With this project, we stripped the property back to it’s bare bones. We stripped out everything to include: kitchen; bathroom; boiler; stripping all wall paper; floor boards, electrical system, heating system, windows and doors.
A full re-wire ensured a modern, safe installation. The other advantage being we can install modern quantities as well as USB and CAT requirements.
All the walls were stripped of the old wall paper which revealed some pretty poor quality plaster work. In some cases, the plaster work was “blown” which means a lot of the plaster had to be removed back to the brick. This is not uncommon and I always warn people when stripping wall paper, that the plaster work beneath is often pretty poor.
A lot of the floor boards were rotten so we replaced them with a structural ply wood to prepare for an Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) floor covering. We also added some extra sub floor insulation as there was a large void below the floor.
The kitchens the client chose for us to install was a hand made kitchen from Christchurch Kitchens. The work top was a stone composite materials which they had. Specialist supply and fit. They decided not to have a tiled “splash back” and instead chose an “upstand” matching the work surface. We painted the walls above the upstand with a hard wearing wipeable paint. The Little Green Paper Company, Farrow & Ball and The Paint & Paper Library make some really good plants for this application.
It is worth mentioning that a lot of hand made kitchens now come unpainted. The manufacturers are selling the idea that it allows the customer to choose the colour and paint it themselves. Don’t be fooled! It costs a fortune to paint kitchen cabinets well, and I think it’s a bit of a con to allow them to appear to be selling the kitchen at a lower price. So if you do look at this option, please get a quote for painting before ordering!
Wherever you source your kitchen, you should always get a designer to plan what you want. Most manufacturers have their own in house designers. They really are a god send as they know their products inside out. Pull out larders, under counter wine fridges, hidden bins etc. It can really help you and the builder if they can show you and us what is possible to fit. Often this service is included within the price.
In this instance. The client opted for a boiling tap from Quooker and a waste disposal unit.
Because the whole house was being re-wired, we completely designed a new lighting system. One of my favourites is a 5amp lighting circuit. A three pin socket, much like a standard socket is installed in each wall of the rooms where lamp lighting is required. These sockets are all controlled from a single (dimmable if required) switch allowing you to turn all your lamps on at the same time. We installed a few LED feature lights in the kitchen as well as under unit lights under the wall cupboards. We also fitted LED strip lights inside each storage cupboard in the house, controlled with an automatic sensor so the light comes on when you open the cupboard door.
The new boiler was a “megaflo” system. This is fairly similar to a conventional set up where you have a boiler and hot water storage tank. The main difference is that the old system is gravity fed. Remember those old water tanks in the loft? Well you can say good by to all those! The new cold water is fed directly from the mains and the hot water storage cylinder is pressurised, giving you good pressure throughout the house. When connected to a wireless control system such as Hive or Nest you can programme and fully control your heating and hot water form an app on your phone. I have a similar system myself and it really is very easy to use. You can even control it when you’re away, so if you forget to turn the heating or hot water off, as long as you have internet connectivity, no problem!
When it came to the bathrooms, the client asked for a new ensuite to be created for the master bedroom as well as re-fitting the family bathroom and adding a shower cubicle to the downstairs WC. You would be surprised how little space is required for an ensuite shower room. We installed the shower enclosure, thermostatic valve and screen at one end of the room, the closed couple toilet at the other end, with a wash basin and vanity unit in the middle opposite the door. This created a room about one metre wide by two and a half metres long. As it backed onto the wall next to the bathroom, we were able to connect up water, waste and heating pipes with ease.
The family bathroom was large enough to install a walk in shower with rain shower head and a separate head on a hose for cleaning etc. We installed recessed storage “niches” for shampoo bottles and also on the wall next to a free standing bath. The toilet was an all singing Japanese style loo with heated seat and water jets. Again we had some lovely lighting install in the mirror cabinet as well as recessed LED spot lights on the niches.
The downstairs WC was covered into a wet room, again with walk in glazed shower panel and thermostatic shower valve recessed into the wall.
We half tiled the walls and tiled the floors with electric under floor heating in all three bathrooms. Again, these can be app controlled.
All the doors, architraves and skirting boards were replaced. It os often quicker and therefore cheaper to replace rather than spending weeks rubbing down old wood work before painting. By tossing new, the labour costs are greatly reduced and your new home looks more brand new!
42 Hurst Rd, Molesey,
East Molesey KT8 9AG,
United Kingdom
Phone: +447947040890