Homeowner Fears Price She’ll Have to Pay After Finding Issues with Her Renovated Kitchen: ‘Faced with a Moral Dilemma’

A frustrated homeowner has shared her disappointment after discovering multiple problems with her recently renovated kitchen, which she believes turned into a “hack job.”

Posting on the community forum Mumsnet, the woman described her situation as “a moral dilemma,” explaining that nearly everything went wrong during the renovation process.

“We recently had our 20-year-old kitchen replaced. Unfortunately, everything that could go wrong — starting from our choice of supplier to the fitting — has gone wrong,” she wrote. “I feel very upset with the sense of injustice over having paid so much money for the kitchen and fitting, and having to endure the stress of dealing with issues for months.”

She went on to explain the root of her ethical concern. “The fitter who installed our kitchen was not certified to do electric and gas work, so I had to call a certified electrician and gas engineer to check and certify his work,” she said. “Gas was fine since it was only a cooker he connected. However, a lot of issues were identified with the electrics, which means that now a lot of what he did needs to be redone.”

The homeowner added, “My mind tells me that the fitter’s fees should go toward paying for redoing the electrical work he carried out, but I anticipate that this isn’t going to be an easy conversation to have.”

She also noted that the repair costs are likely to be significant. “Whichever way I look at it, I can’t see why we should have to pay the fitter for installing our kitchen and then also cover the cost of fixing work he should never have done in the first place, given that he doesn’t have the right qualifications.”

Mumsnet users were divided over who should bear the expense. One commenter argued, “Sorry, but I think you have to accept the extra cost. You made the decision to use a non-certified electrician, and now you need to pay for a qualified one to fix it.”

Another user disagreed, writing, “The original fitter messed up. He should take the financial hit.”