Kitchen fitting

1. Make sure you have all the necessary kitchen remodeling skills

Kitchen fitting isn’t a job for DIY novices. If you really want to fit your whole kitchen yourself, you’ll need a range of DIY sills including plumbing and carpentry.

Part P of the Building Regulations state that any electrical work in a kitchen must be carried out by a registered electrician or notified to local authority building control. For a detailed explanation of the Part P regulations, see electrical registration body NICEIC’s Part P factsheet or visit electrical inspection organisation ELECSA

Find a registered electrician

If you don’t have the necessary DIY skills or qualifications, you’ll need to get a professional tradesperson in to help you with the trickier, potentially dangerous tasks. Find installation providers at IKEA Kitchen Installation Services

You can search for reputable tradespeople in your area, and read reviews of people they have worked for at Rated People

You could also try to get some new DIY skills yourself. Centres like the Building Skills Academy run courses for DIY enthusiasts in everything from kitchen fitting to general DIY. Some courses can even be completed in a weekend.

2. Schedule in your kitchen professionals Book your professionals in advanceso that they're ready when you need them.

Buying your installation service from your kitchen supplier can include Gas Safe engineers and a registered electrician to save you a lot of time in coordinating what’s going to happen and when.

Gas fitting should be carried out by Gas Safe Engineers. Find a Gas Safe registered fitter

For more information on what you can and can't do, visit electrical inspection organisation ELECSA

3. Get rid of your old kitchen

Before you fit your new kitchen, you'll need to remove your old one:

turn off the electricity and water supply
take out the kitchen cabinets, base units, worktops, sink etc

Most of the construction waste from your old kitchen can be disposed of in a skip or taken away by a waste removal service.

Find out more about how to dispose of your old kitchen

4. Clean, plaster and decorate

Once your old kitchen is out, you'll be able to see what state your walls are in. Give everything a good clean, fill in holes, and replaster if necessary.

If you do replaster, you'll need to make sure that your walls have time to dry before you move on to fitting kitchen cupboards etc.

Now is also a good time to give your kitchen a coat of paint.

5. Make sure you've got the right tools

Before you start to put up kitchen units, make sure you've got everything you need. This will include:

spirit level
jigsaw
drill
electrical screwdrivers
pliers
saw
safety equipment, such as goggles

6. Fit your kitchen in the right order

Assemble and fit your kitchen units, starting in a corner and working your way outwards.

See: How to fit kitchen cupboards

Then fit your base units, starting from the same corner. Once this is completed, you can move on to installing your worktop. See how to fit kitchen worktops

Then install the sink, taps and appliances.

See: How to fit a kitchen sink

The final major task is to fit kitchen appliances such as ovens, dishwashers and built-in microwaves. See: How to fit kitchen appliances Again, you can always call in a professional if you don't have the skills to do this.

Then it's time for the finishing touches – handles and plinths – to complete your new kitchen.

See our range of kitchen work tops and wall panels

Make sure you avoid the Top 10 Kitchen Planning mistakes