Quartz Worktop - Howdens or elsewhere?

greggymagic

Hi All

We're having our kitchen done and are probably going to source the units from Howden. 

Appliances will come from Curry's as I believe they'll be cheaper than Howdens - am I right in thinking this? 

My main question is - would you also get the quartz worktop from Howdens or do they tend to be more expensive than an online worktop store or local independent worktop specialist?

Are howdens generally competetive on price for appliances and worktops or is the general consensus to go elsewhere for those?

Many thanks

FreeBear

greggymagic said: Appliances will come from Curry's as I believe they'll be cheaper than Howdens - am I right in thinking this?

Niece has just moved into a new house with a Howdens kitchen fitted along with Lamona (Howdens own brand) hob & oven. The hob is just plain nasty horrible, and nasty - Replaced that with an induction hob pretty much as soon as she got the keys.

Some of the more expensive appliances may be better quality, but I'd go to a retailer with a transparent pricing policy that deals directly with the general public. If there is a fault with a Lamona appliance, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Howdens tried to shirk their responsibilities and claim that the product was sold under a business to business contract.

greggymagic

FreeBear said:

greggymagic said: Appliances will come from Curry's as I believe they'll be cheaper than Howdens - am I right in thinking this?

Niece has just moved into a new house with a Howdens kitchen fitted along with Lamona (Howdens own brand) hob & oven. The hob is just plain nasty horrible, and nasty - Replaced that with an induction hob pretty much as soon as she got the keys.

Some of the more expensive appliances may be better quality, but I'd go to a retailer with a transparent pricing policy that deals directly with the general public. If there is a fault with a Lamona appliance, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Howdens tried to shirk their responsibilities and claim that the product was sold under a business to business contract.

Thanks 

We know the appliance brand and models we need - I just wondered whether those 'in the know' thought it was cheaper to source them from Curry's etc.

And same as per the worktops. 

chrisw

The Lamona appliances are rebranded makes like Beko. They do tend to be cheaper than the Beko branded versions though.

They also have a 3 year warranty and I don't see any reason why there should be an issue with claiming if its listed on the fitter's invoice.

I was advised by Howdens to go direct to the company who did the worktops for them rather than go through themselves.Not sure why.

Doozergirl

If you know the model
numbers then don't go straight for Currys, that the same as just using Howdens for everything.  

Use a price comparison website like Pricerunner.uk to find the best prices. 

aoleks

out of curiosity, how much do you reckon the worktop will cost? I've heard thousands is normal for a decent sized worktop.

greggymagic

aoleks said:

out of curiosity, how much do you reckon the worktop will cost? I've heard thousands is normal for a decent sized worktop.

Had one quote so far to supply and fit Quartz worktop for 4.5k.

That's for about 9 metres - a U shaped kitchen with 1 side being the Breakfast Bar peninusla. 

greggymagic

Doozergirl said:

If you know the model
numbers then don't go straight for Currys, that the same as just using Howdens for everything.  

Use a price comparison website like Pricerunner.uk to find the best prices. 

Yeah, I feel I've thrown everyone with the appliances..... It's really the worktop that I need info on on whether to go to Howdens for it or go elsewhere. 

Doozergirl

It depends on their price.   I thought they did solid surface, not quartz.  Solid surface is much like quartz, but it is softer so can be cut with woodworking tools by your carpenter, for me it works out cheaper.  I've lived with all sorts and we were very happy with solid surface in our last house. 

I might be behind the times though and they've started doing quartz which does need specialist cutting.  

Look, it's always worth shopping around for things if you have the time to do that.  

fenwick458

any Howdens can offer quartz or granite as an option, but it's just more expensive and comes from a 3rd party, Howdens use sub contractors to do it
not only the cost for the material, you end up paying for the time to organise, template it, and then fit.
It's a totally separate thing, so same as the appliances you can go direct to any solid worktop company local to you and get a better price as you will be doing all the organising (design, template times, fitting, paying for it etc..)

Coopsy85

Just had a quote for quartz, three pieces about 6m length in total - £1600 supply, template and fit. 

Appliances we bought mainly from AO, but started buying about 6 months in advance when we saw good deals.