In The art of finding trusted tradespeople (posted 2nd March, 2013) I described three home improvement projects we were looking at:

  • Central heating replacement: This was completed in September 2014. It did indeed reduce our costs and improve our comfort; definitely a winner.
  • Solar panels: Despite having to reclaim a deposit paid to a rogue company, we finally had a successful installation in April 2013. The supplier forecasted a payback time of 7-10 years, which has proved accurate. With tariff payments and free electricity, it’s also proved a winner and is our small contribution to “green energy”.
  • Kitchen extension / replacement: I’d forgotten that we discussed this all those years ago. We obviously decided two projects was enough to be going on with. (And 2013 was also the year we got into the landlord business so we had plenty to occupy us; but that’s another story…)

Here’s what I said at the time about the kitchen idea:

As for the kitchen, it’s small. You go out the back kitchen door, across a passageway and into what we’ve always called the laundry but these days would be called a utility room. The laundry was tacked onto the house and built in single brick. So, like others in the same design of house, we’re looking at a knock-through-insulate-and-make-a-bigger-kitchen project. (I thought of calling it the KTIAMABK project but concluded it didn’t quite scan.)

In 2023 we found ourselves with the time and cash to finally go back to the idea. We’d made the decision not to move house for the foreseeable future, so when my better half found herself having to use our shiny new air fryer in the utility room due to lack of worktop in the kitchen, we agreed that now was the time. I’d also had 10 years to think of a snappier project name so shall henceforth refer to it as KERP: The Kitchen Extension & Replacement Project.

The KERP story so far

In August 2023 we started looking for architects and appointed one in the second half of September. It then took three months to get preliminary drawings, building regulations drawings and structural calculations. (Since we’re removing walls we’ll need steel beams and everything will have to be inspected by our local Building Control department.)

At the time of writing (early January 2024) we’ve had a builder’s quote and are waiting to clarify some questions about that. It’s a two-phase project in that we can’t put in a new kitchen until all the building work’s been done – but we’ll also want to be working on the kitchen design beforehand so it can be installed as soon as the new space is ready.

As for how long it’ll all take – the estimate was three weeks for the building (so I assume four) and one week to install the kitchen (so I assume two), making up to six weeks in all – so I’m assuming two months. And that’s once our chosen builder is actually able to start. My guess is a finish no earlier than June 2024.

So – ten years and one air fryer on, KERP is go! Watch this space…

P.S. In case you’re wondering if we got bored of waiting for builders and started wielding a sledgehammer ourselves, the photo in this post isn’t our house 🙂