Www.diy-kitchens.com

Perleman

Hi
Looking into a new kitchen. Fairly small room c. 14 foot by 9 foot. Already got appliances. Am considering john lewis for the full service offering, we want good quality and recourse if issues. Not interested in ikea.
I came across https://www.diy-kitchens.com and their site is really good, lots of options, transparent pricing etc. they claim to use the same hinges as the jlp kitchens, and appear to be proud of their quality.
Has anyone on here got experience or an opinion? If its that much cheaper than jlp id be tempted to order and use a local fitter
Btw any recomendations for a fitter in sw london or surrey?
Thanks

Ionkontrol

Do a search

aggypanthus

I got mine from DIY kitchens, I had the chance to visit them first, and was given a tour of the workshop. they make own carcases, (great quality) and supply doors from Second Nature a well known company if you google it. Many independants sell them. DIY sell these at a greatly cheaper price.
JL will be a crazy price, avoid if poss. I do know a fitter in london. not sure of his work tho, just thru FB freinds

Furts

You cannot judge the quality unless you can touch, feel and inspect them.

Unless I was assured on the above, together with the quality of the hinges, drawboxes, joints etc. I would avoid them.

hebridean

I've just almost finished our new build and moved in in August. We were going to have a Howdens kitchen fitted through a local fitter/agent, but thought the quote was a bit steep. So we after a bit of research bought from diykitchens we went for the Cornell Classic painted white for the kitchen and natural for the utility. We bought all the units, worksurfaces, lighting, handles, Bosch dishwasher and cooker hood from them and the joiners fitted the lot.
Initially i e-mailed the dimensions of the kitchen, specified range and requirements, and they compiled a list of the required units and a layout which we changed a wee bit here and there. Placed the order which was delivered to Glasgow and then couriered to the island from there. Nothing was missing and all was undamaged. I reckon we saved about £4000 on our Howdens quote and got a fantastic kitchen/utility, so i can thoroughly recommend them.

CKdesigner

Hi Perleman

I'd suggest you do a bit of a search on this section of the forum for John Lewis kitchens as you will find plenty of posts.

I think if you want the kind of quality and service that you would get from John Lewis then I would suggest looking at a few independent kitchen specialists in your area that do a middle market 'complete' kitchen. Here are a few kitchen makes to get you started: English would be Mereway and Sheraton, but also have a look at some German makes: Hacker and Schueller. There are lots more but with these you will be getting a quality rigid built kitchen with plenty of options and hopefully the independent kitchen specialists that use these makes of furniture will offer a reasonable design service and do a good job that would be value for money.

The problem with buying a kitchen from an online supplier is that the design service would be somewhat lacking and ultimately you are on your own as you would be just purchasing a bunch of boxes without knowing so many important details. Also you would have to invest a lot more time in managing the project, which would inevitably lead to mistakes and the project taking longer to complete.

I personally think purchasing a new kitchen is such an important thing to get right, so deserves to be dealt with by someone that knows what they are doing.

Good luck

CK

StatisticallyChallenged

We've just had a DIY-Kitchen fitted and we are very pleased with it. Everything seems lovely quality and very solid, and all the internal fixings seem very smooth. I have a Le-Mans corner unit, a 150mm pullout and drawers which all run well - plus soft close hinges etc everywhere.

Kitchen fitter liked it too which is always a good sign!

I did have a couple of kitchens designed (e.g. at Benchmarx) but I really wasn't that happy with any of them as none of them got what I wanted. I ended up doing it myself with the Alno Kitchen Planner. BUT I am a fussy perfectionist so knew what I wanted/needed.

Moss5

I have used DIY kitchens.com twice and cannot fault them.
Units are factory-assembled (glue & dowel).
I had access problems on my second project so opted for 'Dry-assembled' delivery. I was able to take the units apart and re-assemble them at final destination. Only had to buy some wood glue.

keystone

The only problem with internet shopfronts is that the customer support function can be diabolically dire. This phenomenon seriously manifests itself in the bathroom sector. As long as you have a good design in the first instance then your fitter shouldn't have any problems with it.

Cheers

tpt

you wont go wrong with diy-kitchens. i've used them 5 times (my own, father in law, brother and 2 friends). the doors are all second-nature (look them up) and the carcases are all 18mm glued and dowel.
Units come ready made up - opt for the service where they drill and fit all the doors and drawers, its about 15% extra i think but you'll save 2 days of your fitters labour.

My kitchens been in for 6 years now and has been faultless. if your after granite tops too we used diapol. great price and service.

As an internet seller myself i was impressed by their customer service, they were very helpful. if your in the least bit worried just pay be CC and then your covered anyway.

I have no experience of JLK but if its anything like b+q,tesco etc then they will just either use subbies or its a firm using the name. if i'm right then dont be fooled into thinking you'll get JL service.

CKdesigner

tpt wrote: »

I have no experience of JLK but if its anything like b+q,tesco etc then they will just either use subbies or its a firm using the name. if i'm right then dont be fooled into thinking you'll get JL service.

Hi

John Lewis kitchens are sold by John Lewis, you go into the store to view the kitchen department, you make an appointment there for a designer who is an employee (or correct title is 'Partner') to do a home survey and if you decide to purchase the kitchen from John Lewis then you are buying it from them. I am no advocate of purchasing kitchens from John Lewis but there is no 'smoke & mirrors' it is what it is. Very much unlike kitchens from Tesco, Next and the like, where it is just the branding and that's where the Tesco or Next association stops.

CK