Buying a second hand kitchen - would you?

Juli_b

Hi,

I brought my property 7 years ago and at the time was unable to afford putting in a new kitchen. Instead I opted to change the tiles, colour scheme of walls and lighting to make it look half decent.

Seven years on and its falling apart, I'm still not in a position to buy a new kitchen as I recently had a baby. I've been researching and am seriously considering buying a second hand kitchen from gumtree or ebay. My partner is a carpenter by trade (but no longer does this for work) so I figure we should be able to make this work for us.

Has anyone ever done this or would you consider doing this?

If you have done this, do you have any hints or tips?

Many thanks

Doozergirl

I bought a kitchen that had been used for a photoshoot. I bought it on ebay. Best bargain I've ever had!

Being creative with potential layouts is a skill you will really need so that you can buy the right kitchen for you. Someone elses kitchen is never going to fit in exactly the same way.

Buy a good quality brand to reduce the risk of breaking or weakening of units.

And hire a bigger van than you think you need.

GwylimT

I have done it before and it has always worked well, in my last home I bought an ex-display kitchen complete with a granite worktop and it was very reasonably priced. I fitted most of it myself and cut cupboards to size as they were too deep for our kitchen, the biggest expense was having the granite cut and buffed.

SailorSam

I've never done it, but you often see after someone has moved into a new house they'll modernise and switch kitchens even though the one getting taken out is Ok. I've even seen them on Freecycle. And if your OH can do any adjustments, it's worth looking into it.

lardlikesdogs

Waste of time , just buy a new off the peg basic units and worktops and fit yourself, You should be able to do it for less than £1k (its worth saving up in the long run) don't go for fancy units just basic wall and base units , One drawer and no trims.

SailorSam

lardlikesdogs wrote: »

Waste of time , just buy a new off the peg basic units and worktops and fit yourself, You should be able to do it for less than £1k (its worth saving up in the long run) don't go for fancy units just basic wall and base units , One drawer and no trims.

Why have something cheap that's going to fall apart a few years down the line when you can get a quality kitchen that will make your house look better.
Put the cheap things in rented flats.

GwylimT

lardlikesdogs wrote: »

Waste of time , just buy a new off the peg basic units and worktops and fit yourself, You should be able to do it for less than £1k (its worth saving up in the long run) don't go for fancy units just basic wall and base units , One drawer and no trims.

Not at all a waste of time, my second hand kitchen was hand made fully wooden units, no chipboard in sight, my second was high end with granite worktops. The cost of both was well under £1000, the first is still in use as my cousin bought the property the only TLC it needs is a monthly oil of the wooden worktop.

Doozergirl

lardlikesdogs wrote: »

Waste of time , just buy a new off the peg basic units and worktops and fit yourself, You should be able to do it for less than £1k (its worth saving up in the long run) don't go for fancy units just basic wall and base units , One drawer and no trims.

The kitchen I bought was a Mereway with luxury upgrades that included lights that came on when you open drawers and glass bottomed wall units. It cost £500! I wish that happened every day.

Doozergirl

SailorSam wrote: »

Why have something cheap that's going to fall apart a few years down the line when you can get a quality kitchen that will make your house look better.
Put the cheap things in rented flats.

Even tenants deserve nice kitchens