help with new kitchen on a BUDGET!!

bluestar25

Hi everyone

I'm BRAND NEW to the forum and after some advice off all you wise people.


I'm a new first time house owner and after being here a year - we're ready to look at changing our grotty kitchen. I live in a small Manchester terrace and only plan to stay here for a few years so need to spend the minimum amount to gain maximum value really!

Have been looking round at the 'usual suspects', B+Q, MFI and IKEA - and have decided on the popular white gloss modern kitchen. Ideally we would like to get everything from one place, but seem to like worktops, handles and taps all in different places!!

Is it feasible to take units from IKEA and get integrated dishwasher, tap, worktops etc from everywhere else - or will this come together like a disaster?? E.g. are all these shapes and sizes going to match up ok?

Also, re fitting, can anyone recommend how much we should be prepared to spend on this - no way we're going to be able to afford £2.5k B+Q quotes!!

Thanks!!

kat21

Hi, bluestar,
yes, all kitchen appliances and worktops are made to certain measurments. normally a kitchen worktop is 600mm deep. check your free standing appliences though as you can get variation in those but usually they tend to work in set sizes. 600 mm is the maximum depth from front to back for your kitchen worktops the reason for this is the appliances that fit underneath. Make sure in your planing that your measured areas take into account the thickneses of the carcases and alow enough space to slide appliances in and out. if your fitting yourself make sure all electrical and plumbing work is done first. Fitting a kitchen is not difficult if you take your time there are plenty of diy websites to show you how. base units have adjustable legs to help you level them out. if you decide to get someone in try doing as much of the work yourself to keep costs down for example see what you can remove of the old kitchen (wall cuboards ect) then plan out your kitchen for example were to install your appliances like cooker to gas point, electrical sockets, washing machine connection and drainage outlets it may be cheaper to put items back into their origional places for example the sink, washing machine and cooker (to keep costs down) but planing is the most important thing and thats where you can loose on cost
kat21

jobbingmusician

When I had all the work done on my house, the architect recommended that I went along to MFI armed with the kitchen measurements, and got them to design a kitchen. They will produce nice piccies for you showing the layout. Then you can buy the bits from wherever you like (Kat is right, all kitchen manufacturers make to the same basic measurements but do double check this - for example I have the idea that IKEA units might stick out a bit further from the wall). There is NO OBLIGATION to buy your bits and bobs from MFI, and there you are with nice piccies of what you are aiming for.

Check the sizes of your appliances particularly carefully - for example don't just assume that all fridges are 60cm wide. (You can do this online if you visit electricals sites )

IKEA has one big advantage - you can buy the pieces one at a time without incurring any extra cost (except the frazzlement to nerves when you go to IKEA and find the thing you want is out of stock!!!)

The really minimum cost way to do a kitchen, in theory, is to build the units yourself and just buy the doors (and hinges) to fit, but some basic ranges can come out even cheaper than this.

There should be NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER in buying your units from one place (some come pre-drilled for handles so you CAN'T mix and match handles - find out about this) and your worktops, taps etc from somewhere else. Sinks and the like are engineered to fit particular sizes of cupboards (a 60cm cupboard or a double base unit usually). Taps basically fit any sink but make sure how many holes are drilled in the sink and how many pillars your taps have (mixer taps may have only 1 pillar).

Hope this helps!

OddjobKIA

beware of ikea kitchens they seem to be slightly odd sizes compared to the Uk manufactured ones.

Try https://www.screwfix.com get cheap units and go for a highdensity work surface it will take more abuse than the cheap stuff in B&Q.

One last note I have seen a £70,000 (yes £70,000) kitchen look horrendous dur to bad fitting if you are doing this yourself TAKE YOUR TIME, read all instructions for the units make sure you have everything you need to hand FIRST, When cutting the top down measure it 3 times write it down and score the laminate top with a SHARP stnaley knife first with a straight edge to guide you this will give it that extra sharp edge with out the chipping.

If you don't have a circular saw then hire, beg,borrow, steal (well maybe not steal) one make sure the blade is not chipped, and cut ascrap piece of wood first.

also if you are going to lamminate or vinyl the floor i suggest you do this first as it saves all the fiddly cutting in around corners etc. The splash back can almost make a kitchen use larger white tiles as a cheap eay option that never goes out of fashion.

Built in appliances can be murder to fit well. Instead of going for the standard white (white goods) get them in silver, green, make a feature of them instead ofhiding them.

BlondieE

Hi,

Do you have a Howdens near you. I bought my kitchen from here last year. They are the supplier for MFI and are a fraction of the cost. I also got two joiners to fit mine - brilliant job - two days £800 and everything was perfect. If you have Howdens you need someone with a trade card to use them. Hope this helps

ka7e

I think Ikea units don't have the built-in space at the back for wiring/plumbing etc. So all the internal fittings only fit Ikea cupboards - but the fittings are much cheaper than anywhere else!
Unless you have an Ikea nearby, it's difficult to get items that may be out of stock on your initial visit. The online stock checker is not very accurate!
But the quality seems very good, and the cheaply priced extras (pull-out storage etc) make them good value.

jobbingmusician

Some feedback on IKEA kitchens

On the positive side, a friend of mine who is a high quality, v expensive bespoke carpenter says they are known in the trade for being the best in the business.

On the negative side, DH used to be a domestic appliance engineer, doing mostly washing machines, so saw a lot of kitchens! - and says that IKEA kitchens are known for falling apart.

I have to say that DH is generally right.........:(

Edited for clarification: The CARCASSES are known in the trade for being the best in the business. DH says most problems he saw were doors falling off, etc - so I suppose the 2 statements are not totally contradictory...........

bluestar25

Thanks for your replies so far! I have had a couple of IKEA kitchens in the past in flats I have rented and always found the quality very good - so think the standard will be good enough for what we are looking for.

How does this plumbing/wiring work - on another thread I read someone said you need to fix units onto a wooden baton to allow for the wiring etc, but wouldn't this change the dimensions of the room? Thinking of the base units we'd have - think it would be the sink and oven that would require wiring/plumbing etc - great if anyone knows how this works?

Also, can anyone reccommend somewhere to try for worktops? Have seen the exact top we like in MFI, but sure we could get something similar cheaper elsewhere. I believe as the units are slightly larger than other companies units we may need to get a 610mm or 650mm deep top - does anyone have any experience of this?

Thanks for the suggestion re Howdens, yes there is one down the road in Salford, but we don't know a tradesman really to be able to buy from there.

buy_less_things

Bluestar, have you checked out the 'is this fair' thread at the top of this forum (sorry if you have already) there is a thread in there asking about a kitchen quote and it might have info that is good for you too.

Howdens are worth looking into - the difference between trade price and retail is unbelievable. It might be worth seeing if a kitchen fitter/carpenter would buy you kit at Howdens without adding their own mark-up - in return for you giving them the job to fit the kitchen. That way you could get good quality worktop/carcass cheaper, and offset that against the kitchen being fitted. Howdens / MFI stuff is interchangeable I think.

bluestar25

Hello again!

Does anyone have experience of fitting an IKEA kitchen? Alan M reccommends the units need to be fixed on a batton to allow room for plumbing/wiring - so you'd then need a 650mm or 700mm top - see below for alan's comments. Why do IKEA only sell 606mm worktops? This would only allow the units to be fitted directly onto to the back of the wall but not to be fitted on a baton as the worktop wouldn't be wide enough. Great if anyone can help??

#32
Alan M
Regular MoneySaver
On Ikea Kitchens.....

They are great value and come in the same modular sizes as regular UK kitchens except for the follwoing differences:-

The base units are 600mm deep so require a 610mm worktop (odd size).

There is no service void left behind the base units, the back simply nails directly onto the carcass, Swedish homes have all the service within the fabric of the building, we don't.

That means you need to fit the units off the wall on a batten to allow for pipework and such and then buy a slightly larger worktop, 650mm and 700mm are freely available.

Work these into your design and with a bit of thought you'll get a geat looking kitchen for a little money, but make sure you don't skimp on the fitting.

Even a hand bult kitchen looks crap if it's fitted badly.

tawnyowls

jobbingmusician wrote:

Edited for clarification: The CARCASSES are known in the trade for being the best in the business. DH says most problems he saw were doors falling off, etc - so I suppose the 2 statements are not totally contradictory...........

No, they're not contradictory. We've had Ikea stuff (both kitchen and other rooms) for years and the actual things last for ages, apart from the bl**dy hinges! You need to check them at least every 6 months and tighten the screws. Still, it's a minor problem to put up with for the very good quality/cost ratio.

Can't say I've really had problems with spacing for plumbing etc. You can usually move the back panel in a bit if you need extra room. However, we've always gone for wider worktops (breakfast bar worktops) so we can fit our appliances inside a carcase and conceal them behind doors, as it's a lot cheaper than buying integrated appliances.

As others have said, it's worth paying less for the units and more for the fitting.