New kitchen - help!

Ems501

Hiya - I am thinking about replacing my old kitchen, with a shiney, new one (altough as small a budget as possible). After having someone from b&q round the other day for 3 HOURS (!) I am not sure i can cope with getting all the other usual suspects round (eg wikes, homebase, ikea etc etc). Anyone know which places have the best price?
Another thing, b&q priced the fitting up to cost the same amount as the kitchen! seems a bit on the pricey side for installation!
thanks

kevsan

Best bet is to get a couple of local independents round to do a proper plan. Then, when you cant afford the best, you can work with them to scale back to the kitchen you want for the money you can afford.

They will also be cheaper on labour too....

Magnet quoted me 3k for the install for a 6k kitchen. The independent quoted for a better quality kitchen with more units for 5k. Fitting is £1100.

I didnt / wont go near the sheds purely for the reason of the fitting costs.

Ems501

thanks kevsan.
where did you get your independents from? - did you use myhammer (or equivalent) or just local directory listings?

kevsan

recommendations from friends / neighbours etc

If not, take a visit down and talk to them, you'll get a more personal service anyway, and a plan (plans in our case with varying layouts) that you can compare with B&Q etc

Although it is draining going from place to place, it is time well spent on what is probably the most expensive room refurb in the house

aarchk

I agree and would have liked to have done that.

I am currently having my kitchen installed, we bought from B&Q as we had a lot of vouchers for our wedding present, we are using our own fitter though for a fraction of the price (B&Q quoted nearly £2k, we are paying £160 per day for 5 days work). Its really through word of mouth we found him when he came to do a repair on our plumbing, turns out he is an electrician and kitchen/bathroom fitter too.

It may be best to contact a fitter first? they can often get trade discounts and would be the best to advise.

Leif

You probably have a few independents on the high street in or around your nearest towns. I can think of two local ones, both are good. My experience with a local kitchen company was excellent, as was my experience with a local fireplace shop. There is a local bathroom shop with a very good reputation too. If someone has a shop on the high street, they are unlikely to be fly by night, and will employ fitters they trust. They probably cost more than a good person with no shop, but finding such a person is hard, and you can end up with the worst kind of bodgers unless you have personal recommendations.

cddc

At the budget end of independent kitchens you might not get a better quality kitchen for your money, though you almost certainly will get a much cheaper fitting charge. B&Q and Homebase are the two worst offenders for loading fit charges, though all shed and large multiple fitting charges are always more that a local independent or a local joiner will charge.

Where_is_my_pencil?

Hi
For what it’s worth, we recently replaced the kitchen (2011). We got it from Wickes but Iwouldn’t recommend them after the hassle we had. Plans had measurements missing or wereoverlaid so difficult to read. I had adebate with the store's senior planner as he refused to believe that some oftheir corner units were not symmetrical and had to take him and a tape measureto their display kitchen successfully to prove my point. I installed the base and wall units myselfand we got an independent carpenter to fit the worktops. He told me that he has an account withHowdens that make kitchens (only available to trade). Thecupboards are supplied readymade so takes lots less time to install yourkitchen (Wickes and b&Q are flat pack and these are usually weaker and moreprone to being out of square which makes fitting worktops, tiles etc. a bit moretricky). Lastly, if you do get an independent,try and get one in the guild of master craftsmen, it makes a big difference.
Good luck!

Jessicap

Hi ... we are currenntly having ours fitted. We went all local Kitchen suppliers...Homebase, B&Q, benchmarx, wickes, magnet got them all to design the kitchen and create plans etc and ended up going with BQ...we made our own arrangements with having it fitter (cheaper) but overal very happy with BQ, good quality and all parts arrived on te delivery date and even if there was a part missing, damaged etc you have 90 days to report it to have it replaced.

samwants2save

Hiya, Wickes is terribly pricey! We got Howdens (through a builder mate) to come and measure up. It was the cheapest we found and go towards the end of the month and they#ll give you a great deal. They only deal with builders tho and have great trade prices. lucky for us, we bought the kitchen thru one builder who didnt make profit from us (he's lovely) and got another to fit it for £1k - we had the undercounter lighing, splashbacks, sockets everything included. Consider Howdens..

Valli

when I had muy kitchen iin my old house done I went round everywhere (yes it's time consuming BUT worht the effort) then I went to a local 'little' company - just to see what I would/could have if money were no object. They had an offer on and I ended up going with them and they did an excellent job.
Just had my kitchen done here, has involved a wall going down hen a new one being built in a slightly different location (first wall HAD to come down due to a door problem) and they found damp in the utility - well damp dealt with without a fuss, sub-contractors for electircs, gas and plastering were excellent - it hasn't been the cheapest job but i's ben done to such a high queality I'm thrilled.


My advice would be ask EVERYONE you know who they had and what their experience was like.
Go to the warehouses, get their quotes.

Go to the independants and get their quotes.
But nothing (IMO) beats word of mouth!