Is kitchen fitting a trade?

Discussion in 'Kitchen Fitters' Talk' started by kitcheneer, Jun 8, 2007.

  1. Joelp1

    Joelp1 New Member

    trade or not, its skilled work which you need a good variety of talents to do well. And though there may be many sparks and plumbers who can fit a kitchen, thats only because some kitchens are very simple. A good fitter would probably think it an awful fit.

    Last spark i met on site i got the impression i knew the regs better, and the last plumber was a messy animal. No pride in his work, his attitude was butcher it and find someone to blame. I first fixed the gas pipes because i didnt want him near my units. He's been sacked now...
     
  2. handcraft

    handcraft New Member

    i agree with jp i knew a spark who tried to replace his own worktops thought it was easy bought a router and a jig tried to mitre his tops without a guide bush and oooops ruined the jig ruined the worktop and router and almost took his arm off some people can fit kitchens but kitchen fitters are totally different

    lee
     
  3. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

    Kitchen fitting is easy - nice big room, working standing up, what can be difficult about it. I enjoy kitchen fitting, all that space and freedom to work - lovely.

    You can even have more than one person in the room at the same time! Luxury!

    Now fitting fitted furniture into piddly little cloakrooms, or crawling around in low roofed lofts 2ft deep in fibreglass, grovelling under floorboards, lugging baths and shower trays into penthouse apartments - that's hard work. :)
     
  4. handcraft

    handcraft New Member

    you obviously have little experience of fitting kitchens fitting kitchens isnt always ideal running cables and plumbing island extractors the list goes on
     
  5. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

    I have fitted kitchens for many years. I began on my own originally and now with my team.

    My brother fits kitchens commercially for large developers and usually fits half a dozen kitchens a week. I can draw on his specialists if I need to, and do occasionally, but generally when I do kitchens I use my own gang.

    I still fit about a dozen a year. usually clients where I have fitted their bathrooms and they want me to do their kitchens as well.

    My main business is still bathrooms and some general plumbing and occasionally working with a local heating engineer when he gets snowed under.

    Kitchens and bathrooms are very similar, the difference being scale and access is much much better in most kitchens.
     
  6. handcraft

    handcraft New Member

    agreed im not here to make enemies i just think kitchen ftting is extremely skilled depending on what sort of kitchens are being fitted

    lee
     
  7. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

    It is a collection of skills and trades.

    Few kitchen fitters do everything themselves - carpentry, gas, electrics, plumbing, tiling, flooring, painting etc etc. Most major on the unit/worktop installation and then bring in specialists do do the other bits.
     
  8. handcraft

    handcraft New Member

    yes but some kitchens are extremely difficult to fit i know you will be able to appreciate that

    lee
     
  9. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

    yes but some kitchens are extremely difficult to fit...only to the untrained and unskilled ;)
     
  10. handcraft

    handcraft New Member

    your impossible

    lee
     
  11. maurice gogg

    maurice gogg Guest

    Is kitchen fitting a trade? Well, in the very loosest of terms it can be considered a trade. Rather like a beer swilling, obese bar fly , playing darts can be called a sportsman. Actually, come to think of it, there does seem to be a common thread.  I actually fitted my own kitchen, and if I say so myself, I have done a very good job.
     
  12. Goodwill

    Goodwill Member

    When I first started in the building industry, in the main, kitchen cabinets were made by the joiners in the builder's joinery shop and then fitted on site by the carpenters.  Simultaneously, separate companies, such as Wrighton, were making a complete range of kitchen cabinets which were subsequently fitted by the carpenters and stand alone Kitchen Fitters followed as a result of this  A similar scenario also applies to Window Fitters born out of companies such as Everest and Anglian Windows.

    IMO; Trade is probably correct in as much as being a business and certain skills are definitely required in executing the work but Kitchen Fitting cannot be considered as a craft.   A craftsman/woman actually make or create through their skills. A person who works as a fitter is at best described as a Technician.   Plumbers, Electricians, Gas Fitters are all Technicians.  Crafts in the building industry are those such as Bricklayers and Stone Masons, Carpenters and Joiners, Plasterers, Painters and Decorators, and so on.
     
  13. quinnbeia

    quinnbeia New Member

    Its right that Fitting kitchens is a trade, All the buyers and sellers keep attaentions what we offer like kitchen cabinets , kicthen units , kithen appliance etc. I like your sounds. Can you say me?When you start kitchen industry?
    Kitchen cabinets
     
  14. splat

    splat New Member

    No, it is not a trade its a job that is done well by any skilled carpenter worth his/her salt...
     
  15. splat

    splat New Member

    NO , its not a skilled carpenter worth their salt..
     
  16. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    Although it was a carpenters/joiners job to install cabinets/worktops etc, I think over the years it has become a trade. Installing a kitchen correctly uses far more skills than a carpenter/joiner was originally taught. A good kitchen fitter will be part designer, joiner, electrician,plumber.tiler,metalworker, as all of these skills come into play and are used when fitting kitchens. If you can't do basic plumbing and electrics and rely upon others to do this, you can't really consider yourself a kitchen fitter.
    I know some kitchen fitters, who couldn't put a doorframe into a stud partition, far less hang the door afterwards, so their obviously not a joiner then, but can install kitchens to a high standard. How many joiners/carpenters know how to install Maia  or Corian worktops? So yes Kitchen Fitting is a trade.
     
  17. biasqinc

    biasqinc Member

    Does anyone really care whether it's a trade or not? Does it matter?
     
  18. andrew

    andrew Guest

    hi lads my first post just thought i would join in !
    i will probobly upset some people but here goes,
    i dont believe kitchen fitting is a trade in its self as it involves multiple trades !
    i have worked in the kitchen industry for 28 years
    i did a four year apprentiship in cabinet making (city and guilds at manchester college of building working for an italian kitchen company)
    i have been self employed for 24 years as a kitchen fitter
    first did my acops with citb in gas installation in 94 and have been corgi / gas safe registered since
    first studied  electrical installation and 16th edition in 99 since have gone on to achive nvq level 3 and have my gold  jib card (bloody hard) currently registered with niceic
    i have fitted kitchens all over europe and i have to say its not a trade it is a multi skilled occupation
    unfortunatly you get good and bad in every trade and with kitchen fitting having a name for being a well paid job a lot of cowboys have a go unfortunatly everybody hears about the bad ones and not the good ones
     
  19. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    What's the difference between a trade and a multi skilled occupation then? Do you not consider joiners, electricians and plumbers to be multi skilled? Sparks have to design the circuits, first fix, second fix and then test. Same as plumbers who become gas safe registered. Not many of them rely on an electrician to come and connect up a boiler or wire the stat or controls for them these days.
    Car mechanic is a trade,,,, but which cars do they all work on? A good car mechanic should be able to work on most vehicles, but with modern cars they ain't just a grease monkey are they? They are mechanic, electrical, hydraulic and computer specialists all in one. Certainly multi trade.
     
  20. andrew

    andrew Guest

    yes what i am saying is kitchen fitting is not trade in its own right it involves a multitude of trades
    electrician a trade
    plumbing a trade
    carpenter a trade
    cabinet maker a trade
    all trades (skills) are used in kitchen fitting
     

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