Is everything included in your new kitchen? Probably not.

Kitchen Secret #16:
Is everything included in your new kitchen? Probably not.

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Kitchen Discussion Board

Secret 1: Why are there so many 'limited offers'?

Secret 2: Why you shouldn't pay any attention to a 'sale'

Secret 3: The Selling Cycle - The Kitchen Designer plan

Secret 4: What is a Kitchen
'Market Demonstration'?

Secret 5: Should you tell your designer your budget?

Secret 6: How much does a Kitchen Designer earn?

Secret 7: How should you prioritise your needs?

Secret 8: Why do Designers want a sale 'on the night'?

Secret 9: What do the price & quality have in common?

Secret 10: Your own made-to-measure kitchen… or is it???

Secret 11: Why will a Designer decline a request?

Secret 12: How does a Designer sell 'empty space'?

Secret 13: When is a 'corner base unit' not a 'corner base'?

Secret 14: Is there a difference between hiding & integrating?

Secret 15: When is an oven not an oven???

Secret 16: Is everything included in your kitchen price?

Secret 17: How much should you pay for your kitchen?

Secret 18: How can you find the 'bottom price'?

Secret 19: Don't get 'ripped off' by the finance package

Secret 20: How long should your kitchen last for?

Secret 21: What is the best kitchen guarantee available?

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Kitchen companies advertise that everything will be hassle free and they’ll do everything. Although ‘everything’ should mean the same to everyone, a lot of companies manage to interpret it as meaning ‘we do slightly more than a DIY store’

Remember before you even consider inviting a kitchen designer round to your house to make a list of everything you require… from the amount of storage space to the position of the last electricity point.

If a kitchen company won’t do a part of your kitchen fitting then that’s fine – as long as you know before inviting the designer round. A lot of companies also have self-employed fitters. This means that they have a definitive set of responsibilities on behalf of the kitchen company – and the kitchen company has to make this list of responsibilities quite simple in order to ensure that the task is completed.

It’s therefore quite common for such companies to remove themselves from the responsibility of being in charge of ‘peripheral’ tasks in the kitchen fitting process such as tiling and moving existing electrical points that may be in the way.

A kitchen designer commonly has to ‘work around’ some existing electrical fixings such as central heating points and isolation switches. The designer knows that his own company either charges too much to move such items or doesn’t entertain the possibility of moving them at all. This means that in this scenario, the designer will sell the reasoning to the customer to keep the design in the present format. He will probably say that he’s considered other options and give reasons for them not being so effective.

The real reason is that should the customer wish to change the kitchen design, then because this would result in the necessary moving of an existing central heating control. The designer would therefore have less of a chance of being able to hit the customer’s budget and less of a chance of converting the sale.

Another ‘bug bare’ is lighting. If it isn’t mentioned during the presentation, then don’t assume that the wall units will have some form of lighting underneath them –

If you want to fit additional lighting in the kitchen it might be worthwhile to wait until fitters are actually fitting and offer them a little extra cash to fit your lights. Just remember to check that everything’s included before you sign.