Kitchen Revamp: Help, advice, war stories

karnuffel

karnuffel

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Right so I decided to revamp my kitchen, new cupboards, tops, stove, sink, tiles, etc., but I would like to get some opinions from the forum :)

Ive had quite a few companies out to do some of the measurement and design work but most of them, IMHO, are expensive and want almost 4 weeks just to build them. I am more than willing (and quite keen) to go the DIY route, but then where do I get these cupboards made? A friend suggested timber city, anyone ever gone that route? Would you rather suggest to get someone to do the job?

As for the tops, I am looking at getting one of the lighter granites or an engineered stone product such as Cafe Quartz or Technistone (Caesarstone is hellishly expensive). I am specifically looking at lighter color tops because my kitchen is fairly small. This I can not do DIY. :p The engineered stone comes at a premium, is it worth it? It looks amazing and is apparently extremely durable. The granite, however, is cheaper but needs to be sealed and apparently this needs to be reapplied every few years. Is this true? I am looking at something like a Kashmir-White granite.

What are your kitchen revamping experiences? Any advice?
 
jouda said:
Right so I decided to revamp my kitchen, new cupboards, tops, stove, sink, tiles, etc., but I would like to get some opinions from the forum :)

Ive had quite a few companies out to do some of the measurement and design work but most of them, IMHO, are expensive and want almost 4 weeks just to build them. I am more than willing (and quite keen) to go the DIY route, but then where do I get these cupboards made? A friend suggested timber city, anyone ever gone that route? Would you rather suggest to get someone to do the job?

As for the tops, I am looking at getting one of the lighter granites or an engineered stone product such as Cafe Quartz or Technistone (Caesarstone is hellishly expensive). I am specifically looking at lighter color tops because my kitchen is fairly small. This I can not do DIY. :p The engineered stone comes at a premium, is it worth it? It looks amazing and is apparently extremely durable. The granite, however, is cheaper but needs to be sealed and apparently this needs to be reapplied every few years. Is this true? I am looking at something like a Kashmir-White granite.

What are your kitchen revamping experiences? Any advice?
Click to expand...

You have a budget?


I don't think they will take over your kitchen for 4 weeks.
They would normally build the stuff off site, and then take a day to install it for you.
 
Used a place in Midrand called KTB. Wasn't blown away by the installer they used but the cubpoards are good quality and priced nicely. Went the technistone route and looks good with nano-porcelain tiles.

In terms of durability of the technistone, it wasn't as durable as I thought. I dropped a cup once from a small height and left a small chip in the technistone. I had granite before and replaced it with the technistone and the granite was rock (get it?) solid. I just hated the colour of the granite I had.
 
Pick a budget.

Get designs/plans from a kitchen design company that does not build.

Get quote on above. (Or even DIY it)

Play them up against each other.

Budget is very important I have seen my wife design kitchens for R40k and for R2mill.
 
samr1wp said:
my aunts kitchen cost like 500k ...so you need a budget
Click to expand...

Ouch. Think we spent around 80k on ours....


Just one tip... don't go for solid wood. It looks gorgeous, but in the long run it's a nightmare.
 
Budget Budget Budget...

And get a company to design the kitchen properly following the Golden Triangle rule.
I helped my folks redo their kitchen about 5 years ago, and it was a nightmare for about 3 weeks, but when it was done it was absolutely worth the pain and suffering.

Decent kitchen places now require a blank room that has been tiled, plumbed and prepared completely then they will come in and install the cabinets in one or 2 days...

What we did was rip out the old kitchen, knock out a few walls that needed removing, retiled everything, rhinolited the walls, plumbed, did the electrics and painted completely. Guy came in and did the cupboards over 2 days (it is a 7x5m kithen with a 3mx1.5 island so was a big job. then the next day the granite guys came in and did their thing.. then we just put the appliances in.

My folks ended up spending about R100k in total, and that was with us doing pretty much everything DIY barring the kitchen cupboards and the granite.
 
Builders Warehouse offers prefabricated melamine solutions at very low prices.
 
can anyone recommend any designer type people to do those fancy 3d renderings of my future kitchen?

Probably only do this next year but good to get ideas and concepts. Kitchen is a decent size (about 35 to 40square metres i think)
 
Cool thread, I am planning on revamping the kitchen in my new house, so will keep an eye on this thread.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I am looking at about a 40K budget for the cupboards and tops and sink. then About another 10 for the tiling plumbing etc and another 5 for the stove, hob and extractor. This is for a 4x5 kitchen so its not very big.

I am not very keen on the pre-built stuff at builders, you almost always end up with a few cm gap on the sides.

I am planning to prep the kitchen myself but am considering to tile the walls only after the cupboards have been installed. I will do the tiling and plumbing myself but chasing the plugs is a bit daunting.

Looking at the options for the doors I see there are basically the melamine, wraps and real wood. The melamine is the cheapest and seems to be the least expensive.

One of the guys suggested I get smaller cupboards that does not go to the ceiling and do not put in a filler if I want to save some zars but I dont like the idea.

I have to say that my experience with these guys so far has been horrible! Phoned 9 people, only5 came out, took measurements and only 3 quoted, the rest either failed to pitch, moved the meeting a few times or just promises to send the design and quote but never does.
 
Try it on your own: Alno

naeem said:
can anyone recommend any designer type people to do those fancy 3d renderings of my future kitchen?

Probably only do this next year but good to get ideas and concepts. Kitchen is a decent size (about 35 to 40square metres i think)
Click to expand...

Naeem - give it a try on your own and see what you come up with -> google Alno kitchen planner. (we're starting out in the industry and spotted a few people using this for basic layouts)
 
R40k for tops, sink and cupboards?

You're not going to get custom design, or great quality for that....

A good sink is going to be about R3k (excluding taps).... tops will set you back about R7k... good looking cupboards that fit properly will be R25k - R50k (minimum)...
You will be looking at R10k - R20k for building work... and don't tile your walls, its not worth it in the long run, trust me... plaster and paint.. it looks better.

Avoid plain melamin cupboards, they're manky... and real wood will not be in your budget... a combo of real wood and veneered wood with white melamin cupboard carcasses is going to be your best bet.

Decent(ish) hob and extractor will not be in the R5k range.. but R10k range.
 
jouda said:
Thanks for the replies guys.

I am looking at about a 40K budget for the cupboards and tops and sink. then About another 10 for the tiling plumbing etc and another 5 for the stove, hob and extractor. This is for a 4x5 kitchen so its not very big.

I am not very keen on the pre-built stuff at builders, you almost always end up with a few cm gap on the sides.

I am planning to prep the kitchen myself but am considering to tile the walls only after the cupboards have been installed. I will do the tiling and plumbing myself but chasing the plugs is a bit daunting.

Looking at the options for the doors I see there are basically the melamine, wraps and real wood. The melamine is the cheapest and seems to be the least expensive.

One of the guys suggested I get smaller cupboards that does not go to the ceiling and do not put in a filler if I want to save some zars but I dont like the idea.

I have to say that my experience with these guys so far has been horrible! Phoned 9 people, only5 came out, took measurements and only 3 quoted, the rest either failed to pitch, moved the meeting a few times or just promises to send the design and quote but never does.
Click to expand...

Thumbsuck estimate - you'd be able to manage it with you budget of R40k
The carcass is mostly the same, no matter which final finish you choose (melamine, wrap, veneer, solid).
We do wrap doors and the range available is pretty wide - a lot to choose from and looks a LOT better than Melamine.
Personally, I'd go wrap or veneer depending on whether its a long term home or a flat which I'd outgrow in a few years.

When you decide to DIY you're cutting out the contractors 80-100% markup and labour costs.
Once you've measured up for your carcass - get a list of the visible outer panels which you would need wrapped (doors, side panels which are exposed, skirtings cappings etc). Work this out in square metres of wrapped wood required.
Pricing fluctuates based on location and type of finish - but in Durban you can get your doors/panels wrapped for R270 - R350 ex VAT per square metre (this includes the cost of the wood, the wrap, and any routing pattern you choose). Jo'burg is a bit more pricey at between R330 - R450 / sqm, but shop around.
 
@Goga, Im downloading the planning software as we speak, thanks! I heard that the wraps can damage easily on the corners and edges. Is that true? I take anything a salesman tells me with a pinch of salt.

Im looking at this stove, this hob and this hood for about 7K. Whats the difference between cookerhoods with and without the chimneys? Whats the chimney used for? Does it require a hole in the ceiling? (n00b questions I know)
 
B.O.F.H. said:
Oh, OVEN.... not stove...

dude a stove and a hob are the same thing :)

If you can do it, I would suggest something like this oven : http://www.defy.co.za/product.asp?pageId=1&cateId=10&subcateId=40&prodId=291
Tied to this stove : http://www.defy.co.za/product.asp?pageId=1&cateId=10&subcateId=41&prodId=175
Tied to the same hood (if it "works" with gas stoves)
Click to expand...

Ah bugger, I had to google to find out whats the difference :o stove = the plates oven = thingy where I make bread.... sigh WHAT A DISGRACE!!!!

Thats actually a very nice looking oven! Is it worth going for gas? (other than the obvious Eishkom reasons). How much of a shlep is gas?
 
jouda said:
Ah bugger, I had to google to find out whats the difference :o stove = the plates oven = thingy where I make bread.... sigh WHAT A DISGRACE!!!!

Thats actually a very nice looking oven! Is it worth going for gas? (other than the obvious Eishkom reasons). How much of a shlep is gas?
Click to expand...

Gas is brilliant to cook with...

You get yourself 2 18kg bottles, should last minimum 3 months..... so you have 2 bottles, 1 connected and 1 waiting.. when 1 is empty you connect the full one and get a refill on the other... and just keep rotating every few months.
Yes, it means you can still cook when Eishkom pull their typical BS, but its just a nice method to cook with, you have MUCH more control of the heat...
 
I used Cupboard Innovations in Centurion for the cupboards in our extension, (Time constraints prevented my DIY effort) I had similar problems with getting quotes, but I was happy with the work and price from CI.

Last year I refurbished our own kitchen. The size is 5.9M x 3.4M and the final build has 43 cupboards/drawers. I used thick edged melamine for the doors. I don't like wraps, and we didn't want solid doors.

The total cost including, electrics, plumbing, plastering tiling and manufacture of the cupboards was R31717.34.

I did all the work myself except the cutting of the panels which was done by Ferrairas in Centurion to my sizes.

However I do have all the tools, Radial Arm Saw, Pedastal Drill, Biscuit Jointer, Router etc.

My estimate for having the work done by professionals would be in the range R150K to 200K.

I find "Doing It Myself" extremely rewarding, in satisfaction, money saved, and not having to put up with "Professionals"
 
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