Kitchen Renovation Balsham Cambridgeshire

Jump to PhotosVikings and Shug Monkeys

This particular project finds me towards the Cambridgeshire / Essex borders, just outside the small village of Balsham.

A long time ago In 1015, Balsham was totally destroyed by Viking raiders. A sign on the village green commemorates the sole survivor of the attack who escaped by hiding in the parish church, I’m sure I saw someone matching his description on my way to the village?

Or was it the area between Balsham and West Wratting which is said to be the haunt of the mythical Shug Monkey??

In the folklore of Cambridgeshire, the Shug Monkey is a creature that shares features of a dog and monkey, which reportedly haunted Slough Hill Lane (a street that leads from the village of West Wratting to nearby Balsham).The creature, said to have the body of a jet-black shaggy sheepdog and the face of a monkey with staring eyes,is believed to be a supernatural ghost or demon.

Anyway, once I arrived on site, the renovation project on this solid maple kitchen was in full swing.

The preparation process begins with degreasing all the surfaces this is so important to the completed finish and a 50/50 mix of Fluxaf pro clean was used with the help of a coarse green scourer.

All the components which were removable were safely loaded on to my van for the journey back to my work shop and then the carcasses and end panels were treated to a combination of 120 and 240 grit Abranet from the ever faithful Festool RTS 400 this ensures all surfaces are properly sanded and with its second to none dust extraction system the mess is kept to the minimum.

Once everything was then wiped down with a methylated spirit cloth, the first of two coats of adhesion primer were applied.The following day the same procedure was undertaken back at the workshop on all the doors, drawers and kick boards all with the same amount of care and attention to detail.

With this kitchen as in many cases, new handles were going to be fitted, so all existing holes were filled using a 2pack filler and then a ultra fine filler to finish, lightly sanded and then on to the primers.

Once the primer has dried its then sanded flat and the next coat of undercoat primer is applied, this tends to be tinted to the chosen colour, this in turn is de-nibbed before the final 2 top coats are applied.

After the painting process was finished at the workshop, I returned to site avoiding scary looking men and Shug monkeys, to apply the finishing coats to all the static furniture before the doors could be carefully re-hung, all the holes were then drilled and the new handles fitted.

The colour chosen on this particular kitchen was Becker’s equivalent to Manor House Grey, Mr & Mrs S were absolutely delighted with the complete transformation of their kitchen and sent me this lovely review,

“Just wanted to let you know how delighted we are with our 'new' kitchen - it has been transformed.  Having such a well built kitchen it would have been such a waste to scrap it and start again and by painting it and changing worktop and handles the 23 year old kitchen now looks brand new.  From the comments we have received most people can't believe it is the same kitchen.  Very much appreciated your help, advice and professionalism. I had expected dust, mess and smelly paint so was very pleasantly surprised none of this was the case.  I have already recommended you to friends and would happily sing your praises to anyone.  We don't let just anyone have a key to the house but felt happy to trust you.”

very best wishes,

Sarah & John

PS: I’ve decided once I retire and start distilling whiskey, I shall call it ‘Shug monkey’, that’s copywritten now :)

.

Customer Review

If you would like a free quote for the price of kitchen renovation in Balsham Cambridgeshire from a reliable hand painted kitchen company, please contact us for a no-obligation price quotation.