Kitchens are a bloody rip-off, tips please
Discussion
Nice job!
Some friends of ours had Magnet do the design, and then took it to a local joiner who built it for them for about half the price. Does it have a 15 year warranty? No, but for the money saved, you can rebuild the whole thing if it falls apart. Which it won't. I saw it going in this weekend, and it's beautiful work.
Some friends of ours had Magnet do the design, and then took it to a local joiner who built it for them for about half the price. Does it have a 15 year warranty? No, but for the money saved, you can rebuild the whole thing if it falls apart. Which it won't. I saw it going in this weekend, and it's beautiful work.
cuneus said:
Just don't ever pay (through the nose) for that POS masquerading as a kitchen worktop - Corian
What would you use instead? My parents have it and we've been quite happy with it but it does seem horribly expensive. I'm not a big fan of granite so what alternative is there?A couple of my old kitchen...
Birdseye maple veneered doors, Siemens appliances and disco granite.
I shopped around on every item and fitted it myself (bar the granite). Sourced the MDF for the doors, cabinetry, then the veneer. Appliances, taps etc all shopped around for on-line.
Total cost including the extension it all sits in was £36k.
You can get a top quality look for sensible money if you are prepared to put in a bit of legwork.
Birdseye maple veneered doors, Siemens appliances and disco granite.
I shopped around on every item and fitted it myself (bar the granite). Sourced the MDF for the doors, cabinetry, then the veneer. Appliances, taps etc all shopped around for on-line.
Total cost including the extension it all sits in was £36k.
You can get a top quality look for sensible money if you are prepared to put in a bit of legwork.
Edited by B17NNS on Wednesday 16th May 18:07
Simpo Two said:
You built and veneered your own doors? That's impressive, especially as birdseye maple isn't easy to lay (though it doesn't seem to have much figure for real birdseye)
I sourced the materials. A local chap far more capable than I layed the veneers down.The Mrs wanted flat maple, I wanted highly figured. We compromised.
dugsud said:
We did ours for around 13k including appliances and fitting....
Looks a similar finish to ours which I did two years ago using a mixture of Ebony finish and plain cream units (not so visible on this shot) bought from Buildbase. I took down a non structural wall, tiled the new larger room and entrance hall with travertine, plus Siemens appliances (OH was working for Siemens at the time, so a 50% staff discount helped. It came to about £20K, virtually all done by me, compared to £15k we were quoted just to supply and fit the new cabinets and worktops (that didn't include tiling or taking the wall down and was a much plainer 'like for like' arrangement). Within the £20K is a new dining table & chairs, tub chairs and TV which is the unseen dinning room end.
B17NNS said:
1. Looking to put in two roof lights like that. Did you source them from somewhere specific, or did the builder make them bespoke for your space?
2. Is that top oven not a bit high? Seems like your missus could barely reach the handle.
We're debating between wall ovens and a range at the moment. Range is winning because we can't agree on where the ovens should go.
Minemapper said:
Loving this. Couple of questions, if you don't mind.
1. Looking to put in two roof lights like that. Did you source them from somewhere specific, or did the builder make them bespoke for your space?
2. Is that top oven not a bit high? Seems like your missus could barely reach the handle.
We're debating between wall ovens and a range at the moment. Range is winning because we can't agree on where the ovens should go.
Microwave at the top was with hindsight a little high. The picture still bugs me today in that the line of the top of the mocrowave doesnt run with the line of the fridge. My fault entirely partially caused by the addition of a warming drawer. Didn't cause a major problem as I was the cook. 1. Looking to put in two roof lights like that. Did you source them from somewhere specific, or did the builder make them bespoke for your space?
2. Is that top oven not a bit high? Seems like your missus could barely reach the handle.
We're debating between wall ovens and a range at the moment. Range is winning because we can't agree on where the ovens should go.
Regarding the roof, most double glazing manufacturers (manufacturers, not salesmen) can build a lantern roof. Just send a drawing. That one sat on big steels in an H pattern built into a parapet wall. Worth spending the extra as we did - reflective K with 4 climate/rain sensitive electric openers. You won't regret it.
Considered a range and to be honest the only reason I went the way I did was aesthetics with a slight nudge toward practicality in that if something broke I had a back up.
DS3R said:
dugsud said:
We did ours for around 13k including appliances and fitting....
How the chuffin'eck did you do that?!Kitchen units: £4000
Corian Worktops: £3000
Installation (3 men for 3 long days) £3000
One of the 3 fitters spent all three days building and polishing the work-surfaces!
We sourced all of the AEG appliances from hours of web searches (a combination of ex display, and slight seconds)for about £2500 and the Kitchen Aid fridge freezer has a tiny 5mm dent in the side that can't even be seen when its in place. Retail £2700.....we paid £800!!
There may be a few bits and bobs like the tap to add to the £13k total but it is there or there abouts.
We did have a couple of quotes for the same quality kitchen from high street places and they ranged from £24k-£35k. One wanted £9K for the worktops and island Corian alone!
It took a lot of time and research the way we did it but we got what we wanted for a price we could afford to pay.
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