Cheap Kitchens - Wickes/Ikea/B&Q etc

[Condi]

Talk to me Goose. I've got a 1980's kitchen to rip out and replace, and with working away from home ideally I want a company to do the removal of old kitchen (although I could do that if required), and install of the new one, including all tiling, flooring, lighting etc.

Does anyone have any experience with any of the 'cheaper' places. Or am I better spending more and getting a howdens kitchen? Or is it recommended to get my own fitter/builder and just buy from DIY kitchens?

Advice please. This is going in my own house, not a rental, so want something reasonably decent.

[battered]

Hire your own fitter, buy your own bits. The big chains will charge a fortune to fit their stuff.

Oh, and ripping the old bits out takes no time. You can DIY this if you like, it will save a hundred or so, maybe 2, in return for half a day of unskilled labour.

The main work is in moving around the services, that's time consuming and laborious. Skilled too. The screwing together of boxes is sod-all in comparison.

[Chippo1]

Have a look on the kitchen fitters forum , lots info and lots of warnings esp about B & Q , and some others .

Recently fitted a Howdens my self no problems , despite some warnings .

Every one there seems to recommend DIY kitchens as the best of the cheaper makes , just find a decent fitter if you don't want to fit ur self .

Here's mine !

[Chippo1]

Have a look on the kitchen fitters forum , lots info and lots of warnings esp about B & Q , and some others .

Recently fitted a Howdens my self no problems , despite some warnings .

Every one there seems to recommend DIY kitchens as the best of the cheaper makes , just find a decent fitter if you don't want to fit ur self .

Here's mine !

[wombleh]

Had an independent fitter do the kitchen in our last place, we'd said happy to pay for quality but don't want to spend a fortune and his recommendation was Wickes (via trade desk if that makes a difference). Said he used them for most of his jobs as customers were happy and it was nice stuff to work with. Was happy with the result.

[V8RX7]

DIY Kitchens - mine's sitting in the garage waiting to be fitted.

Quality is far better than Magnet / Howdens - I've fitted loads of them in the past - but their prices have gone up and their quality hasn't.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

A cheap kitchen fitted well looks... quite good, actually.

An expensive kitchen fitted badly looks slightly rubbish.

Pay attention to the quality of fitting.

[dazwalsh]

Many fitters will refuse to fit an IKEA kitchen as they are a royal pain in the rear, no service gaps which makes like harder for them, plus its flatpack.

They are however extremely good value for money if you can somehow fit it yourself or find a willing fitter.

[Condi]

Okay, so I need to find a builder then really, as there are walls to come out and plastering to be done, as well as moving electrics and plumbing.

Can see this getting expensive but I have neither the time nor inclination to spend 6 weekends making a mess of what a professional could do in 10 days. DIY kitchens and local builder it would appear to be.

[technodup]

anonymous said:

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People still go for pelmets and cornices?

The art is the worktop, joining lengths is very difficult for a DIYer to get right. The rest is like Lego, piece of piss.

[V8RX7]

anonymous said:

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LED strip at 3mm deep doesn't need hiding.

However I think they look better with pelmet and cornice - the modern ones are very slim but visually tie the units together.

[V8RX7]

anonymous said:

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The drawer units are too.

IIRC it takes about an hour to make up a set of drawers (at the least the first one does) so there's a considerable time saving if you have a few.

I went with them because I wanted a grey kitchen and I didn't want a white / cream / oak carcass which was all the sheds could offer me, DIY have a huge variation.

Two doors arrived with slight scratches they are being replaced with no quibble - their Trustpilot revues are excellent too.

[Condi]

V8RX7 said:

Two doors arrived with slight scratches they are being replaced with no quibble - their Trustpilot revues are excellent too.

This bothers me, how quickly can replacement, broken, missing parts be sent if something is missing? If you're paying a builder by the day/hour, then dont want them standing around waiting for parts. At least with one of the sheds you can pop down and pick something up in half an hour.

[Paul Drawmer]

Condi said:

This bothers me, how quickly can replacement, broken, missing parts be sent if something is missing? If you're paying a builder by the day/hour, then dont want them standing around waiting for parts. At least with one of the sheds you can pop down and pick something up in half an hour.

That's a valid point.
I used DIY and got it fitted by a local fitter who works 95% on Wickes installs. He said our kitchen was much better than Wickes.

They deliver their own stuff - carefully.

DIY send plenty of feet, legs, shelf pins, barrel screws etc etc. Not just the minimum.

I forgot to order a couple of things. Accessories were sent same day, and arrived early next day. Stuff like corner post, edging strip.

I had to wait 2 weeks for a cabinet that I got wrong (it was their shut week), so I had to arrange for the fitter to return for that.

Great service and product.

[Neil - YVM]

anonymous said:

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Under lights can be machined into the base of the wall units and the wiring also through the unit. The fitting is almost flush with the underside.

For a traditional style kitchen, cornice and pelmet are still the way to go.

[Dave_ST220]

Condi said:

At least with one of the sheds you can pop down and pick something up in half an hour.

Not in most cases you can't. DIY kitchens come highly recommended (my chippy mentioned that he had fitted a few & the quality was good). I went with a local firm in the end, their price was slightly more but I didn't have time to DIY the planning process as we were renovating the whole house. A mate has just got one from DIY, I've not seen it but he said he is happy with it. A lot of chippies seem to like Howden's but my sister has one and said she wouldn't get one from them again, quality not great I believe.

[Dave_ST220]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Howden's do, the likes of B&Q/Wickes, I doubt it, they keep screw packs etc but I'd bet if a door needed replacing it would turn into a ball ache.

[CAPP0]

Replaced our kitchen last year with a Wickes unit, their quality is significantly higher than B&Q (although of course there will be other which are better still). Spares-wise, the few bits I needed (some their fault, some mine) they were very happy to send out, and weren't too worried about extra money. Some things came next day, others took a few. Very happy with the finished product.

[V8RX7]

Condi said:

This bothers me, how quickly can replacement, broken, missing parts be sent if something is missing?

Doors and units are made to order - so around a week which if you see what can happen with the sheds is nothing.

As the units are built up there aren't any small parts to lose.

But yes I've always found Howdens excellent for small issues - I'd use their very cheap contract range again but for the usual stuff they are literally 2x the price of DIY.

Edited by V8RX7 on Friday 22 April 10:34

[TSCfree]

Bought from DIY-Kitchens, nothing missing or damaged, exceptionally packaged and the quality of the cabinets are excellent. Definitely better than Wickes/B&Q. I actually can't believe how easy it was to put the kitchen together and I wouldn't ever now pay for this service. We had the quartz templated, cut & installed by a local firm as I didn't fancy doing that.

They've a showroom in Pontefract, if you can get up there it's worth a look.