New kitchens - howdens, wren or benchmarx?

vanillaspice

How do you get them to give you the plans/measurements? I'm looking to refit my tiny kitchen 6ft x 7ft with an electricity meter in a very awkward position. I've had some independent builders/fitters round who balked at the thought of it all. Wickes have been the only ones to do actually say they can really do anything with it and came up with some good plans. The only problem is I cannot afford what they have quoted it's too expensive by a long way, and that is excluding all the appliances and flooring etc. This is not my dream flat/kitchen so I don't want to spend £8,000 on it, I'm a bit stuck as to what to do from here, I need the plans from Wickes and understand why they won't give them to me, but I can't go and choose a cheaper kitchen because I don't have any measurements and it is all very intricate because of the space restrictions and workings out, also Wickes' magic corner units are perfect where I have the awkward electricity meter. I've looked at the do it yourself planners, but I can't get my head around them because nothing seems to fit properly, my little kitchen is very awkward. There is also a big boiler in there. Wickes plan had spaces after a unit but they then put in little shelves or small drawers. I'm getting a little consufed where to go from here. Anyone have any suggestions.

dcwho

helen_roberts wrote: »

Howdens seem to be popular. Hubby's is going to apply for a trade account, til then I have no idea what their prices are. We've had wren come out to measure too so waiting on their quote and I believe benchmarx are wickes kitchens a trade prices so am getting wicks out next week and again hubby will apply for trade account

i think Wren is doing price match as well.

cddc

Vanilla, which range did Wickes quote you in? 8k for a kitchen that size it must be a painted oak one! If they are the only ones who can be bothered to do you a proper plan, have a look at some of the cheaper fascias. If its painted oak then you may be able to save 3k or more on that price by choosing a cheaper fascia. Good quality carcasse for the price point but still most of the money is in the doors, so if you dont mind changing door style you could save £1000's.

Even with just your perspective pictures and a bit of thorough measuring on your part, you should be able to take your pictures eslewhere and a good designer from another company will be able to work out what the Wickes designer has done.

vanillaspice

The kitchen units didn't come to £8000, they came to nearly £4,500, it was the Inverness design. Without any appliances, fitter and everything else that is needed for a complete refit. £8,000 was just making a point really because this kitchen is sooooo small I just would not considering spending a ridiculous amount of money on it. The problem is I just don't feel confident in taking the measurements acurately and without acurate measurments I can't order a kitchen anywhere, some of the spaces left over from a regular size cabinet is too small to put another cabinet next to it so small drawers/shelves will need to be put in to fill space. This is too much for me to work out and I don't want to do it either. If I went to B&Q I'm sure they can do a plan but I don't want to get the kitchen from there as I haven't seen anything I like, so I won't get the acurate measurements and design from them, like Wickes.

sayahu

Hi vanillaspice,

Can you remember the design of layout? put it down on paper, and if you want to do measurements fine, but if you take the layout idea to your local kitchen suppliers with a written quote you should hopefully get it cheaper and they will do the measurements, you just need the size of your kitchen, when they do the finale design they will visit you to get accurate sizing.

Have you asked for a discount? we've known people get up to 30% just by being nice and asking... nothing to loose if its a no.


Good luck

sayahu

Never tried these, maybe someone here has info. on them http://www.bettaliving.co.uk/ but they claim to have wickes style kitchens.

phill99

sayahu wrote: »

Never tried these, maybe someone here has info. on them http://www.bettaliving.co.uk/ but they claim to have wickes style kitchens.

Avoid bettaliving. We had to finish off a Bettaliving kitchen because the installation was so poor plus they change you for extras every step of the way - call out for the surveyor fee, rubbish removal fee etc.

cddc

You generally pay pretty much for what you get with kitchen units, personally out of the major players at this end of the market I would favour Wickes/Benchmarx or Wren for unit quality. Wren would probably be the cheapest of the three but have a bad reputation for sorting out problems when they occur.
Howdens,B&Q Cooke and Lewis slightly cheaper again. Below that IKEA and Homebase. Local independents can vary wildly in unit quality and service.

DIY Kitchens have a good name on this board, though I know very little about them. There are plenty of other companies that would quote for you.

Pull out wirework units, like magic corners though excellent, are not cheap. A magic corner at list price is £350 to £500. If you are looking to save money you may have to compromise on functionality if you dont want to compromise on unit quality.

Get recommendations for local fitters and dont use the sheds own fitting services. They are all overpriced, Homebase and B&Q in particular, Wickes less so but you are still probably paying up to £700 over the odds.

Phils_debt

Wren is howdens ,im looking at wardrobes

neonpoppy

I have just yesterday ordered a boyd (real wood) wren kitchen after getting a few quotes. I've read their customer service isn't great and have quite frankly already been giving them a hard time. But I HATE bad customer service although I do feel sometimes that I simply can't afford to get good customer service at the prices we're looking at. :rotfl:

I got my last kitchen from kitchens italia and although they were cheap and well fitted their cupboard fronts have peeled off. They have sent me SOME of the replacements I feel this may have been because I was a potential customer with the new kitchen (we're moving house). Their customer service left much to be desired and they fitted over a period of weeks.

Will let people know how the wren experience goes.

I have a real beef with howdens because they have the whole "secret price" scenario which REALLY winds me up. Plus I haven't liked any of their kitchens which I suppose for me is the winner.