New kitchen

Grouchy

I know this is a bit vague and how long is a piece of string perhaps but I've just started thinking about this as I am interested in buying a new home that needs a new kitchen (old one unsalvagable). Never had this done before so thought I'd ask.

The first question is what is best (best = best finish, least hassle, quickness of installation, rather than cheapness) going to a kitchen place like Magnet or similar to get them to gut and install whatever kitchen I choose from them? For instance, do they do the electrical/gas fitting as well as make good any repairs to walls etc to make good for painting?

Or choose a kitchen I want from whoever and get a general builder company to do the rip out and do installation? In which case I guess you can stipulate what you want as far as make-good finish to walls etc. Dispose of old kitchen etc.

I guess the total cost will be different too depending on how to get the work done. But I'm not trying to cut corners on the kitchen as it is all budgeted for and I want what I want.

Has anyone some suggestion as to which is best (in my definition) from their own experience? Is someone like Magnet any good? I've just moved to a new city so have no connections yet to builders etc., and knew few people to recommend but will start asking around.

I plan to visit some kitchen places and ask but want to do a bit of homework first so I;m not totally green.

Thanks for any pointers.

cattie

First of all choose the style of kitchen you like best. Then you can try pricematching with all the major sheds, Howdends, Magnet, Benchmarx etc. Howden's often will only supply to trades, so if you've got a kitchen installer in mind, see if they can order from them. An independer fitter will always be cheaper than going for the whole package from the sheds.

Source your appliances, sink, taps etc. yourself & don't buy them as part of your package, you'll save a fortune & get just what you want, not having to choose from just those the sheds have on offer.

I had a new kitchen installed close on 3 yrs ago now & Benchmarx was the keenest on price for the kitchen I wanted. Magnet Trade wouldn't budge on price at all, Howden's were slow responding but woudn't beat the Benchmarx quote. What I liked about Benchmarx is the fact that when a door was found to be damaged, they sent a van round with a replacement just a couple of hours or so later.

Wickes stocks Benchmarx kitchens so if you've one close to you you can look there first to get a better idea of what you'd like.

glasgowdan

Find a good joiner who does kitchens. They will have electrician and plumber contacts and will sort that side out. Order kitchen from diykitchens, with help from the joiner to make sure you've not forgotten anything. Let the joiner do it.

They'll probably have a contact for a tiler and decorator who you arrange to come in and finish the room off.

Definitely a cheaper and higher quality way of doing it.

moneyistooshorttomention

Don't even think of Magnet - if my experience was anything to go by. They came up with a hugely inflated price and I wasnt impressed by their attitude either.

I've now decided on/booked a small independent kitchen shop. Rather higher quality kitchen than the Magnet one was likely to be and half the price.

The basic idea of these "independents" is the same as the "superstore" places. That being that they will do however much (or little) of the job you want. I'm going to be dealing with a couple of more minor detail things myself - but the firm I've chosen will be doing the majority of it (take out and dispose of old kitchen/plumbing and electrical bits/put in new kitchen).

FreeBear

Magnet are OK for initial design if you get a decent salesman, but the retail prices are horrendous (and I doubt the trade prices are much better).

I had been looking at fitting out a utility room a few years back, and found a local independent kitchen specialist to be way cheaper and had a few interesting ideas to boot.

More recently, I have been bouncing a few ideas around for a kitchen refit, but Magnet/Howdens/Wren can not provide the finishes I want.

tlj7

We have just bought a kitchen from DIYkitchens.com and had it fitted by a self employed fitter that we know. He is really impressed with the quality and we are happy with the price. We are not technical people but decided what we wanted where and measured so we could plan what fitted. DIY kitchens then checked our order after we asked them to ensure we had ordered correctly, they were so helpful. We sourced our own appliances, work top etc and came in half the price of a local kitchen company so well worth our effort. Give it a go!

madeinireland_2

Yes - another vote for DIY here.

Grouchy

Thanks for the useful suggestions.

I will of course regardless of how much is in my budget scout around for quotes etc. I'd not heard of diykitchens so will have a look at that website and see just how that works (had a quick look and it needs a deeper delve I think).

One thing that would be useful since the current kitchen is badly designed is to have some input from another person on layout. Are the visit to measure/design from the usual companies free? Are they generally a tie in to buying? Will have to look at small print on each I guess.

One thing about the DIY way is time, does this take quite a while since you are involving different companies?

I meant to ask - since time factor is crucial - can anyone give their experience on how long it took using the various methods from contracting the work to be done and the completion of the kitchen?


Thanks.

madeinireland_2

Get companies in to do you a design (e.g. Benchmark) - there is no buy-in with doing this and it's all free - 1 week
Order from DIY by sending design to them and getting them to create an order to match - 1 week
Order from DIY and wait for it to be delivered - 3 or 4 weeks (you would probably get things done like the floor, plastering and electrics in this period depending on your circumstances
Get you fitter to fit it - 2 weeks ( depends how complex)
Job done in about 8 weeks and was without kitchen for about 4 weeks

moneyistooshorttomention

Imo it's the research that has probably taken me the longest time. I probably spent a couple of months on research??

By the end of which my head was spinning a bit about materials cupboards are made of/choices of worktop/you name it. I've had 3 firms in total do designs for it - Magnet (as mentioned before:eek:), another independent kitchen firm (that got me thoroughly nervous about using them - as they made so many mistakes). Followed by independent firm 3 - and they are the ones I'm eventually going to use.

I'm anticipating an absolutely finalised to the nth degree quotation from firm 3 and starting the whole process up next week and having it finished by end of next month (NB: that includes allowing 4 weeks for kitchen to be done - ie including 2 weeks extra because the worktops are going to be quartz instead of laminate).

So - I am hoping the decoration after the event will be done in April - fingers crossed.

Moneytalks-minewalks

People getting designs done from companies and sending it to online firms wasting everyone's time. A lot of these firms are your local branch.Who give thousands of pounds to local charity's every year employing local people.There not just some huge firm there your local branch. And the people that work there are worked hard target driven with no commission. Even tho you might think they do I assure you they don't. Things like building strong relasionships and trust and being able to look someone in the face and negotiate are all part of the fun.

Tips
Never get just one quote
Tip two never show one firm the others work get two different views on the same kitchen. A good designer won't wanna see anything another company has done as you'll just copy.
Tip three your builder is probably making 10% on the materials some ask for a lot more £200 extra should be negotiated for there running around and nights at home working adding up planning pricing if you agree the job and there honest I've known people add on £1000 to a kitchen which makes the company seem exspensive so be very careful.
Last ask for the final booked out ticket not estimate not paid receipt the actual ticket the builder gets for the full materials don't bregrudge him a couple hundred but don't get your pants pulled down either