Kitchen sinks /taps - ikea / franke ??

Canny_Cav

Hi all - first post so be gentle with me .
I have heard wonderous things about Franke sinks but what makes them so much better than other makes?
Can anybody give feedback about ikea or other brands in comparison? Our budget is fairly limited now but I wouldn't want to ruin the look of the kitchen with a rubbish sink or taps.
Many thanks for your help.
Jill xx

m_13

Welcome. We were all new once :T

Franke sinks are nice quality - usually 18/10 stainless steel and they stand up to wear and tear. Thinner metal tends to dent and mark. There are other decent makes though and Screwfix currently have around 30% off sinks until the 28th June and offer cashback via Quidco. You'll find them in their Kitchens section under Kitchen Plumbing. My mum went for the Reginox 1.5 sink (£84.99) and it's very good quality and standing up to her, my dad and their three foster children under five!

We bought cheap unbranded taps for our utility room at a previous house and really regretted it. Even though they were ceramic disc they dripped and drove me mad. Since then we've always stuck with branded taps.

Water pressure is a real consideration with kitchen taps. If you've a standard UK setup of hot water from an immersion then your hot water pressure will be based on the distance from the base of the immersion to your kitchen tap. 1 metre equals 0.1 bar so 10 metres is 1.0 bar. The same for cold water if it's stored in a tank (although drinking water taps are supposed to come direct from the mains). Most continental taps require pressure above 0.5 bar and some over 1.0 bar so aren't suited to low pressure although we've just bought a Hansgrohe tap that came in high pressure and low pressure versions.

I've never bought or fitted an IKEA tap or sink but have heard that they are continental and not suited to UK plumbing. Others may be able to advise further.

vansboy

Ikea kitchen fan here!!

We have had the dent easily problem, with the Ikea sink in our last kitchen, so chose a Wickes one for the current kitchen & an Ikea tap, too.

For the new house, Ikea sink, 'cos of £$£$ being good for a double bowl & the super - I chose it - tap, with a pull out flexible extension, for rinsing stuff. Plus the water comes out really nice, too, all through a fine mesh in the tap itself, I guess.

& they have a loooooooooooong warranty on their taps, too.

If you're getting the kitchen in Ikea, don't forget their account card, NOT a credit card, but on your first purchase, you get 5% - although some Moneysavers got 10% - but do make sure you can settle it in full, else you'll have nterest charged!

VB

Canny_Cav

Thanks for all your help.
We have already bought an ikea kitchen (got it in the 21% off sale so saved loads) but it has been sat in the dining room waiting for us to be ready for it.
So many things still to buy and so little money (and time - baby due in September!!)
Jill x

m_13

We have already bought an ikea kitchen (got it in the 21% off sale so saved loads) but it has been sat in the dining room waiting for us to be ready for it.

I am sat typing on the PC on the end of the dining room table surrounded on all sides by flat pack kitchen units from Ikea, also bought in the 21% off sale. We went for Abstrakt White Gloss as we live in a 1970s flat with big windows.

We've been pootling along doing bits at a reasonable pace (kitchen was floor to ceiling lilac tiles with a swirly artex ceiling so the tiles had to be hacked off, first fix electrics and plumbing done, skimmed by plasterer, floor tiled and grouted and then decorated) but now the worktop is being fitted on the 8th July so we've had to speed up. Spent some of today in raw sewage after a neighbour upstairs flushed their loo just as we cut off a drainage pipe to connect the dishwasher :eek: All connected now though - it had been next to the washing machine in the bathroom (plumbed in to a temporary connection and working!).

We budgeted £5k for the kitchen, floor tiles, electrician, plasterer, tiles, adhesive, grout, worktop, lighting and appliances. So far we're coming in under budget and are having grey mirror quartz worktops :j and glass splashbacks. It is possible to do things much cheaper but all the appliances are Neff or Bosch (and fully integrated wherever possible) and I yearned for the disco worktop once I saw it so we saved money elsewhere to get it.

I am sure you will get there. Make a long list, prioritise then budget and tick things off as you buy them. If you save money on an item it goes back into the budget and you can splash out on something else.

vansboy

If you've not seen what we've been doing....

www.theupsidedownhouse.9f.com

& our Ikea white gloss kitchen should be un covered this weekend - Mrs V will have the camera out soon for the updated pics!!

VB

Doozergirl

vansboy wrote: »

If you've not seen what we've been doing....

www.theupsidedownhouse.9f.com

& our Ikea white gloss kitchen should be un covered this weekend - Mrs V will have the camera out soon for the updated pics!!

VB

You've nearly finished :j

Like the living room floor!