magnet or wren kitchens

gazza0210

Sorry fella, don't mean to burst your bubble on your vast knowledge of all things kitchen but Benchmarx kitchens are true rigid kitchens, built with solid 15mm back panels, they are not built inhouse by Benchmarx they are assembled in Leeds by Gower. How do I know this? Because I work for Benchmarx and have visited the Gower facility and seen the production line.

Oh and Benchmarx is the only trade supplier to offer a lifetime guarantee on its cabinets.

I don't mean to sound confrontational, just think its best that the person that started this thread is well informed before making a large purchase.

CKdesigner

Hi Gazza

Are you sure Benchmarx kitchens are of a 'rigid' construction and not of the 'pre-assembled' variety?

Thanks

CK

Meepster

gazza0210 wrote: »

Sorry fella, don't mean to burst your bubble on your vast knowledge of all things kitchen but Benchmarx kitchens are true rigid kitchens, built with solid 15mm back panels, they are not built inhouse by Benchmarx they are assembled in Leeds by Gower. How do I know this? Because I work for Benchmarx and have visited the Gower facility and seen the production line.

Oh and Benchmarx is the only trade supplier to offer a lifetime guarantee on its cabinets.

I don't mean to sound confrontational, just think its best that the person that started this thread is well informed before making a large purchase.

No bubble burst at all, if I'm wrong, I'll hold my hands up and say so, however...

Whilst it may be true that Gower now put them together instead of them being built up in branch like they used to be (and I know they used to be like that, as I spent 2 days doing nothing other than assembling carcases for the launch of the first Benchmarx all those years ago) they are still flat-packed carcases that are built up. Gower don't produce ANY rigid carcases, they only manufacture flat-packed kitchens.

A 15mm solid back panel doesn't make it a rigid carcase, it just makes it a pre-assembled flat-packed kitchen with a solid back.

Glad to clear that up for you

1888

seen someone state its a 'PVC wrapped door' , is this a good or bad thing, is this normal for kitchen fronts??

Leif

Meepster wrote: »

Furniture grade MFC is what is used by all the German brands and all the mid/high end kitchens produced in the UK.

Standard grade MFC is used in lower quality kitchens, such as Ikea, B&Q, Wickes, Homebase, Benchmarx, Howdens, etc etc oh and Wren...

What is the difference between the two in terms that the user can understand?

I think a lot of people are sceptical about chipboard. I know plywood is a very good material with advantages over solid wood, and even MDF has its place being resistant to warping, and knot free.

As an aside, the flat I am renting has a kitchen that looks nice. But the surface layer is peeling in places, and under the sink the chipboard carcass has expanded and split. It is only ~5 years old. The house I bought had the original kitchen from the 60's. The worksurface and doors were melamine/formica on ply/chipboard, and despite being dated and ugly, were in fantastic condition. Sadlt the kitchen was so dated it needed replacing.

Meepster

1888 wrote: »

seen someone state its a 'PVC wrapped door' , is this a good or bad thing, is this normal for kitchen fronts??

It's perfectly fine for a kitchen frontal, the majority of gloss doors on the market are PVC wrapped. A lot of colours are better being PVC than painted (usually darker colours)...

Meepster

Leif wrote: »

What is the difference between the two in terms that the user can understand?

I think a lot of people are sceptical about chipboard. I know plywood is a very good material with advantages over solid wood, and even MDF has its place being resistant to warping, and knot free.

As an aside, the flat I am renting has a kitchen that looks nice. But the surface layer is peeling in places, and under the sink the chipboard carcass has expanded and split. It is only ~5 years old. The house I bought had the original kitchen from the 60's. The worksurface and doors were melamine/formica on ply/chipboard, and despite being dated and ugly, were in fantastic condition. Sadlt the kitchen was so dated it needed replacing.

Furniture grade chipboard is more tightly compacted, which means it is stronger and also less susceptible to moisture ingress.

The majority of kitchen cabinets are now made from MFC (Melamine Faced Chipboard) unless you are going for a truly bespoke kitchen, in which case you can get carcases made from plywood or some solid woods. But obviously, the cost is a LOT more...

Leif

Meepster wrote: »

Furniture grade chipboard is more tightly compacted, which means it is stronger and also less susceptible to moisture ingress.

The majority of kitchen cabinets are now made from MFC (Melamine Faced Chipboard) unless you are going for a truly bespoke kitchen, in which case you can get carcases made from plywood or some solid woods. But obviously, the cost is a LOT more...

Thank you. Yes, there are some solid wood kitchens about such as Kit Stone, but not cheap.

ryder72

meepster - you said 'A lot of colours are better being PVC than painted (usually darker colours)..'. Why is this the case?

Meepster

kmdesign wrote: »

meepster - you said 'A lot of colours are better being PVC than painted (usually darker colours)..'. Why is this the case?

The usual problem is getting a true colour. Painted gloss doors (especially cheaper ones) tend to be slightly off colour. I used to sell four different black gloss doors, a PVC wrapped door, a cheap lacquered door, a *very* expensive lacquered door and a Parapan door. The expensive one, Parapan and the PVC wrap were a very similar colour, the cheaper one looked good, until you held it next to one of the others and then it looked to be more dark brown than black. This was true for dark reds, blues and purples that we also sold.

The other problem was the finish. Under some lighting, the cheaper painted doors looked streaky in comparison.

This problem didn't tend to stand out as much on lighter colours, such as whites or creams, however the difference was noticeable when put side by side.