Who supplies B&Q granite work surfaces?

IanTaylor

We've looked at many new granite work surfaces for our new kitchen and we like the look of B&Qs the best, the only problem is they won't give you a discount on granite (even when bought with a new kitchen), and I'm a good haggler! Does anyone know where B&Q get their granite from ... their kitchen department say they don't know ... hoping to go direct and get a good deal!

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Ian (in Cheltenham, Glos)

CKdesigner

Hi, I would steer clear of B & Q's granite, as all I have seen on their displays is damaged as they only use thin peices granite - then I assume, clad around a core material. Normal granite companies use 30 mm solid granite for worktops and 20 mm for cladding etc.

Doozergirl

You will get a better price on solid granite from many places. We have the sparkly disco speedstone quartz from B&Q in our kitchen. I do love it and it was a rejected customer order and really very cheap for them but it still was perhaps a 25% discount on a company that only supplies granite once we'd paid for fitting - considering it was a 70-80% discount on the B&Q retail price!

And CKdesigner is right, it is wrapped around mdf so not good value for money especially considering it's more expensive!

I've used diapol in the past and they were superb. No money until it's fitted and from initial call to onsite templating, to having it cut and shipped then fitted was three weeks. There's so many companies out there, H is using one for a quick turnaround that cut on site, so we'll see what they are like.

premkit

they are supplied by sheridens, its 15mm stone on 25mm mdf.
i use to fit them, if they were half the price they would be a little expensive.
having them fitted by the b+q fitter will be very expensive as b+q take a big cut,like theydo on everything.

Meepster

I'll just second what everyone else has said, the surfaces in B&Q LOOK good, but they are poor quality, you can get REAL granite, Silestone or Corian MUCH cheaper than what you pay at B&Q...

Alan_M_2

Have a hunt around.

Granite has never been cheaper than it is now, I'm in the industry (I'm a wholesaler supplier and don't get involved in the installations at all).

So any generic questions fire away and I'll answer what I can.

turk3y

Hi Alan I went to the ideal home show last year and saw

http://retail.chilternmarble.co.uk/granite_worktops/just_arrived/new_cambrian_black_leather

but cant seem to find it anywhere else, I thought its matt effect would make it good with spills and the like but the fact I cant see it elsewhere sets off warning signs, plus they seem expensive. Have you heard of this before and is it more commonly known as something else?

Nefertare

This might sound wierd but have you got any tomb stone merchants near you? When my parents wanted a long granite slab for their fireplace (6 ft long) they went to the local tomb stone maker and ordered it from them. It was much cheaper than any DIY store they found and is a stunning dark blue/black colour. I'm not sure if it's still the case (this was 1999), but the granite is as solid as can be and 60mm thick (you can get thinner). they order them in slabs of 12 ft by 12ft and cut them down so they can cut to size.

We always joked that we had them engrave their tombstone on the underside ready for when they die!

kitchenmicky

Sheridans supply the solid surfaces for B & Q ,they also make a range called Quicktops ,this is exactly the same ,Speedstone is just the trade name for B & Q . Sheridans wont deal with you unless you are trade ,there is a guy on Ebay who sells the Quicktops and offers a fitting service ,got to be worth a look .

lindos90

Ive seen a kitchen in wickes that I like, and would also like this type of black sparkly quartz, however the one at wicks (although it appears solid) is only 3cm deep, which almost makes it look like that really cheap looking wortop.

Went to B&Q, and their quartz is 4cm, and looks so much more expensive looking. This is a thinner layer of quartz on chipboard, but why is that so bad? Surely its still strong enough and will do the same job?

Anyway, played dumb and spoke to one of the guys at B&Q (knowing in the past that the speedstone quartz worktop is not sold without a kitchen at B&Q, it even says so in their current brochure) and the guy said that it could be done!!!!....now im wondering if he didnt know what he was talking about, but he seemed to be the one in charge!

Anyone else got some recent experience of finding/buying/using/fitting this worksurface?

(knowledge is power and all that!)

Thank you!

Doozergirl

lindos90 wrote: »

Ive seen a kitchen in wickes that I like, and would also like this type of black sparkly quartz, however the one at wicks (although it appears solid) is only 3cm deep, which almost makes it look like that really cheap looking wortop.

Went to B&Q, and their quartz is 4cm, and looks so much more expensive looking. This is a thinner layer of quartz on chipboard, but why is that so bad? Surely its still strong enough and will do the same job?

Anyway, played dumb and spoke to one of the guys at B&Q (knowing in the past that the speedstone quartz worktop is not sold without a kitchen at B&Q, it even says so in their current brochure) and the guy said that it could be done!!!!....now im wondering if he didnt know what he was talking about, but he seemed to be the one in charge!

Anyone else got some recent experience of finding/buying/using/fitting this worksurface?

(knowledge is power and all that!)

Thank you!

Had sparkly white quartz (30mm) templated for our development last week, should be fitted this week. I've gone to using diapol again as the price of the quartz has come down quite a bit over the last year.

As my above post, I've got the 4cm black sparkly B&Q stuff in my own kitchen and I'm more than happy with it after 2.5 years there isn't a scratch on it. Ultimately, 3cm or 4cm it doesn't matter - 3cm you can boast that it's solid, 4cm you can pretend it is, lol!

I'll see what the 3cm looks like in one of our own kitchens later on this week, but all solid granite surfaces are 3cm thick and we've fitted many of those, and they never look cheap at all! Fact is that the 4cm is cheaper, whether you think it looks more exp is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

Either way, you'll pay less by shopping anywhere other than Wickes and B&Q for it - not only for the worktops themselves but the fact that you have to pay their extortionate fitting charges for the entire kitchen and no guarantee of the quality of that fitting.