Kitchen expert needed!

clairehi

Will check out Wickes as many people seem to recommend them. Their Melbourne range is framed oak but no curved units unfortunately although the Calgary range does have them. If they do have white carcasses as mentioned above that is a complete nono. they also seem to be flatpack but thats not a dealbreaker.

Local Second Nature stockist v helpful on phone, and appear to have widest choice of units, so will give them a visit although I fear they may be overbudget.

Doozergirl

Let us know how you get on with Second Nature please - I'm not ready to order yet, so interested to see what they come up with.

dmg24

SPAM from Kitchen Perfections.

clairehi

Kitchen_Perfections wrote: »

Hi,

Whilst your kitchen is being installed we will pay for you to go out to dinner.

do you think he means they can fit the kitchen in the course of one evening? If so, where do I sign?

onlyroz

We got a quote from MFI and then took it over to Magnet and asked if they could beat it. The man um-ed and ah-ed and then whe I started to walk out the door he said that he would see what he could do. After a bit of fiddling round on the computer he said that he could match the MFI price, and I think we got a better kitchen as a result.

majjie

Yes, it's true that Second Nature is only the make of the doors and each individual supplier will either make their own carcasses or buy them in separately ... so you need to check on the quality of the carcasses.

Sounds to me as if you already have a good idea of the plan you want. I'm sure if you sent them a plan, DIY-Kitchens would price it for you - and no ... I don't work for them! (It is a lot more hassle when you have to price the carcasses and doors/drawer fronts separately). Buying from a showroom is going to be pricier, though.

As for pine kitchens - I used to work for a company that made painted pine kitchens and they changed to tulipwood and birch ply because they had so many problems with the pine.

A built in cupboard is a bit different - less opportunity for movement - and the wood becomes more stable with age anyway. Many Victorian cupboards have been painted so often that you don't notice the big gaps in the wood - they're filled with paint - and on stripped cupboards the gaps are part of the character.

clairehi

thanks for this Majjie. I have got Wickes and MFI coming round to measure up and do plans which may help crystallise our ideas. What is your opinion of the quality of Wickes carcasses and doors? I am a bit sceptical about the white flatpack carcasses and the wood doors didnt look that great to me.

the Melbourne range looks nice in the brochure but my local store did not have a display of this.

woodbutcher_2

The thing you need to know about carcasses is the quality of the chipboard used to manufacture them.The stuff in B&Q kitchens for instance is not much better than weetabix.Good carcasses will be made from highly compressed chipboard which is much less likely to fall apart.High quality 15mm carcasses are by definition better than 18mm ones from the likes of B&Q.Ask the guy from wickes if he knows what it is.I have no knowledge of wickes kitchens but have heard good things about them.

clairehi

lol @ weetabix!

so I need to know if the carcasses are made with highly compressed chipboard then - do they publish this kind of info anywhere?

I am rapidly becoming a kitchen nerd....

woodbutcher_2

The info will be somewhere.Not sure where offhand but i'm sure you could find it on google.