Kitchen Conundrum!

mummyofmonkeys

So my husband and I have decided to extend our house and turn our reasonable sized kitchen into a kitchen/dining/family space. We have looked around and researched a number of different kitchen suppliers and quite frankly my head is swimming and i'm lost.

couple of background things to consider - We have 2 children under 3 - we are short on time and therefore not keen on doing something that requires significant input on our part.

I am concerned about the transparency of suppliers that only sell to trade, I am much keener on dealing with a company that i can talk about the price with directly.

So we have had plans drawn up by Wren (plans ok - very concerned about the general reviews you read about their service)

We have looked at Magnet - not convinced about quality.

B&Q no go, Homebase don't have what we want. Wickes seem ridiculously busy and we are struggling to get an appointment with them.

I have been to see one independant who deals with schueller - seems ok, maybe more pricey - is the product any better than the above??

So someone with some knowledge or experience could you point me in the right direction?? We have an average budget - we aren't looking for some super modern kitchen, just something homely that is robust (2 kids who are wrecking balls!!) that will look good and function well.

I just cant tell the difference and I don't know who to trust

FreeBear

mummyofmonkeys wrote: »

We have looked at Magnet - not convinced about quality.

B&Q no go, Homebase don't have what we want. Wickes seem ridiculously busy and we are struggling to get an appointment with them.

Magnet are starting to test my patience - Gave one of their salesmen my email address with explicit instruction that it was only to be used to send me some renders & detailed quote. They spammed me once with their latest "winter offers" and I went in and admonished the afore mentioned salesman in front of another customer.... Got a second spam mail from them yesterday, so obviously the message hasn't got through - Guess I'll have to go and shout at a manager when the are busy.

Wickes kitchens - Rumour has it that Benchmarx supply exactly the same units to the trade and can offer the same design service that Wickes do. Might be worth seeing if you have a local branch, pop in, and ask if they have a preferred installer.

If you look at the Wickes flatpack stuff, the same units are available from Travis Perkins at a lower price (but a more limited range of door styles/colours). Quality is... meh... and you'd still need to find someone to assemble & install.

Buildbase are another national change of builders merchants with a range of kitchens - But again, they like to deal with trade and have preferential discounting schemes that are kept from the retail buyer. Jewsons might also be worth a look.

That said, a small local company that specialises in kitchens would probably serve you better.

cddc

Wickes do two levels of units, the off the shelf takeaway kitchens and the to order style ranges.

The takeaway kitchens are cheap and cheerful and you get what you pay for.

The Style ranges are better. These are the ones supplied by Benchmarx. They are basically Wickes units screwed together in the factory instead of supplied flat pack for home assembly. 18mm with solid backs and decent edge banding. The ranges in terms of doors and units supplied is not identical though. More variety is available through Wickes to order, but Benchmarx stock, so better for the fitters.

If you are looking for a one stop shop it would probably be easier to deal with Wickes as there is less onus on you to deal with the fitter, also Wickes are offering IFC at the moment. Probadly worth getting a price from both though.

Wren are fine as long as things go well. They are notoriously poor, slow, and unresponsive in the event of problems though. Form that point of view you would be better off dealing with Wickes or Magnet who tend to deal with any issues that occur rather better.

With the number of parts involved in a kitchen, it is certainly not rare for items to be missed off a delivery or arrive damaged, so ideally you want to use a supplier who can cope with this quickly and efficiently. Which would rule out Wren in my book.

A good independent offering a one stop shop would be a good choice as well. If you can get a personal recommendation or see a job they have done that might help.

Sizzla

The only supplier that hasn't been mentioned so far is Ikea. Give them a try. The end panels on some of their lower range kitchens (Forbattra cover panels) are rubbish and easily dented, but their mid-range Ringhult Gloss doors and end panels are of decent strong quality.
The thing with Ikea kitchens is they're a lot more spacious that any other kitchen. You'll get more bang for your buck when it comes to storage space.
Some fitters don't like fitting Ikea Kitchens because the cabinets don't have a service void at the back for pipes, but any decent fitter would simply re-plumb the pipes to leave a clean finish.
I know a few Ikea fitters who fit these kitchens week in week out.

seashore22

DIY kitchens? We plan to use them for our new kitchen this year and they have good reviews. They may be worth a look too.

We installed an Ikea kitchen in our previous house and were very happy with it. The only reason we aren't using them this time is that they don't have the style we like.

mummyofmonkeys

Thanks everyone. I've been round most of the major sheds and a few independents and feel we've come to a decent price now and a service we are happy with.

Heard too many bad things about Wrens service to cancelled and avoiding them like the plague, don't want to take the chance.

So wren quoted us £15k including fitting. Magnet went to £14.1K. We had a quote from benchmarx and £13.8k and they then lowered to £10.8k excluding fitting once i showed them the wickes quote.

wickes originally quoted is £12.8k and we have now got that down to £11.3k including fitting and all appliances on a kitchen with approx 22 units.

Very happy with that price so we have gone with them, as we liked the doors available and the various options we could get too.

Chanes

I can't help, we used B&Q for two kitchens, one of which was a serious remodel. No problems at all but it is just a bit expensive if you did not mind messing about with the project yourself.