Update on kitchen refurbishment journey

trailingspouse

The advantage of using 'in-house' fitters is if something isn't working once the kitchen's finished. Leaky tap? Is the tap the issue, or was it badly fitted? If the kitchen supplier has done the fitting as well, they are responsible whether the fault is in the tap or in the fitting of it, so will fix it with much less hassle than might happen otherwise.

Doozergirl

trailingspouse said:

The advantage of using 'in-house' fitters is if something isn't working once the kitchen's finished. Leaky tap? Is the tap the issue, or was it badly fitted? If the kitchen supplier has done the fitting as well, they are responsible whether the fault is in the tap or in the fitting of it, so will fix it with much less hassle than might happen otherwise.

And the negative is that it costs more and you've no idea who the person fitting it is.

I'd prefer a recommendation every single day of the week than a shoddy fit.  

You an afford to replace a tap with the savings.   

alicef

We bought our kitchen and utility units from IKEA about a decade ago.  My OH and our builder did the fitting. All good and am v. happy with the route we went with BUT I would not rely on the IKEA kitchen warranty.  Follow up CS, in our experience is really poor.

rach_k

In 2016, we paid around £5.5k for the kitchen and appliances (minus washer and oven) from Ikea, not including installation.  Nothing fancy, not huge (about 2.5 x 4.5m I think) and with no corner units or anything.  It did include the lighting and we went for a more expensive worktop than the units.  

I'm happy with the hob and extractor but I don't think I'd get an Ikea fridge freezer or dishwasher again.  Previously, we had cheap as chips Beko for both and they lasted brilliantly, whereas the Ikea ones haven't held up well (even if they are made by Beko!) e.g. all freezer drawers have cracked, bits of the coating from the dishwasher racks have flaked off, the cutlery tray didn't last long.  Just little things but annoying on a daily basis.  I love the Ikea sink and under-sink bins though.

insania_pendeat

rach_k said:

In 2016, we paid around £5.5k for the kitchen and appliances (minus washer and oven) from Ikea, not including installation.  Nothing fancy, not huge (about 2.5 x 4.5m I think) and with no corner units or anything.  It did include the lighting and we went for a more expensive worktop than the units.  

I'm happy with the hob and extractor but I don't think I'd get an Ikea fridge freezer or dishwasher again.  Previously, we had cheap as chips Beko for both and they lasted brilliantly, whereas the Ikea ones haven't held up well (even if they are made by Beko!) e.g. all freezer drawers have cracked, bits of the coating from the dishwasher racks have flaked off, the cutlery tray didn't last long.  Just little things but annoying on a daily basis.  I love the Ikea sink and under-sink bins though.

Yeah, I am slowly realising that I have to replace all the appliances from Ikea but the expensive dishwasher and oven they quoted seem to have so many qualities I cannot find anywhere. This is turning put to be tonnes of work as sugar_walsh said

insania_pendeat

sugar-walsh said:

insania_pendeat said:

sugar-walsh said:

We just bought a kitchen from IKEA for less than 3k. I bought appliances from ao.com and husband (joiner) fitted it. 

1 tall oven housing,
1 tall unit (hides boiler and recyling)
1 tall fridge freezer
1 sink unit
3 80 drawers
1 80 cupbaors (used on reverse of hob section)
1 60 drawers
All fitted with interior doors
3 top units
Worktop
Plinths (still to fit)
End panels 

Hope that helps

Edit: looks like you have selected with fitting. 

My appliances (fridge freezer, double oven, induction hob) were £800, sink and tap (I went fancy) £350

Ur kitchen is f"*%£# beautiful, pardon my French. This is why I want to go to ikea and you more or less have the same number of units. So ikea did not install anything for you? 

Why, thanks you! No,they didn't install anything. We worked iut exactly what we wanted unit wise and had a consultancy with one of their staff and ta da...

Haha, not quite, we did tonnes of work, it wasn't a like for like situation, the whole room is completely different. Hence the reason it's not finished.

We did get our kitchen before Christmas, I think prices may have gone up a little, and I did put it on interest free credit from them.  Be careful, they will add the more expensive version of everything too. I didn't opt for any fancypants inside cupboards either, other than cutlery dividers.

When it comes to appliances I just went with the cheapest (got cashback) as I'm not bothered about a fancy fridge etc. I just want them easy to clean and to work. 

We did return a few spare items and we did order the 3 top units separately as I realised there was wnoigh height to get them on. This is included in the 3k as the returns were more than the new units.

Don't forget, fitting won't be cheap though, so unless you have a kitchen fitter/joiner to hand, I would consider using their people.

What are the chances there exists a cheap and competent company who does joining, plumbing, wiring, and can also knock into walls, install downlights, replace balcony doors so I don't have to look for different contractors?

housebuyer143

insania_pendeat said:

sugar-walsh said:

insania_pendeat said:

sugar-walsh said:

We just bought a kitchen from IKEA for less than 3k. I bought appliances from ao.com and husband (joiner) fitted it. 

1 tall oven housing,
1 tall unit (hides boiler and recyling)
1 tall fridge freezer
1 sink unit
3 80 drawers
1 80 cupbaors (used on reverse of hob section)
1 60 drawers
All fitted with interior doors
3 top units
Worktop
Plinths (still to fit)
End panels 

Hope that helps

Edit: looks like you have selected with fitting. 

My appliances (fridge freezer, double oven, induction hob) were £800, sink and tap (I went fancy) £350

Ur kitchen is f"*%£# beautiful, pardon my French. This is why I want to go to ikea and you more or less have the same number of units. So ikea did not install anything for you? 

Why, thanks you! No,they didn't install anything. We worked iut exactly what we wanted unit wise and had a consultancy with one of their staff and ta da...

Haha, not quite, we did tonnes of work, it wasn't a like for like situation, the whole room is completely different. Hence the reason it's not finished.

We did get our kitchen before Christmas, I think prices may have gone up a little, and I did put it on interest free credit from them.  Be careful, they will add the more expensive version of everything too. I didn't opt for any fancypants inside cupboards either, other than cutlery dividers.

When it comes to appliances I just went with the cheapest (got cashback) as I'm not bothered about a fancy fridge etc. I just want them easy to clean and to work. 

We did return a few spare items and we did order the 3 top units separately as I realised there was wnoigh height to get them on. This is included in the 3k as the returns were more than the new units.

Don't forget, fitting won't be cheap though, so unless you have a kitchen fitter/joiner to hand, I would consider using their people.

What are the chances there exists a cheap and competent company who does joining, plumbing, wiring, and can also knock into walls, install downlights, replace balcony doors so I don't have to look for different contractors?

I found when doing my kitchen that it takes a LOT of planning, it's not quick and easy. 
Meeting contractors, going over quotes, designing the kitchen, sourcing appliances. 

If you have loads of money to spend then I imagine it's less work, but if you are trying to do it on a shoe string budget you have to put the work in to keep the price down. 

sugar-walsh

Cheap? None. But ask around, someone will have recommendations. 

We knocked out a wall, swapped windows, moved the back door, new electrics, plumbing, plastering. And even knowing everyone who worked on the house, and my husband doing some of the work, it still came in at 15k all in. I'd expect to add at least another 5k if we didn't know people and husband hadn't fit the windows/kitchen/done some plastering/fit the floor and I hadn't sourced everything for as cheap as possible.

We live in the North of England too, admittedly in a tourist area, bit nit 'london' prices.

The things to remember are, it doesn't matter what your kitchen cost if it a) doesn't flow properly to make it easy to use and b) is badly fitted. Crack those things and even a super cheap kitchen can be a thing of beauty.

Well, at least make life a bit more enjoyable.

ic

I paid approx £7,000 for an ikea kitchen in 2015.  It included appliances except for washer dryer and fridge freezer, excluded worktops, the sink and fitting.  This was for an l-shaped kitchen with an island, and was the most expensive door choice at the time.


Can see the posted quote includes lights, which add up quickly given the planner defaults for smart lights.

insania_pendeat

Just a little update... All opinions wanted please 

I've met with a few kitchen fitters and now met one from Bark who have lots of positive verification and reviews and are over 7 years in business. Their pictures of work also look very good. The only thing is they also supply their own units and worktop and so far they're cheaper than IKEA, Howdens, Wren and DIY kitchens out of the water. 

Has anyone gone with a kitchen cabinetry they've not sourced themselves and if yes what guarantees do you advise I should have because all other companies guarantee kitchen from 10 to 25 years and what was and is your experience of these kitchens?