Carrying on from our last post in our kitchen fitting guide is now the 2nd stage.  In stage 1  we took out the old kitchen so by now we should be left with an empty room.  I would now think about carrying out all the first fix electrical work.  This will need to be carried out by a professional electrician who is qualified to do so.  If the work is not carried out by an approved qualified electrician then they will be unable to offer a certificate when the works are complete. This then making your household insurance invalid. Also about 90% of house hold fires are caused by electrical faults so its really not worth taking the risk it has to been done properly. 

I always think as kitchen fitter you should be there when the electrician starts work so you can talk the job through with each other. This way you can mark out together where you want the electrical points to be. It is always worth involving the customer or if you our doing it your self your other half. Now have your kitchen plan to hand and mark on the walls vertical lines where the units will be going. It doesn't at this point need to be mm perfect.  Also write on the walls what unit is what for example 500 or D/W (meaning dishwasher.  Also mark the height of the worktops and if there are up stands the height of them.  Now mark the height of the top of the wall units as well. Lastly mark a centre line of where the extractor will be. Now you can see where everything will be situated you can start to set out where the electrical points will be going. This is where you would now leave the electrician to do his work.

Here are Twilight Interiors Ltd we our now excepting credit and debit card payments.  This now gives customers the added protection a credit card offers.  We have set this up with Paypal being they are one of the biggest on-line company's to offer this kind of service.  As Twilight Interiors Ltd grows we are going to be starting a on-line shop so we can pass our great prices on to customers further a field.  Also customers will also have the convenience of being able to log in at home a buy those little extras they want to add to there kitchen.  This being the case Paypal seemed the best option for us.

Unfortunately this type of service is not free and like any company Paypal charge a fee to process a transaction. Rather than build these fees into our prices we offer our customers options.  The fee to pay this way is 3.4% so should you wish to pay by credit card than you just add 3.4% to the final bill. If you decide to just pay the deposit by credit card you just pay 3.4% on the deposit. If you decide to pay by cheque or Bacs transfer then you don't pay a fee at all.   It is also worth bearing in mind that under section 75 of the consumer credit act 1974 that  in order for this clause to be activated you only have to spend £100 or above for you to be covered up to £30,000 please see the link to the office of fair trading to read about this in more detail: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm

If your thinking will I need my own Paypal account to pay this way then the answer is no.  There are however transaction limits Paypal  have so if you do not have a Paypal account then the maximum transaction you can make is £1,900 if you have a verified Paypal account then the maximum transaction limit is £5,500. Don't worry though if your payments are beyond these amounts then we can just put it through in multiple transactions.

For the keen DIY people out there this is our first post on how to fit a kitchen. Each week we will publish a new post on how to fit a kitchen taking you through the process step by step.  This post is where to start which is taking the old one out.

1. The first thing I always do when removing the old kitchen is take down the wall units. First remove all the doors, then remove any light pelmet and cornice there maybe, then unscrew the units from the wall and take them to the skip. I also always bash the units apart and lay them flat in the skip there might look like there is a lot of room in there now but you always fill it.
2. The next thing I then do is take the tiles off the wall a lot of other trades people I know always ask me why do I take the tiles off before I have taken the base units out. Well the answer is easy. This way the tiles fall onto the old worktops once all the tiles are on the worktops I can then open the drawers on the old units sweep them into them take them to the skip, job done. Or if there are no drawers just sweep them straight into the bin. Doing it this way just saves me bending down and keeps the mess off the floor.
3. The next thing to do once all the tiles are off is to remove all the old appliances.  When doing this shut down the electrics cut any wires then remove any appliances. Make sure any loose cables are made safe then turn the electrics back on. When removing a gas hob this should always be done by a gas safety plumber.
4. Now all the appliances are out remove the rest of the base units leaving the one with the sink in till last. Remember once the sink is gone you cant make a cup of tea. Sometimes these units can be a bit awkward to come out if this is the case then just break them up in place making it as easy as possible for you to get them out.
5. Now you should just be left with the sink unit so find the stop tap and turn the water off. You might have to drain the hot water tank so open up both taps and leave them running till it stops. Once the water has stopped cut the pipes under the sink including the waste hope fully then you should be able to remove the sink then the unit.  Now the sink and unit are out the way. Quickly work out where your new sink unit is going to be then extend or cut the all the pipes so they will fall behind the unit.  Once this is done put some stops or isolation valves on the pipes and turn the water back on. If you put isolation valves on the pipes you may not then need to shut the water down again.
6. Now you should be left with a empty room ready and waiting for the next stage which would normally be the electrics and setting the kitchen out we will talk about this in our next kitchen fitting guide blog.

Over the last few years High Gloss kitchen ranges have become increasingly more popular.  With the increase in popularity manufacturers have developed a few different types of construction. Ranging greatly in price the most expensive being solid acrylic to probably the cheapest being sprayed lacquered.  

But what's best?  

This question is what we get asked a lot.  For the consumer who doesn't know the ins and outs of kitchen construction it can be very confusing.  Some might think well if I pay the most I will get the best door. If I pay the least I will get a rubbish door. Well fortunately it doesn't  quite work like that. Of course if you go for an acrylic door and spend the most I am not denying you are going to get the best quality door but the question is do you need it? For example a solid acrylic door is just one piece of material this meaning it is a lot more resilient to knocks, scratches,water ingress etc. A sprayed lacquered door is normally made from a MFC board then sprayed with lacquer to give it the gloss finish. A lacquered door will not stand up to the same level of abuse a acrylic door will. So if you have loads of young kids running around like I have then the lacquered door might not be the best option. Then you might think but I cant afford  top of the range don't worry there are a few different options its all about finding the right solution for you taking into consideration everything this being where it will be used, who will be using, how will it be used and most importantly budget.     

These are the different types of Gloss Doors you can buy:
Solid Acrylic
2mm Acrylic
Vinyl
Spayed Lacquered

Solid Acrylic doors are made of one piece of material this maintaining the same level of colour throughout the door. Normally giving a better depth of colour. They are extremely hard wearing, when scratched as it is solid, the colour is the same behind the surface as there are no other materials so the scratches will not show up as badly. Also because there are no other materials involved there cannot be the issue of de-bonding. The major down put though is the cost extremely expensive. 
2mm Acrylic doors are normally made with a MFC board edged then with a 2mm sheet of acrylic glued to the top. Much like solid acrylic door gives a good depth of colour is hard wearing to scratches and knocks, also are less expensive. The down points are there are different materials involved so they have to be glued together so over time you could get water ingress from steam and spills etc. So not quite as hard wearing as the solid acrylic door but none the less a very good option for a busy house hold.
Vinyl doors are made from a MDF board then a sheet of vinyl is vaccumed pressed and glued to the MDF board with a MFC backing. Vinyl doors are probably the most popular a good middle of the range door. They give a good gloss finish reasonably hard wearing you don't see any glued on edged from the back. The down points are they can bow slightly over time, steam from kettles can be a problem on wall unit doors as the vinyl from the will come un-stuck over time. On the whole a good door at a reasonable price for a well used kitchen.
Sprayed Lacquered are made from a MFC board with a edging glued on, the front of the doors are then sprayed giving a gloss finish. They give a good gloss finish and from the front don't look a lot different from the others but are very cost efficient. The down side is the edges can come unstuck with constant abuse, the colour as painted can fade, they wont stand up to knocks, bangs, scratches and you can sometimes see the edging from the back of the door. On the whole though a good door for the money but probably better for a smaller family.

The choice really is yours my advice would be take into consideration how you will be using your kitchen, what level of abuse it will get and spend the most you can but not unnecessarily.  

One of the questions we get asked a lot when we visit customers what are the best worktops and what are the best ones for me. In this post we look at the pros and cons of laminate worktops and what they have to offer.

The biggest pro for laminate worktops has to be the cost.  Laminate worktops are reasonably in expensive and are the least expensive of all the worktop types.
Secondly they come in a wide range of  colours and textures some even mimic the more expensive worktops such as  Granite or wood. 
Thirdly they are easy to clean and reasonably hygienic some even have built in bacterial protection .
Fourthly they can be cut easily and a keen DIY person could install them with jointing bars.

The cons of laminate worktops are they can wear and look tatty quickly if not looked after properly. It is also not possible to repair laminate worktops.
Secondly if not fitted properly you can get water ingress which can cause the laminate surface to come away from the chipboard base. 
Thirdly when installing them you will always see a joint where the worktops change direction. We would always recommend in a situation where the worktops need to be jointed this is done by a professional. In order to achieve a good joint this is done with routers, jigs and years of experience.

A few things to keep in mind when choosing a laminate worktop are make sure they have a drip seal just under the front edge. This means the water will not run past this point and into your units. Some really cheap ones of bad quality you might see for sale in the big main stream DIY stores don't have these.  Also gloss worktops can look fantastic but show scratches more so than a more textured top. 

There are many factors to take into account when choosing worktops and what is best for you. On the whole laminate is a good choice. The wide range of colours and textures will cater for all tastes and will go with any style kitchen. They also cater for all budgets even those on the tightest but can still give your kitchen and great finished results.

Hello and welcome this is our first post to our new Blog.  If you are returning to this site you will notice it has a new look we have recently updated the site and added the new addition of this Blog.  We will be using the Blog to let you know the latest goings on with Twilight Interiors, we will also be keeping you up to date with what's new in the kitchen industry. The latest gadget's, designs and materials etc. 

For the keen DIY persons who is fitting their own kitchen, undertaking work within the home bookmark this page or save our site to your favourites. We will be offering our advice and letting you know the do's and dont's. We will also be showing you some techniques and showing you the trade secrets when it comes to fitting a kitchen. 

We hope you enjoy the Blog and hope it helps you when buying or fitting a new kitchen.