Kitchen makeover: Day 10

Yay! Job's a good'n!!!

Kitchen makeover: Day 9

...well, unfortunately we didn't quite make it to the pub as - yet again - things took longer than we thought. We started the day with Radka finishing up the paintwork (coving) while  I shaped the final piece of worktop to go on a small cupboard. Luckily, an offcut was just about the right size but both ends needed planing and finishing with the endstrips. The other day we finished the ends by glueing the endstrips into place, waiting for it to dry, then trimming it - which proved to be difficult. Cutting the endstrips to the exact size proved to be easier as it was just a case then of planning the edges very lightly to get the right finish.


With the final worktop in place I then tiled above it and finished some wall tiling around a socket on the other wall. The time consuming job of the day was the grouting. I removed excess spacers as far as possible while Radka did the real work of squeegeeing the grout into the gaps and finishing it neatly. The grouting is one of those fiddly jobs that I have no patience for, but Radka did a great job and it really finishes the look of the floor and also makes it more stable.

Last day today!! Just time to grout the wall tiles and do some finishing touches of woodwork - then it's back to the real world!

Kitchen makeover: Day 8

Yesterday was all about the wall tiling. To start with there was some bare plaster that we're tiling over so we needed to prime the walls. I feel a bit bumped about this as the primer cost almost a tenner - when I read the back of the tile adhesive they actually recommend a  bit of PVA glue and water to do the same job.

The primer took four hours to dry so we used the time to go off to a tiling place and get some 3mm spacers. The bloke in the tiling shop gave us some good advice about marking out from the centre of the wall so that you're not left with too small gaps to cut tiles for at the edges.

We also cut and trimmed the end strips that we'd glued to the wortops the previous day. Another job was to fix the upstands to the worktops using a bead of silicon gel to keep the water from getting underneath. The way we've used the upstands is a bit erm, *different*. As we haven't replaced the cupboards we're stuck with the way they'd arranged the old ones. They'd made them extra deep, which meant that the old worktops didn't overhang the cupboards at all (looked odd and not the easiest to clean!). We decided to have a bit of an overhang, which meant having a gap at the back, so we've laid the upstands flat to cover the gap.

After the upstands were in place it was time to tile over the top. I was slopping the adhesive on and sticky the tiles to the wall while Radka worked out the pattern - amazing how difficult it is to create a random pattern!

I was really impressed with the adhesive. I was expecting it to be quite difficult to get the tiles to stick to the wall but they actually went on very easily (it's the next morning now and they're still all in place!).

We tiled the gap behind the cooker so that hopefully it's easier to clean than the wallpaper that had been there. We've also put a 3 tile high border around the worktops.

So, we're nearly there. Grouting and little jobs like the skirting and painting the coving is left to do (plus I need to cut a 50cm bit of worktop and tile above a stand alone cupboard that we've been using to do all the tile cutting from). Then it's time for a well earned trip to the pub...

Kitchen makeover: Day 7

This is really turning into a battle of wills - it's us against the kitchen! Everything seems to take a lot longer than planned and now our time off is running out. Will we make it in time? Ah, who cares, we've got the worst of it done.

Yesterday started with our daily trip to the DIY stores for some bits and pieces. While we were looking at the wall tile spacers a professional tiler stopped and advised us to use 3mm spacers for our wall tiles (the only size they didn't have!) so we've got another trip to a bigger DIY store today.













Back at home I worked on cutting the upstands and attaching the end finishing strips to finish the worktops while Radka worked on finishing touches to some of the paintwork and grouted under the washing machine and cooker areas. Later I got  pack of waste pipe work and fitted it to the sink (I wasn't really happy with the pipework that was already there. I was a little bit overwhelmed by the amount of bits you get in the pack though. I wonder if it matters that there are a few bits left over?

After we'd got the washing machine and cooker back into place it was tea time. We decided to crack on after tea as we're a bit behind. Radka finished some  grouting while I cut and laid the remainder of the floor tiles. This turned into a bit of a mission and it was midnight before  we finished, but it's done now so hopefully we can take it a bit easier for the next few days!

Kitchen makeover: Day 6

Day 6 was mostly about doing the joints in the worktops. We'd decided to cut them to shape rather than using the joining strips you can get. The old worktops used joining strips and, inevitably bits of food get under the strips. By cutting diagonally into the join and then straight across you can get a proper fit that works with the curved front edge of the surface.

Unfortunately I was using a jigsaw to cut the tops (if I were doing this again I might invest in a router). The jigsaw had a nasty habit of leaning of to one side as the cut was made. Whilst it's easy enough to keep it in line with the line that's marked, underneath the board the blade had flexed so that the cut edge was angled.

This mean a bit of a dodgy hack to cut off the excess of the underside. There were a few hairy moments and some cursing going on but eventually we had three boards that fit each other at right angles to form a U shape.

In terms of actually fitting them together, the worktops are fairly well supported by cupboards so we used mending plates to join them. Before screwing them into place we applied a bead of colorfill to the joined edge. This is a colour matched resin that hardens to produce a pretty seamless gap.

After the worktops were joined, we tiled under where the washing machine and cooker will go and also removed the old cooker hood.

This ugly green monstrosity was well stuck into place as the fixing screws has welded themselves into the wall. In the end I had to literally rip it from the wall (quite good therapy!)...

Today, we're planning to finish the worktops by applying endstrips and then finish the rest of the floor tiling and some other little jobs.

Kitchen makeover: Day 5

The scariest day yet saw us dip a toe into the dark arts of plumbing. The day started by taking out the old worktops. I tried to do this with minimum damage but, unfortunately when I took the old upstands away part of the walls came with them. A bit of polyfilla Deep Gap soon sorted that.

After the first couple of worktops came out I needed to work out how to disconnect the taps to the old sink. This involved turning off both the hot and cold water supplies. First I looked for an isolation valve - sadly there were none so it was a case of turning off the mains for the cold water and draining the tank for the hot. When I started to drain the hot water tank I could hear it refilling again. This meant that it was fed from the cold tank in the loft. Fortunately, there's a tap to turn off the supply *to* the hot water tank to stop it from re-filling.

Once the tank was drained and the mains were off it was quite easy to disconnect the taps and get the last worktop out. At this stage I took out a section of the hot water pipe and installed an isolation valve. This meant that the tap to the hot water tank could be turned back on while we worked.

Next it was time to start cutting the new tops (another scary experience!). The first cut (no it wasn't the deepest!) was the easiest - just a strait cut. After that it was time to put in the worktop with the sink so we could get the new taps connected and turn the water back on. First we cut it to size and cut the join with the other surface, then cut out the insert for the sink. The sink went in with minimum fuss then it was time to reconnect the taps and waste pipes. compression joints with the taps made this really easy - the only problem was that the pipe work didn't quite fit and the joint with the external pipe is a bit poor. For now though everything's water tight.

One weird side effect is that the toilet cistern now overflows. Reading up on the valve that we have - it is prone to getting debris in and that can stop it from turning off the water when the cistern is full. I didn't feel like dealing with this at 23:00  last night so that is the first job for today!

Kitchen makeover: Day 4

First job of the day was to fit the wine rack shelves that we built on Monday. Just a case of screwing some right angled brackets to the cupboard walls - the only difficulty was that it was quite difficult to work under the cupboards.

After that it was time to start on the tiling. The first thing was to set-out where the tiles would be. Everyone I've spoken to and everything I've read on tiling all say the same thing - setting-out is really important!.

We started off by dry laying a line of tiles between the internal door and the kitchen door.

We then did a line of tiles perpendicular to this and adjusted the first line so that none of the cut tiles by the walls and cupboards would be less than 2".

After this it was almost time to start laying. Some of the advice said to cut tiles as you go and some to lay all of the whole tiles then go back to do the cut tiles.

I decided to go with the first option, so before laying the first tile I cut the tiles I'd need for that part of the floor.

The cutting machine is a bit of a scary beast (and makes a hell of a noise) but it does the job and makes it easy to get an accurate cut.

Finally, it was time to lay the first tile. I started at one end of the room so that there was no need to step on freshly laid tiles. I was ultra-careful about getting this one square - as any mistake would be magnified as the other tiles were laid. Slight hitch with the first tile - as I got a bit over excited when levelling it with a rubber mallet and shattered it.

For the rest of the day it was a case of laying a few tiles then stopping to cut a few. The cutting was the time consuming bit and, as is the way of things, it took longer than I'd hoped. It's getting there though!

Today - we're going to switch our attention to the worktops so that we can cut them in the garden while it's not raining (hopefully!).

Kitchen makeover: Day 3

Today was a bit of a washout - both in terms of weather, and what we got done. I started  the day by reading up on floor tiling. The advice was not to lay ceramic tiles on top of vinyl tiles but if you had to to put a coat of PVA on the floor before laying. Although we took up a layer of floor tile yesterday there was another layer underneath. Even with a heat gun these suckers weren't shifting. Also, they look pretty old and the chances are they could contain asbestos - so on the whole, best to leave well enough alone.

So the first trip of the day was to get some PVA glue. I got the biggest pot I could find thinking it would easily be enough. In the end we were scraping the edges of the pot and the lid, but it just about covered the floor. Then we waited for it to dry... and we waited... and waited. It soon became clear that it's going to take a day for the stuff to dry so we've kind of been at a loose end ever since.

Ordinarily, I'd call it a day and go down the pub but the rain has been torrential so even that wasn't an option.

On the plus side we decided to go out and get our new tap and sink. We also got a bit of timber. Radka had a good idea of putting a wine rack in between the cupboard that we moved yesterday so we got some wood to build them and built the shelves (the wine bottle was to make sure we had the size right!). Unfortunately the decorating has taken over the house a bit and it was to wet to do the sawing outside, so we had a makeshift workshop on the upstairs landing, using the ironing board as a sawhorse. Needs must and all that!

So, no tiling done as yet but at least we got some other bits and pieces out of the way.

Kitchen makeover: Day 2

It's beer time on day 2 and we've moved from bomb site to crime scene today as all  the kitchen cupboards are now covered in plastic.

Today was the paint job. We were a bit late starting today and the hour change didn't help but once we got going we did alright.

After a breakfast of crumpets we got back to preparing the walls for painting. The more you look at them the more cracks and dents you find - after a while you just have to call it a day.

While I was waiting for the polyfilla to dry I decided to have a look at a cupboard that we're going to move. This actually went really well so that was a bonus little job done for the day. Another little side job was to have a go at turning the water off at the stopcock. We're putting in a new sink and tap in later in the week so I was a bit concerned that the stop-cock wouldn't work... but it's fine so that's another bonus!

The next job was to mask everything off and cover the cupboards with plastic. This actually took ages. So we didn't start painting until 15:00ish. Although the space is a bit pokey we decided to split the job so Radka did the ceilings and fiddly bits while I covered the bulk of the walls.

Decorating around the cupboards has been tricky and awkward but we've managed to get two coats on. We used Dulux Kitchen paint. This should be resistant to steam (which I think is why the old paint had been flaking off). It's also grease resistant and washable.

Kichen makeover: Day 1

Things often get worse before they get better. Yesterday we turned our kitchen into a building site. When we first viewed our house, the impression that we were left with was of a nice, bright modern kitchen.

However, when we moved in we discovered that (as with the rest of the place) the decorating was either not very well done or hadn't been done for ages.


In the kitchen, there's a lot of paint flaking off and the vinyl floor tiles were worn and ugly. Also they'd used wallpaper around the cooker and sink - not the easiest thing to keep clean!

So, with the wallpaper already stripped Day One was all about preparing the walls for a paint job and getting up those floor tiles.

Luckily, I already had a heat gun so after a quick read of the safety instructions ("this tool should not be used as a hairdryer" - I kid you not!) it was time to crack on. Having a quick try of getting these up without the heatgun proved impossible, but after heating the corner and into the middle of the tile to loosen the glue (and soften the tile a bit) they came up pretty easily.

I found that gloves were essential - as the glue leaves a big sticky mess everywhere. Knee pads were also a bonus as well as having something sharp to get under the corners. After the tiles were up the floor was even stickier than some of the nightclubs I've been in so we needed to put down dustsheets to make it walkable on.


While I was working on this Radka was preparing the walls for painting by chipping away loose paint and sanding down. Then later, as Radka gave me a break from the floor tiles, I applied some fine filler to the edges of flaked off paint. Hopefully this will stop the old paint from rising and creating bobbles when we put wet paint over it. The fine filler I used was Polyfilla One Fill.


So, our kitchen now looks like a bomb has hit it. It's one-pot meals and takeaways for us for the next week while we sort it out. Next job: painting.