Kitchen island

whatsthenews

We're planning on J pull matt frontals in our new kitchen.
We'll have an island (just a shorter run of units opposite the full wall run) 600 mm deep by 1400 long.Think double galley style so just 600 mm deep with a 670mm worktop
600 drawer x 2 then a 400 highline base
One end of the island (drawer end) will face the dining area and the other (highline end) into the kitchen
The back of the island will be the first thing you see when you walk in from the hallway
We want to use corner posts on at least the 2 front corners and possibly the back also.
Planning on using door frontals on either end so the top J pull wraps around the ends of the island.
Sooooo- the question I have is ,if the corner posts are 70 mm x 70 mm, what size door do we need for the end? I'm not absolutely clear how corner posts work
Do you put your correct size decor end panel (or in our case door) onto the end/back of the island and then the corner posts are fixed on and "butt up" to the edge of the panels?

Hope this all makes sense!

whatsthenews

Ok,the corner posts (same material as the doors) are 22 mm thick material.
The inner edge of each limb of the corner post is 48 mm and the outer edge 70 mm.

I've just watched a Wren video and now I think I understand that when using a corner post,the end panel has to be fixed onto battens on the end of the cabinets.The video was using a carcass material end panel, so presumably 18 mm thick and they were curved corner posts, which ours won't be?

Given the dimensions of the corner posts (above) I don't know how deep the battens need to be when using a 22 mm door.
Panels need to be cut to fit so we'll need 600 mm doors.
If we just put corner posts on the front corners, the 600 mm J pull (door) panels on the ends , and a decor panel on the back, the end (door) panels will need to overhang the back of the units so the back panel fits inside the end (door) panels so you can still see the J pull when you stand at the back of the island.
If the island is 1400 long and the door end panels fix onto battens, how much will that increase the length of the back of the island by?
Thanks!
Does that sound right?
Means we might not have to cut the end (door) panels

CKdesigner

Hi

I think really your kitchen designer should work all this out for you. And in the absence of a kitchen designer then you should be able to work this out with your kitchen fitter.

whatsthenews

Thanks CK.
We're not using a kitchen designer unless you count me!

We did go to an independent who quoted us £14000 for the Second nature Remo J pull handleless kitchen. That was for 10 units, Duropal standard laminate and 5 Bosch appliances. To be honest his design was awful and he told me we didn't have room for an island, breakfast bar or peninsula.

Wren, based on their mid range (which has very restrictive colours) with laminate and AEG appliances gave us a ball park of £7k without fitting.

We went down to DIY kitchens showroom on Sunday and we're straight about it all now.
Fabulous choice of decent quality kitchens ,really helpful staff and no pushy sales techniques. The place was very busy.
DIY kitchens make their own doors now too and the J pull handleless Luca is a painted door ie not wrapped.

Maybe I could ask you what the differences are between better laminate worktops over poor quality ones and which makes are the better ones?
We like the Duropal carrera marble and it appears that that laminate design (along with Breccia Paradiso) is being sold by Formica Prima too.
We've also looked at Bushboard and Kronospan (who seem to be the cheapest).

CKdesigner

Ah good.

Yes DIY kitchens is good value, but as you realise you have to work it all out yourself.

We mainly do solid worktops with our kitchens but if it has to be laminate worktops then my personal preference will always be Duropal.

Good luck with it all.

CK

whatsthenews

Thanks CK!
Duropal it is.
The new kitchen keeps receding as we needed a new boiler which was fitted end of last week and he's recommended a full re pipe . The house used to have a back boiler and when they changed to combi they didn't change over to a 2 pipe system so we end up boiling downstairs and considerably cooler upstairs which is OK at night but not so much in the morning.

Thanks for your help.

hemsk

whatsthenews wrote: »

Thanks CK.
We're not using a kitchen designer unless you count me!

....

We went down to DIY kitchens showroom on Sunday and we're straight about it all now.
Fabulous choice of decent quality kitchens ,really helpful staff and no pushy sales techniques. The place was very busy.
DIY kitchens make their own doors now too and the J pull handleless Luca is a painted door ie not wrapped.
.....

I've never heard of DIY Kitchens before! Where are they based? We were thinking of sorting ours out and didn't really consider doing it myself until I read this post! Apart from the Wren videos, what other resources (if any) are you using to get information or advice in helping complete the fitting?

Doozergirl

hemsk wrote: »

I've never heard of DIY Kitchens before! Where are they based? We were thinking of sorting ours out and didn't really consider doing it myself until I read this post! Apart from the Wren videos, what other resources (if any) are you using to get information or advice in helping complete the fitting?

You're new around here, then!

DIY kitchens are online. They have a massive showroom in Yorkshire, which is probably worth the visit for the potential money saving.

You don't actually have to fit the kitchen yourself - it's a brand name! I'd only fit a kitchen yourself if you're confident DIYers. People can make good kitchens look really bad. A professional job looks better and will last longer.

There's a DIY element in the design and sourcing of DIy kitchens. You can usually save money by shopping separately for units, worktops, sinks, taps and appliances but fitting is somewhere that compromise can be a false economy.

I found dealing with DIY kitchens over email so tedious that I took my shopping basket to Howdens and they price matched it. It took 48 hours to get a reply (not an actual answer to everything) from DIY about a few small questions I raised. I know kitchens and I gave up after two weeks of trying to have a simple conversation that should have taken a few minutes.

whatsthenews

hemsk wrote: »

I've never heard of DIY Kitchens before! Where are they based? We were thinking of sorting ours out and didn't really consider doing it myself until I read this post! Apart from the Wren videos, what other resources (if any) are you using to get information or advice in helping complete the fitting?

The showroom is near Pontefract. It's on an industrial estate next to their factory.
If I've had a question about the kitchen units (eg whether the units are painted, wrapped or wood) I've just raised a query through their website and they've answered within 24 hrs.

They have a planning tool on their website and you can create an account to save it. When we went down to the showroom they have about 15 computer stations so you can log in and then ask the staff about your plan. They've been really helpful. Free hot and cold drinks, biscuits and cake too!

We now have 3 door samples that cost us about £12 including postage. Refundable if you send/take them back or give them to the delivery driver when you get the kitchen delivered.

We're getting an experienced kitchen fitter to fit the kitchen, but I'm the sort of person who likes to know how things work so I can ask sensible questions and obviously make sure we order the right bits.
I might have a go at fitting the utility room once the kitchen's done.

We looked at Howdens, but they'll only sell to the trade so you never know how much they're charging the tradesperson (they get "discounts") or whether the tradesperson is adding his cut on, plus the guarantee lies with the tradesperson, not you.

DIY kitchen cabinets come in 17 different colours and finishes and the inside of the cabinet is colour matched too. Howdens do 3 cabinet colours/finishes. This saves on having to buy decor panels for islands and ends of runs, although obviously you can still do that and DIT kitchens offer end panels made from cabinet material (18mm MFC) or your door material (22mm MDF or solid wood depending on the door) They can do just about any colour imaginable for doors and the inside of the cabinet is coloured too. You can even buy some of the paint they used if you go for a painted door.
They do a huge variety of units. 900 different cabinets in 14 width options as opposed to about 600 with 9 widths at Howdens. They can also custom make cabinets and don't charge if you just want to make small adjustments.
Because each kitchen is made to order, they only drill holes where you want your hinges to fix, so you don't end up with interior cabinet sides covered in holes, which personally I hate.
Like Howdens they come rigid built(cam and dowel and glued) but you can ask for cabinets eg tall appliance housings or ones that need to be modified to fit around a boiler or obstacle to be flat packed or dry assembled ie unglued.

You can design your kitchen on the planner and it automatically creates a shopping list where you can then check all the individual items including plinths, end panels ,fillers etc. You can then do into each item and change them eg if you have graphite matt base cabinets it will automatically add matching plinth and decor panels on the end of runs, but you can change the colour and finish or delete them if you don't want them. You can also write a note relating to a specific item so they know exactly what you want.

This is DIY kitchens website.
https://www.diy-kitchens.com/

hemsk

oh wow! that's a lot information. thanks for both you comments. Will have a word with my other half to get her take. thanks again

whatsthenews

hemsk wrote: »

oh wow! that's a lot information. thanks for both you comments. Will have a word with my other half to get her take. thanks again

Yes too much info' probably! Just that I'm impressed with the quality and price compared to everywhere else we've considered. The other online company we looked at is called units online.
https://www.unitsonline.co.uk/ They sell Second Nature, Burbridge Multiwood and maybe some others. They were cheaper than DIY kitchens for some cabinets but in the end we went for DIY because Units online only give you 24 hrs after delivery to check all the cabinets whereas DIY kitchens give you 10 days. Also, if they had a showroom it was a lot further for us to visit.