. The couple of independents I work with always co-ordinate the trades so they get the whole job done in one week, blitzing it, rip-out, structural, plastering, floor, plumbing, electrics etc.
You don’t really have access to anything during that week.

Don't suppose any are in the Derby area? 🤣

I do fit kitchens for a living (in Leicestershire, already booked until April). I usually say 1-2 weeks for a dry fit dependent on how big/complicated. we usually turn around jobs with electric alterations, plastering, tiling, flooring etc. in around 3-4 weeks from rip out to hand over.

A spare room with a camp kitchen is ideal, don't try to be using or expecting to use things in the kitchen whilst builders are in and it all goes much quicker. biggest problem most seem to have is the washing machine, so we try to temp rig up something if possible, I suspect yours might be the electric going on and off if you're working from home so this would need thought.

Was told 5 weeks from start to finish but that includes knocking down an exterior wall and fitting two steels.

Sorry, what's a "steel"?

A big bit of metal to hold the building up when you cut a big opening in a wall. An RSJ or a lintel

Yep two RSJ'S

Currently washing up in the bath and using two microwaves to cook food.

That was us this time last year. We set up a temporary camp kitchen in the spare room. I'm not sure I'd do it again!

My sister has just had her kitchen done on insurance following a (slow) water leak that went undetected for weeks. By the time they found it, the wall and back of the cupboards were rotten so it was a complete rip out and redecorate.

The insurance company initially talked about moving them into a hotel but Covid put paid to that so they were given a little portacabin kitchen on their driveway. Significant disruption (they have 2 young kids) and varying degrees of lockdown meant the job took longer than usual - they were cooking in the portacabin for about 5 weeks. Very basic stove, microwave, small fridge, toaster.

If you don't have a utility room though or any other options for cooking, it'd be worth investigating. My sister said the family would have been absolutely lost without that temporary kitchen space.

That was us this time last year. We set up a temporary camp kitchen in the spare room. I’m not sure I’d do it again!

We did it in august. Notification of start on July 27th and notice of completion went in sept 8th.

Knocked down existing extension , put in 2 rsjs and built 6*3m extension done a kitchen and converted a shed to a utility room.

But that was a number of pre determined trades booked well in advance. The plastered delayed me by a week because he didn't think my schedule was realistic. And so booked me in a week later.

We were finished boarding out Sunday night for him to start the Monday I asked. We had to rejig the program and do other stuff till he could get in.

We cooked on the BBQ and microwave , we had a sink set up outside for washing up.

The more trades you need the more hassle your going to have. We did everything bar sparky and plastering in house.

Do it in summer is all I'd say.

Ours took 2 weeks but we were lucky to have a builder friend who pushed it along for us. I can't remember any of it at all so either I went on an Africa trip or I've suppressed the memory. I do remember borrowing a friend's camping stove.

From memory ours was 7 days.

We didn't move much so the plumbing wasn't a massive issue, some wiring needed doing. We did get a Howdens kitchen and the base units arrive assembled which the builder/joiner reckoned saved then a couple of days

Set up a camping stove/kettle in utility and had loads of frozen dinners in the freezer.

I don't think I'd have wanted to be at home to much during the process, the odd day I was around the crashing and banging was relentless, the house was freezing as they were in and out all the time so doors stayed open.

Wondering if we should put it off till after he’s done his A levels.

that's what I'd do...

3 weeks here back to a bare room, new plastering floor and ceiling.  The contents of the kitchen lived in the dining room with a microwave, toaster and kettle on on the table.

It’s a real pain but worth it in the end.

It’s a real pain but worth it in the end

This. We put it off till the doors were literally falling off and I was stealing doors from little used cupboards to replace the knackered ones that we used often as it was so old replacement hinges couldn't be had.

It’s a real pain but worth it in the end.

That's the straw we're clutching at.

The electrics/WiFi going on and off is the big concern if we're working from home. Given potential lead times, we might be back in the office by then!

The electrics/WiFi going on and off

No need for that if you have a competent person.

Day 1 .power off Remove the tails from the breaker for the circuits in the kitchen. Power on.

Test the cables prior to removing from the sockets

We had no power for about 2 hours. Total and most of that was due to finding out the cable running to the utility breaker was a single 2.5 .....feeding utility and my office.... No where near enough so had to switch my office off till we got that rerun.

If it's just a kitchen then it should be off....tails out. On. Old cables out. Run new and then power off and tails back in. To breaker

How ever if you have heavily modified and bodged wiring that may not happen. Our spark did my house rewire so knew how it went.

This is ours currently.....

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We had ours done starting October two years ago, as part of a lot of other building works. Biggest hold-up was plaster drying time in November in Fife...some areas were quite deep and took 3 weeks to be dry enough to paint...

Did a very small kitchen in the space of a couple of weeks. All diy except for notifiable stuff which was just final gas connection at that time. We didn't relocate any electrics. Tiling painting full set of cupboards, worktop, plumbing - all us. Two of us working it, this was before kids though.

Echo the comment about summer.

We had our temporary kitchen outside with all the utilities rigged up. That made things quite ok. We put it under a tarp in case we had rain but in the end the forecast was dry for a few weeks when we kicked off. Had a lot of bbqs.

You definitely need a temporary rig. Maybe something under a tent would work in a pinch.

We did ours ourselves and it took ages as we knocked a wall down, bricked up the old kitchen door, got a window put in, new plumbing.

If you get an electric hob that will need separate wiring and fuse/mcb on your consumer unit. You may even need new consumer unit.

The more you do, the more likely it is something unforeseen will crop up so it'll tall take longer.

Definitely do in summer!!

Try and time the messiest stuff with a holiday.

I forgot to post the pic showing our make shift kitchen/diner set up in the dining room.

Cramped is an understatement

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5 weeks seems a very long time.

We have had a few kitchens done over the years. Usually one week if straight replacement, 2-3 if involving moving utilities and more building work.

If you can find a good trades and you trust them then consider taking a holiday for week or two and staying in a self catering house. Out of season it won't need to cost much. It will be much better for you and will help the trades to have an empty house, they will be done quicker.

Think we're going to aim for summer then. The holiday suggestion seems a good one.

When replacing the floor of a utility room we ran the washer from a hosepipe and into a bucket for a while; it worked, but the bucket was 10L and one of the drains from the washer was about 12L which required awkward bucket swapping. We only flooded the garage once...

I fitted mine in a week, that included the following...

1. Ripping out old kitchen
2. Plaster boarding the ceiling
3. Getting the ceiling and walls skimmed (not by me)
4. Some minor plumbing tweaks
5. Couple of electrical tweaks
5.5. Building units
6. Fitting floor and wall units
7. Fitting oak worktops (not by me)
8. Fitting sink
9. Painting
10. Fannying around with cornice etc.
11. Fitting downlighters in ceiling, including wiring

I still need to sort the floor out 3 years later 😄

Family moved out for the week, I was doing 12 hour days and living on takeawy. So a bit intense.

Parents had their kitchen done by a proper company, including flooring. Took a week all in. They properly blitzed it though, although nothing structural. So don't expect to be stepping foot in your kitchen.

Microwave and toaster in your front room with a small fridge or electric cool box. Between microwave meals and take-away's you'll be fine.

Might be a daft suggestion, could you / Mrs rent some office space during the day - don't believe its that expensive - a friend does this permanently even though he could do it all from home.

about a week before the kitchen was delivered i ripped out the old one myself, leaving the essential appliances loosely in place. did it over a weekend. this allowed the spark/plumber/plasterer to come and do their first fix. pulled out the rest of it the day before the fitters were due - they boxed it off in two days, my plumber connected everything up on the third day and it was semi-useable while the lighting, tiling, flooring etc went in... we cleared out the fridge freezer and chucked loads of stuff away, but it turned out the new one was the fitters first job so could have easily stocked it up straight away

We did our kitchen when the wife was 8 months pregnant...

Biggest mistake I made was not sealing the kitchen off from the front room properly and going through it multiple times daily initially as I'd moved the fridge and microwave to the conservatory, by the time I noticed what was happening and moved them to the front room the damage was done so to speak! Builders dust really does get everywhere, even made it upstairs!

Ours took 3 weeks from rip out to finished kitchen, but I did the initial rip out of units, removal of tiles & wallpaper, removed a non load bearing wall and took up the floor myself on a weekend, electric first fix and plumber for gas and water moving on the monday, plasterers in the next day. Had an issue where as it was feb last year the plaster took 4 days to dry as opposed to 2 as I thought it would, painted it myself in the evenings.

2nd Week kitchen went in over two days, electrician did 2nd fix, had a delay with the tiler and then the floor went down end of the week.

Things that went okay, the plasterer said it was a two day job, instead I paid him to get a mate and they did it in a day, cost me the same but was done quicker. Kitchen rip out was so easy and fun, impact driver, hammer and crowbar did most of it, I'm sure you and your teenage son might enjoy doing it!

More of a choice recommendation, the Karndean LVT we got is excellent

We used a single induction hob (£30) and a combi microwave, as well as toaster and kettle and you can get by with that. My advice would be to set up an area as your makeshift kitchen before you start - even if this is only going to take 2-3 weeks. A dining table, a sideboard, a spare desk (or camping table) - something somewhere that defined as "kitchen" you keep clean (it will be dusty) and where you can find the stuff you need. You will have boxes of stuff stacked up and possibly white goods, other furniture etc. all balanced on top of each other as you try to muddle through.

Might be a daft suggestion, could you / Mrs rent some office space during the day – don’t believe its that expensive – a friend does this permanently even though he could do it all from home.

Or discuss with your employer - if its not possible to work from home then many places will be able to accommodate a small number of staff at a time in the office.

Failing that if you need to be on zoom/teams etc, assuming laptops - then a 4g/5g battery powered hotspot is fairly cheap, or use a phone as a hotspot (or the app on your phone itself). A competent sparky isn't going to have you without power for long. Will probably only be when ripping stuff out on day 1, then briefly when going back live, and perhaps briefly when finishing off.

My main concern with doing this "now" would be either a lockdown including tradespeople happening mid project or any one of those people getting a covid positive and your whole site will grind to a halt for 2 weeks. Inevitably that will be when you've got no sink, wires hanging out the walls etc, suddenly 3 weeks becomes 5 or more.

This is exactly what's happening to our new build right now. Even my neighbour, a very hard-working builder, came home at lunch time today. We're goosed, we won't be in by Christmas.

It'll take as long as it takes, the cheaper you go, the longer it'll probably take.

Just make sure you have a microwave and kettle, the ubereats app and you should be fine, remember you can hand wash clothing as well, just remove the dishes from the bath beforehand, also have the tumble dryer somewhere as you'll never dry anything outside this time of year, if you have it in the living room it can double as a heater as well.

Guys I work with do rip out,electrics,plumbing,tiles and finished in 5 days. Painting depends how long plaster takes to dry.

From experience of doing kitchens, and working in peoples homes for 30 plus years.

1, if youre having a huge fridge freezer ensure it can get through the back door or into the kitchen,via other means, upvc doors have wide frames so have a smaller opening than normal doors.

2,just because the sink is fitted don't wash the pots in it as it may not be connected, it will flood the floor.

3, self leveling is best done last thing before builders go, so little chance somebody's going to walk over it to the sink above,so don't enter room till you're told its set.

4, if the power is switched off,remember you'll have no land line phone if its a portable phone, or internet, or tv, and dont turn on power or any switch on fuse box unless you ask the builders if its ok.

5,have a kettle handy for the builders, with tea bags and coffee and milk available, as well as lots of cups, preferably on a tray so they all get put back.

6,mark the walls where you want plug sockets, decide where you want lights.

7,move cars away from the entrance to your property, as trying to drag heavy tool boxes and tools and kitchens past cars is a pain.

7,if you're expecting kitchen fitters, plumbers,tilers,electricians, best to advise the neighbours especially if they're likely to need to get out of their parking space/drives.

8,a dust sheet or blanket hung over the door from the kitchen to other rooms in the house may stop a lot of dust being blown around, as well as one on the floor just outside the kitchen.

9,builders like fresh air and doors/windows open, so expect to turn the heating up in rest of house to keep warm.

10, keeps pets and children away, power tools and electric cables dont like pets and children as they try and injure them.

Blatant ad. I supply and fit kitchens for a living. If you are anywhere near Monmouth,( S. Wales/England border) pm me for advise.

Ours has just been put on hold for just over a week as the builders have walked off site due to my son self isolating as someone in his year has covid

We're midway through a kitchen refit and extension... Kitchen was ripped out on the 14th Oct, 4 weeks to strip it back to the walls, infill the bits of parquet floor that will be on show, plumbing, electrical, plastering and painting. The new kitchen arrived Monday and we've allowed for 3 weeks to fit that and a week to finish up so all in all, 2 months. It's taken longer than it could have as it's part of a bigger project and we've needed to sequence it alongside other structural stuff.

We're lucky that there's a utility room with sink that we've been able to use as a makeshift kitchen. Portable induction hob from Amazon and a cheap microwave and we've been ok... although in lockdown we've been supporting the local pubs with their takeaway services more than usual.

First thing is last lockdown basic materials were a challenge.
You couldn't buy (legal) plaster for love nor money. I ended up buying some from a bloke in a lockup after spending 2 weeks playing chase the delivery. I was queuing outside 2 hours before opening with hundreds of trades people most of whom left empty handed.
Who knows what might suddenly not be available?

Assuming materials and stuff isn't interrupted then your next challenge is drying times.

A lot will depend on your existing wiring mine was a crap organic growth but I tidied it up and moved the consumer unit before any trades people came in. You'll probably want a separate fridge/freezer non RCD circuit.

We wanted gas and this involved 2 unexpected things, first the existing pipe wasn't up to it and second our meter supply wasn't up to it. Trades had to get National Grid out to do the inlet.

Also before they came I fitted a cheap sink in the laundry room (which is now useful anyway). It was £90 or something including mixer tap. It's not the worlds best sink but way better than a bucket or using the bath.

We also have a gas BBQ and bought a 2 ring induction hob, this now get used for BBQ's as it can just be taken outside. Along with microwave and kettle I've lived plenty of places with worse kitchens. Only downside was having to go through the garage ...

Our completion cert arrived today.

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All the new roof tile was extension. The old tile was original.