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The fitted kitchen

One essential item in your newly purchased property is a fitted kitchen, but a new kitchen can be a very expensive item,

Sometimes you can minimise the cost, if you�re old kitchen can be upgraded, by replacing the doors and fittings, this can be your cheapest option.

If you require extra units or you want to re organise your kitchen, you could consider purchasing a complete kitchen from the local d.i.y. Sometimes they sell demonstration kitchens off cheaply, but remember to measure carefully to see if it will fit.
When measuring allow for extra units such as washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, fridge, freezer, also make sure there are power points adjacent to where you want the machines to be, also don�t forget plumbing to the washing machine, hot and cold water and a drain nearby.

Always get a skilled tradesman to do the plumbing and electrical, even if you can do the rest yourself .

Another alternative you could call a kitchen company to send in a rep, and he will measure and give a computerised drawing showing all elevations, this part is free but you will have to pay for the kitchen, expect to pay three to seven thousand for the average made to measure kitchen, depending on quality. But make sure you get a reliable company to do the job.

Something else you could consider is using paint to spruce up your old doors and tiles, the tiles need a special undercoat but otherwise the job is quite straightforward and can be very effective, remember the flooring will probably need replacing and will need to be cordinated with the colour scheme.

Refurbishing a Bathroom.

A new bathroom can increase the value of your home.
The easiest option is to get the experts in to design and estimate cost of work they will see to the complete job, including electrics and tiling, but this can be expensive.

DIY. Bathroom.

If you have some DIY. Capability, you could do some of the work yourself, employing a plumber and electrician for some of the technical tasks.

First decide how much you can afford, if you only have a low budget, perhaps purchase a bathroom suite at a bargain price, from your local DIY. Store.
Find a local plumber who will be willing to fit, although finding a plumber may be a problem.
If you want a shower, an electrician will be another essential tradesman in short supply.
If you are going to replace the old suite with identical size, there shouldn�t be any problems. The position of drain and tap’s location, should be in same position, this will be just a matter of removing the old and fitting new. This may alleviate having to employ an expensive plumber.
However care should be taken when making connections as a leak will give aggravation.

Tiling.

If you intend to replace tiles begin by removing old, there is a tool designed for this purpose; try not to damage the surface, small patches of damaged plaster should be repaired with filler before fitting tiles.
Before starting to fix tiles, carefully set out how tiles will look, there should be symmetry around wall edges, tiles will need cutting. Electric cutters are available to make the job easy. The aim should be to get an equal margin around area, with border of equal sized tiles.
Fix a horizontal batten and begin by laying a course of tiles along.
Sometimes walls are not perfectly vertical; if this is the case a batten should be fixed perfectly vertical using this to align tiles.
When tiling around a window, try to centralise tiles on sill and in opening, leaving equal border at each side.
Finish the job by filling in gaps between tiles with grout, forcing it in with plastic scraper, removing excess grout as work progresses. Do not allow grout to set on glaze, as it can be difficult to remove.