B & Q Kitchens

temba

Hi I'm in the middle of a kitchen. I'm not convinced I'm doing it the right way, but I've got good quality solid base units from www.woodfit.com, and I'm currently buying my appliances in the sales - currys have done very well so far (a bargain £120 double fan oven because it was discontinued and lost its knobs), and a ss cooker hood from B&Q for £50 - the doors and worktop will follow when I decide, but so far I've been looking at lots on the internet, and as it is only me who has to live with it, I'm not going to rush my decision.

I did discover after I've ordered my units (ie too late to change) that the Howdens quote my builder got me was incredibly negotiable, indeed, one friend of mine got them from £4K to £2500, including all appliances, which frankly was very good for the kitchen she got. This was partly because the builder passed on the whole trade discount, and partly because she bargained. I, in many ways, wish I'd gone that way, but at the same time, my kitchen will be mix and match and exactly what I want, even if it takes me 6 months to source and afford it.

I have to say that probably everyone who replaces a kitchen would change something about the way they do it next time. It is a learning experience and don't beat yourself up about anything. Remember that you don't have to do everything at once, or buy everything from the same place. One of the main things I learnt though is that if you don't buy everything from the same place you can't get the same discounts. That is definitely worth bearing in mind.

Good luck.

joewa

Having had experience of them with installation of a kitchen and bathroom.if i had to do it again i would go somewere else

leveller2911

CKdesigner wrote: »

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.

Actually chipboard is NOT the best material to use for carcases.In fact its only beneift is its cheap.

We make our carcases out of MR MDF with a spray paint finish if required(never had any problems with de-laminating).We also use vaneered MDF and ply to match timbers.

I would agree Birch faced ply is better than chipboard.

Other than price why is Birch faced ply not practical for larger manufacturers???..In fact it machines much better than chipboard as does MR MDF...

CKdesigner

leveller2911 wrote: »

Actually chipboard is NOT the best material to use for carcases.In fact its only beneift is its cheap.

We make our carcases out of MR MDF with a spray paint finish if required(never had any problems with de-laminating).We also use vaneered MDF and ply to match timbers.

I would agree Birch faced ply is better than chipboard.

Other than price why is Birch faced ply not practical for larger manufacturers???..In fact it machines much better than chipboard as does MR MDF...

You are right it is cheap but it is perfectly practical to use chipboard as long as it is of a decent quality to use as kitchen carcasses. That's why virtually all kitchen manufacturers that make more than 1 kitchen a day use it. After all, saying a kitchen manufacturer shouldn't use chipboard for its carcasses because its not the best material to use would be like telling all car manufacturers that steel is no good for car bodies and they should use Aluminium instead!