How to Fit a Kitchen in Derby: A Fitter's Guide
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If you've searched how to fit a kitchen in Derby, you're probably standing in a half-stripped room wondering whether to pick up a spirit level or pick up the phone. Both are reasonable options. Fitting a kitchen isn't complicated in principle - strip out, first fix, units, worktop, second fix, appliances - but the number of ways it can go sideways once you're several units in, on a Sunday afternoon, with a stopcock that won't fully shut off, would surprise most people. This page walks through the real order of work, the parts that catch people out, and where a call to a professional partway through still saves the job rather than admitting defeat.
Derby Kitchen Fitter has been fitting kitchens across the city for around two decades, so most of what follows comes from actual jobs rather than a general checklist - floors that weren't level, walls that weren't square, worktops cut a fraction short. If you get partway through your own fit and want a second pair of hands, that's exactly what the design, supply and installation team is there for, even if it's just to finish the two or three parts you'd rather not risk yourself.
What Fitting a Kitchen Actually Involves, Start to Finish
- Strip-out - disconnecting and removing the old units, worktop, sink and appliances, plus tiling stripped back to bare wall and floor
- First fix - plumbing and cabling repositioned or added for the new layout, carried out before a single unit goes in
- Carcass fitting - base units levelled and packed to the actual floor, corner units squared off first so the whole run stays true
- Wall units hung at a height checked against worktop level, not just measured up from the floor and eyeballed
- Worktop templating and cutting - taken once the units are fixed in place, never cut straight from the kitchen plan
- Second fix - sink, tap, hob and extractor connected, doors and drawers hung, aligned and adjusted
- Gas connection and commissioning for a hob or range cooker, carried out and certified by a Gas Safe registered engineer
- Making good - plastering, tiling and decorating around the new units so the finish looks intentional rather than patched in
- Waste removal under registered waste carrier rules
- Final sign-off - a walk-through against the original quote with any snagging fixed before the job is called complete
Not Included / Costed Separately
- Structural alterations, such as removing a load-bearing wall - this needs a structural engineer's calculation and building control sign-off, priced and arranged as a separate item
- Extending the gas or electrical supply back to the meter or consumer unit, rather than just wiring within the kitchen circuit
- New flooring outside the kitchen footprint, or replacing rotten floor joists found once the old units come out - this only becomes visible once the room is stripped, so it can't be quoted blind
- The appliances themselves - fitting is priced separately from whatever ovens, hobs or fridges you're buying
- Asbestos-related testing or removal - older Derby properties sometimes have textured ceilings or pipe lagging that needs checking before work continues, and that's costed once it's confirmed, not assumed upfront
How a Kitchen Fit Runs From First Call to Final Walk-Through
- Design visit -- A free visit to measure the room properly, talk through layout options and put together CAD versions so you can see the kitchen before committing to it.
- Written itemised quote -- Every cost broken down - units, worktop, appliances if you want them supplied, and labour by trade - so nothing gets added once work has started.
- Strip-out and first fix -- The old kitchen comes out and plumbing and electrics are moved into position for the new layout before any units arrive on site.
- Carcass and worktop fit -- Units go in, levelled and packed to the floor as it actually is rather than as the plan assumed, then the worktop is templated and cut to fit around them.
- Second fix and trade sign-off -- Sink, taps, hob, extractor and lighting connected and tested by the relevant qualified trade, with plastering and tiling finished around the new units.
- Final walk-through -- A joint inspection against the original quote, any snagging sorted there and then, and the written guarantee handed over.
What It Costs to Fit a Kitchen Yourself Against Getting It Done
Fitting your own kitchen saves you the labour cost, which industry cost guides from Checkatrade and MyBuilder put at roughly £1,700-£3,000 for a typical kitchen in 2026, depending on size and how many trades are needed. Professional fitting on top of that generally runs at around £200-£350 per fitter per day, again varying with the complexity of the layout and how much first fix work is needed before units can even go in. Those figures are useful for budgeting but they're not a quote - what a specific kitchen actually costs depends on the floor plan, the condition of what's behind the existing units, whether gas and electrics need moving, and the finish you've chosen, and none of that can be priced accurately without someone standing in the room. A free design visit is the only way to get a number you can rely on, and it costs nothing to find out.
DIY, a General Builder, or a Full Trade Team - What Actually Changes
| Doing it yourself | General builder or handyman | Full trade team (joiners, plumbers, Part P electricians, Gas Safe engineers) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas hob or range connection | Not legal to do yourself - must be Gas Safe registered | Usually subcontracted out, which adds a second visit and a second invoice | Connected and certified as part of the same job, by the same team |
| Electrical certification | No Part P safety certificate issued | Depends who they bring in - worth asking to see the certificate | Full safety certificate issued for lighting and power as standard |
| If a worktop's cut wrong | You're paying for a replacement slab yourself | Chargeable rework, and you may need to find a new fitter for it | Covered under the labour and installation guarantee |
| Realistic timeframe | 2-3 weekends for an average kitchen, longer if problems turn up | 5-10 working days, but timing depends on subcontractor availability | Typically fitted within days once trades are scheduled in sequence |
| Who you call if something's wrong in year two | Nobody - it's on you to fix or pay for again | Whoever's still trading and picks up the phone | One point of contact, covered under a written guarantee |
Why Derby Homeowners Bring In One Team Rather Than Piece It Together
Derby Kitchen Fitter started from a fairly simple frustration - too many homeowners were being let down by mismatched contractors, a joiner who wasn't free when the plumber needed him gone, a quote that grew every fortnight, a finish that looked fine in September and had swollen doors by January. The fix was to put every trade a kitchen actually needs on one team: joiners with City & Guilds training and a bench-joinery background for the cabinetry, plumbers qualified to NVQ Level 2 and City & Guilds for the connections, Part P registered electricians who issue proper safety certificates for lighting and power, and Gas Safe registered engineers for anything involving a hob or range cooker. Plastering is handled by master plasterers rather than whoever's free that week, which matters more than it sounds - a kitchen that looks finished on install day but wasn't plastered by someone who does it for a living is often the one showing hairline cracks by the following winter. Everything is quoted in writing before work starts, and as a registered waste carrier, the team takes old units and rubble away legally rather than leaving a skip on your drive for a fortnight. If you'd rather fit some of it yourself and only bring someone in for the parts that need a qualified trade - the gas connection, the electrics, a tricky scribe - that's a conversation worth having before you start, not after something's already gone wrong.
Where This Covers - Derby First, Then the Wider Area
The workshop is based on Stenson Rd in Sunny Hill, Derby, and most jobs are still within the city - Victorian terraces around areas like Normanton and Chaddesden with solid floors that are rarely level from one end of a run to the other, and newer builds on the edge of the city with stud walls that need checking before wall units get hung on them. Older Derby properties in particular tend to have at least one corner out of square, which is exactly where scribing an end panel properly - rather than covering a gap with beading - separates a fit that looks right from one that just about passes. Beyond the city, the same team covers Derbyshire towns including Chesterfield, Long Eaton, Belper, Ilkeston, Heanor, Alfreton, Swadlincote, Ripley, Matlock, Dronfield, Duffield, Wirksworth, Bakewell and Buxton, as well as Nottingham and the wider Nottinghamshire area. Travel and access get talked through at the design visit rather than turning up as a surprise on the invoice.
Common Questions About Fitting a Kitchen in Derby
What's the correct order to fit a kitchen - units, worktop, then appliances?
Broadly yes, but it's not quite that simple in practice. Strip-out and first fix - plumbing and electrics moved into position for the new layout - happen before a single unit goes in. Base units go in and get levelled, then wall units, then the worktop gets templated once the units are actually fixed in place, never cut straight from the kitchen plan, because plans and real rooms rarely match to the millimetre. Sink and hob cut-outs are made in the worktop after templating, and appliances go in last, once there's a stable surface and connected services to plug into.
Can I fit a kitchen myself or do I need a professional?
You can fit the carcasses and doors yourself if you're reasonably competent with a spirit level, a jigsaw and a lot of patience - plenty of people do exactly that. Where it stops being a DIY job by law is gas, and in most cases mains electrics: a hob or range cooker has to be connected and certified by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and new circuits should go through someone Part P registered who can issue a safety certificate. Worktop cutting is also worth thinking hard about, since a mis-cut stone or solid-surface top is an expensive mistake to make once.
How do you level base units on an uneven floor?
With adjustable feet or timber packers under each unit, checked with a spirit level both along the run and front-to-back, not just at one point in the middle. Derby's older solid floors are rarely flat across a whole kitchen run, so it's common to pack one end more than the other and then plane or scribe the plinth afterwards so it still sits tight to the floor. Skipping this is the single biggest reason doors go out of alignment a year or two later - the unit was never sitting level to begin with, so it's been fighting gravity from day one.
How do you scribe end panels to fit a wall that isn't square, without gaps showing?
You hold the panel in place, run a compass or scribing block along the wall to transfer its actual line onto the panel, then cut to that scribed line rather than the panel's factory edge. Most Derby properties built before the 1970s have at least one wall out of square by a few millimetres, sometimes more around a chimney breast or bay, and scribing is what stops that showing up as a triangular gap behind the fridge or at the end of a run. It's fiddly with hand tools and easy to take off too much in one pass, which is a more common mistake than not taking off enough.
What's the right way to pack and shim units so doors stay aligned after a few years, not just on install day?
Packers go behind and under the unit at every fixing point, not just the corners, and they're glued or screwed in rather than left loose - a loose packer works its way out over time as the floor settles or the house moves with the seasons, and that's usually when a door that closed flush on day one starts catching. It's also worth packing very slightly proud rather than short, because a unit sitting a hair high can be planed back flush, but one that's short leaves a gap you can't fix without pulling it off the wall again.
How do you fit a worktop neatly around a sink and hob?
The cut-outs are marked from the actual sink and hob templates supplied by the manufacturer, not estimated by eye, then cut with the right blade for the material - laminate, solid wood and solid surface all behave differently under a jigsaw or router. The cut edges get sealed before the sink or hob goes in, because an unsealed edge is where water gets into a chipboard worktop and swells it from the inside out, often before you'd notice anything from the top.
How long does it realistically take to fit a kitchen from start to finish?
With a trade team working through strip-out, first fix, units, worktop and second fix in sequence, a few days is realistic for an average kitchen. DIY, working evenings and weekends around a day job, two to three weekends is a more honest estimate than the one-weekend timelines you sometimes see online - and that's before anything unexpected turns up behind the old units, which it often does.
Can you give an honest view on which parts of fitting a kitchen are genuinely not worth DIYing, rather than just recommending a professional for everything?
Honestly, the units and doors themselves are the most DIY-friendly part - it's mostly patience, a level and following the manufacturer's instructions carefully. Where it stops being worth the risk is anything involving gas, anything needing new circuits, and cutting stone or solid-surface worktop, where one wrong cut means paying for the slab again. Scribing and getting a run properly level are also places where a bit of trade experience saves hours, even though neither strictly needs a qualification to attempt.
If I fit some of it myself and get stuck, will someone come in and finish just the parts I can't do, rather than only taking on whole jobs?
Yes, and it's a reasonable way to work - it comes up more often than you'd think. Being straight about it, it's usually more cost-effective to have specific parts priced in from the start, such as the gas connection, the electrics, or a tricky worktop cut, than to call once something's already gone wrong, because fixing someone else's attempt sometimes takes longer than starting fresh. Either way, a conversation and a look at what's been done so far is the way to work out what actually makes sense for your kitchen.
What's the right way to pack and shim units so doors stay aligned after a few years, not just on install day?
Packers go behind and under the unit at every fixing point, not just the corners, and they're glued or screwed in rather than left loose - a loose packer works its way out over time as the floor settles or the house moves with the seasons, and that's usually when a door that closed flush on day one starts catching. It's also worth packing very slightly proud rather than short, because a unit sitting a hair high can be planed back flush, but one that's short leaves a gap you can't fix without pulling it off the wall again.
How do you fit a worktop neatly around a sink and hob?
The cut-outs are marked from the actual sink and hob templates supplied by the manufacturer, not estimated by eye, then cut with the right blade for the material - laminate, solid wood and solid surface all behave differently under a jigsaw or router. The cut edges get sealed before the sink or hob goes in, because an unsealed edge is where water gets into a chipboard worktop and swells it from the inside out, often before you'd notice anything from the top.
How long does it realistically take to fit a kitchen from start to finish?
With a trade team working through strip-out, first fix, units, worktop and second fix in sequence, a few days is realistic for an average kitchen. DIY, working evenings and weekends around a day job, two to three weekends is a more honest estimate than the one-weekend timelines you sometimes see online - and that's before anything unexpected turns up behind the old units, which it often does.
Can you give an honest view on which parts of fitting a kitchen are genuinely not worth DIYing, rather than just recommending a professional for everything?
Honestly, the units and doors themselves are the most DIY-friendly part - it's mostly patience, a level and following the manufacturer's instructions carefully. Where it stops being worth the risk is anything involving gas, anything needing new circuits, and cutting stone or solid-surface worktop, where one wrong cut means paying for the slab again. Scribing and getting a run properly level are also places where a bit of trade experience saves hours, even though neither strictly needs a qualification to attempt.
If I fit some of it myself and get stuck, will someone come in and finish just the parts I can't do, rather than only taking on whole jobs?
Yes, and it's a reasonable way to work - it comes up more often than you'd think. Being straight about it, it's usually more cost-effective to have specific parts priced in from the start, such as the gas connection, the electrics, or a tricky worktop cut, than to call once something's already gone wrong, because fixing someone else's attempt sometimes takes longer than starting fresh. Either way, a conversation and a look at what's been done so far is the way to work out what actually makes sense for your kitchen.
Get a Straight Quote Before You Pick Up the Jigsaw
Whether you're weighing up doing the whole thing yourself or just want an honest read on which parts to hand over, a design visit costs nothing and gives you a real number to plan around rather than a guess. Old kitchens don't get easier to work around the longer they sit half stripped, and the sooner a plumber's had a look at what's behind those units, the sooner you know what you're actually dealing with. Get in touch to book a visit and talk through what your kitchen needs.
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