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Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

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Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby RogerM » 29 Oct 2014, 21:23

About 3 years ago we started building a kitchen extension.

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This was the night before we knocked through from the old kitchen into the extension.

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Breakthrough day.

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Then reseal the gap with a 12mm OSB wall.

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... and put the old units back.

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I’ve done a thread covering various aspects of the build, including
Bifold Doors, Windows and under floor heating.

Time to move on to fitting out the kitchen. This will be a face frame kitchen with shaker style doors, spray painted in buttermilk or similar, but with lacquered oak end panels and island.

I started with 14 large sheets of Egger MFC, which at 65kgs each were a b***** to carry around from the front of the house . First job is to cut them to manageable sizes. I took the legs off my sacrificial cutting table so that I could just lower each sheet down to near floor level, and cut them up with my T55 plunge saw on guide rails.

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Base and wall units have been constructed using carcase screws and 6mm dominoes. Face frames are in steamed beech with a cockbead cut in using a Wealden 6.4mm bead cutter. The housing for face frame joints are cut using a Wealden mortar groove cutter using the router table and a simple jig. I have a supply of engineered floor boards which are ideal for making router table jigs.

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Never having made face frames before I decided that for accuracy I’d use a building board just as I did for the windows and bifold doors. I suspect that is not the way the pros do it, but it works for me. When the MFC was delivered there was a damaged freebie at the base of the pallet which I took off their hands, and although too badly marked to use in the units, it’s ideal for using as a building board, and the melamine surface is easy to mark out in pencil, clean off afterwards, as well as resisting the glue. Here’s a frame for 2 double wall units going together. All joints are dominoed.

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I’ve got the base units in along one wall, and the face frames are ready to fit. Dominoes again I think.

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Here’s the view into the extended kitchen from the old one. I want to get the new area more or less fitted out and the units built for the existing kitchen before I rip out the old one, so progress will be in definite stages.

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The face frames were friction fitted with dominoes around the edges, top and bottom, and they are amazingly secure. Certainly secure enough to accurately fit doors and drawers before taking everything off for painting.

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I'm making the doors on the same jig as I used for the frames - that way any minor errors in getting them square will be duplicated in the doors so they should fit nicely. This is where I find that care taken in making the frames accurately has helped no end as I find that the door of the first cabinet along the wall I'm working on fits every opening so I can now run off 6 identical doors on the same jig. If only it was always this easy!

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I made the hob units as a 900mm pan drawer unit with a 300mm unit alongside which we planned to use for a "pull out". After hunting for a suitable pull out unit "The Boss" has decided that she can't find one she likes but there are plenty of 150mm pull outs she would be happy with. Reluctantly we decided that not only would that provide the storage we want, but also that it would look aesthetically more pleasing if the pan drawers were central with a 150mm unit either side. So a bit of modification was be required.

This is a big project for one guy working alone on a diy basis! The new room is about 20ft x 12ft, plus the existing kitchen which is 12ft x 13 ft. Along the far wall there will be a sink under the window, and to the right of the sink will be a run of tall units holding the oven, a 500mm larder drawer unit, a 750mm fridge freezer and a 600mm larder fridge. And that's before gutting and fitting the existing kitchen off to the right.

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Hopefully this 120 deg panoramic gives some idea of the space I'm working to fill.

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There will be a corner seat and Octagonal table in the far RH corner, and an island where my cutting table is currently sited. The current plan is to get the new area completed, apart from the island, then build the units for the old kitchen area before gutting that, getting it replastered and fitting the new units.

Not completely finished at this stage, but decks were cleared for Xmas 2013. The island is temporary - just our old breakfast bar resting on some old units - and the octagonal table is also temporary, cobbled together from some old worktop in the size that we'll eventually have in that corner. This will at least enable us to see whether it is the right size before making something permanent. The chairs are also temporary as eventually there will be a wrap around bench seat in the corner.

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Still need to make the cornice, lay the floor and fit the kicking boards.

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Still need to make and fit wall units in the old part of the kitchen. There will be a glass fronted dresser unit above the 3 oak units.

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Next job was to make the top for the dresser and the surrounding wall units. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of a 3 year old Miele Dishwasher just to fit an integrated one, so it has remained. If it ever packs up I may fit an integrated one at that point.

Final job is to make an Island to replace the temporary one.

First I made basic MFC carcasses, identical to the other base units. Here they are the right side up.

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Then turn them over and make a base frame.

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the granite top to this will weigh in at 140kgs on its own, so about 200kgs complete, and there would be no way to move it without castors.

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The castors are lockable, and I've also fitted some wind down legs, but have found in practice they are not really needed. It's all rock solid with just the brakes applied. One turned over, face frames and end panels were fitted in exactly the same way as they were for the base units.

So here's where we are in autumn 2014.

The dresser needs some spice drawers fitting in the top section.

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The base is fitted with Blum tandembox drawers to hold our booze!

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The corner has "flymoon" pull out shelves, and the sink has a drawer either side linked by a single drawer front.

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This is looking into the old kitchen from the extension.

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and this is the new kitchen extension.

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We focused on getting the unit internals the way we wanted, and then built units to suit. No more hunting around on hands and knees! The hob is a Siemens 5 ring induction. Absolutely brilliant.

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Here's a le mans corner unit, and there is an internal draw inside the top drawer ...

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... in which SWMBO keeps her spices. It's one of the features she likes best.

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Another pair of drawers with a single front around the 2nd sink, and a Hafele pullout waste system for biodegradables.

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Then there is a range of tall units to house the oven, larder drawers and fridge/freezer.

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The free standing fridge/freezer is 750mm wide, and alongside is an integrated 600mm Siemens fridge, with drawers underneath. Again, the aim was for all the important stuff to be at eye level.

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Finally, the finished island.

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Fitted with Tandembox drawers and a mixer lift. I still need to replace the temporary MFC mixer shelf with a nice oak one. The mixer is plugged into a socket inside the island so can be used without being moved off the shelf.

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Once I've broken the back of the landscaping outside, and in addition to the spice drawers in the dresser, i still need to fit some oak skirting and replace the doors into the hall and utility room. Then the octagonal table which i cobbled together from some scraps of old worktop as a temporary measure needs to be replaced by something "bespoke", and a wrap around corner seat put in to serve it. But - hey - it'll have to wait a bit.

This is the most ambitious project I've ever attempted. The utility room has been refitted in the same style, and overall, there are 41 sets of stainless steel Blum tandembox drawers, 73 door/drawer fronts and 18 oak end panels. This didn't come cheap! Sheet materials came in at £1200, oak and steamed beech at £1100, hinges and drawers at £2950, and white goods at £3800. The biggest ticket item was the Labrador granite at £6500 - but it's beautiful stuff and we don't regret it. then add in 3 sinks and sets of taps, lighting, glue, "fly moon" and "Lemans" corners, over 70 handles, waste systems etc, and the final kitchen fitting bill came close to £18k. But what a joy to work in, and it won't have taken any value off the house.

Anyway - for those that have stayed the course, thanks for reading!
Last edited by RogerM on 03 Apr 2017, 18:21, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby TrimTheKing » 29 Oct 2014, 21:45

Brilliant post and great looking kitchen! Just going to show my Missus now and I guarantee there will be a few ideas I will be nicking for when we get round to doing ours. M

Thanks for sharing

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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Halo Jones » 29 Oct 2014, 23:27

Odin's beard (looking for Norm smilie and cannot find it!). Your kitchen is bigger than our last house! I can see the kitchen really is the focal point of your house and I am sure you and your wife love it. Forgive me for asking, but if 18K is just the internals what do you reckon the overall cost of the extension was? - and, more importantly how much do you reckon you saved doing a substantial part yourself?

And actually - the most important part. In designing and building yourself how much better is the kitchen for working in considering you were not restrained by the standard unit sizes etc and the work-a-day designer at Magnet/Homebase/B&Poo .......

H.
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby kirkpoore1 » 30 Oct 2014, 01:57

I like the double drawers that straddle the sinks. I've never seen anyone do that before . Is there any storage in the center sections in front of the sinks? It might be a good spot for small stuff. And the rotating corner is good too. Excellent results.

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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Andyp » 30 Oct 2014, 08:01

Excellent results but you both have the patience of saints to live and work with all that going on for so long.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Mike G » 30 Oct 2014, 08:33

What is the construction of the extension? It looks as though it may be steel-framed. If so, why?
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Rod » 30 Oct 2014, 09:15

Nice job and must be very satisfying - but three years - our kitchen took 2 weeks
Kirk - those drawers are fairly common over here and they do have space if front of the sink. It's a very practical feature.

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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby tracerman » 30 Oct 2014, 11:17

RogerM - fantastic job .

I cant help feeling though , that its the women who are the real heroes , keeping everything going , cooking , cleaning (?) whilst the mayhem is going on all around them . As a colleague once said , "the great thing about women , is that they put up with all our cr#p " .

Perhaps I'm getting soft .

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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Wizard9999 » 30 Oct 2014, 12:34

Very nice, but yes a long time to be a WIP. The fact that your SWMBO has been willing to live with this as well as your other posts about her shifting huge quantities of stone makes me think that you picked a good 'un!

I have to say out of everything in the post I particularly liked the idea of the mixer lift. Very neat. Was this your idea or had you seen it elsewhere before?

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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby RogerM » 30 Oct 2014, 15:29

Thanks for all the kind comments guys.

Halo Jones wrote:Odin's beard (looking for Norm smilie and cannot find it!). Your kitchen is bigger than our last house! I can see the kitchen really is the focal point of your house and I am sure you and your wife love it. Forgive me for asking, but if 18K is just the internals what do you reckon the overall cost of the extension was? - and, more importantly how much do you reckon you saved doing a substantial part yourself?


Yep - it is a big kitchen! :) The old kitchen was about 3.5m x 3.5m, which although perfectly usable was a bit small for the rest of the house. More importantly it was desperately dark - we needed lights on in the middle of the day - and going in there on a sunny day and pering around in the gloom was always a "heart sink" moment. And you know how whenever people visit, they always congregate in the kitchen. The kitchen is now the hub of the house and an absolute joy to be in, with the biifold doors opened up onto the garden all through the summer, and sun streaming in for all but 2 hours in the mid afternoon.

The shell, inc underfloor heating and 40 sq m of tiling, came to around £38k. That was over budget, but we decided on no compromise when it came to insulation and quality of materials. We could have saved quite a lot by having an off the shelf lintel to support the gable end, but our builder wasn't keen, and between us we felt that it was worth extra to put in custom made steels, especially given that he had to cut out a 16 ft opening in the gable.

Also digging out and disposing of 175 tons of earth doesn't come cheap. Making the 2 sets of bifolds and all the windows saved me in the region of £9,000, and our builder tells me that they are a better fit and smoother in operation than virtually any he's come across. Doing all the insulation saved a packet in labour, and again, with attention to detail, like ensuring a good fit, and sealing any gaps with squirty foam and tape, the room is a cacoon of warmth in the winter.

Overall, I reckon my input on building the shell saved over £20k, and as for fitting out the kitchen, who knows? How much would it have cost to have that lot custom built and fitted? My guess is around £40k minimum, so a saving of at least £20k, and probably more. With the utility room as well, it was like fitting 3 kitchens! It may seem expensive - but the costs come with using high quality fittings. All the cabinets and doors could be made for £2,500, but add in Hettich soft close hinges, stainless steel Blum tandembox drawers, "fly moon corners", granite and Miele white goods and the price rockets. The job could have been done for around £7 or £8k if we had settled for cheap hinges and drawers, basic white goods and laminate worktops - but that is not what we wanted! I wasn't going to invest all that time in making something "cheap".

Halo Jones wrote:And actually - the most important part. In designing and building yourself how much better is the kitchen for working in considering you were not restrained by the standard unit sizes etc and the work-a-day designer at Magnet/Homebase/B&Poo .......

H.


Immeasurably. Everything fits! For us at least, deciding on how we wanted to use the kitchen and what we wanted units to contain before we even thought about carcase design was definitely the way to go. Everything important is at eyelevel, and everything in the base units either swings out, or is based on a drawer and pulls out smoothly so everything is easy to get at. Also we were able to change the detail as we went which would not have been economically practical with contractors.

kirkpoore1 wrote:I like the double drawers that straddle the sinks. I've never seen anyone do that before . Is there any storage in the center sections in front of the sinks? It might be a good spot for small stuff. And the rotating corner is good too. Excellent results.

Kirk


It was an idea I picked up in a kitchen showroom, and easy to put together using standard Blum drawer components. If the sink is set back a long way from the edge then you can fit a shallow tray between the drawers as well, but in this case there isn't room given the sinks we have chosen. The "Fly moon" and "Le Mans" corners are brilliant - they work so smoothly - and also carry a surprising weight with ease. No more ferreting around on hands and knees!

Andyp wrote:Excellent results but you both have the patience of saints to live and work with all that going on for so long.
It wasn't so bad. We both decided that we would not let the project get in the way of other things we wanted to do, like travelling and going out. The old kitchen was left intact until the new extension was ready to move in to, and once that had been done, work was self contained in the old kitchen. Throughout, we were only without a hob for one evening (the day of the break through), and one lunch (the day the granite fitters were in). We were never without the oven or a sink. We are glad it's over though, none the less!

Mike G wrote:What is the construction of the extension? It looks as though it may be steel-framed. If so, why?


Mike - it's a standard cavity block construction with a 60mm celotex cavity liner up to the top of the windows. The roof is supported on a flitch beam above the opening for the 2 sets of bifolds and the windows. From memory, this was a 150mm x 10mm steel plate sandwiched between 2 pieces of 150mm x 50mm timber, and supported by a 100mm x 100mm steel post in each corner. The gable is timber framed, with a 100mm celotex infil. then internally the whole lot is lined with 35mm Thermal Check K plasterboard, which has a closed cell foam backing which adds further insulation and also stops there being a thermal bridge through the timber frame. The floor screed has 100mm of celotex underneath it in which the underfloor heating is embedded.

Rod wrote:Nice job and must be very satisfying - but three years - our kitchen took 2 weeks Rod


Maybe Rod - but I bet you didn't build it from scratch and install all the faceframes and 73 door/drawer fronts in that time! :text-lol:

tracerman wrote:I cant help feeling though , that its the women who are the real heroes , keeping everything going , cooking , cleaning (?) whilst the mayhem is going on all around them . As a colleague once said , "the great thing about women , is that they put up with all our cr#p " .
Perhaps I'm getting soft .

Steve


Agreed Steve. However, all the way through the LOML just said she was just very happy that we were having it done at all, and that me doing the work meant that we would get a kitchen that would have been way beyond us if we got someone in, plus we could amend things as we went along, and there was no one to tell us that something couldn't be done. If we wanted something then we just had to decide how to do it, and not whether it was possible.

Wizard9999 wrote:Very nice, but yes a long time to be a WIP. The fact that your SWMBO has been willing to live with this as well as your other posts about her shifting huge quantities of stone makes me think that you picked a good 'un!.


We're a good team! Together we achieve 3 times what either of us could do alone. 37 years and I still count my blessings.

Wizard9999 wrote:I have to say out of everything in the post I particularly liked the idea of the mixer lift. Very neat. Was this your idea or had you seen it elsewhere before?

Terry.


We saw it in a friends kitchen, It's a standard piece of kit from Hafele. SWMBO likes it as well, but In fact this is one of the few mistakes I made. The instructions say for cabinet widths 350mm - 600mm. Having measured up the Kenwood, I built a 500mm cabinet. What I failed to allow for is the fact that when the unit swings down, the mixer has to fit between the arms, and the only way it can do that is if it is set at a 45 deg angle on its shelf. With the benefit of hindsight I wish i had made a 600mm unit - we had the room - but by the time we discovered the problem I was past the point of being able to change things, all the faceframes and doors were made, and the granite ordered. It's no big deal - but if i were doing it again i'd definitely put it in a 600 mm unit.
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Mike G » 30 Oct 2014, 16:24

RogerM wrote:..........
Mike G wrote:What is the construction of the extension? It looks as though it may be steel-framed. If so, why?


Mike - it's a standard cavity block construction with a 60mm celotex cavity liner up to the top of the windows. The roof is supported on a flitch beam above the opening for the 2 sets of bifolds and the windows. From memory, this was a 150mm x 10mm steel plate sandwiched between 2 pieces of 150mm x 50mm timber, and supported by a 100mm x 100mm steel post in each corner. The gable is timber framed, with a 100mm celotex infil. then internally the whole lot is lined with 35mm Thermal Check K plasterboard, which has a closed cell foam backing which adds further insulation and also stops there being a thermal bridge through the timber frame. The floor screed has 100mm of celotex underneath it in which the underfloor heating is embedded.


Thanks Roger.

The posts I see holding up the roof in one of the early photos is obviously the framing for your bi-fold doors. It's that that fooled me.
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Phil » 30 Oct 2014, 16:39

Roger, a very nice looking kitchen and some great ideas. :eusa-clap:

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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby RogerM » 19 Oct 2016, 23:29

Final job completed this year was to turn this ......

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... into this.

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Full thread here for anyone interested in something non-woody.
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Malc2098 » 20 Oct 2016, 21:19

Gobsmackingly nice!
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby Norty Raskel » 06 Nov 2016, 09:43

Roger,

I followed your original thread on UKW years ago and saved it as a point of reference for my own planned kitchen build. I'm about to order the mortar groove cutter from Wealdon to make my own cock beaded face frame, but I wondered what technique you settled on for mitring the stiles, I would have the thought an angled shooting board would be the best approach.

Thanks

Jon
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Re: Kitchen extension mega build. Photo heavy!

Postby RogerM » 06 Nov 2016, 11:57

Malc2098 wrote:Gobsmackingly nice!
Thanks Malc.

Norty Raskel wrote:Roger,....... I'm about to order the mortar groove cutter from Wealdon to make my own cock beaded face frame, but I wondered what technique you settled on for mitring the stiles, I would have the thought an angled shooting board would be the best approach.

Thanks, Jon


Jon, I used the mortar groove cutter to mitre the stiles and I cut the matching mitre on the rails using the 45 deg setting on my SCMS. However I'm sure a 45 deg shooting board would do just as well.

First I established the size of the mitre on a piece of scrap,by first cutting the cock-bead, and then mitering to suit. The mitre on the rails was cut using the 45 deg setting on my SCMS, and the mitre on the stiles was cut using the mortar groove cutter on the router table.

For the first batch I cut the cockbead first, and then the mitres, but after that I cut the mitres first and the cockbead second as that cleans up any breakout and leaves a much cleaner joint.

I have a supply of engineered floor boards which are ideal for making router table jigs.

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These photos show the mitreing following the cockbead. Trial and error showd that reversing the procedure was better.

HTH.
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