kitchen

Nebulous2

We visited Wrens at the weekend - approximately £4k for fitting alone, difficult to get prices for individual units without a home visit and design service. I am already concluding that pricing is difficult to get in detail as most companies will have lots of extras to add.

We are looking at a on-line service and estimate £5k total for fitting ourselves, will need gas hob fitted but willing to do everything else. Twice that fitted seems about right, but you could probably do better for the money than B & Q.

agrinnall

Nebulous2 wrote: »

We visited Wrens at the weekend - approximately £4k for fitting alone, difficult to get prices for individual units without a home visit and design service. I am already concluding that pricing is difficult to get in detail as most companies will have lots of extras to add.

You might want to take a look at some of their reviews before going any further with them.

penguingirl

We used diykitchens for supply a few years ago in our old house and were very pleased with the quality (come prebuilt, not flat pack, solid units), the price (about 1.5k for about 12 units) and the service. We sourced worktops and handles elsewhere- worktops came from local timber yard and handles from ironmongers. Also got appliances elsewhere. I'd recommend searching online for diykitchens- I had never heard from them until I looked on here, but struggled to find a bad review of them. We fitted it ourselves, but I'm sure you could find a local fitter. You might have more luck on the DIY subforum, there's a couple of kitchen designers/fitters who post on there and they gave me some great feedback on designs

Curlywurli

We used Homebase a few years ago and I'd never use them again. Apparently we had the best fitters in the area. Five years later and all of the back of the units are coming off. It was nothing but hassle and they didn't earth a wire that they should have earthed. If I could have just kept my kitchen cupboards and changed the doors I would have done that but it needed a whole refit.

tlc678910

Another vote for Howdens. I think they only sell to trade but the public can go in to choose and then you use a local tradesman with a Howdens account to fit it. I'm sure they would be able to recommend a fitter.

If you have a kitchen with decent carcasses you could keep the budget down by keeping those and changing the doors and ends etc. Lots of companies do that.

Tlc

Dan83

A friend of mine used to work for B&Q, he sold kitchens. He said they over sell everything so they make more commission, then you return it for a refund and everyone is happy.

Buy a local paper, they normally have a few pages in the back where people advertise, or drive around you local industrial/trading estate or google it, something like, kitchens in xxxxx (your area/town/city)

bellaboo86

I got my kitchen from B and Q too. You need to go through the itemised list and look at where you can make savings.Here are a few suggestions:
End panels- only get these where you need them. I got three less than they said I needed. For example one either side of my washing machine which has cupboards either side.
Appliances- the make and model will be listed. I went on AO.com and got exactly the same for £100 less.
Door handles. B and Q were going to charge £8 per pair. But I got the same off ebay for £30 including postage (18 handles).
Also, they charge you loads for woodglue etc. when my kitchen was finished. I emailed customer services and asked for a refund on the bits that hadnt been used. I got a nice cheque for just under £100.

Davesnave

stranger12 wrote: »

Hi all,

we went to B&Q and for a kitchen of relatively small size, they want 10k including installation and all appliances.

Everyone starts with B&Q, or similar. Some never go any further, but many move on to discover suppliers who can work out cheaper/better if they find a good local fitter .e.g. Howdens or DIY.

Sometimes, there's a respected local company doing a more basic line to compete with those guys.They're unlikely to be cheapest, but if they've been around for a long time, their fitting is going to be good. Fitting matters.

~Beanie~

19lottie82 wrote: »

2-3k for a kitchen? Including appliances and installation?

No chance.

It is possible. Mine cost £2500 last year for a small kitchen, only appliances included were the oven/hob. Units were supplied fully built and not flat pack. I also paid an electrician £80 to install a socket for the cooker hood. That was from a local independant kitchen supplier.

AlexMac

I've done DIY fitting several times in my own and the kids' kitchems, usually getting in a plumber or electrician to do the necessary/certifiable bits. £10k seems extremely high, so I'd try to fund an independent fitter- then, go with their recommended supplier.

Builders like Howdens because they deliver on time and immediately, the cabinets are pre-assembled, not flatpacked and they have an irritating pricing model whereby they show outrageous list prices to the client, then discount these (sometimes by up to 75% to regular trade customers), so the fitter can pocket a skim if you fall for it.

In my expereince, B&Q kit is fine, especially with a tradepoint discount card (which anyone can register for) or pensioners' discount, but their cheaper cabinets are flatpack, so you or the fitter have to spend more time on them. I was too busy for DIY I had a tiny kitchen fitted last year and the kit cost about £1,000 (excluding white goods) and fitting by an independent guy about the same, including assembling the B&Q cabinets, plus about £150 for tiling - about 4 days' work.

I prefer IKEA kit; really cheap and well-made, and some bits- for example glass-fronted wall units - are literally half the price of rivals'. But builders hate them as they are a nightmare to deal with, deliver late or incomplete (so you really have to go to their Dante-esque warehouse) and the design of the base units; without rear voids for pipework, irritates some fitters. I assume if IKEA recommend fitters they choose people who tolerate their idiosyncrasies?

So shop around; good luck