New kitchen advice please
Discussion
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.
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.
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
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
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. Without batting an eyelid Howdens offered to price match. That’s just royally taking the p.
They didn’t get the job of course.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
25th QV said:
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.
My mistake with our kitchen was going for black American walnut worktops. Absolute pain in the ****. Freshly oiled looked nice for about two weeks, tried different oils with no joy. 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.
Think carefully before going for timber albeit oak would have been better as at least would have absorbed the oil properly.
Our new kitchen will be quartz I think, very impressed with the ones my friends have fitted.
Have a look at Rehome.co.uk - second hand high end kitchens.
Buy one 20% bigger than you need, a bit of Tetris,a touch up and a new worktop and you can have a high end kitchen for less than IKEA prices.
CTO did that in his cave house thread on here which looked good. We’ve bought one from there, but it's not fitted yet - should be in a few weeks time.
Buy one 20% bigger than you need, a bit of Tetris,a touch up and a new worktop and you can have a high end kitchen for less than IKEA prices.
CTO did that in his cave house thread on here which looked good. We’ve bought one from there, but it's not fitted yet - should be in a few weeks time.
FBP1 said:
Have a look at Rehome.co.uk - second hand high end kitchens.
Buy one 20% bigger than you need, a bit of Tetris,a touch up and a new worktop and you can have a high end kitchen for less than IKEA prices.
CTO did that in his cave house thread on here which looked good. We ve bought one from there, but it's not fitted yet - should be in a few weeks time.
My inlaws nextdoor neighbour bought a secondhand kitchen on ebay for a few hundred pounds, he's done a great job with it.Buy one 20% bigger than you need, a bit of Tetris,a touch up and a new worktop and you can have a high end kitchen for less than IKEA prices.
CTO did that in his cave house thread on here which looked good. We ve bought one from there, but it's not fitted yet - should be in a few weeks time.
10 years (to the month) with a 'Painted' DIY Kitchens, kitchen and it remains like new.
Sadly there was no Oxford showroom, nor any design service back when I ordered mine and we missed a couple of 'tricks' to be honest, but all in all - fantastic quality for the money.
My neighbour across the road has just had a 'DIY Kitchens' kitchen installed - He is an ex-engineer and a very fussy bloke and is over the moon with it.
I wouldn't hesitate to use them again - but make the most of the design service/guidance.
Sadly there was no Oxford showroom, nor any design service back when I ordered mine and we missed a couple of 'tricks' to be honest, but all in all - fantastic quality for the money.
My neighbour across the road has just had a 'DIY Kitchens' kitchen installed - He is an ex-engineer and a very fussy bloke and is over the moon with it.
I wouldn't hesitate to use them again - but make the most of the design service/guidance.
Bluevanman said:
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
We had some small chips on ours and the touch up paint they supply comes from the same paint yours is painted with so matches perfectly, no slight variations like you might get from a generic touch upGassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff