Kitchens - which is better quality?

Empire_High

I had 18mm laminate kitchen carcusses 11 of them some with glass, with handles, metal hinges, wortop, splash back, Ariston fitted oven Ariston hob,
and exstractor, the kitchen is beautiful and looks a million dollars

I had some agents come round to measure up my kitchen to give a price but they all were exspensive in my eyes, I did not want to waist the time of the agents but the only way to find out the cost is for them to come, they came beck with quotes like £5000
I compaired the prices and the materials used when i returned to Bulgaria
I went to the Bulgarian kitchen company with all the measurements and drawings and the same electrical goods, total cost this time was £1578

but how do you get a kitchen from Bulgaria to the UK? i made some friends who travel to and from Bulgaria who have a van, transport cost was £400 and as the kitchen comes complete and reade made the fitting cost is minimal £150

total cost of the kitchen £ 2128 , saving £ 2872

alzeebub

I've never used Howdens, but I hear theyre pretty good. National Kitchens are very good, I've used them. Also ready built units, 19mm instead of 18mm. soft close everything and superb quality.

ozskin

For quality look for an 18mm carcase with solid back usually 7-8mm and rigid. Be careful howdens do a pre assembled flat pack, this is not the same as a rigid kitchen

jenpage

We plumped for a wickes kitchen back in April despite the fact that my boyfriend has a trade account at Howdens. The reason was that the Howdens kitchen comes already assembled so we'd have needed to have taken the whole of our old kitchen out before the new one arrived. As we wanted to do our kitchen bit by bit so we could keep using it, we didn't fancy that.
We do now regret the decision. Wickes delivered lots of the wrong parts and there was then a big delay waiting for the right ones and some of the staff weren't at all helpful. The units meant for integrated appliances are slightly smaller in dimension by a few mm but this meant our fridge freezer was incredibly awkward to fit.
Wish we'd gone to Howdens!

k-hkr

I do beleive Howdens give different discounts to trade accounts, possibly by how much trade they get from the account holder etc. It may be worth getting more than 1 qoute for the same design. I was told they use only the Schreiber carcases and a range of doors that include Hygena and Schreiber. Best thing is to compare the kitchen with MFI showroom/brochure. If Howdens do the same one ( they don`t do every single range) then you can get direct comparison, although bare in mind that if the range is in both brochures and it is an MFI Hygena range you will get better carcases from Howdens and they are rigid.

Help_Wanted

I'm also in the process of looking for a new kitchen and have been told by a few people that Howdens is the trade arm of MFI. This is no longer the case according to salesmen in one of the MFI stores. A member of my family has a joinery business and he buys all of his kitchen's from Howdens partly because they have a strudy carcuss and partly because they come ready built and rarely have parts missing. I wanted to have a good look about for myself and have had quotes from Mobens and Space both of which nearly caused fainting spells..... Mobens is definately off the list as there are too many bad reports from different people. Space however have a great reputation and come highly recommended....I may still buy from them yet. However I can't seem to get past the Howden prices which are very reasonable in comparison. Any further info or advice is very welcome:D

ozskin

they are all pretty similar in quality and are all flat packs, despite the howdens coming pre assembled. therefore go for the cheapest. do not confuse this with rigid kitchens. if you can afford then go for a true rigid kitchen glued and doweled, with an 18mm carcase and rigid 7/8mm solid back.

KTheGaffer

Okay a bit more info for you.

MFI used own Howdens until last year they sold it off, MFI where not making much profit, don't understand that one!

Anyway, Howdens still supply to MFI and to TRADE.
I know someone with an account who fit's kitchens so I get full discount on
EVERYTHING.

I know some of the prices look high but the quality I am told is good and 90% of their kitchens come pre-built.

You can ask Howdens to measure for you and in return your builder/fitter gets a detail list of everything, price list and 3d colour drawing of what it may look like.

We are currently looking to replace our kitchen with EVERYTHING integrated and yes that costs a lot more!!!

In total we are saving about £4,000 off the list price, that's over 14 cabinets, including pull out larder, corner base pull out thingy!, hob/oven, extractor, Hotpoint diswasher, Washer/Dryer, Fridge/Freezer and all the finishes.

We went to MFI and compared prices and howdesn are cheaper... the person who has the account with howden also said he is going to try and haggle even more!

I would not go to B&Q nor Focus!


Well we will keep you posted of what happens ....

Good Luck!
KTheGaffer


UPDATE:
They also have a website http://www.the-kitchen.co.uk/ which is the trade version.
The Howdens.com is brand new and is not fully completed.