Here at JW McDonald Kitchens & Bathrooms the goal for us as a company is deliver kitchen installation & renovations competitive costs in Kent & South London.
We have now relocated to the Chislehurst in Kent BR& from central London enabling us to still cover all of our South London customers and cover the local areas such as Beckenham, BR2, & Langley Park, Hayes, Shortlands & Bromley BR3, areas as well.
We can supply and install Howdens kitchens and Benchmarks kitchens to all of our customers. They both have the free design aspect to them so you will get 3D drawings and detailed installation drawing.
We get asked with every project we take on “How long will the job take? “. I hope this will also give you an outline of how we think when it comes to any bathroom refurbishment and installation project.
I will break down what we do into typical days and how long these elements should take to complete. We hope this will help you understand why some companies will charge more than others and give you an idea of how long a job could take.
This will also give you an idea about the cost of the job because you can figure out the typical day rate you are paying for tradesman who are doing the different jobs to complete the kitchen project.
WEEK (1)
We start all of our jobs by putting down floor protection, this could be something called correx or an off the roll stick down protection or both.
This will normally take most of the morning and will help to stop any damage to the floor when we start to remove the bathroom or shower room.
We know some companies use dustsheets, which create more dust that has been dragged from previous jobs into your property. Most dustsheets are not waterproof and will not cover all of the main traffic areas so damage can occur.
The second part of the day is spent removing the tiles and flooring then turning off the water to the property. This can be done by the main stopcock tap or in the street where each property should have its own water supply. Before removing anything from the bathroom or shower room always check that the water supply is switched off completely then remove the all the fittings except for the radiator or old towel rail and toilet.
We will then also install new isolator valves where necessary to any hot and cold pipework to make sure we are ready for any new pipe connections later on and switch the water back on.
The next step is to remove the floorboards needed to safely drain down and remove the old radiator or towel rail.
This is all loosely based on a combination boiler system or gravity fed boiler and water cylinder central heating system, which are most common.
This is when we start to install all the new pipework in their new locations for new waste connections, towel rail feeds, baths, toilet, vanity unit basin and thermostatic shower valves.
The timescale can vary on these works depending on if the pipework is installed for wall hung bathroom fittings.
If this is wall hung all the pipework will need to be chased into the walls and tested for 24 hours for leaks so time scales will take longer and cost more.
The reason why we stress all new pipework should be left on test for leaks for at least 24 hours is because most leaks accrue as the pressure is continues. I would add that if the toilet is being moved to a new location this will add extra cost and time to the job which not included in this break down.
When the pipework is on test or being tested for leaks this gives use time to start installing the new electrical cable for the lighting and extractor fan that will need to be on a timer.
We would also advise for a dual fuel towel rail to installed for better affiance so a second isolator switch and cable will need to be installed.
If new spot lights, shaver socket and wall hung unit with a light are being installed these will also need to have their own isolator switch cables to be installed.
This in my opinion will take longer to install and some amount of making good or plastering will be needed. (This not included in this time scale)
When you have checked that there are no leaks, we will close up the floor temporarily and back fill all the of the chases in the walls and ceiling and plaster the walls and ceiling to a good finish.
WEEK (2)
We will install the bath using wall brackets and a timber frame made with water resistant timber. When the bath is being installed, we will silicon this to the wall stop any future leaks and give you long-term leak proof bath installation.
If this was a shower room being installed the process would be ruffle the same, we would have to either make up a 130mm high base made with water resistant timber. Install the shower tray that should be siliconed to the walls before any tiling is done, this ensures that there is less risk of any leaks.
The stage is measuring out for tiling so there are minimal cuts and tile waste. We also start setting up any tile trim. This will make sure that your shower screens should line up with any specifically tiled areas.
This is also the day when you check that the concealed shower valve face plat will line up with the chrome leavers that switch on the hot, cold and 2-3-way controls.
We will continue tiling around the bath and vanity unit or basin pedestal areas. We then fix in place all the loose floorboards and install the 9mm WPB ply boards on the floor using 25mm screws, but we make sure to pencil out where all the pipework is below just incase.
We will tile the floor complete using rapid flexible floor adhesive which normally take around 3-4 to set enough for light traffic use just in case you have to finish off any final tile cuts.
We normally start to decorate the ceiling wall with a watered-down emulsion paint with x2 coats to seal the plaster. Then we put on x1 coat of the kitchen and bathroom paint for the ceiling and walls. This will help us to see any filling that could be needed before putting on any final coats of paint. We will also rub down and undercoat the woodwork, which includes the door, door frames and skirting board if any.
We normally rub down any filler and touch up the wood, work, ceiling and walls with kitchen and bathroom paint. In-between drying time this gives us a chance to install the bathroom lights and extractor fan. Then we give the ceiling the final coat of paint.
We normally give the walls and wood work a final coat of paint, grout the walls first and then install the shower screen, thermostatic shower levers, face plate, overhead shower arm & shower head. Then before leaving the job that day we grout the floor so we can walk on it the next day.
WEEK (3)
We will normally install the new toilet and towel rail, then start testing the bath, shower, towel rail toilet, basin, extractor fan, bath panel, door threshold, and lights. We will also spend time regulating the hot and cold settings for the shower. We will also have to take off the original door before tiling then cut it down and reinstall it. The final part of the day is to clean everything and silicon around the bath, vanity unit basin
We will normally ask the client to use the bathroom on this morning the day before, which gives everything the real-life test and get any feed back about the shower temperature, toilet and basin and any other fittings we have installed.
If there are any final changes, we normally ask the client to pencil out where all the fixtures will be installed. This will be the toilet roll holder wall unit and remove all the plastic covers from the fittings and floors.
The NIC certification testing is carried out to ensure that everything installed to regulation standard. This will be carried in conjunction with use checking to make the consumer was up to date before starting the job.
Any rubbish that’s on the job will be removed by having a skip on site or we take it away by van to another job we have that already has a skip we have hired.
We always make sure the job is left clean and tidy and ask the client to check for any snagging on the job. This will be were the client has the opportunity to check over everything that maybe missed in any previous checks before.
We normally give the client another 48 hours to check everything over and we keep the keys to property over that time for convenience.
For a free no obligation estimate email us on jwmcdonaldkb@icloud.com or contact us via the contact us page