B & Q Kitchens

4Chickens

Hi

We are almost ready to install our new kitchen. We had a kitchen designer visit and I am awaiting his plans and price for supply only. I suspect that our budget won't be enough and we are considering B&Q as an alternative. Any experiences and commets from those of you who installed your own kitchens would be most welcome
Also, are B&Q likely to have a January sale?

andrew-b

B&Q are quite likely to have one of their infamous 50% off sales like the one over the last year that went on up until this autumn...don't get too excited though it's 50% off a price that was recently doubled when their last supposedly 50% off offer ended!
I'd goto wickes for their order only range as an alternative. So long as you don't fall for any in-store fitting deals you should be fine.

nicjp

I installed a B&Q kitchen with my dad about 2 years ago, I was also on a budget. Easy instructions to follow and they delivered everything on time at once. make sure you check everything, my worktop was damaged on delivery. I would have someone fit the worktop if you can afford it, we did our own using a router etc. they look great but it took a long time. I have the lowest cost worktop, would not recommend black gloss as it chips very easily, but over all i was satisfied and the kitchen looked loads better than before. I think it was ok value for money.

edgex

having been looking round the kitchen suppliers recently with a friend, i have to say that the b&q stuff is rubbish
for some reason, loads of items on their show kitchens have been discontinued, & yet are still on display, & they really wernt put together well at all
(if their own shopfitters cant fit them properly, whats wrong with them?)
they seemed to be about lots of gadgets etc, but not much attention went into the basics.


friend has now sourced cupboards from ikea, much better build quality.

Wetkitten

Hi there

I have had both B&Q and Ikea fitted in various places, and I would vote for Ikea - quality of drawer runners and dampers etc is better.

My experience is that collection/delivery is always a nightmare, wherever kitchen comes from - but just accept it is part of the process and don't let it ruin your day!

Main tip: don't get appliances from B&Q as part of kitchen package - you can get better prices online. John Lewis Xmas sale is well worth a visit if you can get there early on first day - I have got 2 cookers 30% off cos of no packaging. Ikea appliances seem to be ok.

I agree about the worktop and would add that if you are going for wooden worktops, again B&Q is expensive. Ikea is cheaper but quality is not all that great. You can get longer lengths (which can be cut down) and better prices online.

And go to Wickes for sinks and taps, again cheaper than B&Q for stuff that looks the same.

Good luck!

latecomer

We had a basic B&Q kitchen in one of our flats which we fitted ourselves - cheap and looked reasonable.

We have just bought a kitchen for our new place and we went to B&Q to see what they had and got a kitchen design done. The special discount we were told we ere getting turned out to be more expensive than the prices in the standard price list we picked up while we were there. As I dont like being lied to and potentially ripped off there was no way I'd had given the business even if they did give a genuine 50% discount..

BTW In the end we ordered Burbidge oak doors online - doors came today and the units should be arriving tomorrow. fingers crossed it will all be ok and as we ordered.

4Chickens

Thank for all your replies.

The kitchen designer pointed out that the carcasses that come with his kitchen are solid, ie not chip board but mdf and the backs of the cupboards are solid too. His design and quote should come in the post today.
I am starting to have doubts about B&Q and will start to research Wickes i think.
Again, thanks for your input

sinks-taps.com

I'd look online for all your appliances, sink, tap and accessories. Much more choice and miles better value.

keystone

sinks-taps.com wrote: »

I'd look online for all your appliances, sink, tap and accessories. Much more choice and miles better value.

YGWYPF.

Cheers

CKdesigner

cindiedunkley wrote: »

Thank for all your replies.

The kitchen designer pointed out that the carcasses that come with his kitchen are solid, ie not chip board but mdf and the backs of the cupboards are solid too. His design and quote should come in the post today.
I am starting to have doubts about B&Q and will start to research Wickes i think.
Again, thanks for your input

Hi

I think the designer has made a mistake. 99% of all kitchen manufacturers use chipboard for the carcasses, its easily the best material to use. I don't know any manufacturer that would use MDF for the carcasses, there are very few top end manufacturers and some small joinery shops that will use solid Birch ply, which is slightly better than chipboard but not practical for larger manufacturers.

The designer may have said MFC rather than MDF. The kitchen industry doesn't like to say chipboard so they use the term MFC, which stands for 'Melamine faced chipboard'!

To complicate things more there are different thickness, grades and densities of chipboard, obviously the higher the grade the better.

Like all things you generally get what you pay for.

Good luck

CK.

hwalkerh

Hi

We bought a B and Q It range kitchen and i must say it looks and feels really good. We bought all the kitchen units and worktops from B and Q which left us more money to by the finishing touches and appliances from else where. A friend of ours has a magnet kitchen which cost at least 5 times as much and i would say you couldn't tell the difference.

The one thing i would say with a cheap kitchen is to choose the style carefully, some of the wood effects can look a bit cheap. If you go to a B and Q superstore then you can see all the differnent styles there which is helpful.

Hope this helps