Kitchen - B & Q Any good?

Doozergirl

cr1mson wrote: »

It is not so much not liking the design as the fact that they didn't listen and took 2 weeks longer than they said it would - it doesn't bode well! The B & Q is huge near us and holds certain ranges in stock anyway so hopefully part deliveries wouldn't be an issue.

Crimson

God! If it's an off the shelf IT range then it's a completely inferior kitchen to Howdens. They are cheap & cheerful kitchens. The Cooke & Lewis range is not as good but the IT kitchens are just cheap. Flatpack kitchens cost more to fit. I have IT kitchen units in my bathroom. I bought them because they don't take nearly as much abuse as kitchen units and it's just four units. I was also running out of money after buying an expensive suite. I got 75% off the doors and used a 15% off day for carcasses so it cost me next to nothing. Using wall units as base units.

Howdens are perfectly capable of taking an order and delivering it. They deal with trade, I've never bothered with a designer. We go in, tell them what they want and they deliver it within days. Job done. They aren't frills and fancy in the customer service stakes, sit down and design you a kitchen with a nice cup of coffee and a fancy showroom. But they deliver a better kitchen on time, quickly. There are no quibbles. Your impression might be of someone that took time to produce a design but the lasting impression will be of your kitchen.

So you pick an off the shelf B&Q kitchen which doesn't begin to compare on quality but you get the speed of Howdens, or you buy a Cooke & Lewis which is still not as good, wait 4-6-8 weeks for the delivery (they do not stock those ranges), and then when something is missing and your fitter is sitting there waiting, you wait another few weeks for the missing pieces so it costs you more fitting time and money. All you do is hope the full order is there. If there is anything missing from a Howdens order or you suddenly think "I need this", you jump in the car and go and get it!

You might read this as me telling you that B&Q are worse, but Howdens are simply better. They should happily beat a B&Q price for better units. I don't know how you word that anyway else.

I've ordered a Cooke & Lewis bathroom suite from B&Q of which half arrived. The rest never came yet they took all my money. I also ordered a kitchen two years ago in the proper, proper sale and ended up just cancelling because no one contacted me even after a week to give me an idea on delivery - again, after taking my money. I have never, ever had a problem with Howdens.

Either way, buy your appliances elsewhere. Both are expensive for appliances though B&Q often do a 'cheap & cheerful' pack of a cheaper branded oven and hob for about £300-350 - you can carry these out of the store. Key is to buy on a 15% off day. Otherwise, you use the internet shops to compare prices.

1) Better quality solid carcass kitchen
2) Cheaper price if you take them the B&Q quote and plan
3) Faster delivery
4) Problems rectified quickly and very easy to make last minute changes or buy additional items

Simples.

beaney50

Have installed 2 B& Q kitchens which have been fine & v cheap as bought in stages when you buy the backs which are never on special offer when there is a 15% offer such as last weekend & the doors when the best offer is on.
My husband is a builder so we have no problem with installation.

john_white

To give you a bit of background.

Our Kitchen is currently sat in the garage (ordered Saturday, turned up Monday) and it goes in next week, so I am a few weeks down the line.

We found homebase to be quite good, but, the kitchen itself vastly inferior to Howdens, and, even on a 50% off all kitchens, plus 20% off if you buy 3 or more units, it still came out more than Howdens.

B&Q, Homebase etc. sell thousands of kitchens, so even if they get 95% of orders correct, that's still hundreds of customers that have problems of some degree.

We went on the basis that we want the kitchen to last years as it's costing 5 figures including appliances, flooring etc. So in all honesty when we saw the actual carcass of the unit it was a no brainer.

Steve_the_fitter

theres not to much in it but personally i would say a b and q cooke and lewis kitchen is at least as good as Howdens if not better

Kantankrus_Mare

We bought cooke and lewis from B&Q last year.

The design bloke was brilliant.

The delivery was some weeks but not a problem as we worked round that.

Despite reading a few bad reviews, absolutely every thing came as ordered and a friend of ours (who is a kitchen fitter) fitted it for us at a fraction of the price B&Q quoted.

Was very pleased with results and wouldnt hesitate to order from them again.

cddc

Cooke & Lewis is probably as good or better kitchen overall for quality. If you count 6mm MDF as a solid back then you can say that Howdens is solid backed. I wouldnt say that was totally solid. The main advantage that Howdens have is pre-made units, therefore quicker and cheaper to fit than having to build the units on site, and the fact that they stock, so if anything is wrong it can be sorted out quickly.

If you have a Benchmarx in your area I would suggest checking them out as well. Better quality units than Howdens and the same advantages. They really are solid backed. Exactly the same kitchens as Wickes but pre-assembled and stocked. Better than either of the above.

Leif

I don't know where you are or how much you have been quoted, but there are plenty of other kitchen suppliers. In the south you can try Manor Cabinet, who supply units to various shops including Optiplan. If you want an idea of customer satisfaction, check out the online review sites. I think ReviewCentre is one I looked at. There most definitely is a difference in quality between brands. I am living in a flat till I have modernised my house, and the flat has a basic kitchen. Looks nice, with a nice pale wood doors (not veneer) and matching veered chipboard units. It is no more than 5 years old and the shelves under the sink are losing veneer, and expanding. Veneer has also come of a cupboard side, and the end of the worktop has fallen off. This is probably bottom end Homebase or B&Q, and the quality is poor. Looks nice! Or it did. When you pay more you get thicker and better quality chipboard, and thicker veneer or melamine/formica on the sides and ends, and it is put on better. Yes it is all chipboard, but the general build quality is not the same across various brands. I am buying an Optiplan kitchen i.e. Manor Cabinet which comes with a 20 year guarantee. I ripped out the old kitchen from my house, and I think it had been there 40 years. The frame was solid wood, in decent condition. The doors and top were chipboard with formica sheet, and when I ripped it out I saw no delamination. The formica was thick and properly glued on.

I cannot tell you if B&Q are scheisse, or the bees knees, or somewhere in between. But I have heard that Howdens are quite decent. I have heard that Manor Cabinet is better, but not having inspected examples from both I cannot say with any authority. Do try and find out the warranty. That should tell you how confident the maker is that the item is well made, or not.

bigbangman

Totally agree with CDDC. You won't find a better quality cabinet specification than Benchmarx.

Rigid cabinets, not flat packed, 18mm thick, 15mm solid backs, Soft close hinges, Soft close drawers,
Kitchens kept in stock locally, and a free survey and design service
....and good value

Roob65

I bought and installed a B&Q kitchen and its absolutely fine. The only reason I went for B&Q versus homebase, ikea, wickes etc was due to one of their mega sale type things one January.

As for all the arguments about 15mm vs 18mm, pre-built carcasses etc....
You will not find any noticeable difference between 3mm when you're dealing with PVC coated particle board or MDF - if water penetrates it will swell and distort no matter what and that is going to be the only consideration with this type of kitchen.
Flatpack vs 'solid' is a falacy in this type of kitchen - they are all pretty much flat pack its just the 'solid' are un-flatpacked in a factory.
A good builder (if you're not doing it yourself) will be able to make a standard flatpack just a 'high quality' as the solid.

I would say just go for the design you like the most at a price you're willing to pay - the cheaper the better if we're talking particle board/MDF. Don't consider spending a fortune unless (like a previous poster mentioned) you are actually going for solid timber, and then I would certainly go bespoke - it will last a lifetime (and more) and never look of of date.

Meepster

bigbangman wrote: »

Totally agree with CDDC. You won't find a better quality cabinet specification than Benchmarx.

Rigid cabinets, not flat packed, 18mm thick, 15mm solid backs, Soft close hinges, Soft close drawers,
Kitchens kept in stock locally, and a free survey and design service
....and good value

I think you will find that they are pre-assembled flat packed carcases...