Plastering, deliveries and decoration

Plastering was the main focus of week two, and the amount of plastering needed meant this had a knock-on effect of when the installation of the kitchen units could begin. More plaster works were needed than anticipated. Once the ancient backing paper was removed from the walls in the new kitchen it revealed their true condition, which meant another three walls needed to be plastered. The builders attempted to remove the old artex ceiling, but they soon discovered that if they did that it would mean damaging the old lath and plaster. It was important to us to keep the coving that ran around the perimeter of the ceiling in the new kitchen, as it was one of the original features that had attracted us to the house when we bought it. So the builders managed to come up with a solution to save both the old ceiling and coving, whilst also covering up the hideous artex, by over-boarding the centre.

We took out the door that went into the back porch to open up the room but when the builders took the door frame out they discovered there was no lintel – the only thing holding the doorway up was the wooden doorframe itself!

Due to the extra plastering that was needed it meant that our the delivery of our kitchen units had to be delayed until Tuesday of the following week.

By the end of week three though, we could see the beginnings of some real progress and the shape of our new kitchen. All our new appliances arrived, along with a multitude of boxes, and the new units started to be installed. We chose our quartz worktops which will be templated at the end of week four and hopefully installed the following week. We also finalised our paint choices and a whitewash was applied to both rooms to cover up the old paint.

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The last few weeks though have been plagued by wet weather and high winds as three different storms hit the UK in three consecutive weekends. Luckily for us, only a small part of the job is outside – moving the drains over – but this meant that we are waiting for dry weather for out patio to be re-grouted and our outside wall repaired.

Next week the installation of the kitchen units should be finished along with the second fix of electrics. We will then enter into the final phase of he project when the new floors and doors are installed. We are itching to get back and plan where to put everything!

Stripping out, electrics and plumbing

As 2019 rolled into 2020 it suddenly dawned on us that we wouldn’t have long left until our building work started. We needed to get organised. We spent our weekends sorting out, clearing out, chucking out and slowly started packing. We finalised the kitchen design (and in the process spent yet more money). An old bookcase went to the tip, our coffee table went back to its original owners from five years before, Ben utilised Facebook marketplace and sold our kitchen table and chairs and beloved grey sofa. My parents came bearing boxes and we packed, packed and packed. The whole of our downstairs was moved to our front lounge and we packed a suitcase and moved in with Ben’s parents.

The end of the first week has now taken place and what a transformation! In the space of one day the builders had completely stripped both rooms back to their bare bones. Original flooring and walls were revealed – there was no going back now.

By the end of Friday the first fix of electrics were in and plumbing installed. Everything seemed to go quite smoothly, and fingers’ crossed, only a few hiccups. As we were moving the kitchen to a new room it meant we had to move drainage and water pipes as well, something that proved a bit tricky, but luckily our builder had put enough in the budget to allow for it. An old doorway was removed from our old kitchen into the porch to give us more space. Once they’d taken the door frame out they realised that there was no lintel so that was another unexpected item.

Next week sees the arrival of the plasterer. They will also do the first coat of paint. Our American fridge freezer – which I am so excited about, as it is massive (so big I can probably fit in it) and we will give us ice and filtered water on tap – arrives on Thursday and the kitchen will be delivered on Friday, ready for installation the following week.

Our next big decision is choosing what paint colours to have. The kitchen units will be dark grey and there are no windows at that end of the room, so will we need to have a light colour on the walls. On Saturday we took ourselves off to a decorating centre – who knew there were so many different shades of white? But once we have chosen the paint for the kitchen, should we have the same in the office/utility room? Ben is set on having a dark grey feature wall on the wall where his desk will be, so the other walls will need to compliment. We came back from the decorating centre armed with six tester pots to add to the three that we already had tried previously – this was going to be tough decision!

We have already seen how much has been accomplished in a week so we are so excited to see what will happen in the coming weeks!

After over a year of planning (and going through multiple versions of the plan, I might add) the time has finally come for our kitchen transformation to take place. It feels like the last year has been gearing up to this moment.

Three and a half years ago we moved into our four bed semi by the sea. When we bought it, we were slightly naive in thinking that all the house would need was a lick of paint but the new shutters and new deep pile carpet were covering up a multiple of issues. It feels like for the past few years we’ve been on one treadmill of fixing it. We’ve fixed the roof, re-pointed the chimney, fixed damp, decorated, landscaped the garden, fixed damp again, installed new gas pipes for the gas fire, insulated the loft, rewired, decorated again, installed a solid roof to the conservatory, added built-in bookcases in the lounge, decorated again, fixed yet more damp…But, despite all it’s issues and being a virtual money pit we love the house. It’s spacious, has a good-sized garden, is two minutes from the beach and station. We knew anything we did do to it would add value. Redoing the kitchen, though, was always a long-term goal and something we didn’t think we’d do for several years.

Our original plan was to build an extension which would contain one huge open plan space plus a study- the house already had come with planning permission to build an L-shaped extension, so we knew that what we wanted to do would be granted. However, the more I looked in to the more I came to realise how expensive that would be. It would mean remortgaging the house if we were to that, something, that realistically wouldn’t be possible for a long while. So we decided to put it on hold but our conversations always turned back to that dream kitchen.

Then in 2018 I became ill and was pretty much housebound for several weeks trying to fight a cellulitis infection. To fight the boredom I started sketching out plans for the kitchen and worked out that maybe we didn’t need an extension after all – perhaps we had enough space in the existing house to achieve what we wanted. To get me out of the house and ‘cheer me up’ Ben took me to a kitchen showroom and on a whim we booked them to measure up and create a design for us. It was clear we definitely couldn’t make much improvement on the kitchen in the space it was. We were fighting two massive windows and an awkward doorway. That’s when the manager suggested we move the kitchen to the adjacent room and knock the wall down between the two rooms.

Moving the kitchen to the adjacent room (which was open plan to the conservatory) was something we’d thought about before but we’d dismissed it as that would mean moving the drainage supply, which we thought would be costly. The manager did a good sales job on us though and convinced us that this was the only way to go.

On a whim we put a deposit down on a kitchen and booked in fitting for September 2019. However, We obtained a quote through their builder and were shocked at the price. The wall that needed knocking down was a supporting wall so would need an RSJ. It wasn’t the few hundred pounds which the kitchen designer had told us but would be tens of thousands. Therein ensued months of obtaining further building quotes, and visits to an alternative kitchen supplier to try and understand if that was a reasonable price. Another quote came in and it was even more than the original one, possibly even double! I remember crying when I opened that email! Back to the drawing board. Luckily we were able to get our deposit back. The September start date would need to be delayed, which was just as well as we were due to get married six weeks before.

Ben then suggested that maybe we didn’t need to actually knock the wall down – perhaps we could still have our kitchen diner, although not as big. We’d still move the kitchen but then the old kitchen could become a study/snug. This would mean sacrificing the massive kitchen island and breakfast bar that I’d been fantasising about since I was about 12 but it would mean we could do the work in the next couple of years rather than in the next twenty.

With this in mind we asked our kitchen designer to draw up a new plan and ploughed on looking for builders. The new plan would solve all our storage and worktop dilemmas and would still be semi open-plan and I even managed to squeeze in a peninsular which was a compromise to not having an island. Finally we managed to find a builder, through recommendations of friends and it looked like it might be possible! By this point though, we were hurtling towards our wedding and we knew we had to focus on the plans for that, so we made the choice to delay until 2020. A February 2020 start date was secured.