Demolition of the old kitchen unit

It is more than unscrewing a few cabinets. The job usually covers the wall and base units, the worktop, the sink with its tap and trap, the cooker hood, the oven, the hob, the dishwasher and any integrated fridge. Often it also includes taking off the tiles between the units or the plinth boards along the floor.

If there is an old built-in cupboard in or next to the kitchen that is fixed firmly to the wall, ceiling or floor, it is usually removed at the same time. These cupboards are often held with wall plugs and anchors or boxed in with plasterboard, so they need a more careful approach.

Taking out furniture on its own normally needs no permission. If you also plan to move pipes or cables, knock down a partition wall or touch the shared risers in a block of flats, check the rules with your local building authority first. In a flat, also speak to the building management or owners' association.

First the cupboards are emptied and the floor is covered with cardboard or heavy plastic sheeting. Then the water is turned off and the appliances are disconnected. One rule is clear here: a gas cooker or gas hob may only be disconnected by a qualified, registered gas engineer, who must cap the pipe safely. A hob or oven wired in permanently, often on its own circuit, is disconnected by a qualified electrician. Appliances with a normal plug only need to be unplugged.

Next comes the sink. The isolation valves are closed, the tap hoses are unscrewed and the trap comes off. The waste pipe in the wall should be plugged straight away so that smells cannot come back up. After that the worktop is removed. It is usually screwed from underneath through corner brackets and sometimes sealed to the wall with silicone.

The units are taken down from the top. Wall units hang on brackets or a rail, so it is usually enough to loosen the adjusting screws and lift the cabinet off. Base units are often screwed to each other and to the wall. Finally the waste is taken away. Chipboard, metal parts, glass and old appliances go to different containers, and old appliances are handed in as electrical waste.

The simplest case is a straight run of standard units standing on legs and hanging on brackets. The time and effort, and therefore the cost, go up in these situations:

• Size and layout: an L-shaped or U-shaped kitchen, an island and tall housings for appliances mean more joints and more pieces to carry out.
• Materials: solid wood, stone or compact laminate worktops and metal frames are heavy and sometimes have to be cut up on site.
• How it is fixed: units glued with expanding foam, siliconed to the tiles or built into the masonry come apart slowly.
• Access: a narrow kitchen, no lift and carrying everything down from an upper floor all add time.
• Extra work: chipping off tiles, ripping up the old floor or removing a built-in cupboard add to the job.
• Waste removal: an old kitchen takes up a lot of space, so it matters whether the contractor takes the waste away or you deal with it yourself.

You can manage the cabinets and worktop yourself with ordinary tools and a helper. Leave gas and hard-wired electrical appliances to a qualified professional. If you smell gas while working, do not use light switches or any naked flame. Open the windows, leave the property and call your gas supplier's emergency line or the emergency number 112.

1. Empty all the cupboards and cover the floor with cardboard.
2. Have a gas engineer disconnect the gas cooker and an electrician disconnect any hard-wired hob or oven.
3. Switch off the relevant circuit breaker and unplug any appliances with a plug.
4. Close the isolation valves under the sink, put a bucket underneath and disconnect the tap and trap.
5. Plug the waste pipe in the wall with a suitable cap.
6. Pull out the integrated appliances and unscrew them from the carcasses.
7. Cut the silicone between the worktop and the wall with a knife, loosen the screws underneath and lift the worktop off with two people.
8. Take off the doors and remove the shelves to make the units lighter.
9. Loosen the brackets on the wall units and lift them down while a second person holds them.
10. Separate the base units, unscrew them from the wall and carry them out.
11. Pull out or cut off any remaining wall plugs and sort the waste.

When you drill or pull out fixings, remember that cables and pipes run in the wall behind the kitchen. If you are not sure where they are, use a detector, or cut the fixings off carefully instead of pulling them out.

• Levering units off with a crowbar: this tears out chunks of plaster and tiles that then need repairing.
• Water not turned off or waste not plugged: one snapped hose is enough for water to soak into the floor or leak to the neighbours below.
• Disconnecting gas yourself: this is dangerous and, in most countries, not allowed for a layperson.
• Forgetting the circuit breaker: the bare cables left by the hob can still be live.
• Underestimating the wall behind the kitchen: in practice it often turns out that there is mould, damp or greasy plaster behind the old units, and nobody planned for the repair.
• Leaving waste by the household bins: furniture and building waste belong at a recycling centre or in a hired skip, according to your local council's rules.

Before the fitters arrive with the new kitchen, go through the room with this list:

• The gas pipe is properly capped by a registered engineer and you have a record of it
• The cables for the appliances are safely terminated and the circuit breaker is labelled
• The isolation valves are closed and not dripping
• The waste pipe is plugged and there is no smell from the drain
• The walls have no torn-out plaster or tiles, and any damage is noted
• The floor has no scratches or wet patches
• There is no mould or damp behind the old units, or you know how it will be dealt with
• The old appliances have gone to electrical waste collection and the rest of the waste has been taken away
• The room is swept and ready for the new kitchen to be measured