Guide to Kitchen Renovations

A kitchen renovation can make an amazing difference to the look and feel of your home. It can open up an old-style kitchen into a modern living space and provide the bench space, appliances, cupboards and storage that we all expect from today's kitchens. In doing so a new kitchen enhances your living standards and makes your day to day life so much easier.

They key to a successful kitchen renovation is thorough research and finding the right kitchen renovation company for you.

What is a kitchen renovation company?

A kitchen renovation company is a specialist at building and installing new kitchens and renovated kitchens. Kitchen renovation companies are often registered builders should be able to guide you through the design and planning permit process. A kitchen renovation involves a number of different tradespeople including electricians, plumbers, plasterers, tilers, painters and cabinet makers. That said many kitchen renovators come from a cabinet making background and have developed the experience and expertise to project manage the other tradespeople.

Most often kitchen renovation companies actually build your new kitchen in their factory and come to your home to install the kitchen. To help you determine whether you're speaking to a kitchen renovation company you can ask whether they build the new kitchen in their factory/workshop or onsite at your home.

What does an kitchen renovation company do?

A kitchen renovation can vary from a complete kitchen renovation where effectively a new kitchen is being installed, to minor kitchen renovations where new benches are installed or new cupboards added. Some of the common kitchen renovation job requests include:

• Home extension to create a modern full sized kitchen. This is popular with people who have bought homes built before the 1970's that have very small kitchens.
• Installation of a new kitchen.
• Renovation of an existing kitchen.
• Installation of new kitchen benches.
• Installation of new kitchen cupboards.
• Adjustments made to kitchen cupboards and benches to fit new kitchen appliances.

In undertaking kitchen renovations, kitchen renovation companies need to be skilled in tasks such as:

• Kitchen design.
• Demolition and removal of old kitchen.
• Plastering and waterproofing.
• Plumbing for the installation of taps, sinks, dishwasher, gas appliances, etc.
• Electricial work for the installation of lights, fans, power points, electrical appliances, etc.
• Glaziers for the installation of glass splashbacks.
• Cabinet making for the building and installation of a new kitchen.
• Tiling and painting for the completion of the kitchen.

NOTE: Kitchen renovation companies are often set up for major kitchen renovation projects valued at over $10,000. For minor kitchen renovation projects such as replacement of kitchen benches, new cupboards and minor kitchen facelifts it can often be best to seek to speak with a cabinet maker rather than a kitchen renovation company.

How much does it cost to renovate a kitchen?

Typically a kitchen renovation would cost between $9,000 and $27,500 depending on a number of factors such as:

• Size of the kitchen.
• Specifications of the work that is required.
• Number and type of cupboards.
• Whether appliances are included or not, and the types of appliances you choose.
• The building materials that are used.
• The choice of fittings such as taps, sinks, etc.

An option to reduce the cost of a kitchen renovation is to use tradespeople for the tasks that most require a skilled and licenced tradesperson, such as:

• Cabinet Makers.
• Plumbing installations.
• Electrical installations.

NOTE: Many Do-It-Yourselfers are often surprised by how difficult kitchen renovation projects are to do on your own. Tasks such as installation of cupboards and tiling are often much more complicated than they seem. To save time and distress it can often be best to hire a professional to complete the whole kitchen renovation.

What to consider before starting a kitchen renovation

Before you rush off to speak to a kitchen renovation company and ask for quotes it is very important to have done your research. The variety of kitchen renovation options can be overwhelming including the infinite choices of bench tops, types and shapes of cupboards, different kitchen appliances and a range of kitchen taps and sinks. The more firm you are in what you require from your kitchen renovation, the more likely you will be of getting that kitchen that you've always wanted.

The key to obtaining the most competitive kitchen renovation prices is detailed specifications. When specifying what you require for your kitchen, take into account:

• The size of kitchen. How wide, how long, and how high is the kitchen?
• The kitchen products that you would like installed and their price point. What types of kitchen bench materials (marble, laminex, etc) do you prefer?
• What kitchen appliances you would like. Do you need/prefer electric appliances or gas appliances? Do you prefer stainless steel appliances? Do you wish to have top of the range Asko appliances or cheap kitchen appliances?
• What kitchen fittings (taps, sinks, etc) are you going to use?
• The tiles, glass splashbacks and painting that you would like.

As you can see there can be a wide variety of different combinations and different price points for each option, making the costing of a kitchen renovation vary wildly. Without detailed specifications the costs of kitchen renovations can get out of hand very easily.

How to find a kitchen renovation company

Service Central makes it easy to find a kitchen renovator. Simply list a job request for a kitchen renovation with Service Central and they will find the right local kitchen renovation company for you. Service Central will notify the local kitchen renovation companies, and those that are available and interested in your kitchen renovation project will call you back.

What to ask a kitchen renovation company

A kitchen renovation is a major project and consequently you should provide your clear specification with a number of kitchen renovation companies to obtain comparative quotes.

When speaking to the various kitchen renovation companies, you should consider:

• Whether they have a builders licence.
• What tradespeople they use (i.e. Electricians, plumbers, etc) and how long they have been using them for.
• What suppliers they use, and how long they have been using them for. If they have recently changed, is this because of a good reason or because they didn't pay their bill.
• Pictures they have of other kitchen renovations they have completed.
• Testimonials of their bathroom kitchen customers.
• Whether they are insured to cover an potential personal and property damage.

How to choose a kitchen renovation company

By supplying clear specifications of the exact kitchen renovation that you want and obtaining a number of quotes from kitchen renovators you should be able to compare prices like for like. You should then also take into consideration the quality and professionalism of each kitchen renovation company. If the kitchen renovation company is registered with Service Central then you're able to view their online profile and read ratings and feedback that they have received about their prior kitchen renovation projects. Taking into account both price and quality the decision should become clear as to which kitchen renovation company is right for you.

Other things to consider during a kitchen renovation

During and after your kitchen renovation, you may also wish to consider:

• How you are going to keep your home functioning during the kitchen renovation. How are you going to cook your meals? How are you going to wash your dishes? How are you going to protect your house from dust?
• Paying for the kitchen renovation. Will you require finance? What payments will you make to the kitchen renovator? How can you ensure that the final payment is not made before the project is completed to your satisfaction?
• What permits and certificates are required if you ever needed to sell the home?