Which Kitchen

[V8RX7]

loughran said:

You sound quite bitter about handmade kitchens.

And have you had a bad experience with wealthy people ?

I hate being ripped off and kitchens are only just behind weddings in that respect (and slightly ahead of bathrooms)

I'm not exactly penniless myself but I insist on value for money, DIY are still charging a lot for chipboard and MDF but it's a lot less than most others and their pricing is clear without requiring ridiculous levels of discount to be competitive

Harry regularly suggests a place that supplies oak kitchens for not that much more but their name escapes me.

[Hashtaggggg]

dickymint said:

smn159 said:

V8RX7 said:

I know where you're coming from IE bespoke handcrafted.... oak from Lord XXXX estate, crafted by pygmies...

However a CNC machine will cut to tighter tolerances than a hand made one and a machine will spray a finer finish than a painter on site with a brush, it's BS for the wealthy to bragg about how much they've spent.

On the other hand, the supplier that I used only offered unfinished cabinets, plus I have a tin of paint to touch up if needed

I had a tin of touch from Diykitchens AND a box of teabags and biscuits

The problem with doors painted on site is that they are not normally as durable as a factory finished product, and the end result is dependent on the painter. As the supplier has supplied a door and paint a poor finish cannot be complained or claimed.

A great business model, high cost, no guarantee as the finish is applied by a third party.

umm, may need to look into this bit more.

[loughran]

V8RX7 said:

loughran said:

You sound quite bitter about handmade kitchens.

And have you had a bad experience with wealthy people ?

I hate being ripped off and kitchens are only just behind weddings in that respect (and slightly ahead of bathrooms)

I'm not exactly penniless myself but I insist on value for money, DIY are still charging a lot for chipboard and MDF but it's a lot less than most others and their pricing is clear without requiring ridiculous levels of discount to be competitive

Harry regularly suggests a place that supplies oak kitchens for not that much more but their name escapes me.

It all depends what's required. Do you want a kitchen that lasts for more than 20 years which can be painted every 8 years or so depending on the current fashion for Mole's Breath or Penguin's Shirt...

Or do you want a kitchen that lasts just long enough to flip your property ?

For the money that is spent on a factory sprayed, tight tolerance, CNC kitchen, there's every chance a local joinery will offer a bespoke solution that is far more sustainable and will last a lifetime. (Well, at least a generation.)

[RobXjcoupe]

FiF said:

Maxf said:

RobXjcoupe said:

[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/LwSXmM1U.jpg

You've left your fog lights on

LoL, good one. One question to those with lights like that, don't they show up every little bit of whatever on the floor. As we have a very hairy Golden Retriever, one can sweep up, vacuum then mop the floor, and half an hour later you can find hairs.

The matt black floor was supposed to help hide the black hair from our black Labrador and Doberman which it kinda does but not the muddy feet straight from the garden. Main thing is the kitchen is strong enough to withstand constant bashing from the two dogs as they run full pelt not being able to turn quick enough they use the cupboard doors to push away again. The Doberman is usually guilty of doing that and a fairly hefty 6 stone in weight.
I’m happy that those cupboards cope with that kind of punishment without being expensive, and lovely wipe down gloss white doors.
The Fog lights do change colour lol via remote control. Looks good at Christmas time when the tree and other lights go up

[BlueHave]

From experience all the the sheds have excellent ranges and bad ranges. Some of the shed kitchens look great when fitted correctly. One thing we found was that the majority of the carcasses are exactly the same, it's the doors, side panels , handles and worktops that need to be fitted properly by a qualified and experienced kitchen fitter that make a difference.

Also make a note of measurements and get your own appliances and avoid any of the bundle deals as they are usually overpriced. Kitchen warranties are pretty meaningless nowadays so go for build quality over something that has a 10 or 25 year warranty as if the shed hasn't gone bust by the time you want to claim they'll send an 'independent' engineer to access damage and put it down to wear and tear.

Unless your going to spend upwards of £40k on a handmaid kitchen then just go for quality doors and appliances

[Neil - YVM]

V8RX7 said:

I know where you're coming from IE bespoke handcrafted.... oak from Lord XXXX estate, crafted by pygmies...

However a CNC machine will cut to tighter tolerances than a hand made one and a machine will spray a finer finish than a painter on site with a brush, it's BS for the wealthy to bragg about how much they've spent.

Hand finishing is usually down to the style of the kitchen, rather than method of manufacturing. Also there are paint finishes that can only be hand finished.

Fully agree if you want flat, tight finish in a single colour then prayed will give a better finish.

(All of our kitchens are made using CNC machinery, regardless of what finish it will be)

[GR_TVR]

smn159 said:

I used these a couple of years back when I did ours

http://www.handmadekitchens-direct.co.uk/html/cabi...

Solid wood and came in cheaper than the initial quote from B&Q (c£10k IIRC for a 5m x 3m kitchen).

Did have to paint it myself, mind

I had my kitchen from these earlier this year.
Really impressed - easy to deal with and order, final product looks and feels great. Customer service is also good - I had a slight issue with some shelves and it was sorted quickly and easily.

They were the best value for a higher quality product that I could find.

[smn159]

GR_TVR said:

I had my kitchen from these earlier this year.
Really impressed - easy to deal with and order, final product looks and feels great. Customer service is also good - I had a slight issue with some shelves and it was sorted quickly and easily.

They were the best value for a higher quality product that I could find.

Yep, exactly my experience with them. Like you, I wanted solid rather than composite cabinets and these were the best value that I could find. I'm more than happy with ours and when / if we move I'd definitely fit another one.

[dirty boy]

DIY Kitchen owner here, put in earlier this year.

Units were perfect (I went for in frame painted) and come all premade and doors fitted, so all square.

I fitted the units (it's not difficult) and then had a carpenter fit the solid oak worktops that I ordered elsewhere.

If it's a big awkward kitchen, i'd have probably used somewhere fancy, but given it's a small cottage, seemed little point, so DIY delivered on what I wanted.

[V8RX7]

loughran said:

It all depends what's required. Do you want a kitchen that lasts for more than 20 years which can be painted every 8 years or so depending on the current fashion for Mole's Breath or Penguin's Shirt...

Or do you want a kitchen that lasts just long enough to flip your property ?

For the money that is spent on a factory sprayed, tight tolerance, CNC kitchen, there's every chance a local joinery will offer a bespoke solution that is far more sustainable and will last a lifetime. (Well, at least a generation.)

My parents kitchen which was relatively expensive as it has solid wood doors (with chipboard carcasses) is now 30+ years old I doubt most want / need them to last any longer than that.

I wouldn't want painted doors regardless, if I want to change the kitchen in 10 years or so I suspect I'd change the entire design rather than just the doors, if I did so every 10 years and it would take almost 100 years to equal the cost of one Smallbone kitchen.

I recently fitted a painted DIY kitchen for a friend and they supplied a litre of matching paint so we could paint the matchboarding. Obviously is she wanted to repaint the kitchen she could.

We aren't going to agree.

[loughran]

Oh, you must never buy a Smallbone kitchen.

That would be foolish.

There you see... we agree.