How to save money on renovation?

Annie1960

Howdens seem to grossly over-price their kitchens, so they can then appear to be giving huge discounts. Also, the fitter may also charge extra for the units - but you won't be aware of this.

So, it depends on which fitter you get to fit your Howedens kitchen. Some will pass on the full discount (which is about 70-85%), and others won't. You could get a good deal, or end up paying silly prices. You won't know until you get quotes.

burnsguitarman

Not sure where in Greater Manchester you are, but have you heard of Brooklyn DIY warehouse in Walkden, we've had loads of bargains from there over the years. Especially good for discontined paint, wallpaper, tiles, laminate and accessories Its well worth a look. Beware though stock changes very fast and sometimes its full of rubbish.

jimpix12

Go to IKEA for kitchens as others have mentioned. I did my entire kitchen including labour for £6k, Homebase quoted me £23k for the same.

If you must get a trade kitchen like Howdens then don't buy it through your fitter, unless you trust them as they will up the prices. My friend registered a ltd company with a property renovation-esque name, made a company letterhead and signed up for a trade account at Howdens. I think the cost was £30 for the company registration. Whether that still works, I don't know...

penguingirl

We got our kitchen in diy kitchens and the units came to 1.5k. We fitted them ourselves (they come solid built so not that hard to do!). We got our worktops from a timber yard- if you're north greater manchester it was savoy timber in Wigan. They will cut them for you and were really reasonable.

arbrighton

I only paid £200 for 10sq m of tiles. Admittedly there would have been grout etc as well but no way it needs to be £500.

You might not like pine doors, but if the money isn't there for oak, I'd make do...

We've just decorated our entire (BIG!) extension for about £300- yes we already had ladders but we don't reuse the roller sleeves to avoid clogging up our septic tank with paint etc

Mallotum_X

IKEA kitchen great quality, we put one in 2 years back. But don't use them to fit it get a local tradesman or do it yourself.

ivavoucher

Rambosmum wrote: »

I'm struggling to find any cheap kitchen places - can anyone recommend one in Greater Manchester?

[FONT=&quot]Selco: Baguley, Ardwick or Ashton Moss.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And get your self a trade account at Stax. Somehow, It’s easy really.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stax is great for paint, flooring, wall tiles, hardware etc. They also have a large range of kitchens.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Naxos-Rigid-7 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]high gloss cream finish

At Ashton Moss we got a discount of over 40% on most of the kitchen. it was pre assembled and the quality was great.
They have the kitchens setup so you can see the quality before you buy.

http://www.selcobw.com/products/kitchens/rigid-kitchens/naxos-rigid

Very nice oak doors £74 + vat each
http://www.selcobw.com/suffolk-internal-oak-door-1981-x-686-x-35mm-6-6-x-2-3-fscr

I have just renovated a buy to let and your costs seem a little high to me.

I have posted up a few photos of the kitchen, oak doors and flooring.
I paid all materials, including flooring, skirting and glue etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I got the flooring trade, but its good stuff (very hard warring) from Stax, Just over £10 per m2[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Balterio Traditional Quattro Laminate Cottage Oak 1.907m2 pack[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You Pay: £20.95 each + VAT[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]RRP: £47.48[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
Used a good builder/handy man to do the work.

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Labour only:
Flooring laid £120 for the main room.
Skirting: old removed and new fitted £60 per room. (really don't like beading)
Doors fitted inc fitting new handles and locks £35 each.

Where in Manchester are you?[/FONT]

DTDfanBoy

ivavoucher wrote: »

I have posted up a few photos of the kitchen, oak doors and flooring.

I like the tiled splashback :T

Rambosmum

ivavoucher wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Selco: Baguley, Ardwick or Ashton Moss.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And get your self a trade account at Stax. Somehow, It’s easy really.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stax is great for paint, flooring, wall tiles, hardware etc. They also have a large range of kitchens.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Naxos-Rigid-7 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]high gloss cream finish

At Ashton Moss we got a discount of over 40% on most of the kitchen. it was pre assembled and the quality was great.
They have the kitchens setup so you can see the quality before you buy.

http://www.selcobw.com/products/kitchens/rigid-kitchens/naxos-rigid

Very nice oak doors £74 + vat each
http://www.selcobw.com/suffolk-internal-oak-door-1981-x-686-x-35mm-6-6-x-2-3-fscr

I have just renovated a buy to let and your costs seem a little high to me.

I have posted up a few photos of the kitchen, oak doors and flooring.
I paid all materials, including flooring, skirting and glue etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I got the flooring trade, but its good stuff (very hard warring) from Stax, Just over £10 per m2[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Balterio Traditional Quattro Laminate Cottage Oak 1.907m2 pack[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You Pay: £20.95 each + VAT[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]RRP: £47.48[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
Used a good builder/handy man to do the work.

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Labour only:
Flooring laid £120 for the main room.
Skirting: old removed and new fitted £60 per room. (really don't like beading)
Doors fitted inc fitting new handles and locks £35 each.

Where in Manchester are you?[/FONT]

Thanks for that. Nice looking house. We were quoted £350 to lay the floor for a similar sized room.

We're South Bury technically, but we've lived elsewhere in Manchester as well.

PixelPound

You say you are doing it DIY, but your costs are very high!

Rambosmum wrote: »

Which we want to do:

floor - laminate through out downstairs 45m2 with underlay and beading (£1500)

that's over £33 sqm. I bought my laminate in B&Q May sale at £7/sqm for 8mm stuff for upstairs and £9/sqm for 12mm thick for downstairs (most of their 12mm was at £12 or £15 in the sale but the one we wanted was on a promotion before the sale). Underlay, not got yet as not moved in, will be £2.50 sqm (their top of the range is £3.60), unless they have a promotion. So I'm at half of what you are budgeting for my high spec :eek: Beading is expensive, I think about £3 linear metre, but I may well just buy cheap pine quadrant and paint it. They usually have a sale around bank holidays, so guess you have a month to wait.

I would always say go for at least 8mm, wherever you get it from, and wait until there is a promotion bringing the sq/m price to under the mm thickness price. Ask for fitting demonstrations, some newer systems can be installed by a single DIY-er, some use the old method of assembling whole row at a time that takes 2 or 3 people. Go for a glueless click system (can take up at a later date, e.g. repair/access). Ask about splash warranties (do you have children, does the downstairs include kitchen). Don't skimp on underlay or try and reuse something else, I know dozens of trade builders who buy cheapest 6mm laminate but put decent 6mm underlay, far better than getting 10 or 12mm and using an almost non existent 1mm cheapo underlay.

Rambosmum wrote: »

new kitchen - 15 unit L shape cream units wood work top (£5500) only appliance we require is a dishwasher.

Is this kitchen massive? Look at http://www.kitchen-compare.com/ We are aiming to replace the kitchen, U-shape 2x5m so maybe smaller than yours but well under £2000 which includes Bosch 5 burner hob and electric oven (using existing fridge/freezer, washer and dishwasher), AND solid wood worktops (going laminated would save us more, but this needs to be a quality to last us).

Rambosmum wrote: »

Tiling in kitchen (£500)

Painting/ decorating (~£1000) whole of downstairs, including one new kitchen.

New doors (£1140 plus hanging) 6 doors, 4 oak, 2 oak and glass

bifolding internal door (£900 plus fitting)

Can't comment on these, though are you having them professionally fitted? Is it replacing existing doors or new doors including casings?

Rambosmum wrote: »

Anyone any idea how we could save some money - the kitchen is the cheapest non-high gloss one I have so far found.

We can't save up any more (I'm expecting so all savings are being used to pay for mat leave/ things for baby/ rainy day) and this money is inheritance so 'unaccounted for'.

Come on money savers, help me save!

Is the kitchen the cheapest :eek:. What are your timescales, and how flexible are you as to design/function. All retailers have sales, so buying on promotion will be better than full price. Do any have price match guarantees (could you get the cheapest offer by going to the second cheapest and getting them to better the cheapest, some will say beat by some %age).

I wish I had an uncounted for £10k. My £3k is paying for new kitchen including good Hob/oven and solid wood worktops, 60 sqm flooring, new bathroom suite and tiling (has an old biddie wetroom), painting and wallpapering after removing 1970's decor, and partial re-fencing the garden. Not included is the amount of our time it takes, and time lost through my "strops" after disagreements with the missus :rotfl: