Quartz Worktops - Kitchen & Utility Room

It's the final week and update of 2020. Cawdor Stone of Woolmer Green, Knebworth, have been exceptional with advice and fitting service. Here are photographs of the quartz worktops they supplied for the kitchen and utility room. They also fitted a shaped worktop with splash-back in the en-suite, which we'll photograph and post early next year.

The sliding doors to hide the ugly stuff in the utility room are on order, due around the end of January. This is a two-door system: one half will open to reveal the laundry facilities, the other half will provide access to the boiler, water softener and the hot water tank.

The blinds, according to UPS, were 'delivered' but - not to our house! The blinds company are playing detective and, meanwhile, are manufacturing some more for us. These are all made to measure and we expect to see the new consignment before the end of January. Once we're satisfied, we'll order the blinds for the rest of the house.

Finally, now that the worktop and kitchen units are in place, we can order the tambour door kits, also made to measure, which will hide frequently used small appliances that will be kept on the worktops.

That's about it for now. Updates will recommence next month. In the meantime, we wish you a happy, healthy and safe 2021.

Plumbers, Electricians, Carpenters & more...

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A quick check-list of what's been happening in the house over the past month:

• the flooring is down (see above)
• the doors are (mostly) in place
• the wardrobe doors have been fitted
• the bathroom units have been installed
• the skirtings have been delivered and are being installed
• the gas has been connected (finally)
• there are lights in every room
• the kitchen worktops are on order
• the window blinds for the bedrooms and bathrooms have been ordered
• the bathroom and shower wall panelling is being installed

The carpenters had to cut off a corner at the top of one of the wardrobe doors to enable it to fit in the eaves bedroom, therefore we had to source a solid wood door. The same guys have also been hanging the room doors, fitting the skirtings, installing the fitted units in the bathroom and putting up the shower panelling. They were working long hours and needed to be able to see what they were doing so the electrician was called in. 

 

Wardrobe Doors: cut to shape and size by the carpenters

Still to do: install the log burner and fnish off the hearth; order some more window blinds (for the ground floor rooms) and order a set of sliding doors to hide the boiler and hot water tank from the rest of the utility room. The hob, taps and showers need to be installed by the electrican and plumbers, once the worktops and walls are completed. Then we need to thoroughly clean throughout the house and bring in the decorator to give all the walls and ceilings a one (or twice) over. 

We won't be in for Christmas, unfortunately, as the covid situation has cost us about 12 weeks' delay. 

** Wishing you a Happy Christmas ** 
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We'll keep you posted!
P.S. This is a useful blog for crafty DIYers: catalogue of home ideas 

Current Building Project Update (pre-lockdown2)

The new stairs are in! It's so much easier than using a wobbly old ladder. 

Prior to the stairs being installed, the plumbers managed (I don't know how) to take the slipper bath to the first floor - it took them the best part of two hours! They've positioned the bath and basin taps and their next job will be to fit the Quooker and Belfast sink in the kitchen plus the tap and sink in the utility, as these have all been delivered.

Slipper Bath - Image from Supplier's Website

Showers

We are still unable to install the showers, for two reasons. We have the shower units but they can't go on the wall until the shower wall panels have been delivered. One shower tray has been on order for weeks and we have had the date moved back two or three times - they are now saying December. We can't trust this company not to delay it further so we are cancelling the order and choosing a new shower which we hope to have sometime next week.

The other shower tray has been on site for weeks. Unfortunately, when the plumbers began to install this one, the drain in the shower tray made it unuseable, as it was sited on two load-bearing joists. We have ordered a replacement tray but, unfortunately, the supplier does not arrange collections. Trying to send this back is proving costly as it is over 50% of the refundable amount so... would anyone like to buy a shower tray?

Kitchen worktop

We decided to use a local company that we have used before. Cawdor Stone in Knebworth is a family business, situated next to Lessiters (chocolatiers). Making a choice that complemented the white hob and mid-grey units was difficult but Graeme at Cawdor was very helpful (as well as knowledgeable), letting us take a few samples away to try out. It's only a few minutes from their showroom to the site so swapping samples was relatively painless. Their prices were reasonable too. We have booked a date for the templating and installation will be a week later.

Round-up of other items - our tasks

• We are meeting with the 'sparks' this week to finalise the lights and light-switches, a pop-up socket in the island plus any other visible electrical bits and bobs.
  
  
• There are no bathroom units, even though we have the basin and taps. We need to measure up tomorrow before the next lockdown so that we can get them on order. We'll probably use Howdens again.

• The built-in wardrobe frame is in place but we need to buy some doors - one of which has to be cut on a slant because of the sloping ceiling - we're seeking advice from the 'chippies'.

• We need to buy sliding doors to hide the works in the utility room - boiler, water softener, water tank, etc. We started with Magnet trade but have found similar doors for half that price elsewhere - we are currently looking further into this prior to ordering.
  
  
• The company who will be installing the log burner has already installed the granite hearth but we want the edges rounded, which we hope they can do without too much difficulty.
  
  
• We've started to look at aggregates/slabs/whatever for the driveway and patio. These must be porous in accordance with building regs/planning permission and must also enable people with mobility issues to easily access the house from a car (e.g. high piles of loose gravel is not suitable for wheelchair users).

In hand: Flooring is scheduled for the week commencing 17th November. The worktop is to be installed the following week. The internal doors - about 15 of them - will be hung after the flooring is completed.

Still to be addressed: As listed above plus chasing up other orders as supplies are getting tighter plus the company who were supposed to connect the gas didn't turn up, so we're trying to resolve this as urgently as possible.

 

There are probably quite a few more things that will come up on a daily basis. 

Next instalment scheduled for the end of the month!

Delays and a Few Snags :(

In-house Progress

The kitchen and utility units are being fitted by Bill and Daren. This is going very well so far - hooray! The same guys will also be creating a unit to conceal the wc cistern and a built-in wardrobe in a very tricky place - where two roofs come together in an eaves bedroom. 

Today, the kitchen appliances have been delivered: ovens, hob and 'fridge. The sinks and taps are on order - fingers crossed that there is no further delay because:

1. the taps need to be fitted first;
2. then the sinks;
3. then the template for the worktop can be finalised;
4. then the hob can be inserted.

Other good news is that the internal doors and frame kits have been delivered (even though we don't seem to have the handles and locks - only the hinges). The doors are a very nice colour, a sort of grey-oak veneer.

Snags

The Stairs! When the fitters came to install the stairs, they discovered that the main electric consumer unit had been placed on the wall where the under-side of the stairs needed to run. A few days were lost while the unit was moved and then the fitters returned.

Having installed the top half of the stairs and the mid-way platform, they put the lower half of the staircase where it needed to be - only to discover that it protruded too far into a corridor. Measurements had not been taken accurately. The staircase has to be completely re-constucted! Luckily, the company are treating this as a high priority and expect the new one to be ready in 2-3 weeks.

A couple of items seem to be wrong or missing from the kitchen delivery, mainly doors, but they are local so we do not anticipate major delays.

The flooring company are scheduled to lay the boards as soon as the stairs, kitchen/utility units and shower trays (see 'Delays') are in place. 

Delays

Well, it may be a coincidence but the "second wave" of Covid seems to have had a negative effect on supplies. Some ordered items have had their delivery date pushed back and some items that have yet to be ordered are projecting a long lead-time.

For example, several suppliers of wooden plantation shutters are quoting 12 weeks instead of 2-4 as most sustainable wood is imported and in short supply - could this be because climate change (and stupidity, in some cases) caused several forest fires, creating demand for timber? I don't know, just wondering... so, for the time being, we will order some roller blinds for most of the windows.

Other timber-based items are also in short supply, as are other building materials. We've also found that some retail items (probably imports) are becoming scarce, such as taps and shower trays.

Pictures!

The utility room almost looks like this illustration:

The kitchen: the first image below is from the wall where the sink will be, looking towards the dining room. The second image is an illustration of the kitchen units to the left of the patio doors and the drinks station to the right, in the dining area.

More to report soon! Feel free to view our 2020 progress.

Interior Designs

I saw an elephant crashing through an understairs cupboard and I really love it but, sadly, we don't have the room :(  

Meanwhile, we've been designing the kitchen/diner and utility room. After research and meeting with suppliers' designers, we have chosen Howden's. We don't yet know how they will work out but the initial meeting was encouraging. Other similarly priced companies want to install their kitchen units and leave gaps where they don't fit. Howdens, being primarily a joinery company, will ensure that the cupboards fit our kitchen, with infills where necessary.

The designer knew her stuff too - and we shared similar tastes, which always helps when trying to explain what's in your head.

We decided to install a Quooker system so that we can save precious worktop space by not having a kettle. We also want a couple of tambour doors to hide away other small kitchen appliances. Howden's doesn't supply these but we've found a couple of companies on-line who will supply kits to fit the space we have. Not cheap but not too expensive at under £300.

The water supply to the house, like the whole of Hertfordshire, is very hard water which shortens the life of everything, including shower heads, toilet cisterns, etc., therefore we are planning to install a water softener system.

We're looking forward (with everything crossed!) to seeing the kitchen design and hopeful that it will be within budget. 

Link to next post...

Ultra Slim Aluminum Framed Patio Doors have been installed!

The SunSeeker UltraSlim doors are IN! They look fantastic - better than bi-folds - such a shame that they are unlikely to get much use this year as everything else is being delayed. The electricity supplier and internal doors company, having agreed to August dates, want to delay to September and October, respectively.

We prefer the sleek, low maintenance aluminium frames to the comparatively clumsy wooden frames around the windows but we are trying to keep within our budget so compromises are inevitable.

 

The granite hearth has also been installed, ready for the log-burner.

The kitchen will be at least a month or so before installation can start but, to be fair, that's our fault. We have not been particularly happy with kitchen companies that offer fitted kitchens which then turn out not to meet our requirements (despite claims on their websites). We will try another company this week - some include a remote design service, which might speed up the process. We are trying to avoid bespoke as they are likely to take even longer and cost much more. If you know differently, please let us know in the comments, bearing in mind that the property is in Hertfordshire.

We shall also need fitted bathroom units. It would be great if the same company could do the kitchen and bathroom.

More news as it happens... 

Plasterboarding & Gas Works

We have finalised our choice of floors and received the quotaion. We have also confirmed the doors and their openings, including the mid-stairs and under-stairs cupboards and we've chosen the handles and locks. The stairs will be delivered 'unfinished' to be stained and lacquered when in place. 

Internally, the ceilings and walls are now fully covered with appropriate plasterboard.

Much of the work now has to be put on hold for a couple of weeks while the Gas supply is brought from the mains to the property. 

On the one hand, this is annoying because it will delay us moving in but, on the other hand, we'll have more time to choose units for the kitchen and bathrooms. We are having trouble buying off-the-shelf units for the small en-suite and are considering some bespoke work. However, we've spent more than we anticipated on a few things so we need to budget carefully. We knew this would happen, of course, we've been there before - twice.

We usually justify the overspend in our minds by relating the additional cost over the next ten years to the enjoyment of living with the results! If you love where you live, going away for holidays is not quite so important, so that cost can be off-set, too.

I don't suppose there will be much progress to report over the next couple of weeks so look out for the next update around the middle of August.