Kitchen suppliers, which one?
Discussion
Mark300zx said:
Are they all much of a muchness or are there some to definitely avoid?
You need to supply more detail! We have had kitchens from Whicks and B&Q. Both have been ok. We have just ordered from DIY Kitchens We had a look at some sample doors and I also posted a thread on here and got some good feedback.
It is for a small galley kitchen, 3m x 2m, so not overly concerned about cost as it is so small, when you say features what do you mean?
Will probably favour gloss white handleless as it is trendy at the moment and may rent the flat out in a couple of years, and the white/lack of features will hopefully make the kitchen look "slightly" bigger!
Will probably favour gloss white handleless as it is trendy at the moment and may rent the flat out in a couple of years, and the white/lack of features will hopefully make the kitchen look "slightly" bigger!
If you are going to be renting it out then avoid white gloss.
1) It is trendy = dated in a few years which will make it harder to let
2) Tenants are not as careful as owners and gloss will scuff and scratch and in turn look old and well used which will make it harder to let.
I really recommend putting something neutral in and mixing it up with worktops, tiles and paint if necessary but above all, make sure it is hard wearing (doesn't have to be expensive).
1) It is trendy = dated in a few years which will make it harder to let
2) Tenants are not as careful as owners and gloss will scuff and scratch and in turn look old and well used which will make it harder to let.
I really recommend putting something neutral in and mixing it up with worktops, tiles and paint if necessary but above all, make sure it is hard wearing (doesn't have to be expensive).
My experience with Ikea kitchens has been reasonably positive.
Their previous kitchen system, Faktum, was in production for 20 - 30 years and I imagine its replacement, Metod, will be too - so if you need to refresh it at some point down the line you can be fairly confident of being able to source compatible replacement doors/drawer fronts.
The carcasses themselves are 18mm and the materials & fixings compare favourably with similar offerings from other manufacturers but tend to be usefully cheaper too. In terms of worktops there's a pretty extensive range of options to suit a variety of budgets - laminate, wood veneer, solid wood, composite stone, etc. Similarly there's a good range of doors & handles.
Quality wise, the more expensive of their two drawer mechanisms are excellent, as are the hinges the units use. I wouldn't recommend the cheaper drawer mechanisms, at least not for a kitchen. Wall and tall units are very solid and they also offer standard depth and shallow depth base units, which can be handy. The base units have a couple of metal rails in place of a traditional top, so they're a bit wobbly until they're all screwed to each other and the worktop.
Their online 3D planner can be slow and frustrating at times, although it tends to work better in store. How good the staff are probably varies from store to store but I've always found them pretty clued up and they've made some good suggestions whenever I've been in to order kitchens.
With regard to fitting, I usually do it myself. The units are simple enough to construct and are hung on a continuous rail - meaning they're all automatically aligned with each other (although you can adjust them if you need to for some reason).
The only potential annoyance of any significance is the lack of a service gap behind the base units. Whether this is relevant will depend on the construction of your house. The last one I installed was in a house with a suspended timber floor, under which all the water/gas pipes ran. The dishwasher was next to the sink and both were on an external wall. Consequently, I didn't have to run any pipes/drains behind the base units. The lack of a service gap does have an upside though - increased cupboard capacity.
Their previous kitchen system, Faktum, was in production for 20 - 30 years and I imagine its replacement, Metod, will be too - so if you need to refresh it at some point down the line you can be fairly confident of being able to source compatible replacement doors/drawer fronts.
The carcasses themselves are 18mm and the materials & fixings compare favourably with similar offerings from other manufacturers but tend to be usefully cheaper too. In terms of worktops there's a pretty extensive range of options to suit a variety of budgets - laminate, wood veneer, solid wood, composite stone, etc. Similarly there's a good range of doors & handles.
Quality wise, the more expensive of their two drawer mechanisms are excellent, as are the hinges the units use. I wouldn't recommend the cheaper drawer mechanisms, at least not for a kitchen. Wall and tall units are very solid and they also offer standard depth and shallow depth base units, which can be handy. The base units have a couple of metal rails in place of a traditional top, so they're a bit wobbly until they're all screwed to each other and the worktop.
Their online 3D planner can be slow and frustrating at times, although it tends to work better in store. How good the staff are probably varies from store to store but I've always found them pretty clued up and they've made some good suggestions whenever I've been in to order kitchens.
With regard to fitting, I usually do it myself. The units are simple enough to construct and are hung on a continuous rail - meaning they're all automatically aligned with each other (although you can adjust them if you need to for some reason).
The only potential annoyance of any significance is the lack of a service gap behind the base units. Whether this is relevant will depend on the construction of your house. The last one I installed was in a house with a suspended timber floor, under which all the water/gas pipes ran. The dishwasher was next to the sink and both were on an external wall. Consequently, I didn't have to run any pipes/drains behind the base units. The lack of a service gap does have an upside though - increased cupboard capacity.
Edited by Risotto on Thursday 8th February 13:09
B&Q own brand is Cooke and Lewis. Try their Prestige Range. Excellent quality, great range of units, good service gap, 18mm cabinets and VERY affordable.
Alternatively try Howdens. They only supply to the trade but if you are a landlord then you can open a trade account.
They always have deals on and at the moment are offering a flat-pack kitchen range of units for £240 nett. You cannot complain at that!
They also do better ranges and mix and match.
Alternatively try Howdens. They only supply to the trade but if you are a landlord then you can open a trade account.
They always have deals on and at the moment are offering a flat-pack kitchen range of units for £240 nett. You cannot complain at that!
They also do better ranges and mix and match.
Risotto said:
My experience with Ikea kitchens has been reasonably positive.
Their previous kitchen system, Faktum, was in production for 20 - 30 years and I imagine its replacement, Metod, will be too - so if you need to refresh it at some point down the line you can be fairly confident of being able to source compatible replacement doors/drawer fronts.
The carcasses themselves are 18mm and the materials & fixings compare favourably with similar offerings from other manufacturers but tend to be usefully cheaper too. In terms of worktops there's a pretty extensive range of options to suit a variety of budgets - laminate, wood veneer, solid wood, composite stone, etc. Similarly there's a good range of doors & handles.
Quality wise, the more expensive of their two drawer mechanisms are excellent, as are the hinges the units use. I wouldn't recommend the cheaper drawer mechanisms, at least not for a kitchen. Wall and tall units are very solid and they also offer standard depth and shallow depth base units, which can be handy. The base units have a couple of metal rails in place of a traditional top, so they're a bit wobbly until they're all screwed to each other and the worktop.
Their online 3D planner can be slow and frustrating at times, although it tends to work better in store. How good the staff are probably varies from store to store but I've always found them pretty clued up and they've made some good suggestions whenever I've been in to order kitchens.
With regard to fitting, I usually do it myself. The units are simple enough to construct and are hung on a continuous rail - meaning they're all automatically aligned with each other (although you can adjust them if you need to for some reason).
The only potential annoyance of any significance is the lack of a service gap behind the base units. Whether this is relevant will depend on the construction of your house. The last one I installed was in a house with a suspended timber floor, under which all the water/gas pipes ran. The dishwasher was next to the sink and both were on an external wall. Consequently, I didn't have to run any pipes/drains behind the base units. The lack of a service gap does have an upside though - increased cupboard capacity.
+1 for all the above. Also IKEA's drawer lights are a nice feature. The carcasses, drawers and doors seem good quality and certainly comparable with the usual places. Obviously you have to assemble them so there's the added labour cost, but even with fitting they were vastly cheaper - less than half the cost of everywhere else we tried. If you're having building work done then you need to plan for the lack of space behind the cupboards and run the pipes around the room at floor level.Their previous kitchen system, Faktum, was in production for 20 - 30 years and I imagine its replacement, Metod, will be too - so if you need to refresh it at some point down the line you can be fairly confident of being able to source compatible replacement doors/drawer fronts.
The carcasses themselves are 18mm and the materials & fixings compare favourably with similar offerings from other manufacturers but tend to be usefully cheaper too. In terms of worktops there's a pretty extensive range of options to suit a variety of budgets - laminate, wood veneer, solid wood, composite stone, etc. Similarly there's a good range of doors & handles.
Quality wise, the more expensive of their two drawer mechanisms are excellent, as are the hinges the units use. I wouldn't recommend the cheaper drawer mechanisms, at least not for a kitchen. Wall and tall units are very solid and they also offer standard depth and shallow depth base units, which can be handy. The base units have a couple of metal rails in place of a traditional top, so they're a bit wobbly until they're all screwed to each other and the worktop.
Their online 3D planner can be slow and frustrating at times, although it tends to work better in store. How good the staff are probably varies from store to store but I've always found them pretty clued up and they've made some good suggestions whenever I've been in to order kitchens.
With regard to fitting, I usually do it myself. The units are simple enough to construct and are hung on a continuous rail - meaning they're all automatically aligned with each other (although you can adjust them if you need to for some reason).
The only potential annoyance of any significance is the lack of a service gap behind the base units. Whether this is relevant will depend on the construction of your house. The last one I installed was in a house with a suspended timber floor, under which all the water/gas pipes ran. The dishwasher was next to the sink and both were on an external wall. Consequently, I didn't have to run any pipes/drains behind the base units. The lack of a service gap does have an upside though - increased cupboard capacity.
Edited by Risotto on Thursday 8th February 13:09
Another for DIY Kitchens here.
Never been to the showroom other than navigating around it on Google Maps!
Had ours in 2 years, went for grey gloss & came all assembled ready to slot into place. Still looking great now.
Wouldn't hesitate to use them again, albeit wouldn't go for Gloss finish again!
Never been to the showroom other than navigating around it on Google Maps!
Had ours in 2 years, went for grey gloss & came all assembled ready to slot into place. Still looking great now.
Wouldn't hesitate to use them again, albeit wouldn't go for Gloss finish again!
Classy6 said:
Another for DIY Kitchens here.
Never been to the showroom other than navigating around it on Google Maps!
Had ours in 2 years, went for grey gloss & came all assembled ready to slot into place. Still looking great now.
Wouldn't hesitate to use them again, albeit wouldn't go for Gloss finish again!
What do you mean by pre assembled? How much is done? Never been to the showroom other than navigating around it on Google Maps!
Had ours in 2 years, went for grey gloss & came all assembled ready to slot into place. Still looking great now.
Wouldn't hesitate to use them again, albeit wouldn't go for Gloss finish again!
I’m in the same boat now, and the only thing holding me back from diy kitchens is the lack of experience designing and fitting a kitchen, if I had done one before I would be prepared to give it a go a bit more?
Was it hard work fitting it?
Gooose said:
What do you mean by pre assembled? How much is done?
I’m in the same boat now, and the only thing holding me back from diy kitchens is the lack of experience designing and fitting a kitchen, if I had done one before I would be prepared to give it a go a bit more?
Was it hard work fitting it?
It's not flat pack. Unit's come built with carcasses glued & screwed together and doors fixed in place and aligned. Well packaged to avoid any damage so you can get on with fixing it to the wall. I’m in the same boat now, and the only thing holding me back from diy kitchens is the lack of experience designing and fitting a kitchen, if I had done one before I would be prepared to give it a go a bit more?
Was it hard work fitting it?
I'd never designed a kitchen before either (never did really, just stole ideas
) I used magnet, benchmark and a local kitchen place to create designs for me then just took the best ideas and reverse engineered their designs using the DIY kitchens sized units to fit my space. DIY has excellent support over the phone to help you if you get stuck/have questions and some good how to videos - definitely worth spending some time watching. Get some graph paper, accurately measure your space, then the rest is selecting what you want making it fit. Don't forget anything when ordering either, I somehow managed to forgot to order a 700 odd 3 tier pan draw. Cost me another £70 to get it delivered on it's own! So double check your order.
The units themselves to fit aren't bad, issues arose with walls/floors not being flat which caused us a few issues so lots of faffing around making sure everything is straight and level. IMO it's the rest of the trimmings that take the time, cutting the plinths, cornices, end panels etc and fitting the worktops, plumbing in appliances making sure everything looks like it 'fits'.
You can always purchase from DIY and get a fitter to fit the kitchen for you.
Edited by Classy6 on Thursday 8th February 18:25
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