Howdens Kitchen not very good??

aliasojo

Doozer......I hate you. Everytime you post a pic, you remind me just how jealous I am of you. Call me Shrek, I'm now the same colour.

Your renovations/refurbs are always the epitome of good taste. I wish you were my sister.

leedslass

I use Howdens and am really pleased with them. I fitted one of the cheaper ranges (greenwich) in my last rental and 2 years later it still looks good. Standing up well to the wear and tear of tenants and I'm really pleased with quality. Customer service is always outstanding too, far better than any I've got in the chain DIY stores. I'm definitely planning to use them again, next time in my own home :-)

delain

Bit OT but my landlord let the last tenants put in a cheap B&Q kitchen and I don't know if it's the fixings or the workmanship or what but the drawer fronts keep falling off and the doors drop when you open them. Not to mention the hardboard floor with paper-thin lino that has massive sags in it from when the washing machine had a tiny leak, it even drops a bit when you get the mop out! Now I, the tenant, am going to have to replace the floor, and buy new lino. I will, btw replace it with proper floor coverings, so that the floor doesn't collapse again!

I see too much of landlords doing cheap jobs then blaming the tenants when stuff falls to bits :mad:

Doozergirl

spirit wrote: »

aha, I've been looking at Karndean because I thought that engineered oak might not be so good in a kitchen? Not thet I am in the habit of spilling things and the kids are grown and gone..

I would imagine that it's nice and warm underfoot compared with say porcelain tiles?

We replaced the polished porcelain tiles in our kitchen (someone can say'i told you so') to match the dining room and hall and can indeed confirm it is warmer!

Too much information but it stood up really quite well to the new dog weeing all over it on more than several occassions it so water sitting on it for a little while is okay as long as it doesn't run down under the skirting and up the woodgrain where it's been sawn. The finished ends in the middle of the room have been fine, it's literally the cuts - under the skirting on the lengthways run.

Doozergirl

aliasojo wrote: »

Doozer......I hate you. Everytime you post a pic, you remind me just how jealous I am of you. Call me Shrek, I'm now the same colour.

Your renovations/refurbs are always the epitome of good taste. I wish you were my sister.

Aww, you're too kind. Most of our own house looks like the house of horrors right now. And breathe...

pimento

I have to agree Doozergirl, both your kitchens look fabulous.

RX-78

Wow, thanks for the response!

To be honest, I'm not overly concerned about the carcases - I think most half decent ones will outlive the normal kitchen fashion. But the doors are different story I think.

I'm no expert but the doors didn't look "wrapped" - the laqcure covered the front but where it meets the back pannel of the door, there was a distinct edge (suggesting this is where laqure finishes). Infact, some of the edges were starting to peel in their show room.

May be I was only looking at the cheapest doors? I did try and look through a few but they were all same.

hatewashingmachines

I had a sample of a Howdens cream gloss door and was told it was Foil wrapped.
We went for a William Ball kitchen and that came with soft closing hinges and drawers as standard.

Treacle44

Doozergirl wrote: »

My Howdens units in the utility have Blum soft close fittings. I must be special.

The last one I bought for our barn was half the price of the equivalent in B&Q, even in their sale. I'm not a fan of the white units - I prefer the wood effect.

You won't see any gorgeous displays in a Howdens, usually just a few bits put together but if you can get a good price on one then they are certainly worth it - most high street kitchens are much of a muchness. I don't fail to get a 'wow' on the kitchens in our houses. If I felt they were flimsy then I simply wouldn't risk it.

Ikea are cheap but I really worry about the quality - the doors aren't actually wrapped at all and they really wobble when you pull a drawer from side to side. Last January I spent what felt like the whole month wobbling drawer units! Ikea were definitely the wobbliest.

This is one of ours from Howdens:
http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=239017432&photo_id=1973719391

Andthis was a mix of the same style kitchen from MFI (knocked price down and paid with Tesco Vouchers ) and Howdens (same but cheaper)
http://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?album_id=27469175&photo_id=1600634809

Hi if you don't mind me asking what range is the Howdens kitchen in your second photo, it's lovely.

Thanks

x

Doozergirl

Treacle44 wrote: »

Hi if you don't mind me asking what range is the Howdens kitchen in your second photo, it's lovely.

Thanks

x

IIRC, it was the Hexham Oak.