Which is the best DIY chain?

gou82

Hi have just bought our first home (woo!) and want to repaint all the rooms this weekend before moving in. We have all the major stores nearby - Wickes, Homebase, B&Q, Focus. Which is the best? Are they all much of a muchness? Or is one likely to save us money over the others (esp in terms of brushes, masking tape and other sundries)?

We’re pretty inexperienced when it comes to DIY having rented since leaving home, don’t really have a feel for what prices/value you get from what store. We usually go to Wilkinson for this type of stuff cos have found that to be the cheapest, but have never bought paint from there. If we go with the cheapest own-brand stuff will we regret it?

Notice most of these stores have 2-for-£ or similar discounts on Dulux etc and own brand paint. Is own brand paint any good (am thinking of the recent Wickes own-brand ads on the telly)?

As we want to get this done (2 bedrms, lounge, kitchen, bthrm) this weekend we don’t really have time to shop around too much.


Thanks in advance!

cbrown372

Focus had an offer on if you had just bought a new house you got a discount card for so many weeks/months would be worth checking it out.

ormus

depends what youre buying.
i use wickes a lot. cheap and cheerful. poor selection though.
BQ great selection, but prices can be very variable.

focus is a complete waste of time.

screwfix and toolstation are great for prices. esp all the small stuff like tools/plumbing bits.

keith969

ormus wrote: »

focus is a complete waste of time.

When Focus was Do It All, it was known in our house as 'Do F*** All' as whenever I went there it never had what I wanted in stock :rotfl:

WestonDave

Wickes is pretty good for generic stuff - brushes (although I'm liking Tesco ones at present!) masking tape, etc - stuff that you don't need a brand name for. I've never used their paint but I can't see why it would be worse than other own brand paint. B&Q own brand paint used to be dreadful.

Niv

It is worth noting that focus do have a new home owners card, however, they are more expensive than B & Q when comparing like for like.

Generally agree with the above on the rest, wickes is decent, and I think toolstation is great value for money (generally), however this tends to be mainly if you are buying bulk.

Kiran

IMHO no one shed is better than the others for everything. Its a case of finding out which ones are the best for what you want. For example Wickes kitchens are the best of the shed range and their the closest thing left to a DIY builders merchant however if you want a blind or a light then much as it pains me to say it B&Q probably has the better range (if you don't mind waiting for ages at the 2 checkouts that are open). If you want to buy furniture from a DIY shed then homebase would be your shop. Back in the day before they bought out Texas homebase used to sell propper DIY stuff and not just decorative items. As for Focus........................well I did once get a really nice wooden garden furniture set:rotfl:

So my advice would be shop around and use the net. You'll be amazed what you can pick up from screwfix, toolstation and even ebay!

andy_hamilton_2

I love wickes. They are cheap but do good products

Kiran

andy_hamilton wrote: »

I love wickes. They are cheap but do good products

Andy, how long have you been employed by Wickes then?? lol :rotfl:

grandma

["We usually go to Wilkinson for this type of stuff cos have found that to be the cheapest, but have never bought paint from there"]

We never go anywhere but Wilkinsons for our paint.The quality and the price is very good.I don't think that you will be disappointed.Happy painting!

gou82

Hi, thanks for all the replies.

We were tempted by the Focus new homeowner deal, but not if they're truly a waste of time. Would like to have a good range of paints to choose from. Might do a quick tour of Wickes, Wilko and B&Q to compare, but less browsing more painting is our MO.