What to give your carpenter: a checklist

Why it matters

A carpenter prices and builds from what you give them. With a sketch and a few numbers, every gap is a guess, and guesses come back as extra cost or a cabinet that doesn't fit. With the list below, two carpenters can quote the same kitchen, and the one you choose builds the kitchen you planned.

Drawings

• The plan of the room, every wall dimensioned, with the doors, windows and points.
• An elevation of each wall: every cabinet's width and height, the worktop, the gap to the wall cabinets.
• The scale on each sheet, your name and the date, so everyone knows they hold the same version.

The cabinet list

For each cabinet: its code on the drawings (A1, A2…), its type, its width × height × depth, the fronts (doors or drawers, and their heights), the handles, and what goes inside: shelves, inner drawers, a corner fitting, a pull-out.

Materials and finishes

• The cabinets' board and its thickness, and the back panels.
• The fronts: material, colour, finish, and the edge banding.
• The worktop: material, thickness and edge, and who makes it.
• The backsplash between the worktop and the wall cabinets.
• The plinth, and the end panels where a run ends in the open.

Appliances

The model of each one, with its installation sheet: the niche the oven or fridge needs, the cut-out for the cooktop and the sink, the gaps for air. A carpenter can't size a housing for “a 60 cm oven”; they can for a model.

Water, gas and power

Where each point is and where it has to move to: water and drain under the sink, gas for the cooktop, the sockets above the worktop, the dedicated points for the oven, the cooktop and the dishwasher. If the electrician or plumber comes before the carpenter, they need the same drawing.

What to agree on before work starts

1. 1Who measures the room again before cutting, and when.
2. 2Who templates and fits the worktop.
3. 3Who removes the old kitchen.
4. 4When each trade comes: plumber, electrician, carpenter, worktop.
5. 5What the price includes: delivery, installation, the appliances' fitting.

TruePlinth's carpenter pack is this list, made from your design: the plan and every wall dimensioned, the cabinet list with sizes, the fittings, a simplified parts list, and your notes for the carpenter on the cover.