Cooke & Lewis kitchens at B & Q

TomsMom

Thanks NorthernMonkey. Top of my list at the moment is the solid ash one with the double rebate detail thingy on the door. Will have to see if I still like it when I see it in the flesh. I'll have a solid ash dining table in the kitchen so will have to make sure they compliment each other.

I'm still at the "compare with other makes" stage at the moment so wont be rushing into it, but grateful for the heads up about Boxing Day. If I'm impressed enough I can always keep checking the website and order online.

Doozergirl

Thanks for the heads-up Northern monkey - I will look at the IT cream range to compare I have the curvy units in this kitchen though - do they do them in the cheaper range? I'm pleased that the Aubergine is poular as it's going in a house to sell - we were originally going to go with a more conservative accent but realised we'd have to have stone tops rather than wood for it to look decent against a wood door. I'd rather go with the Aubergine and change the doors over to cream if people don't like it than spend out on stone again. We've gone quite gadgety already and I want to save a bit of money by having walnut tops.

TomsMum, my design has gone into the kitchen guy's Christmas folder. He said that those already in and designed are able to take advantage of better lead times as the more people order in the sales, the longer the lead times on the kitchens become So do the design first - also, take advantage of the design service because they often have better ideas than you might.

We've bought that many kitchens and it is literally just this kitchen where I feel I've got the knack of it and have come up with something really special without much input from the salesperson. It's the layout and great fitting that will make a cheaper kitchen look expensive.

jennyjelly

If I could give only one piece of advice it would be - DON'T BUY A B&Q KITCHEN!!!

We were foolish enough to a couple of years ago and we may as well have fed our £5000 to the ducks.

The units and doors are dreadful quality and not sealed so water has got in and caused bubbling, and when we complained a rep came out and told us that was because we had let them get wet (it's a kitchen, duh!).

The fitters let us down time and again and the week I had booked off work turned into a month, many of those days without anyone turning up. The doors and worktops arrived damaged and had to be returned for replacement which meant more time off work to accomodate that.

The workmanship was terrible and the doors and drawers have all dropped, the sink leaked and the waste disposal has never worked properly. The only part of the whole job that was vaguely satisfactory was the tiling.

After months of wrangling we wrote telling them that we were going to the small claims court, and within a few days we were offered a £300 refund, which we thought was insulting. We argued it up to just under £1000 which we accepted for an easy life. I really wish now we had stuck to our guns and gone to court as I am 100% sure the finding would have been in our favour, but at the time we were just glad to be finished with it.

It's still in place because we can't afford to replace it yet, and every time I see the wonky drawers and doors and the bubbled laminate I hate it.

I only wish I had done a bit of googling before we signed, as there are so many people who have had the same problems we would have lived with the old kitchen forever rather than spend good money on this heap of badly installed junk.

So be warned!

TomsMom

Oh Jennyjelly, I'm sorry your kitchen has been such a let down.

I see that you mentioned the units and doors were poor quality. What type of kitchen was it? One of their IT or a Select one?

I've been doing a lot of research into quality and comparing the usual suppliers (Howdens, Wickes, Jewsons, Travis Perkins, B&Q Cooke & Lewis) and my local supplier (who is expensive) they all have 18mm cabinets with Wickes, Jewsons and Travis Perkins having 15mm backs, B & Q C&L having 8mm backs and Howdens 6mm (3mm on wall units). Given that, the Cooke & Lewis cabinets are the same except for the backs.

Is it mainly the installation that has been the cause of the problems? We wouldn't be using their fitters. My OH has previously fitted four kitchens and my son is a tiler/kitchen/bathroom fitter so we wont have a problem there. I have heard that B & Q charge about £45 per sq metre for tiling yet only pay their tilers less than half of that (not sure if this is true).

I will take heed of your warning and have a good look when I go, and I'll be asking quite a few questions too. I'm not in any hurry so wont rush into it.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

jennyjelly

Hi TomsMom, thanks for the sympathy! I can't remember which range it was from, but it is pale maple effect, flat rather than panelled with the 2 edges of each panel curved, iyswim. It wasn't the dearest in the store, but then it wasn't the cheapest either - and even it if had been it still should have been fit for the purpose. A kitchen door that warps when water drips on it? Hmm.

The fitters were dreadful (they are a separate company who contract for B&Q, I think they were called something like Tuckers?), but after all the hassle they gave us they actually left behind what looked like a reasonable job. It was about a month later that we noticed the start of the bubbling and called out the rep who told us we shouldn't have got water on it. Ridiculous man.

Shortly after that the drawers and door started to slip and sag, and one of the installers came back to put it right and said,off the record, that they dreaded fitting B&Q kitchens because they knew how rubbish they are and had to go back to them all the time as they fell apart.

So on balance, although the installers were awful as far as reliablity was concerned, the real problem lay with the kitchen.

I should point out that the reason we chose a B&Q kitchen in the first place was because our old kitchen was one of theirs and was still ok after 15 years, just very dated. I guess standards have slipped!

Anyway, just please be careful when choosing, I would hate anyone on this site to have to go through what we went through with ours. Good luck with it!

Doozergirl

jennyjelly wrote: »

Hi TomsMom, thanks for the sympathy! I can't remember which range it was from, but it is pale maple effect, flat rather than panelled with the 2 edges of each panel curved, iyswim. It wasn't the dearest in the store, but then it wasn't the cheapest either - and even it if had been it still should have been fit for the purpose. A kitchen door that warps when water drips on it? Hmm.

It sounds like an IT kitchen - we've bought the cherry style modern many times and yours sounds like the maple style modern.

If a kitchen is fitted badly it will wear a lot quicker. We have friends with a badly fitted kitchen and it looks like it's falling apart after not long at all. It doesn't excuse the bubbling but it is one of the cheaper ranges. If they are solid wood doors, there would be nothing to bubble.

Always use a personally recommended fitter and, if it's a takeaway kitchen, source the missing parts directly from the shop or from other stores and get a refund from yours - it's quicker than waiting weeks for a delivery and the fitters don't have to come back.

Jules22

We've just fitted a Select B&Q kitchen and its BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

Everything came on time and in good order.

I didnt like the IT kitchens, they seemed very weak and cheaply constructed. OK you do pay more for the Select range but its worth it.

They only thing I didnt like is....if you need any extras it always a 6 week wait. Nothing is kept in stock,not even a hinge, so make sure you order everything you want on the first order.

NorthernMonkey85

Doozergirl - They only do the curved doors in high gloss cream, white, black, red, amberley and clevedon (all cooke&lewis)

In regard to quality, the maple/cherry/moderns are the cheapest, or should i say 'best value' lol and are just a veneered chip and i'll be honest and say that quality of some of those and some it kitchens can be a bit suspect. Many a time i've swapped doors for customers and even opened a new box to check first and found scuffs and scratches, peeling etc on the modern ranges. Theyre not too bad though generally and fitted well and carefully and the doors undamaged when bought, they'll look fine and last, as will anything when looked after really.

Common problems are slap dash fitting in regard to not screwing things together very well which in turn causes the drawer boxes to pull screws out the carcasses (some of those drawer boxes can be loaded quite heavily) and damage them and then they drop. The worse thing to do is skimp on screws like our shop fitters did on the displays using just two screws either side of each runner on big heavy 1000mm wide drawer boxes! Door gaps arn't too bad t resolve either with some care and attention adjusted the hinges (they can be adjusted to pull in and out, top and bottom)

Putting it together well is the key which in somecases isnt done and ive read many a horror story about our fitters aswell as resolving issues in store but they are gradually becoming fewer fortunately!

In regards to stock, it depends whats needed really. We stock most of the basic items to do with it kitchens and the spare hinges for them etc but anything cooke and lewis alongside quite a few other extras can unfortunately incur about a 4 week wait - its actaully about the beginning of January now for a complete kitchen to come from 'SFC' due to quite a backlog of orders through people wanting to avoid the christmas and january rush.

Peartree

As another option, can I suggest you look at diy-kitchens, an online supplier. I bought doors from them recently and a couple of replacement units and found their prices comparable with B&Q. When they arrived, I was very pleased with the quality and (if I'd been concentrating on the details I'd have noticed but) was surprised to find the units came ready assembled. Even more surprised to discover they were so solidly made we could barely lift them. The staff are incredibly helpful as well.

Not on commission - just rather pleased that I made a good choice and wanted to share it! And while I'm in this unusually benign mood - here's a big hurrah for Savoy Timber - my local timber merchant, who stock all the major brands of worktop, along with anything else you might need - who are so incredibly friendly and helpful I'd like to go and live there! Actually, I think I'll scoot off and make my first post ever on that board where you praise companies - I'm more familiar with the one where you complain!

dalison

Hi, Sorry to kjoin into this thread but it seems the appropriate place considering so many of you have these kitchens. We are purchasing a Cooke and Lewis kitchen and are unsure about what work surface to have. We really like the solid Oak top but are they high maintenance and do the scratch when using knives etc. Or would a granite type be best. I know there are cheaper Oak tops from other places but none seem to do the curved shape around the hob area. Thanks all. Dalison