Kitchens - cheap vs expensive
Discussion
DT1975 said:
We nearly moved on a new kitchen before covid hit and are now re exploring.
I had 3 quotes - Howdens Clerkenwell with quartz worktops (large kitchen so about 30 units) £14k plus fitting £2800 not inc appliances. Benchmarx similar, Bespoke was £28k all in inc appliances - no thanks.
Naturally I expect prices have gone up but does anyone know the current situation with stock and appliances. Has supply largely returned to normal or would it be better to wait ?
Not clear - are those pre-COVID prices? If so I’d expect hefty increases now.I had 3 quotes - Howdens Clerkenwell with quartz worktops (large kitchen so about 30 units) £14k plus fitting £2800 not inc appliances. Benchmarx similar, Bespoke was £28k all in inc appliances - no thanks.
Naturally I expect prices have gone up but does anyone know the current situation with stock and appliances. Has supply largely returned to normal or would it be better to wait ?
Our Howdens kitchen units were fitted this week. Nothing like as many units as you have. Pricing was £10K through builder but I’ve no idea what he paid. Builder sent us to a couple of places for quartz and said it should be around £3K - both quoted (direct to me, apparently ’trade’ price) £4.5K. Howdens quoted for that too - also same price but we realised the other day they’d clad a ‘nib’ wall which we didn’t want - take that out and they’d be slightly the cheapest.
We had a bespoke quote from the people who did our current kitchen and that was £30K for everything.
There’s three levels of door quality with Howdens and apparently there’s a hefty step in cost between each one. Ours is the middle level. They’re notorious for whacking up the cost by using lots of decor panels at high prices. I think ours was too dear but in the grand scheme of the refurb job it’s almost trivial and my wife was oddly enthusiastic about having a Howdens kitchen so I just went along with it.
Bit of work, but price your kitchen up with DIY Kitchens - I don’t know if Howdens will compete with them but it gives you a reference point. There’s stories of Howdens absolutely bombing prices with massive discounts and chucking things in free.
bennno said:
DT1975 said:
We nearly moved on a new kitchen before covid hit and are now re exploring.
I had 3 quotes - Howdens Clerkenwell with quartz worktops (large kitchen so about 30 units) £14k plus fitting £2800 not inc appliances. Benchmarx similar, Bespoke was £28k all in inc appliances - no thanks.
Naturally I expect prices have gone up but does anyone know the current situation with stock and appliances. Has supply largely returned to normal or would it be better to wait ?
Beat Howdens up on the price excluding worktops + get a local granite / quartz place to quote to supply and fit.I had 3 quotes - Howdens Clerkenwell with quartz worktops (large kitchen so about 30 units) £14k plus fitting £2800 not inc appliances. Benchmarx similar, Bespoke was £28k all in inc appliances - no thanks.
Naturally I expect prices have gone up but does anyone know the current situation with stock and appliances. Has supply largely returned to normal or would it be better to wait ?
Edited by bennno on Friday 10th June 18:57
Exactly what we did. Got a local worktop supplier who was half the price and better quality. Also had a far greater range to choose from.
We priced up the units on diykitchens and howdens beat it by 10%
bennno said:
Beat Howdens up on the price excluding worktops + get a local granite / quartz place to quote to supply and fit.
Come to think of it the fitter mentioned using a local place for the quartz, cheers.Edited by bennno on Friday 10th June 18:57
Road2Ruin said:
This.
Exactly what we did. Got a local worktop supplier who was half the price and better quality. Also had a far greater range to choose from.
We priced up the units on diykitchens and howdens beat it by 10%
That sounds like a plan. I don't have an account with howdens and the price came through the fitter, did they quote you direct ? Exactly what we did. Got a local worktop supplier who was half the price and better quality. Also had a far greater range to choose from.
We priced up the units on diykitchens and howdens beat it by 10%
DIY Kitchens is turning into a bit of a saga for us. They seem incapable of sending us filler or end panels which are not damaged. We have sent back about 80% of what they have sent us, and are onto the third delivery of replacement panels. They aren't arguing about sending them, but it takes about a week each time and it is really slowing things down on the fitting.
They also converted our plan into an order wrong, and sent us a 400 unit rather than a 350 unit. They won't refund it, despite a long battle with them, as the order was right - despite the fact they converted it wrong from the plan.
The fitter reckons the units are fairly decent, though the carcass construction isn't great - edges not properly in line, poor/weak joins/staples in places, which is making it a pain to fit pelmets etc.
Neff appliances are the other saga. 16 week delivery apparently from when we ordered in March for the oven, extractor hood and hob. Can't get worktops done until they are here. Looks like we will be looking at late July. And this is all just maybes from the supplier, no certainty.
They also converted our plan into an order wrong, and sent us a 400 unit rather than a 350 unit. They won't refund it, despite a long battle with them, as the order was right - despite the fact they converted it wrong from the plan.
The fitter reckons the units are fairly decent, though the carcass construction isn't great - edges not properly in line, poor/weak joins/staples in places, which is making it a pain to fit pelmets etc.
Neff appliances are the other saga. 16 week delivery apparently from when we ordered in March for the oven, extractor hood and hob. Can't get worktops done until they are here. Looks like we will be looking at late July. And this is all just maybes from the supplier, no certainty.
DT1975 said:
bennno said:
Beat Howdens up on the price excluding worktops + get a local granite / quartz place to quote to supply and fit.
Come to think of it the fitter mentioned using a local place for the quartz, cheers.Edited by bennno on Friday 10th June 18:57
Road2Ruin said:
This.
Exactly what we did. Got a local worktop supplier who was half the price and better quality. Also had a far greater range to choose from.
We priced up the units on diykitchens and howdens beat it by 10%
That sounds like a plan. I don't have an account with howdens and the price came through the fitter, did they quote you direct ? Exactly what we did. Got a local worktop supplier who was half the price and better quality. Also had a far greater range to choose from.
We priced up the units on diykitchens and howdens beat it by 10%
PrinceRupert said:
DIY Kitchens is turning into a bit of a saga for us. They seem incapable of sending us filler or end panels which are not damaged. We have sent back about 80% of what they have sent us, and are onto the third delivery of replacement panels. They aren't arguing about sending them, but it takes about a week each time and it is really slowing things down on the fitting.
They also converted our plan into an order wrong, and sent us a 400 unit rather than a 350 unit. They won't refund it, despite a long battle with them, as the order was right - despite the fact they converted it wrong from the plan.
The fitter reckons the units are fairly decent, though the carcass construction isn't great - edges not properly in line, poor/weak joins/staples in places, which is making it a pain to fit pelmets etc.
Neff appliances are the other saga. 16 week delivery apparently from when we ordered in March for the oven, extractor hood and hob. Can't get worktops done until they are here. Looks like we will be looking at late July. And this is all just maybes from the supplier, no certainty.
You can template and fabricate the worktops without the hob. The just drop it in when it arrives. They also converted our plan into an order wrong, and sent us a 400 unit rather than a 350 unit. They won't refund it, despite a long battle with them, as the order was right - despite the fact they converted it wrong from the plan.
The fitter reckons the units are fairly decent, though the carcass construction isn't great - edges not properly in line, poor/weak joins/staples in places, which is making it a pain to fit pelmets etc.
Neff appliances are the other saga. 16 week delivery apparently from when we ordered in March for the oven, extractor hood and hob. Can't get worktops done until they are here. Looks like we will be looking at late July. And this is all just maybes from the supplier, no certainty.
Pleased with the Wren kitchen, around 13k for the units & Quartz
Appliances added 7k, 2Miele ovens/Induction hob/Microwave/warming drawer. Caple wine cooler & fridge & freezer, each in a full height larder on the RH side.
Fitted the Karndean flooring myself, 50m2. That’s 4 days of my life gone..
Skirting & architrave arrives on Thursday, my weekend job!
Then the finishing touches etc
Separate utility out of shot, part of the new extension
Edited by James6112 on Tuesday 14th June 23:30
That looks great, and certainly better value than our Howdens kitchen. There was a Wren kitchen in the just done cow-shed conversion cottage we lived in for six weeks during our refurb and it seemed very good quality - I was particularly impressed by drawers being the full depth of the cabinets, some had glass sides too, a bit pointless but looked good.
Cottage had Amtico which looked amazing but we got a price indication of £6K (60 sq metres). We found a long standing local firm we’d used for carpets before are now Karndean agents and doing lots of commercial work so they’re going to do it in Van Gogh for £3800. I know, discounted, I could get the Karndean fior a couple of £K and a younger version of me would be tempted to have a go but it’s a very fiddly area so I’m happy with the cost, I guess the levelling stuff, glue, tools etc would add up too.
Cottage had Amtico which looked amazing but we got a price indication of £6K (60 sq metres). We found a long standing local firm we’d used for carpets before are now Karndean agents and doing lots of commercial work so they’re going to do it in Van Gogh for £3800. I know, discounted, I could get the Karndean fior a couple of £K and a younger version of me would be tempted to have a go but it’s a very fiddly area so I’m happy with the cost, I guess the levelling stuff, glue, tools etc would add up too.
The Karndean was about £1500 incl the adhesives / diy tools / plus 4 days hard effort, hadn’t done before. The whole area was levelled beforehand, which was hard going. As the kitchen area was 2 rooms before and new extn at the back. All of which were slightly different levels before. Floor has to be spot on for that stuff as you know. Going into hallway next.
Wife wanted to keep the full sized dishwasher. Getting it wrapped in black soon by a local place!
The bling recirculating hood was bought used from Ebay. Was hardly used but I took it apart a put it through the dishwasher. About 25% of the new price..
Seems to work well enough, no real option to vent to outside.
Wife wanted to keep the full sized dishwasher. Getting it wrapped in black soon by a local place!
The bling recirculating hood was bought used from Ebay. Was hardly used but I took it apart a put it through the dishwasher. About 25% of the new price..
Seems to work well enough, no real option to vent to outside.
Edited by James6112 on Wednesday 15th June 07:57
RevHappy said:
You can template and fabricate the worktops without the hob. The just drop it in when it arrives.
The suggestion was that templating from dimensions on paper would be risky as if the actual hob was even a mm out from the dimensions on paper we would have a problem. Is this not true?PrinceRupert said:
RevHappy said:
You can template and fabricate the worktops without the hob. The just drop it in when it arrives.
The suggestion was that templating from dimensions on paper would be risky as if the actual hob was even a mm out from the dimensions on paper we would have a problem. Is this not true?If they don't trust themselves to do that it sounds odd.
Have just finished upgrading the bottom floor of the house.. it’s been one hell of a journey with the house in general but I’m really happy with the transformation and the finish achieved with the recent work.
This is the kitchen as it stood in the property schedule when I bought the house:
Here are a couple of progress pictures:
Here is the finished room:
Not a patch on some of the kitchens I’ve seen on here but it’s nice to be able to contribute to the thread and it’s amazing to come home to a house which isn’t in a state of flux.
This is the kitchen as it stood in the property schedule when I bought the house:
Here are a couple of progress pictures:
Here is the finished room:
Not a patch on some of the kitchens I’ve seen on here but it’s nice to be able to contribute to the thread and it’s amazing to come home to a house which isn’t in a state of flux.
PrinceRupert said:
The suggestion was that templating from dimensions on paper would be risky as if the actual hob was even a mm out from the dimensions on paper we would have a problem. Is this not true?
Hob cut out have a small amount of tolerance so its not an issue. If the hob broke and you replaced it with the same model you wouldn’t change the worktop. The templater will just note the model off the box and then just look it up in the drawing office, they just want to make sure you don’t change it to another model or manufacturer as that when it goes wrong. RevHappy said:
PrinceRupert said:
The suggestion was that templating from dimensions on paper would be risky as if the actual hob was even a mm out from the dimensions on paper we would have a problem. Is this not true?
Hob cut out have a small amount of tolerance so its not an issue. If the hob broke and you replaced it with the same model you wouldn’t change the worktop. The templater will just note the model off the box and then just look it up in the drawing office, they just want to make sure you don’t change it to another model or manufacturer as that when it goes wrong. Just a standard 750mm Neff gas hob, nothing unusual - although there are multiple versions of it. I suppose the templater has a "seen hob" tick box.
RS Grant said:
Have just finished upgrading the bottom floor of the house.. it’s been one hell of a journey with the house in general but I’m really happy with the transformation and the finish achieved with the recent work.
This is the kitchen as it stood in the property schedule when I bought the house:
Here are a couple of progress pictures:
Here is the finished room:
Not a patch on some of the kitchens I’ve seen on here but it’s nice to be able to contribute to the thread and it’s amazing to come home to a house which isn’t in a state of flux.
Looks good, what's the light hanging above the breakfast bar? I'm looking for inspiration for mine!This is the kitchen as it stood in the property schedule when I bought the house:
Here are a couple of progress pictures:
Here is the finished room:
Not a patch on some of the kitchens I’ve seen on here but it’s nice to be able to contribute to the thread and it’s amazing to come home to a house which isn’t in a state of flux.
crispian22 said:
The templaters are responsible for the complete job,if anything doesn't work or fit,they foot the whole cost of the job.
Firm but fair.
Really? Firm we've gone for said stuff goes wrong now and again - he mentioned a few things and one of them was templater error. Didn't seem like any great drama.Firm but fair.
James6112 said:
Pleased with the Wren kitchen, around 13k for the units & Quartz
Appliances added 7k, 2Miele ovens/Induction hob/Microwave/warming drawer. Caple wine cooler & fridge & freezer, each in a full height larder on the RH side.
Fitted the Karndean flooring myself, 50m2. That’s 4 days of my life gone..
Skirting & architrave arrives on Thursday, my weekend job!
Then the finishing touches etc
Separate utility out of shot, part of the new extension
Edited by James6112 on Tuesday 14th June 23:30
Skirting and architraves was not my favourite job. Thank God for filler and paint is all I can say.
James6112 said:
Pleased with the Wren kitchen, around 13k for the units & Quartz
Appliances added 7k, 2Miele ovens/Induction hob/Microwave/warming drawer. Caple wine cooler & fridge & freezer, each in a full height larder on the RH side.
Fitted the Karndean flooring myself, 50m2. That’s 4 days of my life gone..
Skirting & architrave arrives on Thursday, my weekend job!
Then the finishing touches etc
Separate utility out of shot, part of the new extension
Edited by James6112 on Tuesday 14th June 23:30
R56Cooper said:
That is really nice, huge well done if that was all DIY.
Skirting and architraves was not my favourite job. Thank God for filler and paint is all I can say.
Thanks & same to ghostSkirting and architraves was not my favourite job. Thank God for filler and paint is all I can say.
The building work & walls/ceiling were done as part of the building work / extension
Electrics done by pro
There is a switched cable under plynth & cables to the island & other side, so more lighting will follow…
Skirtings & architrave delivered today, for the whole ground floor, let battle commence!
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