Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Jul 23, 2012 9:02 pm Ok so we are about to start selecting kitchens but have no idea what is what. I am after a contemporary country style kitchen with a timber breakfast bar. We are on a tight budget so I guess I need to know what the cabinets should be made of, what would be the best bench top for around the stove etc.... Is anyone able to give me some kind of price points and difference in quality of materials used in kitchens so I am not going in blind? Jem's Custom build - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=58630 Re: What should I be asking for? 2Jul 23, 2012 10:00 pm Hi Jem, I am pretty new to kitchen stuff too. What we did was go to Ikea website and put in the measurements of the kitchen(s) we wanted. Gave us a price for the stock cabinets and some different ideas of what we could do with stock cabinets. Lot of work, but fun and interesting. Then call a couple of kitchen buiders/installers. They will usually come out and give you an idea of what you are already thinking of - are you planning on moving taps, walls, doors, windows, anything? If not, it is really easy - get as many quotes as you can, if you are thinking of changing any of the above, it will be thinking and rethinking - and do it all again, get quotes, and if anything like us, get no-where. Until you make your own decisions, or get an architect, interior designer, building planner to do it for you. There are too many variables in building a new kitchen no matter your design. It all depends on how much you want to do yourself, and how big your kitchen is. Put up some pictures of your current kitchen and see what comes up. We have been told it is likely to cost $5-$7 grand for cabinets, but we are organising and doing all the rest ourselves, and another (highly reputable) kitchen company told us most kitchen renos cost about $20,000. You ca obviously go up from there. I suggest you go through the forum and start looking at tradies in your area that can help and contract out as much as you can, but bear in mind that you are then the contractor and you will have to deal with the times when they can not turn up on the day you arranged or complete the jobs in a time frame you want (reonos are never easy or on time). Good luck. Re: What should I be asking for? 3Jul 23, 2012 10:57 pm kitchens are probably the second worst Reno behind the bathroom, the hidden extras are out done only by the endless choices! But can be rewarding in the end! Most of the time the bottom of the range will be a laminate bench, it's a particle board of some kind with a laminate over the top, it does give you a huge range of colour and appearance though! From cheap and common (stone like look or whites) to rare and expensive (lovely hues of purple!) You can get timber look and more, if you get a laminate bench I think there is three end types, I like the one where they roll the laminate over and under the top, to me it seals better! But you can go up to stone and man made stone, these will cost much more usually! As for cupboards, I think it's basically the cheap laminate (although you can end up with fantastic results) or solid timber, usually you have mdf cupboards with timber doors, but you can do the whole thing in timber, timber is more than the mdf! Splash backs, wow glass looks good, but sit down for the price, tiles are by far cheaper usually! Your basic mdf laminate kitchen by a builder is probably in the order of $20,000 depending on appliances, cupboards, joins in bench top etc etc, you can easily goto 10 times that for solid timber and new appliances! Even rangehoods range from $99 to hundreds! 2 Re: What should I be asking for? 4Jul 23, 2012 11:00 pm probably a good idea is goto some kitchen shops and have a look around, get some prices on what you want and then if it's too much talk to the trade people and ask what can we do to bring the price down while maintaining the feel, you may find they are happy to help reduce the kitchen to your budget rather than lose the job totally! 2 Re: What should I be asking for? 5Jul 23, 2012 11:25 pm Firstly, set your budget, and work to that; it's useful, as no point wasting your time, and also the kitchen company's time, if their starting price is beyond your budget. We went to one that said straight out that they start from $25K. And something like Poliform started at $25K for an ex-showroom galley... Secondly, decide on the look you want. Get photos, and get a clear idea of the general look; make the design process easier. Thirdly, think about work-flow; where you want to do your prep and cook, where you are likely to be preparing breakfast, and whether someone cooking will get in the way of someone washing up, or if someone is able to get a drink when someone is cooking/washing up. This will then dictate where things are stored, and where you need drawers/cupboards. Also think of ease of loading and unloading dishwasher. If you can get a very good idea of the look and placement, go directly to a cabinet maker, and by-pass the design guys at the kitchen place; they will often be able to tell you what will work or not, and give advice and ideas. Re: What should I be asking for? 6Jul 23, 2012 11:34 pm Actually Storm, I'd probably redo a bathroom rather than a kitchen. I am a qualified tiler though, and as long as there are no changes to plumbing (and to a lesser degree electrics), it is easier. Kitchens have cabinets, plumbing, doors/drawers, electrics, appliances and paint colours to deal with. I think there are more choices and for most a more important room - and more trades involved. If no changes, a bathroom may only involve a tiler (if you want to do the painting yourself), but a kitchen will likely involve a cabinet maker, tiler and electrictian, as well as the painting if you do not want to move plumbing - even more if you do. Definitely go to kitchen shops, get people out to measure if you can - many places do not charge for this, include people that do charge (not too much; there is Ikea and JAG in Adelaide who chare $100 for this). Find as many as you can, they all have different ideas about what would be useful and look good. Remember you need a kitchen that is functional - plenty of storage and preparation area and easy to cook in. It has to look good as well. I do agree though with the price of laminate vs stone or man made stone for bench tops. Who is it for - you or friends or who you want to sell to? The price difference is huge. You can always get laminates in now and update later (bit of a problem if you get glass splashbacks, but keep plenty of spare tiles if you choose them and may be easier if any chips occur). Unfortunately I will be settling on laminate benches for now - there is no doubt I would prefer granite or oven a manufactured stone, but the price difference is the equivalent to painting another room or carpet in a nother room and ther are choices to make. I hope this is of benefit and if you choose something different to what I or any one else has suggested then good on to you. All the best, Sean. i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 15978 hey there! π so, itβs kinda common for standard drawer depths to be around 500mm since most cabinets use this size to fit the usual runners… 3 20890 I've decided, after a period of confusion (my building broker told me it's probably not worth it to use a lawyer, but others have said it is a must) that I definitely will… 7 27917 |