Kitchen Renovation in Mumbai: The Complete Guide to Layout, Platform, Plumbing and Cost

A kitchen renovation in Mumbai is a civil job before it is a modular one. Layout, granite or quartz, sink drainage, dado, concealed plumbing, society rules and what drives the cost, from a site contractor.

Most people planning a kitchen renovation in Mumbai start in a modular showroom, looking at shutter finishes and handle profiles. That is the enjoyable part, and it is also the last part. Before a single carcass goes in, the kitchen has to be set out, the platform built to a level, the sink and drainage positioned, the water and gas lines run and tested, the dado laid to the counter line and the floor finished. If any of that is wrong, the most expensive shutters in the city will be sitting on top of a problem.

This guide is written from the civil side of the job, which is the side we do. It covers layout, the platform and its top, the sink and the drainage you cannot see, the dado, concealed plumbing, the order the trades should run in, realistic timelines, what a housing society will expect of you, and what actually moves the cost. It is long because a kitchen is the most service-dense room in a flat, and almost every decision in it affects two or three others.

What a kitchen renovation in Mumbai actually involves

A kitchen renovation is really three jobs stacked on top of each other. The first is civil: breaking out the old platform and dado, reworking the floor, building a new platform or preparing the base for a modular one, and making good the walls. The second is services: water inlet and outlet lines, drainage, gas, electrical points and the chimney duct. The third is the fit-out: stone, cabinetry, appliances, fittings and the finishing touches.

The fit-out is what people budget for and talk about. The civil and services layers are what decide whether the kitchen works for twenty years or starts giving trouble in two. A modular kitchen company will usually take the third layer and expect somebody else to have done the first two correctly. When nobody is clearly responsible for those first two, the gaps show up at the junctions - a sink outlet that does not line up with the drain, a hob cut-out that lands on a gas pipe, a dado that stops a centimetre short of the counter.

• Civil work - demolition, platform, floor, wall repair, dado
• Plumbing - concealed inlet and outlet lines, drainage, trap and connection to the building line
• Gas - piped gas routing coordinated with the supplier, or cylinder location if you are still on cylinders
• Electrical - dedicated circuits and points for every appliance, plus lighting
• Stone - the counter top, its edges, cut-outs and supports
• Fit-out - cabinetry, hardware, appliances, sink, taps and accessories

Start with how the kitchen is used, not with the catalogue

Before any layout is drawn, it is worth being honest about how the kitchen will be used. A family that cooks twice a day with a cook who comes in every morning uses a kitchen very differently from a couple who cook on weekends. A household that grinds masala, stores rice and dal in bulk and fries regularly needs more counter space near the hob, more ventilation and more robust surfaces than one that mostly reheats.

A few questions we ask on nearly every site visit, because the answers change the layout:

• Who cooks, how often, and is it one person or two at the same time?
• Is there a domestic help who washes utensils, and where do they prefer to work?
• Will there be a dishwasher, and if so, where will it drain?
• Is the washing machine going in the kitchen, the utility area or a bathroom?
• How much bulk storage is needed - grains, oil tins, pressure cookers, large vessels?
• Is a water purifier going on the wall, under the counter or on the counter?
• Do you want a tall unit for the refrigerator, or will it stand free?
• Is the hob gas or induction, and is a built-in oven or microwave planned?

None of these are design questions in the showroom sense. They are services questions. Every appliance on that list needs a water point, a drain, a power point or a combination of the three, and every one of those has to be in the wall before the dado goes up.

Kitchen layouts that work in Mumbai flats

Mumbai kitchens are rarely generous. In most flats across Kandivali, Malad, Borivali and Andheri the kitchen is a narrow room with a window at one end, a door at the other, and sometimes a small utility or wash area off it. The layout options are limited by that shape, and it is better to work with it than against it.

• Straight or single-wall - one platform along one wall. The simplest and often the only option in a compact 1 BHK. Keep the hob away from the window if the window opens inwards or has curtains.
• Parallel or galley - two platforms facing each other. Very efficient in a narrow Mumbai kitchen if the gap between them is enough for two people to pass. Too narrow and every open drawer blocks the room.
• L-shaped - platform along two adjoining walls. Good for a squarer kitchen, and it keeps traffic out of the working zone. The corner needs a plan, because a blind corner cabinet wastes space.
• U-shaped - platform on three walls. Only sensible where the room is wide enough that the two arms of the U do not face each other too closely.
• Kitchen with an open side - where a wall to the living room has been removed or was never there. This brings the question of whether a breakfast counter or island is structurally and practically possible.

In older buildings, the existing platform position is often dictated by where the drainage leaves the kitchen. Moving the sink to the opposite wall is usually possible, but it means running a drain line across the floor with enough fall to reach the outlet, which in turn raises the floor or needs a chase. That is not a reason to avoid it, but it is a reason to decide it on day one rather than after the platform is built.

The work triangle, adjusted for real Mumbai kitchens

The textbook rule is that the sink, hob and refrigerator should form a triangle so the cook moves efficiently between them. It is a sound principle, but in a two-metre-wide Mumbai kitchen the triangle is often squashed into a line. What matters more in practice is the sequence along the counter: storage, then a preparation area, then the sink, then more preparation space, then the hob, then a landing space for hot vessels.

The detail people most often get wrong is the distance between the sink and the hob. Put them right next to each other and there is nowhere to chop, and water splashes towards the flame. Separate them by a clear stretch of counter - even a modest one - and the kitchen becomes much easier to work in. The same applies to the space either side of the hob: a pressure cooker taken off the flame needs somewhere to go immediately, and that somewhere should not be the edge of the sink.

Keep the refrigerator out of the direct heat zone of the hob and away from the chimney's side panel. If the refrigerator is going in a tall unit, its ventilation clearance has to be designed in, not discovered when the compressor starts running hot.

The wash area and the utility balcony

Many Mumbai flats have a small wash area or dry balcony next to the kitchen, and in daily life it often does more work than the kitchen itself. It is where utensils are washed by domestic help, where the washing machine sits, and where mops and buckets live. Treating it as part of the kitchen renovation rather than an afterthought is one of the most useful things you can do.

• Give the wash area its own sink or a low utensil-washing point with a proper floor trap
• Waterproof the floor and turn it up the wall, because this area gets wetter than the kitchen does
• Grade the floor to its outlet so water never runs back towards the kitchen
• Provide a washing machine inlet, a drain point and a dedicated power point at the right height
• Use an anti-skid floor tile here, not the kitchen floor tile carried through
• Check with the society before enclosing a balcony, because enclosures change the elevation

A common arrangement that works well is a clean kitchen with a smaller sink for rinsing and daily use, and a utility area with a deep sink where heavy utensils are washed. It keeps water and food waste away from the main counter and makes the kitchen much easier to keep clean.

Platform height, depth and the kadappa question

The platform is the backbone of the kitchen, and it is set before anything else can be designed. There are two broad ways to build it in a Mumbai kitchen. The traditional way is a masonry or RCC platform with stone shelves - kadappa is still the familiar material for those shelves in many older Mumbai kitchens - and the counter stone laid on top. The modular way is a set of factory-made carcasses standing on legs or a plinth, with the counter stone resting on the carcasses.

Both work. A masonry platform is rigid, handles wet use well and gives the stone a continuous support, but the storage underneath is fixed and harder to reconfigure. A modular base is flexible and easier to fit out, but the carcass material has to be chosen for a humid, wet environment, and the stone needs support at the right intervals so it does not crack at a cut-out. A hybrid is also common: a masonry support under the sink zone, where the most water is, and modular units elsewhere.

Platform height is personal. Most Indian kitchen platforms end up somewhere around 800 to 860 mm to the top of the stone, but the right height is the one that suits the person who cooks most. Someone taller will get backache from a low counter; someone shorter will struggle to see into tall vessels on a high one. Stand at the existing platform with a pressure cooker on it and decide whether it should go up or down before anything is built.

Depth matters too. A counter that is too shallow cannot take a hob with safe clearance behind it; one that is too deep puts the back of the counter out of reach and becomes a place where things collect. A standard depth somewhere around 600 to 650 mm works for most kitchens, with more where a sink needs extra room behind it for the tap.

Granite, quartz or something else: choosing the kitchen platform top

The counter top is the most visible and most used surface in the kitchen, and it is also one of the biggest variables in the budget. Here is how the common options behave in a working Mumbai kitchen rather than in a showroom.

• Granite - natural stone, very hard, tolerant of heat and knocks, and widely available in Indian varieties at a wide range of prices. Darker granites hide stains well. Some lighter granites are more porous and benefit from sealing. The joint between slabs is visible, so a good fabricator places it carefully.
• Quartz (engineered stone) - crushed quartz bound with resin. Very low porosity, consistent colour, easy to clean and available in plain whites and marble-look patterns that granite cannot offer. The resin binder does not like direct heat, so hot vessels must go on a trivet, not straight onto the surface.
• Marble - beautiful and soft. It is porous and reacts to acids, so lemon, tomato, vinegar and many cleaners leave dull marks. In a working Indian kitchen it is usually the wrong choice for the main counter.
• Sintered stone and large ceramic slabs - thin, very hard, heat and stain resistant. They need a skilled fabricator because edges and cut-outs are more demanding, and a chipped edge is harder to repair.
• Stainless steel - hygienic and heat-proof, common in commercial kitchens. It scratches and dents, and it looks institutional to many homeowners, but it is a sensible choice for a utility counter.
• Tiled counter - inexpensive, but grout lines on a food surface stain and harbour dirt. Better avoided on the main counter.

For most families who cook Indian food daily, granite remains the most forgiving choice, with quartz a strong option where a lighter, more uniform look is wanted and the household is disciplined about hot pans. Whichever you choose, see the actual slab - not a sample chip - before it is cut, because natural stone varies from slab to slab and even engineered stone varies between batches.

Edges, joints and cut-outs

A counter top can be good stone and still be badly finished. The details that decide it are at the edges and openings.

• Edge profile - a slightly rounded or bevelled edge chips less than a sharp square edge and is kinder to hips and hands. A thicker-looking edge is often achieved by bonding a strip underneath rather than using thicker stone.
• Joints - place them away from the sink and hob, and ideally over a support. A joint at a cut-out is a crack waiting to happen.
• Sink cut-out - templated from the actual sink that will be fitted, not from a catalogue dimension. Undermount sinks need a polished inside edge and proper support clips.
• Hob cut-out - also from the actual hob, with the gas connection and any electric ignition point planned underneath before the stone is cut.
• Back splash or up-stand - a strip of the same stone turned up at the back of the counter protects the junction between counter and dado, which is where water and oil collect.
• Front drip edge near the sink - a small groove on the underside stops water from running back along the underside of the stone into the cabinet.

The rule we work to is to cut once, from the actual fitting. Stone that has been cut too large around a sink is unsupported at the edge and cracks under load. Stone that has been cut too small cannot be fixed without replacing the slab.

Sink selection and the drainage behind it

The sink is the busiest point in an Indian kitchen, and its choice has knock-on effects on the stone, the cabinet underneath and the drainage. A single large bowl takes big vessels and kadhais easily; a double bowl lets you soak in one and rinse in the other, but each bowl is smaller. A bowl with a drain board gives a place for washed utensils to drip, which many families prefer to a dish rack.

• Size the bowl to your largest vessel - a pressure cooker, a large kadhai or a tawa - rather than to the showroom
• A deeper bowl splashes less onto the counter and floor
• Stainless steel is forgiving and easy to replace; quartz and granite composite sinks look good but need a little more care
• Undermount sinks keep the counter easy to wipe but need careful stone work and support
• Plan the tap position so the spout reaches the centre of the bowl and the handle clears the wall
• Choose a waste coupling and a bottle or P-trap that can be opened for cleaning without dismantling the cabinet

Kitchen drainage: fall, trap and the line you cannot see

Kitchen drainage carries grease, food particles and hot water, which makes it more prone to blockage than a bathroom basin line. Most of the drainage problems we are called in to fix in Mumbai kitchens come down to three things: a line with too little fall, a line with too many bends, and a line that joins the building drain in the wrong way.

The line from the sink to the outlet should run with a steady fall, as short and straight as the layout allows, with bends made from proper fittings rather than heated and bent pipe. Where a long horizontal run cannot be avoided, a cleaning access point is worth its weight in gold. The trap under the sink stops sewer gas from entering the kitchen and should be easy to reach. A floor trap in the kitchen is useful for washing the floor but should not be the main outlet for the sink.

In many older Mumbai buildings the kitchen outlet leaves through the external wall into a common vertical line. That common line belongs to the society, and it is sometimes old, partly blocked or cracked. A new kitchen connected to a failing downtake will still back up. It is worth looking at the external line from the window before the renovation starts and raising it with the society if it looks tired. Cleaning or replacing a section of a common line is much easier before your new kitchen is finished than after.

If a dishwasher is planned, its drain needs its own connection with an air gap or a high loop, so dirty water from the sink cannot siphon back into the machine. A water purifier reject line also needs somewhere to go. Both are much easier to plan now than to add later.

Concealed plumbing: what gets run, and what gets tested

Concealed plumbing in a kitchen means the water lines are run inside the wall or behind the platform instead of on the surface. It looks cleaner and protects the pipes, but it also means every joint is hidden. That is why the order matters more than the pipe brand.

• Mark every point on the wall - sink inlet, purifier, dishwasher, washing machine, any hot water point - against the final layout drawing
• Cut chases in masonry, never in RCC columns or beams, and keep them no deeper than the pipe needs
• Run the hot and cold lines in a material suited to each, with proper fittings and no joints buried where they cannot be reached
• Fix each line firmly in the chase so it does not move when a tap is opened or closed
• Pressure-test the complete system and hold it before the chases are closed
• Only then fill the chases, plaster and proceed to dado

The pressure test is the one step that cannot be skipped. A joint that weeps slowly behind a tiled wall will not show for months, and by the time it does, the plaster is damp, the cabinet behind is swelling and the dado has to come off to find it. Nothing should go behind a finish on trust, and a contractor who is confident in the work will be happy for you to see the gauge hold.

If there is a geyser for the kitchen or a hot water line coming from a bathroom, insulate the hot line where it runs in the wall. It saves heat and reduces the chance of condensation damp on the wall surface.

Piped gas in Mumbai kitchens

Most buildings across Mumbai's western suburbs now have piped natural gas, and the gas line is the one service in the kitchen that is not yours or your contractor's to move. The gas supplier handles the pipework and the meter, and any change to the gas route has to go through them.

That has three practical consequences for a kitchen renovation. First, decide the hob position early and find out from the supplier what is involved in extending or re-routing the line to reach it. Second, do not box the meter or the isolation valve into a cabinet where it cannot be reached or read, because access to it is required. Third, schedule the gas work at the right point - after the civil and dado work around the pipe route, before the counter goes in - so that the supplier's team is not asked to work around a finished kitchen.

If you are still on cylinders, plan a ventilated space for the cylinder away from the hob, with the hose route short and visible. A cylinder shut into an airtight cabinet under the hob is a common and avoidable hazard.

Electrical points a kitchen actually needs

A modern Indian kitchen runs a surprising number of appliances, and almost every renovation we see in older flats is short of points. Extension boards on a counter next to a sink are the result. Plan the points with the appliance list in hand.

• Chimney - a point above the hood height, hidden behind the chimney cover
• Hob ignition, or a dedicated heavy-duty circuit if the hob is induction
• Microwave or oven - dedicated point, at the unit where it will be housed
• Refrigerator - its own point, not shared with a heavy appliance
• Water purifier - near its mounting point, above water level
• Mixer grinder and other counter appliances - several points above the counter, away from the sink and hob
• Dishwasher and washing machine - dedicated points at the right height
• Under-cabinet lighting so the counter is lit without the cook's shadow on it

Heavy appliances need their own circuits sized for the load, and the kitchen should be on a protected circuit at the distribution board. This is also the stage to replace old wiring in older flats, because once the dado is up, the wiring behind it is locked in for another fifteen years.

Dado: height, tile choice and the counter joint

The dado is the tiled wall between the counter and the overhead cabinets. It protects the wall from splashes, oil and steam, and it is the surface you see most when you stand at the counter. It is also one of the most common places where a kitchen looks slightly wrong without anyone being able to say why - usually because the tile courses do not relate to the counter line.

Dado height is usually taken from the counter up to the underside of the overhead cabinets, with a little extra behind them so no bare wall shows. Some families prefer full-height dado on the working walls, which is easier to clean and handles steam better in a small kitchen. Behind the hob, the dado should be continuous and heat-tolerant, with no joint directly behind the flame.

• Set the first course from the finished counter level, not from the floor, so the bottom course is a full tile and not a sliver
• Plan the layout so cuts fall behind the overhead cabinets or at the room corners, not in the middle of the working wall
• Use full adhesive coverage on the wall, so tiles do not sound hollow and crack
• Choose a glazed tile that wipes clean; heavily textured tiles hold oil and dirt
• Use a stain-resistant grout, or epoxy grout behind the hob and sink, because standard cement grout discolours with oil
• Seal the junction between counter and dado with a proper sealant or a stone up-stand

Glass splashbacks and large-format slabs are alternatives to tiles, and they reduce grout lines. They need an absolutely flat wall and careful cut-outs for switches, so the civil preparation behind them is more demanding, not less.

Kitchen flooring

A kitchen floor is wet-mopped every day and regularly meets oil, water and dropped vessels. The main requirements are that it does not become slippery when wet, that it does not stain, and that it can take an impact without cracking. A matt or lightly textured vitrified tile meets all three for most families. Polished marble in a kitchen will stain and etch; high-gloss tiles will be slippery the first time water is spilled on them.

The floor under the platform matters as well. If the platform is masonry, the floor tile can stop at the platform edge. If the base is modular, the floor should run under the carcasses so that they can be replaced later without leaving an untiled patch, and so that water spilled under the plinth has somewhere to go. Levels also need to be carried correctly between the kitchen, the utility area and the living room, so there is no trip edge at the threshold. Our guide to choosing floor tiles for a Mumbai flat goes into the tile choice in more detail.

Ventilation, the chimney duct and the window

Indian cooking produces a lot of oil vapour and steam, and a small Mumbai kitchen with one window will not clear it on its own. A chimney with a proper duct to the outside is far more effective than a recirculating unit. The duct route needs to be planned before the overhead cabinets and the false ceiling, if any, are designed.

• Keep the duct run short with as few bends as possible, because every bend reduces extraction
• Take the duct out through the external wall with a proper cowl and a neat core cut, sealed against rain
• Check the society's rules on external openings and duct outlets on the elevation before the hole is made
• Do not place the hob directly under an opening window, where a breeze will blow out a flame
• Keep the window operable - a kitchen that cannot be aired out in a Mumbai monsoon will grow mould

The sequence a kitchen renovation should run in

The most expensive mistakes in a kitchen renovation are ordering mistakes. When each trade is booked separately, each one does its own part as soon as it is free, and the kitchen ends up being opened and closed several times. A sensible sequence looks like this:

• Finalise the layout, appliance list and counter material, and take society permission
• Protect the rest of the flat and the common areas; set up dust screening
• Disconnect and remove the old kitchen, platform, dado and fittings; remove debris
• Inspect the walls, floor and existing lines; repair any damp, cracked plaster or corroded pipework
• Mark all points and cut chases for plumbing and electrical
• Run concealed plumbing and pressure-test it; run electrical conduits and wiring
• Waterproof the wet zones - sink area floor, wash area - and flood-test where applicable
• Close chases, plaster and cure
• Lay the floor, or at least the floor under the platform zone
• Build the masonry platform, or install the modular base carcasses, to level
• Template, fabricate and fix the counter top with its cut-outs
• Lay the dado from the counter line upwards
• Gas extension or connection by the supplier
• Install overhead units, shutters, hardware, sink, taps, chimney and appliances
• Final electrical fixing, testing and clean-down

Two steps in that list are the ones most commonly compressed and most regretted: the pressure test before the chases close, and the counter template being taken from the installed base rather than from a drawing. Both cost a day. Both save a great deal more than that.

How long a kitchen renovation takes in Mumbai

Timelines vary with scope, but as a guide, the civil and services part of a kitchen renovation - demolition to dado - usually takes around three to five weeks on a typical Mumbai kitchen. The modular fit-out that follows depends on the manufacturer's lead time, which can be two to six weeks from final measurement, and installation itself is a matter of days. Stone fabrication usually takes a week or so after the template is taken.

What stretches a kitchen timeline is rarely the work itself. It is decisions left open: the counter material not chosen, the sink not bought, the chimney model not confirmed, so that nobody can take the cut-out dimensions. The other common delay is the modular order being placed only after the civil work finishes, which leaves the kitchen empty for weeks. Placing the order early, with final measurements taken once the platform or base is in, overlaps the lead time with the civil work.

Society working hours and festival breaks also affect the calendar. Our post on renovating before Diwali sets out the arithmetic of what fits in the weeks before the festive season, and kitchens are a good example of a scope that fits if decisions are made early and does not if they are not.

Living at home during a kitchen renovation

Many families stay in the flat while the kitchen is being redone, and that is workable with some planning. Set up a temporary cooking area elsewhere - an induction plate and a small table in the dining area is often enough - and agree with the contractor on which days water and power will be off. Keep a working tap available somewhere in the flat throughout.

Dust is the main nuisance. Stone cutting, chipping and chasing all produce fine dust that travels through a flat. Good practice on site is to screen the kitchen door, cut stone and tiles with water or extraction rather than dry, and clean down at the end of each day. The same practices keep the society happy and reduce the risk of complaints from neighbours.

Working inside a housing society

A kitchen renovation in a Mumbai housing society runs inside a building that other people live in. Most societies expect a written application, a permission letter from the committee, a refundable deposit and details of the workers who will be entering the building. They also set working hours, restrict noisy work to certain times, and have rules on lift use and debris removal. Our post on society permission for flat renovation in Mumbai covers the paperwork in detail.

For kitchens specifically, three society points come up again and again:

• Moving the kitchen or its sink over a neighbour's dry room below is the change most societies refuse, and for good reason - a wet area above a bedroom is how leaks become disputes
• Chimney duct holes and any change to the window or grill are elevation changes, and many societies regulate them
• Tapping into or altering the common drain line or the gas riser needs society and supplier involvement, not just your contractor

A contractor who works in Mumbai societies regularly should handle the worker documents, keep to the permitted hours, protect the lift and lobby, and clear debris the same day without being asked. The letter and deposit are yours to arrange; everything downstream of that should be the contractor's job.

What drives the cost of a kitchen renovation in Mumbai

Nobody can honestly quote a kitchen over the phone, because the number depends on what is behind the wall as much as what goes in front of it. What can be explained is how the budget breaks down and which decisions move it. In a full flat renovation, the kitchen - platform, counter, dado and units - commonly takes somewhere between a sixth and a fifth of the total budget on its own. Within the kitchen, the biggest moving parts are usually these:

• Modular cabinetry - carcass material, shutter finish and hardware brand span the widest range of any item in the flat, and cabinetry is often the largest single share of a kitchen budget
• Counter material - granite, quartz and sintered stone sit at very different points, and within each there is a wide range
• Whether the layout changes - moving the sink or hob means new drainage, new gas routing and more civil work
• Condition of what is behind the walls - old galvanised pipes, damp plaster or corroded conduit add work that cannot be priced until the wall is open
• Dado extent and tile choice - full-height dado, large-format slabs or glass all add material and labour
• Appliances - chimney, hob, oven, dishwasher and purifier are often excluded from a contractor's quote and then forgotten in the budget
• Electrical upgrade - a dedicated circuit for induction or an oven, and rewiring in an older flat

Keep a contingency. Around ten per cent is a sensible reserve on any renovation that opens up old walls, and more on an older building. Our breakdown of flat renovation cost in Mumbai explains why two quotes for the same kitchen can land far apart - almost always because they are not quoting the same scope.

Where to spend and where to save

If the budget is tight, there are places where economy is sensible and places where it is not.

• Spend on concealed plumbing, the pressure test and waterproofing in the sink and wash zones - they cannot be improved later without breaking the kitchen
• Spend on hinges, channels and drawer runners - they are used thousands of times a year and cheap hardware is the first thing to fail
• Spend on the chimney duct route and a proper outlet - a poorly ducted chimney is a noisy fan that does not clear the kitchen
• Save on shutter finishes if needed - they can be replaced later without touching the civil work
• Save by keeping the sink and hob where they already are, if the existing positions work
• Save by choosing a mid-range granite over a premium one - the performance difference is small

Mistakes we are called in to correct

Some kitchen problems come up so often on our site visits across Kandivali, Borivali and Malad that they are worth listing. Every one of them was avoidable at the planning stage.

• A counter top that falls towards the wall, so water collects at the dado junction and seeps into the wall
• A sink outlet that does not line up with the drain point, patched with flexible pipe and several bends
• Dado laid from the floor, leaving a thin sliver of tile at the counter line
• A hob cut-out made from a catalogue dimension, so the new hob does not fit or sits unsupported
• Chimney duct routed through three bends to reach a window, so extraction is weak and noisy
• Too few power points, leading to extension boards on the counter near the sink
• A water purifier mounted above the hob or with no drain for its reject water
• Gas meter boxed into a cabinet with no access
• Modular base installed on an uneven floor without levelling, so shutters never close evenly
• Chases cut into an RCC column to route a pipe, exposing the reinforcement

Questions to ask a kitchen renovation contractor in Mumbai

Before appointing anyone, a few questions will tell you a great deal about how the job will be run.

• Who is responsible for the civil work, the plumbing and the modular fit-out - and who owns the junctions between them?
• Will the concealed plumbing be pressure-tested before the chases are closed, and can I see it?
• Where will the counter template be taken from - the drawing, or the installed base?
• How will the dado layout be set out relative to the counter line?
• What is excluded - appliances, sink, taps, gas work, electrical fittings?
• What is the sequence and the realistic duration, including the modular lead time?
• How will dust, debris and the society's working hours be handled?
• Who will be on site daily, and who do I call when something is wrong?

A contractor who has done many kitchens will answer these in terms of sequence and responsibility. One who has not will talk mostly about finishes and timelines.

Kitchen renovation in Kandivali, Malad, Borivali and across Mumbai

Chamunda Constructions has been building kitchens as part of complete finishing work for Mumbai builders since 2004, and takes on kitchen renovation for individual homeowners alongside that contract work. The company is led by Bhadresh Chavda and based in Kandivali West, and most of our renovation work is in the western suburbs - Kandivali, Malad, Borivali and Andheri - with projects also in Mulund, Chembur and Bhayander.

On a kitchen, our scope is the civil and services side end to end: demolition, platform, counter laying with edge profiling and cut-outs, concealed inlet and outlet lines, drainage, dado and floor, coordinated with your modular supplier, your gas supplier and your electrician so the junctions sit with one contractor. The platform run is set out against a single datum before anything is cast, and nothing goes behind a finish until it has been checked.

If you are planning a kitchen renovation in Mumbai, the most useful first step is a site visit. Bhadresh Chavda or a member of the team will look at the existing kitchen, the drainage and the walls, talk through how you use the space, and come back with a written scope you can compare against anyone else's. Get in touch through the contact form to arrange a visit.