Which is the best DIY chain?

lynzpower

SailorSam wrote: »

B&Q have done a few 20% off w/e lately if you spend over £50, watch out there's sure to be another coming up.

This is a great deal. I took advantage of this for work stuff the other day.

I buy lots of stuff for work ( chains, padlocks, foam, filler, locks, bits of pipe assorted bits & pieces) For this sort of thing I think Wickes is probably the best but I end up in B&Q more as there are more of them. I do think B&Q can be really expensive for some things. I tend to visit a shed most days. :rotfl:

For anything heavy duty I try screwfix. Bought a sack cart last month - very substantial, a lot better than the B&Q or Argos alternatives. I really like the quality of service in screwfix, you can definately go in there not knowing what it is you need and come out with the perfect solution. The staff know what they sell unlike our freinds in B&Q london stores that are not the specialists that they used to advertise them to be.

For home stuff, I always try wilkinson first for curtain poles/wires/ hooks/plant pots etc. B&Q phenomentally expensive for things like Large planters, basic lamp shades etc.

When we completely repainted my old flat we used Dulux trade Magnolia & spent 30 quid on paint and it did the whole large 2 bed flat. Great even coverage. I have used B&Q, Wilkinsons, all sorts. We are not great painters to be honest, I think much of painting is the skill and the patience- I have neither

I never go to focus as theres hardly any and when I have they havent had what Ive wanted.

I dont think any one of them is consistently cheap for anything I think shopping around really is the way to go.

Eric1

Any opinions on Clas Ohlson?
Recently browsed their new store, looked OK, but don't remember seeing any paint stuff

gou82

Two comments of the replies have caught my imagination:

I dont think any one of them is consistently cheap for anything I think shopping around really is the way to go.

would you drive past one shed to get to another ?

So have spent a bit of time comparing prices quoted on the main players' websites. The items on my shopping list were:

1. Magnolia emulsion 2.5 L
2. Brilliant white bathroom 2.5 L
3. 9" roller + tray
4. 2" brush
5. 2" masking tape

B&Q don't seem to have their paints online, so sucks to be them, and Wickes mostly only sell their own brand paint.

Today's prices were:

Item 1
Homebase - £14.90 (Dulux) / £11.99 (Homebase)
Focus - £14.99 (Dulux Silk) / £14.49 (Focus Matt)
Wickes - £9.00 (Wickes own brand)
Wilko - £13.47 (Dulux Silk) / £8.97 (Wilko Budget)

Item 2
Homebase - £14.24 (Dulux) / £11.24 (Hombase)
Focus - £19.39 (Dulux) / £14.49 (Focus)
Wickes - £13.99 (Wickes)
Wilko - £15.97 (Dulux)

Item 3/4/5 (Cheapest price found)
Homebase - £2.19 / £0.49 (Value Range) / £3
Focus - [Got bored by now and didn't bother checking Focus]
Wickes - £2.99 / £5 ('Professional') / £2.98
Wilko - £1.99 / £1.00 / £2.00

So there we go. Homebase comes out quite competitive, but they've got 15% off everything at the moment. Wickes and Wilko's 'normal' prices are pretty good I reckon.

The other factor is the cost of driving to the appropriate shed. Taking
my car's consumption as 30mpg, and the cost of petrol £5/gallon (both slightly conservative) gives 17p/mile. There's a Homebase and a Brewers about a mile from me, whereas Wickes, B&Q, Focus & Wilko all involve a 25 mile round trip, costing £4.25 in fuel, which is worth thinking twice about. Even more so if you take the full 'cost of motoring' (including insurance, running costs, depreciation) which is 44p/mile (at least that's what my company pays).


Anyway we were at the new flat today and the previous owners have left a load of the existing wall colour Dulux silk magnolia (together with loads of screw holes in the walls - curses! - any tips on filling these gratefully received), so have decided to paint three walls in each room with boring old magnolia (not great fans of the colour but seems stupid to waste it), and one 'feature' wall in a contrasting colour. So the question has now resolved itself into which store has the best range of trendy colours. So we're heading off to Brewer's in the morning. May pop in to Farrow&Ball on the way for a good laugh.

OK_Sauce

keith969 wrote: »

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:

SNAP. That's exactly what we call them now even though it's been Focus for years! Never has what you want!!

dander

I tend to be mainly a Wickes person for "proper" stuff, like wood and screws etc. However Focus is my nearest store, so I do pop in there - I find, as others have said, for actual hard DIY stuff, they are useless, but I find them good for the frilly bits - I've often got very good deals on tiles in there, garden stuff, etc - my barbeque and lawnmower both came from there. They have a better wallpaper range than the homebases I've been in and I find they are probably the best DIY place for "specials" - when they have a couple of pallets of their latest special offer items by the door, they are more heavily discounted than you get at other places. They also do the 10% discount cards for home-movers, or last year when there was a flurry of DIY stores with 15% off everything days, Focus were offering 15% off everything, plus a card giving you 10% off until Christmas.

I do tend to shop around for things like paint online, and then head for the shop with the best deal - there's no consistent leader though, one store might be cheaper for Dulux emulsion, another better for Dulux gloss.

I noticed last time I was in Homebase, that although a lot of their stuff was more expensive on the shelf, they had a big sign up saying they'd match the price if you could get something cheaper elsewhere - so that might be worth bearing in mind if they are convenient and you can be bothered to go through that process.

I find for size and range, B&Q has by far the most, but that puts me off them as much as it is good. I find it so tiresome having to find things in a mammoth store, or trying to find someone to ask, and then the queues are huge . If you know exactly what you want it's easier to nip somewhere smaller and grab it and be on your way.

andrew-b

I prefer wickes when possible as there returns policy is much longer. For raw building materials wickes are my favourite (cement, bricks, timber, MDF etc) - B&Q when needs must but not homebase for the basic raw materials.

B&Q i hate but reluctantly tend to favour over Homebase as usually marginally cheaper..tend to go there if after branded stuff like dulux paint or things that wickes don't stock. B&Q own stuff generally seems to be tripe...for example their door handles we needed to buy about 10 pairs before we could find 5 pairs deemed of acceptable quality (still not that great though!).

Homebase is usually 3rd choice as it's generally more expensive that B&Q ..unless there is a discount event then it is a strong contender for whatever i happen to be after at that time. Also homebase is a good alternative to Argos..often worth checking argos website for the same items to check online reviews. When we moved into our house we spent alot at homebase as we bought a pair of sofas which qualified for the higher spend&save discounts (spend&save now axed). We went Friday evening to homebase to take advantage of 15% event (came home with garden furniture, hose reel and a washing line) ...hardly anyone there so much better time to go.

Often we've ended up going to all 3 stores comparing items before buying an item...order depending on travel direction and closing times.

We have a Focus but further than all the other stores so i've bought next to nothing from them..never really comes into my thinking!

Recently I've tended to shop online at home though then send wife out to fetch the items when she's near the diy stores..on that basis i'd say B&Q is the better website that most accurately reflects the items sold in store with stock check. Homebase website we've found doesn't always give the full range..much better now than it was though. Wickes website doesn't seem to give the complete range either and is let down by lack of in-store "stock check" though we've not really had any problems with lack of stock..though not as easy to find what your looking for on the website (better to search through the catalogue and then search on product code). Incidentally i also like wickes for their catalogue.

Don't overlook other places though..like plumber's merchants.. for example i couldn't find some waste pipe connectors i wanted in wickes other than packets containing like 10 fittings rather than the 1 i needed...plumbase could give me just the 1 fitting so saved me money plus will advise you better.

So in summary not really any best one place for everything!

alanamyles

This has been a really interesting thread to read - I'm in a similar situation myself having just moved into a new home (in which EVERY room needs renovating, including the garden!).

Would anyone be able to suggest which DIY "budget" ranges are worth getting (or avoiding)? Particularly in regards to paint. I'd rather pay for premium brands if the cheapest ranges end up requiring 3+ coats!

Also, I'm needing wood to build a fence - is Wickes/B&Q the best option?

I've personally been able to find loads of bits and pieces in Poundland, ie: exterior/interior gloss, paintbrushes, dust sheets, small tools). Also, have you tried asking for surplus paint/supplies on your local Freecycle? I can't praise that site enough - managed to almost furnish our house on donations alone!

ormus

as been said, any serious building materials such as fencing, then wickes is usually the best choice.
BQ can be very expensive on this sort of stuff.