How a kitchen fit actually runs, stage by stage

1. Survey and setting out

Measurements are checked against the plan, and any out-of-square walls, service positions and floor level changes are identified. Problems found here are cheap; the same problems found on fitting day are not.

2. Strip out and making good

Old units, worktops and appliances out, and the walls and floor assessed. This is when hidden issues appear — old tiling adhesive, uneven plaster, a floor that steps across the room.

3. First fix

Plumbing and electrical positions are set to the new layout. Anything that will be buried in the wall or under the floor has to be right at this point, because it becomes very expensive to change afterwards.

4. Carcasses, levelling and appliances

The base units are built and levelled to a datum line across the whole run — this is the single stage that determines whether the finished kitchen looks straight. Appliance housings are set out at this point too.

5. Worktop template and the wait

Stone and solid-surface tops are templated on the levelled carcasses and then fabricated off site, which introduces a genuine gap in the programme. Laminate tops can usually be cut and fitted on site with no wait. This is the difference people most often do not plan for.

6. Second fix, doors and snagging

Sink and appliance connections, doors and drawers hung and aligned to a line, handles, end panels scribed, kickboards scribed to the floor, and a snagging walk-round. The quality of this stage is what people actually see every day.

Questions we're asked about this