Howdens flatpack Technik range, any good?

rizzla76

Hi
With the Howdens sale on I am just going to price up their flatpack range to see if we can afford it. We are currently looking at a B&Q takeaway kitchen, and it looks quite sturdy and we can collect from the store. But my chippy has told me about the sale at Howdens and gave me their price book to see if we could afford one of their kitchens instead. What I want to know is what is their flatpack range like in comparison to B&Q and Wickes. On comparing the B&Q and Wickes Takeaway ranges, I thought the B&Q looked more solid, so was wondering where the flatpack Howdens one rates against these two?
Thanks

want2bmortgage3

well it looks quite cheap and cheerful, if you can get an 8 unit kitchen for less than £200, then the quality has to suffer.

the doors do not look glossy like the glendevon range and cabinet options are limited.

majjie

I'd say that, in theory, the B&Q "it" range wins hands down. The other two are very similar quality wise - although Howdens is likely to be cheaper - if your chippy has an account and passes on all the trade discount to you.

Wickes Take Away kitchens are 15mm white carcasses and have a very limited choice of unit sizes. Only one size of drawers, no pan dawers in a tall oven housing and no wide pan drawers at all, no L-shaped corners, no 1245 tall doors (so no big built-in fridge).

Howdens don't say what thickness the MFC is on their Technik range - but it's white and probably 15mm - and they too have a very limited range of unit sizes (no wall units less than 500 wide). (Only a very small percentage of their kitchens are in the Technik range)

How restricting the limited choice of units is, will depend on your kitchen, what you want in it and how you plan it.

B&Q's "it" range has 16mm white carcasses but the adjustable shelves are 19mm. They are now completely modular - so much more complicated to order! - but give quite a good choice of unit sizes (including L-shaped corners, wide pan drawers and even mid-height units) and you can buy replacement ends which match the doors.

The big disadvantage of B&Q is their bad record on delivering everything on time and complete, and the high cost of their fitting service. If they have everything you want in stock in your local store - and you have your own fitter - then you could end up with a much nicer kitchen than with the other two.