INSTALLER ADVICE

THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

Richard Renouf, Furniture & Floorcoverings Consultant

The customer‘s view of the installer was already at an all-time low but it plummeted further. As did the chances of the installer being allowed back to rectify his work and avoid legal action.

What is a bespoke kitchen or bathroom? The term comes from tailoring where a bespoke suit is ‘tailored or designed to the client’s measurements’ (Chambers Dictionary). You don’t expect a bespoke tailor to find the right suit from his standard range and offer it to you, you want something rather more special.

There are many companies claiming to offer ‘Bespoke Kitchens/Bathrooms/Interiors’. If this means they find the right combination of standard units to fill the space you have available, then in my opinion this is not bespoke at all. ‘Planned to measure’ maybe, but certainly not ‘made to measure’. But in almost every kitchen we installers have to adapt or create something that really could be called ‘bespoke’. It might only be one filler panel cut to the exact size needed to cover the space between the standard units and the wall, or it might be the cutting down or adapting of a unit to house the customer’s existing boiler or to overcome a step in the wall. Some companies and installers won’t entertain the idea. It’s standard units, worktops and filler panels and nothing else. Mustn’t slow the job down, there’s another one waiting. Come across a problem? Quickest fix possible. I went to see a kitchen recently to examine a complaint about poor workmanship. It was a legitimate complaint and the items on the customer’s list were all faults. The kitchen had been installed for about nine months so I asked ‘Have you had your washing machine or boiler serviced since the kitchen went in?’

‘No.’ He said. ‘Why do you ask?’ I flipped down the cover on the control panel. It opened about 7 cm before fouling on the cross rail of the cupboard the installer had adapted. I opened the washing machine door and tugged at the plinth. It was held in place and although I could work out how to remove it, I knew the customer didn’t and I doubted that a washing machine engineer would be willing to try. The customer‘s view of the installer was already at an all-time low but it plummeted further. As did the chances of the installer being allowed back to rectify his work and avoid legal action. The work we do today will show our skills -or otherwise – for as long as the installation lasts and may well be the stuff of legend for a long while after that. Let’s make it for all the right reasons.

www.richard-renouf.com