fitting a new kitchen

Fred · 2013-01-28T14:24:59+00:00

Hi,Our kitchen is looking old and tired. I've visited "the sheds" to lookat their displays but it is hard to get a price without the hassle ofbooking an appointment to sit down with one of their designers andafter doing that, they have only reproduced the layout we alreadyhave!Is there anywhere else I can try? With something like this, I think itis best to see one in real life before buying, rather than just mailordering over the internet.The cheaper kitchens seem to be wrapped mdf, whereas the moreexpensive doors are solid wood. Am I right to think that real woodwould be best? I'm thinking that the solid doors are more likely tostand up to knocks and scratches from the children. Some of the mdfdisplay models seemed to have scuffs and bits of the veneer missingwhere customers had hit them with shopping trolleys. I also wonder whether the mdf will swell if steam somehow gets in?OTOH will the varnish on the solid wood be attacked by steam; this iswhat seems to have happened to our existing kitchen. I guess theanswer is to keep kettles away and always use the extractor etc. toprevent steam in the first place.I was told by the designers that there has to be a 300mm space betweenthe hob and any cupboard to reduce the risk of fire. I was told forelectric hobs, this can be reduced to 150mm. I have tried to researchthis using google but I haven't found anything definite anywhere. Cananyone tell me what the regs say and where I can find them? Why is asmaller gap necessary for electric and does it apply to all types:solid plate, ceramic, etc? What about induction hobs?I did wonder about buying an induction hob but I think it would bebetter to buy that separately rather than as past of some package theythrow together. I note that some induction hobs require fan cooling.Why is it that ceramic hobs that get hot do not require fans butinduction hobs that are not supposed to get hot do?Some of the designers said that dishwasher should go next to the sink.I can see that would...

Jan 28, 2013 25 Replies

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David.WE.Roberts 13 years ago

Some are, some less so.

You don't have to take the appliances with the kitchen.

The main problem is identifying the manufacturer.

We provided the sink, hob, fridge/freezer.

Bosch built in microwave from Howdens.

Dish washer, fan oven and washing machine all Lafuma (Howdens own brand). We shall see how they perform.

Cheers

Dave R

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Steve Firth 13 years ago

"David.WE.Roberts" wrote: [snip]

They have the brass balls to call their appliances "The Smoking"? Is that an indication of their likely fate?

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Huge 13 years ago

You got there ahead of me!

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Steve Firth 13 years ago

Sorry, after you.

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Martin Bonner 13 years ago

We had an IKEA one, with most of our heavy saucepans on it. It bent. We replaced it with a Hafele one, which has been fine.

Our wall cupboards are IKEA fronts, with IKEA glass shelves (for bathroom cabinets), and home made carcasses. SWMBO didn't want wall cupboards that are too deep - they are a couple of tins deep, and you can see everything in them.

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meow2222 13 years ago

absolutely. Cleaning is impeded as water at the corners causes the core to = swell

Wood is refinishable

underneath perhaps, not to the side

electronics

nonsense. There are usually much higher design priorities

quite :) Even when you do, there's no advantage in not having it 5' away.

A simple effective option is to put a cabinet or the oven & hob at 45 degre= es in the corner. For the cabinet there's no need to buy a carcass, simply = cut & fit shelves plus a door. No matter what you do you're going to either= have the least accessible space there or lose some storage space.

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