Kitchen renovations in Dénia, Jávea and surroundings

How we renovate a kitchen

The kitchen is the room with the most services per square metre. That is why here the process starts with the units and works backwards.

Layout first. Before we strip anything out we fix where the sink, hob, oven, fridge and dishwasher will go. That layout gives us the exact position of every water supply, every drain and every socket. Changing them later, with the tiles on, is expensive and it shows.

Demolition and building work. We take out the old kitchen, strip the tiles and floor and, if the kitchen is being opened up to the living room, take down the wall and finish the reveals and ceiling. We true up the walls: a wall unit hung on a crooked wall is spotted straight away.

Services. Chasing or trunking for the new circuits: induction hob, oven, dishwasher, extractor, worktop sockets and under-cabinet lighting. Multilayer plumbing for the sink and dishwasher, drainage with a fall and an accessible trap. If there is an island, we run the electrics and water through the floor before laying it.

Tiling and flooring. Splashback between the worktop and wall units, and a level floor, often continuous with the living room so the open-plan kitchen reads as a single space.

Fitting. We level the base units on their legs, hang the wall units on a rail, adjust doors and drawers. The worktop is templated once the units are in place, not before. In Calpe we fitted a bespoke kitchen with a central island, black worktop and ceiling extractor as part of a full renovation: lining it up with the living room and levelling the island were the fine work.

Connections and handover. Sink, tap, hob, oven, extractor, dishwasher. We switch everything on, check for leaks and walk you through each appliance.

Materials and solutions we recommend

• Island or peninsula only if there is a clear 90–100 cm walkway on each side; if not, a breakfast bar in the opening of the old wall works better.
• Ceiling or integrated extractor in open-plan kitchens, so the view to the living room is not blocked.
• Sockets in the island and along the splashback at worktop height, with a spare socket for small appliances.
• Continuous porcelain flooring between kitchen and living room; laminate is fine in the living room but suffers near the sink.
• Good-quality lacquered or laminate fronts in rental apartments: they stand up to knocks and frequent cleaning.
• Units up to the ceiling in small kitchens: more storage and no dust ledge on top of the wall units.

If you need to cut back, keep the sink and hob where they are and spend on appliances and the worktop; the units can be upgraded later without building work.

Common mistakes we avoid

• Buying the units before measuring the finished room. One centimetre out of plumb and the last unit will not fit.
• Worktop ordered from the drawing. The template is taken with the units fitted.
• A single circuit for the whole kitchen. The breakers trip every time the oven and hob are on together.
• Island drain with no fall. The sink drains slowly and smells.
• Forgetting ventilation when closing in a utility balcony or opening up to the living room: the extractor needs a real outlet.

Typical timescales

• New kitchen in the same position: 2 weeks of building work and fitting.
• Kitchen with a new layout and new services: 3 to 4 weeks.
• Open-plan kitchen with continuous flooring: 4 to 5 weeks.

The manufacturing lead time for units and worktop (often 3–6 weeks) runs in parallel if ordered in time. That is why we finalise the layout before we start stripping out.

Kitchen renovations in local homes

Dénia and Jávea are full of apartments with a closed kitchen and a utility balcony. The usual renovation is to open up to the living room, bring in light and move the washing machine to the balcony or into a cupboard. In 1980s flats in Gandía the first job is usually the electrics: small consumer units and a shared circuit that cannot take an induction hob.

In villas in Ondara, Pego or Gandía we come across large kitchens with timber beams, sloping ceilings or second kitchens in the attic, like the Gandía villa where we fitted the ground-floor kitchen and another upstairs, adapting the joinery to an irregular space.

And because of the coastal humidity: aluminium plinths instead of wood, hinges with a good protective finish and neutral-cure silicone where the worktop meets the wall. Small details that stop a beautiful kitchen ageing badly.