Kitchen Refit

loveprada

Hi, I'm desperate to refit my kitchen (on my terms). I want an Ikea kitchen and I want to use the appliances and tiles I've sourced or which are already in my current kitchen. The problem is every time someone comes over to give me a quote, they already have a figure in their heads that they think they are going to get from me. They say they have accounts everywhere and would be happy to supply. I really dont care! I've managed to source everything I need at good prices. Ordinarily it should cost perhaps £2k to £3k to refit my kitchen. However, I'm being quoted figures of around £12k for a supply and fit or over £5k for fit only and I'm getting very angry. I'm based in NW London. Not even sure Ikea would fit my kitchen given that I want to re-use my oven and hob. Any advice would be appreciated.

keystone

loveprada wrote: »

Hi, I'm desperate to refit my kitchen (on my terms).

and that is how it should be.

However, I'm being quoted figures of around £12 for a supply and fit or over £5k for fit only and I'm getting very angry. I'm based in NW London.

Neither are relevant to your needs nor should you be coerced into fitting their business model.

Any advice would be appreciated.

What you need to do is bypass the kitchen companies and the suppliers and find yourself an installer and deal direct with him/her.

Cheers

cddc

One of the reasons I am glad I dont live in London anymore is the sheer difficulty of getting sensible quotes from any tradesmen to do anything. And then, when you do find a good one, the next time you need him, you find out that he has moved!
Loveprada I feel your pain!

loveprada

Thank you for your responses. KDR - I really appreciate this and I'm happy to wait till Monday.
Guess what - my latest quote came in today at over £7k from an independent (one-man) fitter to fit an Ikea kitchen. What planet do these people come from? Assuming the work takes 2 weeks, Do kitchen fitters charge £3.5k per week these days? That's £100 per hour for a 35 hr week.

maintenanceman

loveprada wrote: »

Hi, I'm desperate to refit my kitchen (on my terms). I want an Ikea kitchen and I want to use the appliances and tiles I've sourced or which are already in my current kitchen. The problem is every time someone comes over to give me a quote, they already have a figure in their heads that they think they are going to get from me. They say they have accounts everywhere and would be happy to supply. I really dont care! I've managed to source everything I need at good prices. Ordinarily it should cost perhaps £2k to £3k to refit my kitchen. However, I'm being quoted figures of around £12k for a supply and fit or over £5k for fit only and I'm getting very angry. I'm based in NW London. Not even sure Ikea would fit my kitchen given that I want to re-use my oven and hob. Any advice would be appreciated.

O.K. I am a bit confised about this post. You say is should cost between 2/3 grand to refit your kitchen. where did you get that idea from? Is that the cost of the kitchen units only?
I would have to say that there are two prices. One price where you take all the responsibility for the design, measuring, sourcing and delivering the materials and sorting out missing items or adjustments = major headache.
Another price where you put that all onto someone else shoulder where they take responsibility for all the headaches.
So there is one price when you do it yourself and another price whem you employ someone else to do it for you.
Own supply and someone else to fit will be more expensive as its like taking on an unknown project.
Getting someone else to finish an unfinished project is even more expensive.
All factors to think of when making home improvements and who and hoe you intend on doing them.
Good luck.

suki1964

im in the midst of refitting my kitchen with Ikea cupboards and doors

Tile, worktops, appliances - all bought elsewhere

Cost of cupboards and doors - just a tad over the 3k

cost of electrician - a days work

Plumber - free as hes taken our old doors and windows we also were replacing

Design - Free - Ikea provide that service

Picking and delivery - £115 ( coming tomorrow - happy days)

Fitting - me and hubby - Ikea would be charging £2k

Ikea are very happy to design and sell you a kitchen without you needing to buy anything else from them. You can ask them to fit it - or you can find a joiner to come do it for you - and pay an electrician and plumber where needed as well

Fitting kitchens is not a rocket science - this is out third house and our third kitchen we have down ourselves with help from an electrician and plumber only

Jaynne

Have you tried to get people in to do the work separately? Fitting a kitchen isn't exactly rocket science (speaking from experience of fitting our own despite never having done it before).

Are your plumbing and gas/elec points staying in the same place? If so its easy to rip out your old one yourself, get a plasterer/tiler in to make good and change any floor tiles etc. Fitting the cabinets is actually pretty easy, but you could get a joiner to do it for you as ikea ones will need some modifications due to lack of service void but you could build them all up yourself saving time. You'll probably want to get a joiner to fit the worktops unless its a galley kitchen as the joins are hard to do well.

Then you need to get a gas man/plumber in to refit your hob if using gas or electrician if not and a plumber to hook up your sink. Finally get the tiler back to do any splashbacks and under counter work.

Its not too hard and there are lots of opportunities to save money by doing bits yourself but of course doing it this way you become the project manager responsible for co-ordinating all the trades.

loveprada

Thanks again for the advice. As you say, perhaps I need to consider breaking this job up into the various components and also roll up my sleeves and do whatever I can. It's also a matter of finding a joiner who would be happy to do just his part instead of seeing a big picture. The first quote I had included a generic integrated fridge for £400 and its housing unit for £600. Neither of which I would touch with a bargepole!! Just to give you an idea how they are happy to squander other people's money. What good can a generic integrated fridge for just £400 be - it probably wouldnt last more than a year.

southcoastrgi

loveprada wrote: »

What good can a generic integrated fridge for just £400 be - it probably wouldnt last more than a year.

Lightbulb moment !!

I did agree with you upto this point, your above point is a very snobbish one, most people would have to make a very careful decision on whether to spend £400 on a fridge & you have just said No it's not good enough for me, bucket & bouquet springs to mind.

evokit

loveprada wrote: »

What good can a generic integrated fridge for just £400 be - it probably wouldnt last more than a year.

you can also say that spending £1500 on your ikea kitchen?

you can get many decent brand fridges (inc) bosch for this give or take

suki1964

What's with the personal attacks here?

The op asked for advice. Not asked for a character assassination