New kitchen advice please

[25th QV]

I've always felt that fitted kitchens are one of life's great rip offs, in that the material costs are a fraction of what is charged, independent of fitting labour costs.

Last time round about 12 years ago, I went round all the usual places and came to the conclusion that in the main, it's all just 18mm chipboard or MDF wrapped in a decorative foil with very little to differentiate between the quality between brands other than handles, hinges and hardware.

Disillusioned with all the faux sale price nonsense and trade price this and that smoke and mirrors, I chose a Magnet for no other reason than it was available in the style I wanted at the time and a contact worked at their trade centre and did me an extra bit of a deal, so it was now only about three times the price I felt it should cost. Yes, I'm a cynical old sod.

Anyhoo, the panels are beginning to warp, the foils are lifting from the tight corners and it's all just very tired and needs replacing.

Is there any point trying to find quality, or is the market just the same as it was with little choose between them?

If anyone in the trade or fitting business is able to share any inside knowledge on what is the best quality, I'd appreciate it, as if I'm going to get shafted for chipboard with a load of pre-drilled shelf holes, it might as well be the best quality chipboard out there.

Thanks in advance.

[DavePanda]

Depends on your budget but DIY Kitchens get rave reviews from end users and trade alike, we fitted ours earlier this year and the quality is far beyond that of similar suppliers and a lot cheaper.

[Bob-iylho]

Hi,
I have a high end cabinet making business, about 50% of our work is kitchens.
Try a local independant who actually manufactures, the choices will be yours then.
We have no restrictions on what you want, i.e carcass's can be MFC, birch ply, veneered birch ply etc, no holes everywhere, bespoke sizes.
You may pay more but the quality difference is chalk and cheese

[Huzzah]

If the carcasses are OK, how about a refresh and some new doors.

A local independent did ours, rather than dream doors or whatever.

[Bluevanman]

Some of DIY Kitchens doors/panels are painted rather than wrapped.I guess if it gets chipped it can be touched in,you can't do that with a wrapping

[NumBMW]

Another vote for DIY kitchens here.
I saved thousands and still got a quality solid wood kitchen.
Only advice is measure everything at least 5 times! I got a corner a bit too close for comfort, we managed to sort it though

[Rob.]

25th QV said:

Disillusioned with all the faux sale price nonsense and trade price this and that smoke and mirrors

This is 100% why I went with DIY kitchens for mine.

[NumBMW]

Rob. said:

25th QV said:

Disillusioned with all the faux sale price nonsense and trade price this and that smoke and mirrors

This is 100% why I went with DIY kitchens for mine.

My cousin had a quote from Howdens for about £24k we replicated as close as we could with DIY kitchens to compare and it was just over £15k.
Without batting an eyelid Howdens offered to price match. That’s just royally taking the p.
They didn’t get the job of course.

[SteBrown91]

When we had a new kitchen we got Wren and a local independent to quote.

Wren would only quote kitchen and install only and I’d have to speak to the install contractor about electrics, plumbing, flooring,skirting etc etc.

The price they gave me after their mythical discounts for a kitchen & big utility with their best quality kitchen (which was still wrapped mdf) was about 24k ish

The local company (if you took off their total price what actual extra work was needed) was only a couple k more for a bespoke made to order setup with better appliances and solid wood doors/panels sprayed with hard wearing paint.

So that’s who got the work.

[Little Lofty]

I’m a DIY Kitchens convert after using Howdens and Magnet for many years. I’ve just fitted 6 kitchenettes and a communal kitchen to an HMO, and I have done 5 or 6 other kitchens with their units. For the price they can’t be beaten, delivery is crap and replacement units/parts a bit of a faff, but I won’t use anyone else now. They now do a basic design service for £30. They have two excellent showrooms now, a newer one at their base in Yorkshire and a new one in Oxford.

[TT86]

We fitted a painted handleless DIY kitchens kitchen in our old house in 2018. When we sold last year it looked as good as new. The paint finish was excellent and very robust.

I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

[25th QV]

Thanks all, that's really helpful.

I'll speak to a couple of independent 'make their own' outfits and look at DIY kitchens.

Thankfully our kitchen is relatively small, so hopefully won't be too spendy.

I definitely want to go for a solid worktop this time, or one of those resin types.

[fourstardan]

Try better kitchens, they do mail order and have a showroom.

I sourced some Resin solid surface worktops myself and still in good nick after a couple of years. The day they arrived was hilarious, big bloke (talking heavyweight boxer size) and another bloke turned up in a high top Transit with about 5 other customer worktops, couldn't believe it as they weighed a tonne.