Kitchen quotes

Catsla

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice. I'm replacing my sad old 90s kitchen in my flat and I've been getting some crazy quotes. At least, I think they're crazy so I'm looking for some guidance on whether they really are.

The kitchen is galley style, consists of 14 units and I'm replacing all of the appliances. Spec is white gloss handleless units and a solid or semi-solid work surface (e.g Maia) .Existing tiles need removing and walls need making good for new tiles (to be done separately after installation) and I've asked for quotes based on the plumbing in of appliances and basic electrical work like installation of single oven, induction hob and cabinet/worktop lighting. Flooring and painting will be tackled separately afterwards.

So far, I've had a range of quotes for the same design and varying degrees of service :
1.John Lewis are coming in at 14k including installation. Units would be 6k, work surface £1800 for Maia (approx 1 x 1700mm run and 1 x 2800mm run) , appliances 2k, accessories and extras £500 ish and installation £3500.
2. Mobilia are 12k with 8k unit price but installation seems to be ridiculously low at 1k. They only do a dry fit and have offered me a Quartz worktop for 1k on offer. But, their quote is a little scant on detail and I suspect the installation costs could spiral.
3. Homebase. Er, where do I begin!? My local Homebase only offer Hygena and Schreiber and have quoted 13k for Schreiber Bloomsbury all in. Installation is wait for it, 7k!!! Units are 6k which with worktop and appliances brought it up to 17k! They then added their 'special discount' and it came down to 13k. What I haven't been able to get an answer on with Homebase is that why a friend of mine brought and had them install a more expensive Odina range last year, which at 28 units is twice the size of mine AND consists of things like a double oven, fancy pull out larder etc all for 14k!!it just doesn't make sense!

I then took the same design to another Homebase store which stock Odina and took them through everything I wanted. Despite promising me that someone would be in touch with an estimate I still wait a week later.

Why is this so hard? Am I being unrealistic on cost? I don't think I am and having spoken to people and read these boards it confirms my feeling. I've not chosen fancy units. I do have a definite idea of the design and am uncompromising on the look I want but it's not top end by any means. I just want a good quality, nice looking and hassle free kitchen.

It's worth mentioning that I've spoken to a local independent dealer too who stock Mereway kitchens and she said they'd probably come in for 'more than 14k' if I wanted everything done by them. :eek: I live in an area of South West London that's not renowned for value for money and I do wonder whether this means a premium.

I'd be grateful for any views/tips.

Catsla

dirty_magic

You're looking in the wrong places. We've got a Howden's kitchen, got them to reduce original price by 2.5k by playing them off against Benchmarx. We got it for 4k in the end for the units and sink and tap thrown in free.

Don't get appliances from the kitchen company, they're usually more expensive. If you want quartz or wooden worktops you can probably get these cheaper from an independent place too.

DIY kitchens gets rave reviews on here, have a look on there using one of the quotes you've already got as a framework for what to get. This will give you an idea of what you should be paying.

We managed to get Howdens to roughly the same price so we went with them because I thought it'd be easier to have a local branch as a contact if anything went wrong. You'll have to find a fitter to use Howdens as they're trade only, but an independent one will probably be cheaper than a DIY chain.

We went for one of the more expensive ranges so you can do it cheaper. We got a quote for a cheaper range too which was half what we paid, but we went for real wood in the hope that it will last longer.

leveller2911

dirty_magic wrote: »

You're looking in the wrong places. We've got a Howden's kitchen, got them to reduce original price by 2.5k by playing them off against Benchmarx. We got it for 4k in the end for the units and sink and tap thrown in free.

The minute they dropped their quote by £2,500 would be the moment I walked out or pointed to the door.

Howdens are no better than the worse types of salesmen you get in the Upvc window industry. Their sales pitch is shocking and would gladly sell a overpriced kitchen to an elderly couple just to make more profit. I've had an account with them for nearly 20yrs and in the old days they were a decent company to deal with but no longer and thats why they no longer get any of my business.

I have used DIY online and they are better quality and much cheaper but the only downside is they won't olan a kitchen but their is free software to help homeowners plan their own kitchens ,which works ok.

We managed to get Howdens to roughly the same price so we went with them because I thought it'd be easier to have a local branch as a contact if anything went wrong. You'll have to find a fitter to use Howdens as they're trade only, but an independent one will probably be cheaper than a DIY chain.

They may say thye are trade only but in reality they will sell to Joe Public.

redmalc

I note someone advised don't get the appliances from the kitchen company,we found the best price for our Siemens appliances was from the kitchen supplier who gave us his 20% dealer discount.

mishkanorman

We've not long purchased a kitchen from Wickes, something like 19 units, work surface including breakfast bar, sink & taps and the total came in at just under 12k. That includes £2,800 for installation and around £7k in discounts ! We didnt purchase appliances as we wanted to pick our own.

cddc

Homebase are daylight robbers on installs. You will pay fairly silly prices for big company installs in London.

That Mobilia quote looks plain weird. Quartz for 1k. Fitting for 1k. Their units must be proper garbage to be making that much of a margin on them that they can afford to make a loss on the worktops and fitting, because, trust me, at those prices in South West London, they will be making a hefty loss.

Try Wickes as a realistic alternative to the JL & Homebase quotes. They should be cheaper than both and a similar quality.

dirty_magic

leveller2911 wrote: »

The minute they dropped their quote by £2,500 would be the moment I walked out or pointed to the door.

Howdens are no better than the worse types of salesmen you get in the Upvc window industry. Their sales pitch is shocking and would gladly sell a overpriced kitchen to an elderly couple just to make more profit. I've had an account with them for nearly 20yrs and in the old days they were a decent company to deal with but no longer and thats why they no longer get any of my business.

I have used DIY online and they are better quality and much cheaper but the only downside is they won't olan a kitchen but their is free software to help homeowners plan their own kitchens ,which works ok.


They may say thye are trade only but in reality they will sell to Joe Public.

I know they sell to the public really, OH fitted ours himself but we did have to use his friend's joinery company as a front. They knew we were doing it, but they wouldn't quote us without having the company name.

We went with Howden's because DIY kitchens weren't cheaper in the end! I would have gone with them if they had been. I'm happy with the quality of the kitchen, the only problem we had was some of the stuff was short delivered or over delivered. We knew this would happen because everyone warned us, which is one of the reasons we chose Howdens. I thought if we bought online and it was wrong we couldn't just pop down the road to pick it up!

The pricing is annoying but as long as they drop it to something I'm happy with I'm not too fussed. It's just business! The discounts don't mean anything, if you work out what it supposedly costs before the discount you'd be paying £500 for a tap!

Everyone has their own opinions OP and you'll probably get loads of conflicting replies, but from our experience I'm happy with Howdens overall.

Furts

dirty_magic wrote: »

I know they sell to the public really, OH fitted ours himself but we did have to use his friend's joinery company as a front. They knew we were doing it, but they wouldn't quote us without having the company name.

We went with Howden's because DIY kitchens weren't cheaper in the end! I would have gone with them if they had been. I'm happy with the quality of the kitchen, the only problem we had was some of the stuff was short delivered or over delivered. We knew this would happen because everyone warned us, which is one of the reasons we chose Howdens. I thought if we bought online and it was wrong we couldn't just pop down the road to pick it up!

The pricing is annoying but as long as they drop it to something I'm happy with I'm not too fussed. It's just business! The discounts don't mean anything, if you work out what it supposedly costs before the discount you'd be paying £500 for a tap!

Everyone has their own opinions OP and you'll probably get loads of conflicting replies, but from our experience I'm happy with Howdens overall.

I view this as a very fair and balanced opinion of Howdens and I give it full marks.Whether or not one goes to Howden really does not matter. For the vast majority of people in ordinary homes there is no need to go to independent retailers, not listen to sales BS, nor follow crazy fashions, nor be taken in by the much of the nonsense that is bandied around regarding kitchens.

A rigid, pre-made kitchen (not flat pack), with decent rigidity (check the back panel detail), with wooden doors (avoid vinyl wrapped mdf and others) and a decent melamine worktop (avoid 28mm rubbish, and others) with branded taps, sink, waste, and appliances will adequately meet the needs of people and will be available at realistic costs if one shops around, ask appropriate questions and remain savvy with your negotiating.

Howdens and others will meet these requirements.

gcrns11

I hope someone can help with this . I asked for a quote for a Howdens Greenwich Graphite Gloss kitchen and a Glendevon Graphite one.
Does anyone know if the code GGY refers to the Greenwich Graphite Gloss or Glendevon Graphite?

bellaboo86

I've just finished having my new kitchen installed this week and all in all it has come to just under 5k including having it plastered, getting an electrician in, and plumber (not including fitting and parents did that)
My kitchen was from B and Q and I did look at Wren and Howdens etc but found no difference between the kitchens apart from the price (Wren we're going to charge me 7k).
The price you will pay will depend on how much you can do or want to do yourself.
My parents took my old kitchen out and removed the tiles (although I would have had a go myself if they hadn't). This meant it was very straight forward for the electrician and plasterer,
Also shopping around helps. The oven/ grill I wanted was going to cost £370 from B and Q but I had a look on line and found the exact model much cheaper on AO and paid £230. I also got my stainless steel sockets extra from screwfix which were £25 for 5 sockets where as B and q were £9 for one. Again I also shopped around for handles which came to less than £30 from Ebay where as in B and q it was 2 for £8. Shopped around again for under lay for the flooring. I also painted it myself t save money.
Obviously this has taken slightly longer than if you pay people to fit it and decorate for you but is worth the disruption for the savings. It has taken about 5 weeks all in all.

brenda10

bellaboo86 wrote: »

I've just finished having my new kitchen installed this week and all in all it has come to just under 5k including having it plastered, getting an electrician in, and plumber (not including fitting and parents did that)
My kitchen was from B and Q and I did look at Wren and Howdens etc but found no difference between the kitchens apart from the price (Wren we're going to charge me 7k).
The price you will pay will depend on how much you can do or want to do yourself.
My parents took my old kitchen out and removed the tiles (although I would have had a go myself if they hadn't). This meant it was very straight forward for the electrician and plasterer,



Also shopping around helps. The oven/ grill I wanted was going to cost £370 from B and Q but I had a look on line and found the exact model much cheaper on AO and paid £230. I also got my stainless steel sockets extra from screwfix which were £25 for 5 sockets where as B and q were £9 for one. Again I also shopped around for handles which came to less than £30 from Ebay where as in B and q it was 2 for £8. Shopped around again for under lay for the flooring. I also painted it myself t save money.
Obviously this has taken slightly longer than if you pay people to fit it and decorate for you but is worth the disruption for the savings. It has taken about 5 weeks all in all.

Just been quoted 9k for kitchen to be put in, plastering small kitchen, changing few waste pipes, 2 radiators changed and tiling wall kitchen, tile floor and putting down a fake wooden floor ?14 X20 feet. Bedfordshire area-
Thanks
Kitchen Ikea cost £2500