First house bought - advice please

Hi all,

been a lurker for a while on here and have just purchased my first property. There are two projects i would appreciate your help with please.

1, Kitchen - the property purchased is quite modern, barring the kitchen. I'm being recommended various suppliers, (B&Q, Wikes, Homebase, Howdens) - i know roughly what id like and its a smallish kitchen. Who generally represents the best value for money of these - (btw a friend joiner will be fitting it so no real worries there)

2, Exterior doors being swapped as these are the only 2 remaining that are not uPVC. Is it best if I order the materials and from whom, or do I let the fitters deal with this and just pay what they ask, supplied and fitted - all in?

Many thanx

Howdens for the kitchen, the carcases are pre built I think for all their ranges which saves loads of time on the fit, and the UPVC doors are simple enough to fit, get them from a good supplier in your area and do it yourself.

Fitting tips for UPVC doors:-

1. Measure the existing opening from side to side in several positions through the height and take the smallest dimension, if you have some long straight edges that you can lie onto either side then take the measurements may be easier. Whilst doing this use a reliable level to check the uprights are level.
2. Measure the height at each side of the opening from the top of the frame to the underside of the sill.
3. Measure across both diagonals, these should be exactly the same and will tell you if the opening is square. You will have to take this into consideration as the new door will be square and will not fit properly otherwise. If your opening is not square then you will have to mark levels at the top and bottom of the opening and re-measure. The same would be for the uprights if they are not level. The new door will be smaller than the opening due to the opening being out of square in this case but the new frame can be packed out to suit on installation.
4. Give the dimensions to your door supplier for him to manufacture the new door. Tell him the sizes given are to include the door sill.
5. On receipt of the new door and frame check against your given dimensions, the door will usually arrive with the frame, door frame, glazed and or infill panels plus the furniture separately.
6. Take the frame and check against your opening.
7. The tools you will need will be pry bars, hammer, bolster chisel, SDS drill and 8mm x 200mm long series bits, cordless drill plus pozi-drive bits of the correct size, 8mm drill bit, stanley knife, Mastic gun, level, tape measure, Angle grinder with stone and steel cutting discs, hand saw, mallet and wood chisels and all safety equipment, goggles, gloves, dust mask and decent footwear.
8. The materials you will need will be a bag of frame packers, a pack of 8mm x 100mm fischer screws (you will need 8 of these), a good quality frame sealing mastic, decorators caulk.
9. Remove the old door from the frame.
10. Carefully cut through the old frame about the centre of each upright and using the pry bars collapse the frame and remove, other places may have to be cut for ease of removal.
11. Most wooden door frames are secured to the building using cut nails and some of them may stay in the brickwork, if so using the disc cutter with the steel disc fitted, cut the nails flush being careful not to damage the brick work (if trying to remove some cut nails from brickwork be careful because sometime they take a new shape when fitted and can crack and damage the bricks when trying to remove)
12. Clean around the frame and remove any protruding mortar using the disc grinder with the stone disc or the hammer and bolster.
13. Slide frame into the opening and ensure it is pushed up flush and level in all directions.
14. Mark 4 positions evenly onto the inside of the frame on both side where the fixings will be located.
15. Using the ordinary 8mm drill bit drill each position the frame only.
16. Using the SDS 8mm drill bit drill one of the holes through the frame and into the brickwork for at least 120mm into the brickwork. Place one of the fischer screws though the frame and into the brickwork and tighten the screw so it just grabs the frame without tightening. Ensure again that the frame is level drill another on the same side and fit the fixing as before. Do the same for the other side of the frame ensuring levels at each stage.
17. Select frame packer and slide between the wall and the frame just above each of the fixings where required and tighten the fixings.
18. Drill the remaining 4 holes into the brickwork, insert the fixings, pack where required and tighten.
19. Prior to the next operation it will be best to remove the protective plastic from the frame. Apply a mastic bead around the outside of the frame, If your application skills are limited, using masking tape, mask the frame and the wall leaving approximately a 5mm gap to apply the mastic, apply the mastic and using a wet finger go over the mastic to smooth, carefully remove the tap and re smooth using slightly less pressure than before.
20. Apply decorators caulk around the interior of the frame in a similar manor as the mastic on the outside.
21. Fit the door to the frame and test for free movement, fit the furniture and test again then close the door.
22. Remove the beading from each pane noting from where each beading came and select the glazed or blank panel for the opening. Place the unit into the door then using packers at the lower bottom and side of the unit nearest to the hinged side of the door and the upper and outer corner so as to give an imaginary brace ensuring that the packer at each position are as equal as possible. Do the same for each of any subsequent unit. By doing this it helps the door keep its shape and stops it from sagging over time. No other packing is required on the opposite 2 corners.
Re fit the beads into there correct positions.
23. Finally recheck the doors function and job is done.

rich where abouts in staffs are you? i might have some supply ideas, im in lichfield

best advice?

give it back and run back to your moms as fast as you can before she turns your room into an office or something..

you'll never again have the freedom to do what you want when you want, you've got a huge great mill stone round your kneck now untill you've paid off the mortgage..

Note that Howden's won't let you buy their products unless you have a trade account with them. Magnet trade aren't too bad either.

My experience of anything from B&Q, be it bathroom goods or kitchens or even a kids playhouse is that they are completely incapable of delivering all of the order at one go without parts missing or broken. They are then pretty shoddy - trying to get to speak to the same person twice to rectify the problem is nigh on impossible

Wickes are better in this respect, and their stuff is OK too.

As for the external doors, the only problem with doing it yourself is that if you mis-measure the opening then it's down to you whereas if someone else does it it's down to them

thanx guys for your reply - much appreciated.

Daneski & Pompeyal - yes Howdens, I have a friend who will probably be fitting it and they have a trade account with both Howdens and Magnet so no prob there. I have looked at Wikes kitchens and they do seem quite reasonable tho. Would it work out cheaper to pay their showroom price or the trade price of the others above tho?

Terrence - Im from Stoke mate, not sure if you have contacts this far north but that would be really appreciated.

Coljack - done all the goin out, clubbin and party stuff mate, things have changed I need my own space, ive been a lodger for way way too long now.

thanx again - anythin else while were at it!

sorry rich the firm i was going to recommend are from the tamworth area .we used him on recommendation and it was a very good move.dont any of your neighbours have anybody to phone or is it a bit early to ask stuff like that

hi - no i dont know any of the neighbours as yet, I've had a guy round to measure up for a new kitchen and it seems that its a Howdens that is the supplier thats being recommended above all others so far.

Does that sound about right? As you can tell, Im far from knowledgable on them, what would be the advantage in choosing them at a higher cost other than say Homebase or B&Q?

We've measured that the kitchen will be roughly 12 base units and about 7 wall units in total, excluding sink and cooker ofcourse, how much would a kitchen fitter generally charge and for how long do you reckon, purely as an esitimate it would take to fit?

thanx

i think the price difference would be justified on quality and service. i dont hear horror stories about howdens like you do with the sheds.
our kitchen is of a similar size to yours and it took 3 days, each day a 6-8pm finish for one fitter. dont know for sure about the cost, but in the region of £700.
why not open an account with magnet and try out their kitchens, not the front of house stuff but the guys in the warehouse side and the account is worth having for your regular supplies and specials in the magazine