Kitchen Snagging Preparation Checklist

Ask, before fitting starts, how snagging items are meant to be raised and who they should be sent to, and write the answer down.

A kitchen often involves a supplier, an installer and separate trades, and the route for reporting an item is rarely obvious once they have left.

Ask the supplier and the installer which of them handles which kinds of item, and record what each of them tells you.

Walk the room in daylight and then again with the lights on, since the two conditions reveal completely different things.

Raking daylight shows alignment and level, while artificial light shows surface marks and shadow gaps. Most lists are compiled in only one of them.

Clear the worktops before you look, since anything left standing on them sits over the joints and edges most likely to need attention.

A list compiled around a kettle and a fruit bowl reliably misses whatever those objects were covering.

Write items as observations rather than conclusions, describing what you can see rather than what you believe caused it.

An observation is easy to discuss, whereas a stated cause tends to stall a conversation that would otherwise be straightforward.

Whether an item is within normal tolerance is for the supplier or installer to establish rather than for you to determine.

Ask whether anything in the kitchen is deliberately unfinished, awaiting a part or already known about and being returned to.

Some items are known and in hand, and separating those from fresh observations keeps the rest of the list credible.

Open and close every door and every drawer in turn, including the ones you have no reason to use, and note any that catch, hang or drop.

The awkward drawer is very often the one nobody opened during fitting, such as the one behind a bin or in a corner.

Look along a run of fronts from one end and note where the gaps between them are visibly uneven or where one sits proud of its neighbour.

Alignment reads far more clearly along the run than face on, which is how uneven gaps survive a straight ahead look.

Note any door or drawer that does not stay where you leave it, or that shuts with a knock rather than settling quietly.

Closing mechanisms are usually adjustable, so it is worth recording which ones behave differently from the rest of the room.

Check that handles sit the same way up and in the same position on similar doors, and note any that differ from their neighbours.

Handle alignment is easy to miss while standing close to one door and obvious to everyone standing in the room afterwards.

Open a corner unit fully and note whether its door or mechanism collides with anything, including an adjacent handle or appliance.

Corners are the most common place for a clash, and the clash usually only appears when both doors are opened at the same time.

Where a clash cannot be adjusted out, ask the supplier and installer what options exist rather than forcing anything.

Look inside the cabinets as well as at their fronts, noting exposed cut edges, unfinished panels or shelves that do not sit level.

Interiors are looked at far less often at handover and become much harder to get attended to once the kitchen is loaded.

Run a hand along every worktop joint and note anywhere you can feel a lip, a step or a change of level between the two pieces.

A joint that feels different usually looks different in raking light as well, and recording both observations together is more useful than either alone.

Look at how the worktop meets the wall along its whole length, noting any gap that opens up towards one end of the run.

Walls are rarely straight, and how the scribe follows them is one of the clearest indications of the care taken in the fit.

Note the finish of the cut outs around the sink, hob and tap, including the edges you can only see by looking from underneath.

Unseen cut edges are frequently left rough, and how much that matters depends entirely on the material involved.

Ask the supplier how cut edges should be finished in your particular worktop material and what that finishing involves.

Look along the front edge and at every external corner for chips, dulled patches or anywhere the edge profile changes.

Corners take the most handling during fitting and are usually the first place any damage appears.

Note any part of the worktop that overhangs without visible support beneath it, and ask what is carrying that overhang.

Overhangs become a source of worry later, and asking now records the answer while the person who fitted it is still available.

How much support an overhang needs is for the supplier and installer to establish for that material and that span.

Check the upstands or splashbacks for even gaps top and bottom, and note anywhere the line drifts away from the worktop below it.

The upstand line draws the eye across the whole run, so a drifting gap reads more strongly than most people expect.

Fill the sink and let it drain fully while you watch, then look underneath with a torch for anything damp, marked or dripping.

A slow drip shows itself while you are standing there watching and might otherwise go unnoticed until it has done damage.

If you find any sign of water where it should not be, report it to the installer or a qualified plumber rather than investigating further.

Move the tap through its full range, including any spray or pull out head, and note anything it fouls such as a window, an upstand or the sink itself.

Taps set under windows or against upstands are a frequent clash, and it only appears when the handle is taken right to its limit.

Note whether the isolation valves under the sink can be reached, and ask to be shown which valve serves which fitting.

Being shown once while somebody is standing there is worth far more than working it out later with water already running.

Ask the installer or a qualified plumber to point out the isolation arrangements rather than operating anything you are unsure about.

Look at how the sink meets the worktop all the way round, including the back edge, and note any gap or unevenness in that junction.

The back edge is the hardest part to see and the most likely to have been finished quickly at the end of the fit.

Note whether the waste, the trap and any appliance hoses leave usable storage space, and whether anything is resting on a pipe or a hose.

The cupboard under the sink is storage as well as plumbing, and an arrangement that leaves no room is worth raising while it can still be altered.

Open each appliance door alongside the doors and drawers next to it, and note anything that collides or that cannot be opened at the same time.

Appliance door clashes are among the most common snagging items and are usually obvious as soon as somebody looks for them.

Note whether integrated appliance fronts line up with the cabinet doors either side of them, along the top and along the bottom.

Integrated fronts are usually adjustable and are often left wherever they happened to sit when the appliance went in.

Check that you have been shown how each appliance operates and that you hold its manual, model information and any registration details.

Appliance paperwork tends to leave with the packaging, and it is the thing owners most often wish they had held onto.

Appliance registration is typically made directly with each manufacturer, so ask the supplier whether anything has been registered on your behalf.

Ask to be shown how each built in appliance would be withdrawn if it ever needed attention, and note what you are told.

Some appliances are awkward to withdraw once a worktop, plinth or floor finish is in place, and this is the moment to find that out.

Ask the installer and the manufacturer how servicing access should be maintained rather than assuming an appliance can simply be pulled out.

Note whether the extraction over the cooking area was demonstrated to you, and write down in your own words what you were told about it.

Extraction arrangements vary a great deal, and a plain record of what you were shown is more useful later than a vague memory.

Whether extraction is arranged appropriately for your property is for a qualified professional to advise on and to confirm locally.

Look at how freestanding appliances sit against the floor and the plinth, noting anything that stands proud, sits low or rocks when pushed.

An appliance that is not sitting level affects how its door hangs and how it runs, and it is straightforward to raise at this point.

Look along every sealant line and note where it changes width, breaks, or has been finished untidily at a stop or an internal corner.

Sealant is usually the last job of all, yet it sits at eye level along the entire length of the run.

Note where the plinth meets the floor and whether the gap beneath it stays consistent along the length of the kitchen.

Floors rise and fall, and how the plinth was scribed to follow them is a fair indication of the care taken elsewhere.

Check the end panels where a run stops against a wall, a doorway or open floor, and note any raw edge or visible fixing.

End panels are where fitted cabinetry meets the rest of the room, and an unfinished end is noticed by everyone who walks past it.

Look at how the new work meets existing skirting, architrave, tiling or flooring, and note anywhere the two simply do not resolve.

The join with what was already there is frequently nobody's stated responsibility, which is exactly why it belongs on the list explicitly.

Where several trades meet at one junction, ask each of them who is responsible for finishing it and record the answers you are given.

Note any filling, making good or decoration that has been left, including above the wall units and behind where appliances now stand.

Making good above and behind gets skipped because it is out of sight, and it becomes far harder once the kitchen is in daily use.

Switch on each lighting circuit in turn and note anything that does not come on, flickers, or looks noticeably different in colour from its neighbours.

Mismatched lamps within a single run are common and are easiest to attend to while somebody still holds the remaining stock.

Report anything unexpected about lighting or power to a qualified electrician rather than investigating it yourself.

Note where the under cabinet lighting actually falls on the worktop, and whether anything fitted since is now casting a shadow across it.

Task lighting is often positioned before the final arrangement is known, and the shadow only becomes visible once you stand where you work.

Check that every socket in the room can still be reached and is not blocked by an appliance, a bin or something now standing in front of it.

A socket behind a fixed appliance is effectively lost, and this is the last comfortable point at which that can be discussed.

Note whether switch plates and socket plates sit flat and square against the wall or the splashback behind them.

Plates that stand off the wall or sit slightly skewed are usually straightforward to attend to and stand out permanently if left.

Avoid removing or opening any electrical accessory yourself; describe what you can see and put it to a qualified electrician.

Ask to be shown where the kitchen circuits are controlled, and what documentation you should expect for the electrical work carried out.

Knowing which control governs the kitchen matters at precisely the moment when nobody has time to work it out.

Ask a qualified electrician what documentation applies to the work done here, and confirm locally what you should expect to receive.

Photograph each item you raise twice, once close up and once from far enough back to show where in the room it sits.

A close photograph of a mark is useless without context, and the wider one is usually the photograph that settles the discussion.

Number the items and keep that numbering fixed, adding anything new to the end of the list rather than renumbering what is already there.

Renumbering breaks every earlier reference and is a common reason two people end up discussing different items entirely.

Send the list in writing to whoever you agreed it should go to, and keep your own copy of exactly what was sent and when.

A written record of what was raised, and to whom, is one of the more useful things to hold if the conversation carries on.

Where the supplier and the installer are separate parties, send each of them the items that belong to them rather than assuming it is passed on.

Agree how you will be told that an item has been attended to, and say plainly that you intend to look at each one yourself afterwards.

Items are sometimes recorded as done at a distance, and a shared understanding at the start avoids that becoming a dispute later.

Keep the items you are still living with separate from those already attended to, rather than deleting anything from the list.

The history of what was raised and what was done about it is worth more than a tidy list, particularly if something recurs.

Note anything you have decided to accept as it stands, and record that you accepted it, so that it is not raised again by accident.

Choosing not to pursue something is a legitimate outcome, and writing it down stops it resurfacing later as a grievance.