how to find the best deal on a kitchen

matthewr

Hi all,

I've just bought a new house which has an appalling kitchen and so this needs to be my first job.

However, i have had to pay a lot for the house and dont have loads to spend on a kitchen so i would appreciate any advice on finding the best deals out there aside from just trawling the net

Cheers, Matt

muskoka

It depends on what you want...how cheap do you want to do? Is there any way your current kitchen can be modified/painted/new worktops fitted to tide you over until youve settled down in your new house & get a better kitchen???

Actually, that is what I'm doing. I'm going to recycle my old units/sink & live with them until Jan sales which gives me a chance to decide on the right design for the house & some time to save some funds to do the kitchen how I want.

And trust me, my current kitchen is out of the arc, but hey ho It'll do the job for a few months.

Personally I like Howdens. Well built units, reasonably priced though you may have to find someone with a Howdens account to order them for you.

Or I'm sure B & Q/similar will do a cheapo kitchen for a few hundred pounds.

matthewr

unfortunately the house have bought has been vacant for 2 years and the dampness has caused a lot of mold under and behind the units so I just want the thing out. I'll have a look at howdens though cos i know a chippy

K-rado

A little bit of advice, when it comes to fixtures and fittings etc, etc, you really get what you pay for. Yes, its fair to say that you can be overcharged for a piece of rubbish and not to often undercharged for a piece of quality, but in large, a sows ear will always be a sows ear. Take a look at homebase kitchens and you will know what I mean. they may look good from afar but the closest thing I have ever seen to a disposable kitchen. I have recently installed a hand made country style solid wood / oak kitchen for a customer. As a price example, It would have cost in the order 3/4k from Homebase (area/unit numbers, not quality), in the order of 5/6 from Wickes, not bad stuff, 8k from magnet (would have cost me less than half as a trade contractor) and cost, in the end, 6.5k to have a hand built, hand crafted solid wood kitchen that will last and last. So when it comes to value in kitchens, firstly fix a budget, be it 1k or 10k and spend the time looking for the best you can buy. P.s, remember the cost of fitting the units, Flat pack will cost a lot more than pre assembled carcass and bespoke joinery costs very little to install. Hope this helps, K.

cddc

Would agree with all of the above. There are some very cheap kitchens out there from the likes of Tesco and Argos (who bought the Hygena name when MFI went bust) but if, say, you are paying 4k fitted for a 15 unit kitchen, you are not paying much for the units and this is undoubtably reflected in the quality of what you are getting.

Ikea units, if well fitted, are good value (they offer a 25 year guarantee on them), but because they are full depth all pipework and cabling will be visible in the units. Fitters,as a rule dont like them much because of this.

As K-rado said above, pay a bit extra and a Wickes kitchen is well built for the price.

If you have trade contacts Benchmarx do the same kitchen pre-assembled for less. Howdens also reasonable quality if no Benchmarx in your area.