# Kitchen Refurb



## Shultzy (16 Sep 2012)

I've started work on our new kitchen so I thought its time to post a few pictures. I'm hoping to turn this - 












Into this






But first the specification.

All the carcasses are in 19mm oak faced mdf. The doors/drawers are 19mm Euro Oak in the Shaker style, with the door/drawer panels in 6mm oak faced mdf.

Wall Unit back panel thickness is 6mm and the base unit back panel thickness is 19mm.

All the hardware is Blum BluMotion self closing hinges and drawer runners.

I'm using pocket hole and carcass screws with the backs rebated into the sides.

All finished off with Smith & Rogers Aquacote satin finish.

There are a total of 13 wall units, 15 base units and 1 "wardrobe " type floor to ceiling cupboard

The worktops will be 600mm x 600mm floor tiles.

The cutting list so far is:-
27no. 19mm Oak faced mdf
5no. 6mm Oak faced mdf
3no. 18mm mdf
3no. 12mm mdf
All boards are 8' x 4'
150m of Oak edging
120m of 19mm Oak

So on to the construction.
When tackling a large project like this I think its imperative that it's treated as a production line with plenty of jigs.

Here's the first two, a simple one to drill the shelf holes and the one behind to drill the cruciform screw holes. I say drill but I used the router with a bush and 5mm router drill. The panels were Aquacoted before I drilled the holes.






The next is for drilling the Blum runner screw holes. The blue holes are for three equal drawers and the red holes are for two plus a "cutlery style" drawer. I also made jigs for cutting the holes for the wall hangers.

All the jigs are made to drill both left and right handed panels.






These are the wall cabinet carcasses and shelves. There are two corner cupboards with two carousel style glass shelves






Here are the first seven made and fitted. The colour is a bit darker than it really looks "in the flesh". The eagle-eyed amongst you all will have noticed that the corner cabinet door is devoid of a handle. This is because it's not finished yet and is only there for effect  .











The Aquacote is a superb finish; its water based and only requires 2 hours before re-coating. I put four coats on with a paint pad using 240 Abranet between coats.

The only issues so far have been the amount of space required:-
to store the wood, the garage is full
to paint the carcass panels, only five at a time.
to store the finished units, the dining room is full.

Will post more later.


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## devonwoody (17 Sep 2012)

Looking forward to seeing this kitchen progress which I am sure will be another excellent WIP as previously posted by you.


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## Bright-Spark (17 Sep 2012)

That is already quite a transformation with the removal of the Artex ceiling and the new wall units. The unit style is right up my street, also looking forward to seeing more progress.


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## Mcluma (17 Sep 2012)

Very nice work, and you are right, that is no longer a diy job, but a full production job

very good use of the jigs.

aren't you putting in downlighters?


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## Shultzy (17 Sep 2012)

Chris, we had considered downlighters but swimbo found a pair of modern fluorescent units she liked so that's what we have.


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## RogerM (17 Sep 2012)

I'll be following this one with great interest as it's not unlike one that I am currently planning. 

Have you had experience of how the Aquacote wears inside the units? I was planning on using a light coloured Egger MFC for the interiors and a combination of paint and natural wood finish for the exteriors.

How are the door fronts made? Is this a "cope and stick" job on the router table? Domino? Keep the WIP and piccies coming - this is a great looking project.


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## Shultzy (18 Sep 2012)

Roger, I bought the Aquacote on a recommendation from JasonB, and its a flooring finish so I would expect it to wear well. I made the doors on my combo as it has a spindle moulder, and the joints are t&g.


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## RogerM (18 Sep 2012)

Shultzy":2kwuegfv said:


> Roger, I bought the Aquacote on a recommendation from JasonB, and its a flooring finish so I would expect it to wear well. I made the doors on my combo as it has a spindle moulder, and the joints are t&g.



Thanks. Keep the piccies and WIP coming - they're really useful. I'll nick that drawer slide jig idea if you have no objection - and possibly even if you do


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## gregmcateer (18 Sep 2012)

Shultzy,
Looking great - inspires me into stopping ignoring Mrs M and starting planning ours!

Two questions though - Serious one first - Tiling the worktop - I have heard of it before and only ever seen it done once - the initial neat, fresh look did get tireed quite quickly as the grout started getting discoloured and shabby-looking - How do you avoid this? (or if you hadn't thought of it, from the one I saw, I'd seriously recommend thinking that through before installing)

Second question - Where is the MASSIVE and excellent-looking cake in the 'planned' picture!?!


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## Shultzy (18 Sep 2012)

I will be tiling the worktop with 600mm x 600mm porcelain floor tiles and a very thin epoxy grout line coloured similar to the tiles. It was eaten along time ago, cakes don't hand around in our house  .


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## Shultzy (1 Nov 2012)

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, holidays etc. Here is the latest pic, a bit elongated on the left as I was trying to get all the cabinets in.






There's a section above the fridge that will have shelving which will be easier to hang when the fridge is moved.
I've completed the base unit carcasses and drawers to the right of the cooker and I'm currently making the drawer fronts. The drawer runner hole jig certainly was worth the effort as all the drawers fitted perfectly.

After cutting out the pieces from the 8x4 sheets I've found that its much easier to put the finish on and then cut to size, makes it easier to get the glue off. I've invested in a Makita drill / driver and drill combo and they have certainly made the job of putting the screws in easy.


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## No skills (1 Nov 2012)

The new units are looking good. Like the jig for the draw runners, one for the memory bank I think. Not a fan of tiled worktops myself but I'm sure it will look good.

All the best.


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## Shultzy (24 Feb 2013)

Due to a multitude of reasons I haven't been able to update the progress until now, so here are the latest photos of the kitchen. Please excuse the mess as we are still in a state of chaos.

Base units ready for fitting





Corner and Drawer Base Units















Corner and Drawer Base Units





Corner Base Unit showing slide out shelf










Deep Drawer Base Unit





Corner and Cutlery Drawer Base Units





Drawer with Cutlery tray inserted





I've used cardboard edging and the old work-surfaces as a cover so as not to damage the new units. Construction has been fairly easy apart from lack of space. It means setting and resetting saw and router tables, which is a pain. More to follow.


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## Charlie Woody (24 Feb 2013)

Looks good .... well done.


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## Shultzy (6 Oct 2013)

Sorry for the delay in updating this post, we had problems with the tiling contractor.

Here is the right hand side with only the wall tiles to finish.






This is the finished cooker area.






I've really enjoyed the making of this kitchen and so has my wife, so much so that I'm now refurbing the old kitchen into a computer area which is even more units 

If there is one piece of advice I can give it's to write down every screw, drill and hole size you use as this will be invaluable data when you come back after two weeks away.


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## Alex (7 Oct 2013)

Looks very good Shultzy. Well done matey. =D> 
You must have a very wide kitchen to have a 3' cooker and two 800mm pan drawers either side.
Now you know what your doing surely the office will be a walk in the park. :twisted:


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## Transit80 (24 Oct 2015)

Have only just found this thread as I have only been on this forum for a few months.
Got to say Shultzy that is a fantastic job you have done there =D> . I am a Kitchen fitter by trade and that looks better than a lot of stuff that comes out of our factory . Have you totally finished it now??, I refurbed our kitchen 2 years ago and it s still not finished :roll: .


Chris


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## Shultzy (24 Oct 2015)

Thanks for your comments. Yes its completely finished. I must get around to putting the all the finished photos of the computer room. Its wearing very well and the tiles and joints look the same as when they were laid.


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## Graham Orm (14 Dec 2015)

Only just seen this thread. Lovely job ;-)


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## Parquet Dave (14 Dec 2015)

I'd love to do something similar with our kitchen but just don't have the space. 
Fantastic job well done.


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## Steve1066 (14 Dec 2015)

Looks beautiful, 
Must be very satisfying when you sit down to eat and look at all your hard work.


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## woodpig (15 Dec 2015)

That's quite a transformation, well done!


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## KevB (19 Dec 2015)

Great work mate


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## custard (19 Dec 2015)

Shultzy":pi0ks3gx said:


> The only issues so far have been the amount of space required:-
> to store the wood, the garage is full
> to paint the carcass panels, only five at a time.
> to store the finished units, the dining room is full.




I hear the same thing from furniture makers who decide the only way to be financially viable is to mix fitted kitchens with bespoke furniture. 

Then they realise their 70-100 square metre workshops just aren't big enough for kitchen work. So they move into 150-200 square metre workshops. But now the rent is so much higher that they can't afford to devote any time to bespoke furniture. So without ever really intending it they've exited the furniture business and entered the kitchen business!


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## Shultzy (20 Dec 2015)

I hear what you say Custard, size is everything . I found I couldn't even store all the cut pieces as well as the finished cupboards, which was a pain as resetting machines is very tedious.


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