Kitchens

rammy007

HOWDENS but you will need someone who has a trade account there, they offer discounts up to 70% and the units are delivered already assembled they are identical to mfi units as they are part of the same group but you get the better screiber units

VH

I'd avoid IKEA kitchens if possible. They are cheaper than most but a lot of them are very flimsy, and they have the disadvantage that most of them have no recess behind the cabinets for concealing pipework and electrics. So you end up with all your pipework sitting inside the cabinets which looks messy.

My father in law is a professional kitchen fitter and he and a lot of his pals refuse to fit IKEA kitchens because of the poor quality of some, and the messing around required with fitting.

vansboy

That surprises me VH, all our units were strong & had all the bits n pieces & had backs - maybe they've improved since you had dealings with them??

Didn't buy the worktop there - too expensive & poor range. Homebase sorted that, for us, from their 'special order' samples - VERY good deal, on 10% day, of course!!!

VB

VH

They're not actually all bad, IKEA do do a couple of good kitchens, but not many.

My brother recently bought one a few weeks ago against my advice, it's already starting to fall to bits, a very flimsy design.

The best thing to do would be to take a kitchen fitter with you and look at the ones you like. Like I said, they're not all bad, but they seem to vary in quality considerably. I think it's because IKEA use a number of different suppliers - they're not all good.

welshblob

They're not actually all bad, IKEA do do a couple of good kitchens, but not many.

My brother recently bought one a few weeks ago against my advice, it's already starting to fall to bits, a very flimsy design.

The best thing to do would be to take a kitchen fitter with you and look at the ones you like. Like I said, they're not all bad, but they seem to vary in quality considerably. I think it's because IKEA use a number of different suppliers - they're not all good.

So are there any you'd recommend or more you've avoid due to bad experiences? Still thinking of getting a Wickes kitchen at the mo.
Rob

mando_2

Cheers everyone for your recommendations. Still having a look around, but I do need to keep it cheap as we are really doing it up to make the house look decent for selling in a years time.

Welshbob - Sister in law has had a wickes kitchen fitted last year and I haven't heard any complaints from her about it.

chewbacca_2

bought my kitchen recently from wickes and impressed with the carcass quality, however just picked up a solid beech block worktop from howdens £145, everywhere else was 250+. so they are probably good value for the rest of the kitchens.

VH

welshblob

I've not heard any horror stories about Wickes kitchens so it would be worth giving them a go.

The big stores make a lot of money from kitchen fitting, in general it is better to go to an independent, smaller, kitchen fitter, they are generally a lot cheaper, but make sure you get recommendations first, the best ones will be happy to show you previous work done.

If you choose the design you want from Wickes say, the independents will generally be able to source the same or very similar kitchens directly from the suppliers and save you a lot of money.

I had B&Q price my kitchen at around £6000 without appliances. With my father in law being in the trade he got an almost identical kitchen direct from the supplier at cost price (just over £1100). Obviously he didn't charge me for fitting but you will still save a hell of a lot by going to an independent fitter!

welshblob

Cheers for all the advice about Wickes. As for fitting I'm gonna do it myself . I've done one before and I'm not afraid of plumbing or electrics but the only thing I might get someone to do is the plastering and to do the joining of the worktop with the router-jig type joins. IMHO in both cases skill and experience help, not that fitting the rest of the kitchen isn't about being skilled but those are the two things I could mess up and it would either cost me alot to fix or i wouldn't get the finish I want. Oh I'm also gonna move a partition wall (demolish\rebuild) as for some reason the people who planned my house thought I'd like more space in the hall rather than in the kitchen!
And then its onto the bathroom !!! Fortunately I've just managed to pick up a load of cheap tools in the Argos 75% sale.
Cheers
Rob

vansboy

CHECK THAT WALL!!!!!

It IS only a non-loadbearing structure - YES!!!???

VB