When good plans go bad....ish

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 7:46 PM

Hi folks I wanted to add this little thread as a warning to all you all. About a year ago I finished my home cinema, you can see the details hear:
My first real attempt at Home Cinema
Anyway recently i thought it might be a good idea to add a small screen and sounds to my kitchen. The kitchen is the same one that came with the house and is very much a country style kitchen, butler sink and all. Not my style I'm afraid but I have not been in a position to replace it due to a huge mortgage etc.

So I mention the idea to the other half, and too my surprise she thinks its a good idea. By the time she had finished her sentence I was out the door down to my local Hi Fi shop to order some new kit before she had time to change her mind. Moments later I had an order in for an Arcam Solo and a pair of Kef in ceiling speakers. I would leave the TV order too later when I had a better idea of what I wanted.
Feeling chuffed with myself I returned home and thats when things started to go wrong.
As I walked in the door Jacqui (SWMBO) called me into the kitchen and hit me with the killer line " Look if you are going to get a new TV then i would like a new kitchen!"
After i picked myself off the floor I tried to get her to explain how a TV equalled a kitchen, but female logic came into play and at that point I new i had lost the augument.
I tried to look on the bright side, maybe I could upgrade to a bigger TV, fat chance.

putbinoot · 21-01-2008, 7:59 PM

Mind get the AV goods before she spends on the kitchen as you no women, she will end up saying there is not enough left after she has wondered round some kitchen shops.

Dr Force · 21-01-2008, 8:25 PM

Nice one streetrod.

I remember your superb thread, awsome set up

you should know by now that women have a tendancy to manipulate without the need, therefore,of constant nagging and persuasion, to eventually get what they want.

I am having an exstension built in Feb for a HC and guess what.............................................. .................................................. ......................................Its fine on the condition that we have a new kitchen

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 8:28 PM

Anyway, we stated to plan for the new kitchen and how we wanted to use it. After a quick think we came to the conclusion that our current dinning room was currently wasted space as we normally eat in the kitchen and only use it when family or friends come round. Also a small consevatory on the side of the kitchen and behind the dinning room which the kiids used could also do with updating. So we decided at that point to knock them all together to make one large kitchen dinner.
You can see where this is going, my initial £1500 budget has taken one hell of a leap.
So Plans were made, builders contacted and work started.

Here is an early photo of the back of the house, just after we started, My HT is in the extension on the left, the builders have taken out the back kitchen window and are stating to take down the conservatory:

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 8:39 PM

Looking down on where the conservatory used to be:

The first of the RSJ's arrive, this thing is over seven meters long and weights well over a tonne. Two more of these were needed as well as some steel pillar and two smaller steels to hold up the house once the internal walls were taken out. Oh and by the way, I do not have access to the back of my house from the street, luckly the guy next door let me use his side entrance and take down the garden fence.

rupees_al · 21-01-2008, 8:48 PM

and at the end of it all when you fancy getting something for the cinema (like a htpc if you aint got one) then there won't be any money left in the budget as YOU spent it on the kitchen, not because you chose it but because it was YOUR idea really... lol... they learn how to do this manipulation at school i'm sure, in those private lessons that the girls had.

and how much is a htpc??? but i need some shoes...

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 8:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Force

.

I am having an exstension built in Feb for a HC and guess what.............................................. .................................................. ......................................Its fine on the condition that we have a new kitchen

Dr Force, welcome to the club.... LOL

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 8:58 PM

Here you can see the new foundations going in, the big square hole is a metre square and a metre deep and we had one at each corner, these will support the new steel pillars that will hold up the back of the house

**inzaman** · 21-01-2008, 8:58 PM

I can see this is going to be another great Streetrod thread, however i think i should change the title to most expensive kitchen TV ever

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 9:11 PM

Now I have to admit, at this point we were a couple of weeks in and I was starting to enjoy myself. I had been sucked it. I have always liked building things and this was like a big jigsaw puzzel. As you can see the kitchen has now left the building. The builders put in a small kitchen to keep us going'

They then started to prepare for the first steels to support the outer wall.

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 9:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inzaman

I can see this is going to be another great Streetrod thread, however i think i should change the title to most expensive kitchen TV ever

Inzaman, you have read my mind, that is exactly the other title I had in mind

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 9:30 PM

Ok, here we can justt about see the external beams of which I have two which are sandwiched together, they are supported by two new brick walls and two steel pillars, you can see those better in the pic looking out of what was the dining room.

And this is the start of the new roof over the old conservatory.

Its at this point that things started to go bad. Like most plans things change. The problem with us was that they just got more expensive. We were originally going to have one smallish Velux in the new roof, but having looked at it for a bit a bad case of upgrade itis set in and the order for two of the largest Velux's with rain sensors and remote control electric operation went in instead.

For some stupid reason I got the idea into my head that if i gave Jacqui all she wanted then I would get all the new kit I wanted... you can see where this is going cant you....
By the way the Arcam has by now arrived along with its new speakers, the new tele has yet to be ordered.

Streetrod · 21-01-2008, 9:50 PM

Here we can see the internal steel work going in. The main support was made up of a picture frame steel structure. A one and a half tonne steel beam was lifted in by hand and placed under the floor level. This was then buried in eight tonnes of cement. The main pillars at each end when then bolted and welded in place. And hear comes the fun part. We had to manually lift the One and Half tonne cross beam onto the pillars as we were not able to get the right sort of jacks on sites. This took over four hours as we had to lift it up inch by inch. Not a job for the week of heart.

This pic shows the connecting beams that will disapear into the ceiling.

And here is Jacqui planning how to spend more of the AV fund

Streetrod · 22-01-2008, 11:02 PM

Anyway, lets jump forward a couple of weeks. The new floor joists are starting to go down in preparation for our new under floor heating, well it seemed like a good idea at the time, and whilst were at it why not redo the floors over the whole of the gound floor, yes why not dear

At this point we were landed with an unexpected bill for £4500 to cover the cost of insulating the floor before the underfloor heating could be put down. I had no idea we needed too

So at that point i decided to take a holiday whilst they installed the new heating.

A week or so later they the first fix electics started to go up and the builders started to board out the room. I also steped in and run the new speaker cables and started to plan the TV install.

Me looking a bit glum as i search my pockets for the money to pay for Jacqui's wish list.

Streetrod · 22-01-2008, 11:24 PM

It was at this point that Jackie hit me with her latest bombshell, and I quote:
"Colin do we really need another TV in this room?"
"Sorry, Yes dear of course we do, all the best style magazines say so"
"But you already have the cinema room and the tele in the lounge, why do we need another"
"Well this is going to be the biggest room in the house and we will spend most of our time here, it logical to put one in and any future buyer would expect one in here as well"

As you can see i was trying to cover the angles here...

"Colin I dont think we need one, you already have the new Hi Fi"
"But you said......."

I will let you guess where it went from there.

My £2000 budget for new sounds and TV for my kitchen had turned into a £50000 at that point refurbishment project now with no TV., And we were only half finished.. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

You can see one of the Kef speakers in the ceiling. We went with a square speaker to match the square downlighters.
A word of warning hear, square downlighters look cool but are a bitch to line up

Streetrod · 22-01-2008, 11:37 PM

Here you can see the new windows just after installation, they are just over six meters wide and cost a cool £7500, and they were not the most expensive quote I had by a long way. But I have to admit the quality is great and the installers were very professional.

The gap you can see was filled latter

Streetrod · 22-01-2008, 11:51 PM

Here you can see the kitchen going in, we spent 3 months visiting god knows how many showrooms around London. Each came back with a similar design based on our spec. But at the end of the day they were all trying to fit their standard boxes into our slightly non standard space. And with the prices they were charging I was not willing to compromise on a best fit solution. So in the end and by chance I found a company that would build me a bespoke kitchen that would exactly meet our needs, and it came in at the same price as the high end German and Italian kitchens

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 12:03 AM

Here you can the the Corien work tops being installed, this was another knightmare waiting to happen as these had to be replaced after we realised they had been made too narrow

The doors are made of a material called Parapan which is very a shiny solid Acylic and are custom made in Germany.

To give you an idea of scale the island is 3.1 meters long by 1.25 meters wide, it looks like a small aircraft carrier has moored up in my kitchen. The work tops are 60mm thick and higher than a normal kitchen as Jacqui and I are both tall.

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 12:22 AM

After the heart ache of not getting my new tele I was lookingg forward to my new floor. I have always loved parquet, but I had real problems trying to get a decent answer out of an installer, some said we could not install a solid block floor over under floor heating and that we would have to use an engineered plank, where as others said we could as long as we prepared the wood correctly. In the end we went for a 20mm thick solid block floor in rustic beech. And I have to say it looks great. Here it is before it was lacquered.

and as the guys were putting on the last of 3 coats

The shine went away after it dried

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 12:39 AM

Here we can see the kitchen nearing completion. A number of issues still need to be sorted out. A new lime stone fireplace has been installed and the five zone lighting system and electric blinds are contolled by a custom made Rako control panel. I need to design and build some custom furniture to install the the Arcam in (its currently sitting on the floor) and am waiting for my new toy to arrive, a grand piano for the far corner. The rest of the furniture is still in the garage.

The splashback by the way will be finished in a lime green glass

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 12:46 AM

Here is a better view of the colour changeing lights.

willo · 23-01-2008, 8:36 AM

That is an absolutely stunning kitchen mate! Love the patio doors as well.

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 9:53 AM

Thanks Willo, I have to admit it does look very high end in the flesh, but then I should hope so considering how much it cost. And as a space it works very well. The sound system is very descrete but again sounds very good, I am still trying to convince the other half that a 42inch plasma would not look out of place as the room is nearly 8 meters square. But thats a battle that could rage on for a while. I will be building a deck outside in the next couple of months that will be level with the kitchen floor and the width of the whole house, come the summer with the doors open it should be really nice.

**inzaman** · 23-01-2008, 11:03 AM

Looks amazing

Quote:

Originally Posted by Streetrod

I am still trying to convince the other half that a 42inch plasma would not look out of place as the room is nearly 8 meters square. But thats a battle that could rage on for a while.

So you didnt get a TV fitted in the end then?

stephen_ · 23-01-2008, 11:13 AM

Wow. Fantastic

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inzaman

Looks amazing

So you didnt get a TV fitted in the end then?

Thats the point Inzaman, what started out as a simple "lets put a TV and small sound system in the kitchen", intial budget £2000, ended up as a major house refurb and no tele. How the hell did I get to this place???? As for the cost, well lets not get into that as it scares me.
My only hope now is that she feels the old CRT in the living room is now out of place and allows me to replace it with flat panel. I may have lost the battle but the war is not finished yet. Rise up brothers and fight the good fight.

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 12:23 PM

And here is the item that started the whole thing, my Arcam Solo and the Kef speakers. At the moemnt the Arcam is on the floor whilst we figure out the design of a new cabinet

As a final word, I know we all love our other halves and most of us would be lost without them, but beware the next imtime he or she agrees to readly to your new purchase, I can gurrentee you it will cost you more than you think

As for me, yes I have a great new kitchen, its not finished yet but should be soon. The problem is that the rest of the house has to be brought up to the same standard which means I have a lot of work ahead. But I will look to you guys for guidance and inspiration. I have added the last couple of pics.

Thanks for reading

The Arcam... it worked out to be the most expensive bit of kit ever

The KEFs

The Custom Rako control panel, its looks after the lights and electric blinds

cjmilner · 23-01-2008, 1:24 PM

Really does look like something you would see in an interior design magazine, give some a call! You need to keep hassling the other half for that TV, a plasma would look fantastic hanging over the fireplace!

elootos · 23-01-2008, 1:24 PM

Fantastic amount of work there and an amazing end result. The things we do for a television...

I'm looking at maybe getting some Velux windows for a gallery landing in my stairwell, I see you said you got the biggest ones, so just how big are they and dare I ask what their price tag is?

Streetrod · 23-01-2008, 1:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjmilner

Really does look like something you would see in an interior design magazine, give some a call! You need to keep hassling the other half for that TV, a plasma would look fantastic hanging over the fireplace!

You are very right, originally I was going to sink into the wall opposite the kitchen by the windows as we had to add false wall for building regs. It would have been ideal for a flush mount set up, ah well on wards and upwards