Homebase Kitchens - Any good?

nikkiniknik

After much research and forum reading we fitted our Homebase Stockholm kitchen (white gloss handleless) last month and I absolutely love it, I got it for a great price in November, I think it was 50% off, then 30%, then 15% or something, I also bought my sink/tap and some of my appliances, getting 20% off the listed price of these too. I realise they hike their list prices but I was very happy with the final price for what I got. Homebase were extremely good to deal with, they rang me two days after purchase to arrange a delivery date (6 wks), unfortunately when the time was nearing for delivery we were in the middle of the snowy spell and I had to delay delivery for two weeks, this was no problem. All goods were received in perfect order, nothing was missing from my extensive list. My other half is a builder and fitted the kitchen, including the Maia worktops. I'm really impressed with the door quality, they are really heavy and the blum hinges work brilliantly, even on the large pan drawers which are filled with plates and heavy saucepans. The only problem I had was with my Franke tap which was slightly bent, one phonecall to my local store and a replacement was ordered, no problem.
Overall I am very happy with my Homebase kitchen, the only thing that bugs me is the inside of the cabinets which have loads of shelf holes down the sides, apparently Homebase do the little bung things to slot into them but I would need about 1000! Guess I'll just have to put up with the holes.

vegasvisitor

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=30773551&highlight=howden+kitchen+price#post30773551

Here's a link to the post with the Howden's price list.

griffo68

Do not buy the Homebase Stockholm kitchen!!!

We first installed our Homebase kitchen approx eight years ago, it was a cherry wood effect and we were pleased with it. We were happy with the quality and it lasted well. In early 2009 we wanted a change, I came across the Stockholm range which was just the look I was looking for and we decided to order new doors, drawer fronts, side panels, plinths and an extra tall larder cupboard. All of the fittings were still the same so it was an easy way to completely change the look of our kitchen. The transaction was smooth apart from a couple of hiccups including some damaged drawer fronts but it was quickly sorted out. In total we spent approx £1800.

That was in April 2009, about six to eight months later I noticed something rather odd, the door and drawer fronts looked as they they were a different colour to the plinths and side panels. I originally thought it could be because of shadows or I was just seeing things! In February 2010 I decided to contact the store to alert them of my concerns. The member of staff that I dealt with has been extremely helpful throughout and I cannot fault him. He came out to view the kitchen, he brought a sample display door with him to compare the two and I also had a set of drawer fronts which were still in the box and hadn't been exposed to daylight. My unused drawer fronts were still bright white compared to the ones I had installed. When the guy from Homebase compared the store sample door that had also discoloured. He agreed that there was a "yellowing" to the doors, drawers etc compared to the side panels and plinths.

This information was passed on to head office even though they had said that it could be dealt with by the store we had bought from (refund or replacements), the store said they couldn't deal with because Homebases kitchens are supplied and manufactured by Kitchens Direct. There is also a link between Kitchens Direct and Magnet Kitchens, Magnet apparently manufacture the carcasses amongst other items but they do not manufacture the doors and drawer fronts etc (they do have a very similar style kitchen in their range).

Then the long wait began, approx seven months! I had contacted Homebase on quite a few occasions but the store had heard nothing from Head Office. Eventually I received a phone call and the outcome from Head Office was that the kitchen is produced using two different finishes, the side panels and plinths are PVC coated and the door and drawer fronts are a paint finish. Now i'm not an expert but it is obvious that that is a recipe for disaster. A painted surface will yellow and discolour over time and is far more noticeable if it's white. The guy in the store was in total agreement with me. Homebase stated that they could not gauge how the painted suffices would compare to the PVC coated surfaces and that was that. Obviously we were not happy with the outcome so Homebase got FIRA involved who are an independent company who are employed to assess any furniture/kitchen manufacturing problems etc. The guy from FIRA came to look at the kitchen and he said that he had noticed as soon as he walked in that there were two different surfaces, PVC and painted. He said that although there was a discolouring problem, it wasn't a manufacturing problem and of course Homebase and Kitchens Direct had already admitted that the surfaces were different. He did say in his personal opinion it wasn't good enough and he wouldn't drop it.

So the outcome is is that we have wasted 1800 quid on a white kitchen which now looks two tone. I have been in contact with someone who also bought the same kitchen after us and before we noticed the discolouring, she knew of our problem and was concerned that it would happen to hers...it has! Homebase are still selling the Stockholm kitchen knowing that the problem exists but they are willing to do nothing about it. The kitchen is still being manufactured in the same way so anyone buying this kitchen is going to have the same problem.

We are still pursuing our case and I have sought independent advice and been told that the kitchen may fall under being unfit for purpose, we were also advised to get our own independent report done.

So please, avoid this kitchen like the plague!

deanos

I noticed one of the display kitchens in Homebase had different colours like you mentioned it looked terrible, it was of the wooden ones, the plinths and site panels were totally different colour

geffhall

I haven't had a homebase kitchen fitted but have bought taps from them. Don't do it! I've had two from them, basin mixers £230 the pair and they both started dripping after less than 3 years. Can be solved by buying cermaic inserts, around £7 each normally but homebase say because they are made abroad they can't get spares. As most of the stuff in our houses these days (and cars) are made abroad its a bit of luck not everyone is like homebase. And they probably expect me to go back and buy another pair of taps from them - some hopes - I'll never go there again.

michaels

We had there cheapo amalfi one which was fine, got it fitted by independent fitters - this was a few years ago when you could also get 10% rewards points as well as 10/15% weekend and normal '50%' off. The doors had the same platicised finish as the plinths etc, the shelves seemed to scratch very easily with crockery in but was soft close and the wall cupboards were nice and deep.

pcxp

Just had my Stockholm installed and I can see the finish is slightly different on the doors versus the other panels and plinths. Too early for discolouration to set in but if it does will certainly be following up with the necessary consumer bodies, this was not a cheap kitchen. I will take photos of before and after and if enough people have the same issue a bit of media coverage wouldn't go amiss. My cabinets don't get much direct sunlight so I'm interested to see if this will avoid/delay the issue.

On another note, if you buy any of the tall cabinets (for example I have a 50/50 split cabinet, over 2m tall) the large 80cm doors are only supplied with 1 blum blumotion damper (973a0500) per hinge. Not enough to soft close the doors properly, so they give a not so nice 'bang' noise when closing and bounce back a bit (on the small transparent rubber domes). Of course in store these big doors are nicely displayed with two dampers per door (one per hinge) and therefore softclose properly. Very stingy considering I spent over 3k on this kitchen and these parts retail from indenpendent suppliers for about £2-£4 each. To add insult to injury, went in store and asked can I buy and retrofit myself. Of course Homebase only sell them as 'damper+hinge' packs at £18 a go and not seperate dampers. I now have to go out and find an independent retailer to purchase and fit the 'missing' dampers myself. Show your customer one spec of product and deliver a lower spec, then don't retail the missing parts afterwards,jokers.

Also, rear cabinet panels are quite thin and 'bow' slightly in the middle of larger cabs.

If you want a similar stlye only other option is an independent kitchen reseller, we saw something similar at Bells in Dulwich, should have gone for it in hindsight.

Max

Steve_the_fitter

Ive fitted a few and they really are not good quality. People say you get what you pay for but this isnt the case with kitchens, windows etc.
The big companies often sell inferior product compared to the prices they are charging

lesley74 wrote: »

Hi

We were at Wickes today as we thought we mightl like a couple of their 'take away' kitchens, a white one Edmonton I think and a Cream shaker one. Didn't really like them as much as I hoped, although I did see a nice black gloss worktop with whiteish flecks that I liked.

Then went into Homebase and saw their Cream Shaker one (nice) and also their Como one (white gloss shaker style). Are Homebase kitchens ok? Also, anyone got or seen either of these and got any opinion? Would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Como - http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomebaseStaticPageSecondLevel?langId=-1&storeId=20001&includeName=HBCreateTheLook/kitchens_como.html

Cream shaker - http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomebaseStaticPageSecondLevel?langId=-1&storeId=20001&includeName=HBCreateTheLook/kitchens_shaker_cream_classic.html

Ionkontrol

For anyone thinking about buying a Homebase kitchen, read this post. It is on a kitchen fitters forum and they should know a thing or two about kitchens.

http://www.kitchenfittersforum.com/showthread.php?tid=2594

pcxp

Just had an after thought for a solution to the paint yellowing. Why not find a carpenter / painter that would be able to lightly sand the painted surfaces and doors, then respray with a white pvc coating instead of actual paint. Then all the surfaces would be pvc coated. Before doing this I would be inclined to obtain a quote to complete this work and then ask Homebase to foot the bill prior to having the work completed.

I may start looking for a suitable service in preparation for T+2 years time!