End Panels for Kitchen Units

3under3

Hi All,

I had my kitchen planned by a Wickes kitchen designer recently and I've noticed on the quotation that 5 end panels have been listed. Only one of these end panels will be on view with the rest butting up to walls. Now I know that the end panel looks nicer but you can't really see it so I was thinking of doing away with the end panels and saving £70 a time!

Are these end panels necessary for any structural reason or purely decorative?

poet123

They give support,but the front edge is visible and usually glossy,alsothe whole design will have these measurements factored into it,so the units will not fit exactly if these are not present.

jennifernil

In our kitchen they are purely decorative. Where units butt up to a wall I would not bother with one. However do check the measurements first.

Why not contact Wickes and ask them to modify the plan? A saving of £280 is certainly worthwhile!

3under3

jennifernil wrote: »

.
Why not contact Wickes and ask them to modify the plan? A saving of £280 is certainly worthwhile!

I'm going through the quote with a toothcomb as it's a bit over our budget, there are one or two things I think we can cut down on and this is one of them. The walls are not even built yet so I think we can cope with slight changes in the dimensions of the kitchen units.

poet123

If the plan can be adapted then you could dispense with them,unless you are having granite tops,then you may need the support.

3under3

The worktops will be either solid wood or if we go down the cheaper route - laminate. No doubt which looks nicer and I like the fact that the solid would can be maintained and repaired.

Pauls

You should find that the base units already have end panels, and they'll just be plain white. You only need to replace the one's that are on show.

Typical big chain trying to extract every penny :mad: :mad:

roddydogs

Thats where they make the money-not on the base units but all the "extras"

27col

You can have exactly what you want. Just because they designed it does not mean that the design is cast in stone. I remember that when we had a kitchen design done, we changed it in many respects.Only you really know how you will use it. We put on end panels where they showed. In one case we used wall cupboards on the floor as a peninsular unit and put spare doors on the back of the units to hide the ugly backs.

Alias_Omega

Coloured end panels just make things look nicer,

The problem with wickes kitchens is that they have no drawers, they only come will full size doors on the base units, and have to put a 3 door unit, not that good if you have a small kitchen with a washer, dishwasher, dryer.

Get the price for it, then goto homebase & B&Q, after all they say they can price match & beat it by 10%

ic

End panels aren't structural at all, they just finish off the visible ends. If you need a filler up to a wall, a length of plinth can be cut to size to fill the gap and attached to the cabinet with suitable brackets.