Kitchen painted in Radlett, Hertfordshire

This is a short case study of a kitchen painted in Radlett earlier in the year.

This started life as a solid oak bespoke kitchen around 10 years old. I fitted new handles and converted a pull out bin door to a hinged cabinet door with a mid shelf. It was painted in the equivalent of Little Greene’s French Grey.

Painting kitchens in Radlett

I started painting kitchens at the same time as Charlie Smallbone was still going to site, a long time ago. Looking back through my order books I have worked in and around Radlett for decades and have many happy clients. For example this was a hand made kitchen from Christchurch kitchens I painted. I have plenty of other references if needed for kitchens I have painted in the Radlett area.

Why go for a hand painted finish on an older kitchen?

The clients called me after finding me online. Apparently another family member had purchased a new Tom Howley kitchen, inspiring them to look at changing their own kitchen. As is so often the case, the cost of replacing their large kitchen was astronomical and they looked for alternatives. That’s where I came in. I have written up literally dozens of examples where a hand painted or sprayed finish has won hands down over a new kitchen. Even if you aren’t particularly eco-minded, the financial economies of keeping a perfectly good wooden kitchen out of landfill are stunning. Rest assured, you are not flogging a dead horse when repainting an old kitchen.

• It is very rare to see kitchen cabinets and carcasses fail these days. At worst, you might see a unit around a sink looking tatty, so just replace that one cabinet.
• Solid wooden doors, be they pine or oak or maple, will last decades. They are also perfect for painting, if you know how. I know how.
• You can constantly upgrade a kitchen from new handles to new worktops, new appliances. Once painted you can completely change the look of a kitchen very easily with new colours. Full summary of decisions over new v repaint a kitchen

The moment of truth

After assessing the project and talking over the process with the clients, I submitted my quote. I don’ t know the full story behind the numbers they had received for a brand new installation, but I know my quote came in at a small fraction of the cost of new. Two weeks later the kitchen in Radlett looked like this.

What did the client think?

It’s all well and good me explaining my side of the story, but what did the client think? Here are a few snippets from Mr Patel’s review.

Paul painted our solid oak kitchen / diner and study and did an absolutely amazing job. He had a real eye for detail, neat and tidy and very organised. He respected our home like it was his own and fitted in his work around our needs. He also kept to the original timelines he had indicated. Our kitchen has been beautifully transformed and literally looks like a brand new bespoke kitchen. The transformation is just simply stunning.

Paul was super professional right from the initial query through to finishing the job. He is a really nice person and an absolute star…

Paul’s pricing was also very reasonable for the whole service offered…

If you are looking to get your kitchen painted, simply get in touch with Paul and you will have a great experience and an amazing kitchen at the end of it!”

I am always happy to receive reviews from paying customers, good, bad or indifferent. We did have a little run in with a professional review site once. They claimed we were only posting 5 star reviews and must be hiding dodgy ones. They didn’t take the time to listen to what I just explained about our work process and the focus on ongoing communication. You can verify all my reviews, so don’t start me on Google reviews, which seem to be friends of friends posting eulogies about their friends’ companies!

Surely not every job goes perfectly?

Of course, we are only human and not everything goes like clockwork every time. However we have learnt over the years to keep clients informed on a daily basis. We also invite our customers to point out things they don’t like while work is in progress. It is much better to have an open dialogue, so we can explain (or put the odd thing right) as we go along, instead of storing up potential issues for when it is too late. That is why, for the most part, we don’t get complaints like other companies might, because we sort out issues there and then.

What if I have cause for complaint?

Occasionally small things may go wrong down the road. You might get a cracked joint or maybe hit a door too hard with a sharp or blunt instrument. A small repair is part of the service, and part of the £100 a door rates we charge. That is why you should be leery of cheap quotes. If there is no money left on the job, there is no money in the kitty to offer a backup service. Question a company hard if they say they don’t have callbacks therefore they don’t need to budget for after sales, hence their low prices. Or if they say they are happy to put issues right for nothing, you might want to suggest they rethink their business model. If they do a good job, it would be good if they were still around in 5 or so years so they could repaint your kitchen!

Next step

Not one for standing still, I have developed and fine tuned my paint systems and service over the years. And since joining Traditional Painter in 2013, an invitation-only network of specialist kitchen painters, it is fair to say my kitchen painting service has been in good shape for quite a few years. I have been around Northants for 30+ years, I am not going anywhere. I am also part of the Dispute Resoultion Ombudsman scheme licensed by Trading Standards. If all else failed with a complaint against me, you would be able to get an independent and legally binding ruling from them without cost to you. Thanks for reading about this Kitchen painted in Radlett. Give me a call if you need any advice with a forthcoming project. It doesn’t cost to talk.