I have posted at another forum but this is about DIY and there may be more DIY people in this forum. I am upgrading my kitchen and needsome advice and comments as I try to maintain tight budget ($5000 as a discipline) while coordinating suppliers. Basically, the project is to replace old 32 mm laminex benchtop with new 30 mm caesarstone benchtop, replace old 900 Chef electrical cooktop with new 600 cm ceran cooktop, remove a drawer cabinet and replace with a cabinet with 2 drawers and a single Fisher and Paykel dishdrawer, and replace old top mounted 2 tub sink and drainer with new undermount 1 and 3/4 sink.

So far, I have these elements purchased or in order, largely retaining the layout of the existing kitchen but simplified somewhat (a J instead of a C shape)

1) Olle 60 cm ceran cooktop, already received
2) 30 mm caesarstone benchtop, including installing sink
3) 1 and 3/4 undermount Kleenmaid sink (use existing mixer), already received
4) a single F&P dishdrawer
5) new flatpack dishdrawer cabinet with space for 2 drawers and the single dishdrawer

I will be given 7 days to interrupt the tenants' use of the kitchen.

I plan to split the work during those days:

2 days to remove old laminex benchtop and discard an old section of drawer cabinet

2 days for benchtop suppliers to install new caesarstone benchtop and cut at site to fit ceran cooktop

2 days to connect electrical and plumbing.

1 day contingency to tidy up.

I will try to remove the old 32 mm laminex benchtop with minimal damage to retained cabinet carcass. I will use the circular saw, if necessary to sever just the section of the benchtop with the discarded drawer cabinet. Cutting the old benchtop may be necessary to limit the size I will have to carry out by myself. If there is cutting I will turn on the vac at the same time to limit the amount of dust flying around in the kitchen. I will unscrew all holding brackets and pry benchtop (also use chisel?) with a flat crowbar if there is glue or nailing applied. I will yank the benchtop hard to break any glued spots.

I envisage minimal cost for hot wiring the new 60 cm ceran cooktop to replace the old 80 cm Chef electrical cooktop or to extend a new powerpoint for the dishdrawer as the house has a wooden floor and is elevated on stumps. Reconnecting the plumbing to the new sink should not be difficult. The take-off for the cold water supply to the dishdrawer can come from the existing cold water supply to the sink mixer. The plumbing aesthetics do not matter much as they are under the sink and inside cabinet.

I do not envisage difficulty with assembling the new flatpack cabinet and is prepared to accept the difference in colour and woodgrain finish between the new cabinet and the panels of the existing kitchen cabinets. I have 18V lithium drill and impact to make the job of assembling the flatpak a breeze. Removing a drawer cabinet will expose the wooden flooring which will be covered with a rug for tiling at another time (see below).

Trying to harmonise the finish of the new and old panels will be for a future date. Probably by replacing sections of old doors with new ones. The finish of the old kitchen floor is vinyl covering. It will be upgraded to tiled ceramic flooring at a future date. Also replacing the 900 Chef cooktop with a 600 ceran cooktop will show a mismatch with the existing 900 canopy rangehood, which I am prepared to accept as long as the rangehood is bigger than the cooktop and not the other way around.

Problem: How will the flooring be tiled? Should I just nailed cement sheets over the existing vinyl covering of the kitchen floor, apply glue and new tiles with a small aluminium section to separate the kitchen floor from the family floor.

Have I missed anything significant? Any tricky part that I need to be aware of other than the problems I have raised above? I would be grateful for any input.


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