Desperate for Kitchen advice!

amol_karnik

Quite simply put and unfortunately for English manufacturers, German kitchens are quite a bit ahead of the game in terms of quality.

On this basis alone, if you can have cabinetry for most German Kitchens supplied at 10-15% more than the cost of Wentworth or Sheraton (which perhaps are the two best english manufactured kitchens), then its what I call a no brainer.

Be careful though what you buy when buying German - There is no shortage of entry level German brands flooding the country and being offered as premium products.

Finally and quite importantly, don't get taken in by talk of 18/19mm carcases and solid backs. Its easy to use thicker and lower grade of chipboard to make it a selling point. Look instead at the quality of the drawerboxes. Ensure that the front edging is solid rather than PVC edged. Ensure that the front edging is colour coordinated to the door. Check to see that your visible sides are colour coordinated to the fronts.

I am not anti-English. We sell hand built English kitchen and the quality if very good. But English manufactured kitchens are just not up to the mark and I would like an English company to make the investment and bring out products to beat the Germans.

donmaico

You could try Benchmarx who supply Wickes .Their units are all rigid and look very nice.I suspect they would be much cheaper than 25k

donmaico

Doozergirl wrote: »

It's
My kitchen is John Lewis Colour Collection sold also as Cucina Colore by Mereway (who make Wentworth kitchens) and it cost me £500 on eBay because it was used in the photshoot for the brochure. Now I'd happily spend more than £500 on decent quality units, but I didn't need to.

You can have an excellent kitchen on a budget. Just because you embrace the MSE ethos doesn't mean you can't have quality on a budget. I'd have as many quotes as I could if I genuinely wanted to spend as much as you do and I'd be looking at German kitchens.

Yes but what are the chances of finding a kitchen on Ebay that would ideally fit the intended area.Its a bit pot luck isnt it?

Doozergirl

donmaico wrote: »

Yes but what are the chances of finding a kitchen on Ebay that would ideally fit the intended area.Its a bit pot luck isnt it?

If you look hard enough. But what I am simply saying is that you don't have to spend a fortune to have a really good quality kitchen if you get creative with it so the OP shouldn't dismiss people who want to do it cheaper.

Benchmarx doesn't compare to the ones she's looking at.

CKdesigner

Hi Maria

As Amol_karnik has said German is really the way to go if you have that sort of budget. Obviously there are quite a few people that don't understand why someone would spend £25k (or sometimes a lot more) on a kitchen but like most things in life you pay for quality and choice.

The Burbidge quote you have from a carpenter just isn't in the same league. A carpenter making up the carcasses in your home will never be able to make it like a quality German factory. The 2 German manufacturers we use think nothing of spending 2m Euros on just a press to make sure everything is glued together properly. The English kitchen manufacturers just don't make the same sort of investment.

I would also add - get everything from one supplier when you are looking at this sort of project. You are far better off just to have one point of contact to make sure everything is delivered at the right time and all the trades turn up when needed. For instance we spend severeal £10,000's with our granite fabricator they do an excellent job for each and everyone of our customers and only supply the trade. If you source the granite/quartz from another supplier independent of your chosen kitchen company then you are just spending a couple or 3 thousand with that company and will probably never need them again, so you have little hold over them and ultimately have no idea how good there work is.

Good luck.

CK

donmaico

Doozergirl wrote: »

If you look hard enough. But what I am simply saying is that you don't have to spend a fortune to have a really good quality kitchen if you get creative with it so the OP shouldn't dismiss people who want to do it cheaper.

Benchmarx doesn't compare to the ones she's looking at.

well she was kind of slated for wanting to spend her 25k on the kitchen of her choice which is something most people who were in that upper end market would do.How many people would spend ages looking at Ebay in the hope of finding exactly what they required?Its not as if its like buying a Tv or Dvd player is it? Fair play to you for finding what you wanted but you were lucky lets be honest.I am all in favour of getting good quality at reasonable prices but I ver much doubt I would spend £800 + on something in the vague hope it might fit my intended area.
As i understand it what matters the most is the quality of the carcasses .As most are made by a few manufacturers and doors etc are then put on them, I assume that quality to be pretty much the same across the board. No matter what one pays its all chipboard. Benchmarx are a mid price range that could well last 20 years or more which for most People , I suspect, would be fine.

Id really like to knw what differentiates one make from another as displays tend to all look very similar to me- quality wise

Doozergirl

donmaico wrote: »

well she was kind of slated for wanting to spend her 25k on the kitchen of her choice which is something most people who were in that upper end market would do.How many people would spend ages looking at Ebay in the hope of finding exactly what they required?Its not as if its like buying a Tv or Dvd player is it? Fair play to you for finding what you wanted but you were lucky lets be honest.I am all in favour of getting good quality at reasonable prices but I ver much doubt I would spend £800 + on something in the vague hope it might fit my intended area.
As i understand it what matters the most is the quality of the carcasses .As most are made by a few manufacturers and doors etc are then put on them, I assume that quality to be pretty much the same across the board. No matter what one pays its all chipboard. Benchmarx are a mid price range that could well last 20 years or more

It might be an extreme example when you get a whole kitchen for the price of one unit but I don't see why you're so hung up about my ebay kitchen. My original point was simply that not wanting to spend as much on one kitchen doesn't always mean that you are scrimping on quality. But I don't think it's all that lucky to find what you need. I still have leftover wall cupboards in my garage because you can buy more than you need when it's that cheap. If your layout is flexible or you're prepared to top up with some new units to finish off then it's perfectly possible to save loads.

Aside from bargain units on ebay I'm happy to shop around and source everything from different suppliers so I can save money. And employ people directly to fit it etc. It's possible for anyone to save thousands on what they might have expected to spend on even a modest kitchen fit. CK suggests keeping it all in one place but my personal preference isn't paying extra for peace of mind when I'm comfortable that everything comes with a guarantee and I already know a great fitter!

Love this website:
http://www.theusedkitchencompany.com/
If your layout is flexible or you're prepared to top up with some new units to finish off then it's perfectly possible to save a small fortune.

I buy kitchens all the time and I know for a simple fact that they are not all pretty much the same. High street kitchens are pretty much the same; Howdens, Wickes, Cooke & Lewis, Benchmarx is not 'mid-price', in fact you'd be pushed to find cheaper kitchens once you've had a bit of a haggle with them. Units can be a work of art and certanly aren't all made from chipboard either.

donmaico

Doozergirl wrote: »

It might be an extreme example when you get a whole kitchen for the price of one unit but I don't see why you're so hung up about my ebay kitchen. My original point was simply that not wanting to spend as much on one kitchen doesn't always mean that you are scrimping on quality. But I don't think it's all that lucky to find what you need. I still have leftover cupboards in my garage because you can buy more than you need when it's that cheap.

I'm happy to shop around and source everything from different places so I can save money. And employ people directly to fit it etc. It's possible for anyone to save thousands on what they might have expected to spend on even a modest kitchen fit.

Love this website:
http://www.theusedkitchencompany.com/
If your layout is flexible or you're prepared to top up with some new units to finish off then it's perfectly possible to save a small fortune.

I buy kitchens all the time and I know for a simple fact that they are not all pretty much the same. High street kitchens are pretty much the same; Howdens, Wickes, Cooke & Lewis, Benchmarx is not 'mid-price', in fact you'd be pushed to find cheaper kitchens once you've had a bit of a haggle with them. Units can be a work of art and certanly aren't all made from chipboard either.

I am not hung up at all In fact i applaud your endevours and your good fortune.I simply wouldnt know here to start At the moment i am just looking at various options including Benchmarx who provided me with a plan free of charge.When I said mid price i meant not cheap and nasty.
Ill have a look through that link as I am not all averse to finding bargains:) do you think if I sent them my plan they might find something suitable to fit it?

Doozergirl

donmaico wrote: »

I am not hung up at all In fact i applaud your endevours and your good fortune.I simply wouldnt know here to start At the moment i am just looking at various options including Benchmarx who provided me with a plan free of charge.When I said mid price i meant not cheap and nasty.
Ill have a look through that link as I am not all averse to finding bargains:)

The used kitchen company kitchens often have expensive worktops included and they're still not cheap kitchens! so you'd want to keep similar sorts of layouts. The lady is quite nice actually so you never know but when I bought mine I cut out paper to scale for all the units and placed them in a plan of my kitchen to see where they'd fit.

donmaico

Doozergirl wrote: »

The used kitchen company kitchens often have expensive worktops included and they're still not cheap kitchens! so you'd want to keep similar sorts of layouts. The lady is quite nice actually so you never know but when I bought mine I cut out paper to scale for all the units and placed them in a plan of my kitchen to see where they'd fit.

i guess if there is a shortfall one can always buy those at full price although the worktops could be a problem as they rae cut to measure at the factory
At the end of the day I am more interested in the quality of the cabinets and their longevity given reasonable care.Will the veneer peel off or stay put, will the doors sag, for example?My last kitchen in a previous home is 16 years old now and I reckon with a facelift( new doors and worktops) it could be good for another 10 - 15 years or so,
As stated before good fitting is what counts the most