Juvante Kitchens has put the following information together to help you understand the skills required to install a kitchen and the basic requirements to enable the layout to work.
Before you even begin to look at kitchens it is important to decide how much you have to spend. The budget is one of the first questions we would like to ask, without it we cannot guide you to the appropriate range of cabinet doors, type of worktops, amount of accessories, of appliances.
For you it helps avoid unnecessary disappointment and quality when your Juvante kitchen struggles to get half way through because the budget can’t make it. Think costs, be realistic, e.g quartz counter tops costs more thanartificial stone, ovens can be as low a $ 250 to over a $1,000. There is plenty in between, but quality is generally based on – you get what you pay for, or whether you really want to pay extra for that ‘WOW’ factor!
Fitting a kitchen requires a great deal of expertise, and even the more advanced DIY′er will have difficulty carrying out an installation to the legal standards required, without outside help. There are a wide range of skills involved, and you will need to have knowledge in the following trades; Carpentry, Plumbing and Tiling, but it’s safer and better when all installation is carried out by a competent qualified tradesman.
Often before a new kitchen is undertaken, we have to repair damaged walls after tiles are removed by re-plastering or skimming walls, repair or replace ceilings, level floors, install new gas and plumbing pipework and install new electrical points. In more involved kitchens walls are removed, beams installed, windows altered or re-sized and doorways and hatches blocked or created.
None of this is for the faint hearted and building skills are essential. If you are thinking of a new kitchen, try and think of the bigger picture before making an impulsive buying decision on a DIY venture that you may regret.
We have listed some of the more common problems that can arise. Start by asking yourself the following questions –
- The ceiling is cracked and it is artexed, will i be able to repair it?
- What condition are all the walls in, do i need to plaster?
- The floors are un-level and both timber and concrete, what do i do?
- If i lay a timber or laminated floor, how does that effect appliances?
- Is the lighting adequate, i would like ceiling down lighters?
- How am i going to move that radiator which is in the way?
- I need the extractor ducted out, how am i going to do it?
- Have i got enough electrical sockets and supplies to appliances?
- Do I need to add to, or alter any other services?
- Will changing the door hang give me more access?
- Just how good are my tiling skills?
- What other problems am i liable to get?
To be realistic with your work as well as the Money.
Make sure you have an adequate budget to finish, you will be very disappointed if you are left with a partially completed kitchen with no funds to complete.
If you are having an alteration or addition to your electrical installation, you must check that the earthling and bonding arrangements are up to the required standard. This is because the safety of the new work (however small) will depend on the earthling and bonding installation work.
It is easy to confuse earthing and bonding because of the visual similarities between them. Green-and-yellow colour identification of the protective conductors is used for each. Both are associated with the protection against indirect contact. Bonding is quite distinct from earthling in its purpose, and in many of the requirements that it has to satisfy.
If possible we prefer to take our own measurements and obtain a concept of the kitchen from useable space to direction of light etc to enable us to recommend the best options, but if you prefer to send or bring us in a drawing please observe the following tips, Carefully measure up your kitchen in centimeters or millimeter’s making a precise scaled plan, measure in a clockwise direction, starting from the internal door, noting which direction all the doors open.
Take extra care on checking the following:
- Ensure the kitchen is square, by measuring diagonally if necessary; show any permanent features such as doors and windows including sills,
- Always check dimensions, if in doubt measure it again, remember door and window widths are from the outside edges of the architrave,
- Take the ceiling height at several points particularly at the position of tall and wall units, marking the position on the drawing,
- On a separate sketch carefully mark the location of existing power points, plumbing, gas supply, boilers, air vents, radiators and boilers etc, showing measurements from the end walls and heights from the floor, if gas and/or electrical meters are hidden in a base or wall unit don′t forget to mark it on the drawing,
- Note the space required for your kitchen appliances, if free-standing allow for ventilation and finger gaps on each side for easy removal,
- Finally check as to what the walls and floors are made of, often the heavy quality range cookers are so heavy the floor may need extra bracing to distribute the weight evenly,
There are many safety factors involved in fitting a kitchen: If you choose to install one of our supply only kitchens always check for electrical cables and water pipes, using a pipe and power detector before drilling in to floors or walls. When using power tools always use an RCD protection device, making certain that all power tool leads are in good condition. Always wear safety equipment.