New, small, cheap kitchen + fitters
Discussion
Hi guys,
we have a relatively small internal kitchen (approximately 3m square) that's 20 years old and starting to look a bit ropey. Thanks to a recent flooding from above, and the consequent damage to appliances and staining of walls/requirement for new floor we're thinking of taking a deep breath and replacing the whole thing. This is our first place so we've never taken on anything like it before and as such are total virgins, naive in every way.
We're looking for a modern look, probably favouring affordability over durability as we might not be here much beyond a year but are keen to add to any WOW factor by having a good looking kitchen come sale time (I work in the property industry and know how hard to shift properties can be). Can anyone recommend suppliers and fitters? We're proper soft Southern white collar workers so realistically won't be able to do much ourselves beyond making tea.
How about the "IT" range from B+Q? They seem to have kitchen designers that can help, can supply and install including plumbing and electrics and thus project manage the whole thing - and presumably can supply only leaving me to arrange fitting seperately (although is this a pain in the neck what with organising all the seperate trades - that may or may not be at all reliable and step on each others' toes?)
Constructive help appreciated.
We live in Surrey/South London.
we have a relatively small internal kitchen (approximately 3m square) that's 20 years old and starting to look a bit ropey. Thanks to a recent flooding from above, and the consequent damage to appliances and staining of walls/requirement for new floor we're thinking of taking a deep breath and replacing the whole thing. This is our first place so we've never taken on anything like it before and as such are total virgins, naive in every way.
We're looking for a modern look, probably favouring affordability over durability as we might not be here much beyond a year but are keen to add to any WOW factor by having a good looking kitchen come sale time (I work in the property industry and know how hard to shift properties can be). Can anyone recommend suppliers and fitters? We're proper soft Southern white collar workers so realistically won't be able to do much ourselves beyond making tea.
How about the "IT" range from B+Q? They seem to have kitchen designers that can help, can supply and install including plumbing and electrics and thus project manage the whole thing - and presumably can supply only leaving me to arrange fitting seperately (although is this a pain in the neck what with organising all the seperate trades - that may or may not be at all reliable and step on each others' toes?)
Constructive help appreciated.
We live in Surrey/South London.
I've done similar recently - found the B&Q and Wickes kitchens to be awful quality, with Homebase surprisingly much better (not what I expected). It may have just been the display kitchens in my local stores, but I was impressed with Homebase and the guy that designed it in store for me, so got it from them. I got my appliances from appliancesonline.co.uk who were great and about half the price of Homebase, but will be organising my own fitting. Homebase did say that they had an "award winning" fitting/project managing service though, so could be worth looking into. The fitters I've spoken to have all said that Wickes/B&Q/Homebase etc are all the same quality, I'd just go and have a look, get them all to do a design for you (they often come up with different designs!) and then look into ways of getting it cheaper - Homebase do 15% off weekends which saved me quite a bit, plus ordering my appliances off the web which again saved a good chunk!
Dom
Dom
Engineer1 said:
+1 on Ikea but remember that the units don't have any service gaps so any pipes and cables run inside the cupboards.
Not if you plan ahead ! We used a large sheet of 22mm GREEN MDF and mounted the top of the cabinets to that. This allowed us to use some batons to step the units away from the wall and create a nice little space for the pipes etc. Then mounting the wall cabinets was easy as they had 22mm of MDF to screw onto !!
BUT..... check your work tops depths. WE had custom corian which cost a penny or two but looks lovely.
scenario8 said:
Thanks to a recent flooding from above, and the consequent damage to appliances and staining of walls/requirement for new floor we're thinking of taking a deep breath and replacing the whole thing.
Have you tried claiming on insurance? A colleague seems to have not far off had his entre house refitted on insurance after one of his kids left the bath running.Deva Link said:
scenario8 said:
Thanks to a recent flooding from above, and the consequent damage to appliances and staining of walls/requirement for new floor we're thinking of taking a deep breath and replacing the whole thing.
Have you tried claiming on insurance? A colleague seems to have not far off had his entre house refitted on insurance after one of his kids left the bath running.Many thanks to all who have contributed so far. I can see also from another thread started this morning that I should add Magnet to the list including B+Q (subject to change), IKEA, Wickes and Homebase. Like I said above, realistically we're happier to get the build organised in house as we're no builders ourselves, so I like the idea of these bigger firms. If anyone has advice contrary to that I'm all ears/eyes.
Further help appreciated.
Further help appreciated.
You will pay through the nose to have one of the big firms manage the project and fitting.
Far better to find a local man to fit (recomendation is always best). He might even be kind enough to share his trade discount with you.
Spending a bit of time designing what you want and researching the options available can save you lots of £££'s.
Far better to find a local man to fit (recomendation is always best). He might even be kind enough to share his trade discount with you.
Spending a bit of time designing what you want and researching the options available can save you lots of £££'s.
As the kitchen is relatively small you might be better with a "kitchen factory" type place, as they will custom make the units to the exact sizes so you get the most efficient use of the space.
We used a local one to us and their medium quality units were a little bit dearer than a DIY shed but not particularly so. I sourced all the appliances and they came and ripped the old kitchen out and fitted the new one. They would happily supply only and getting the units ready assembled is significant advantage - if you're DIYing you'll spend a day assembling units and building drawers etc.
We used a local one to us and their medium quality units were a little bit dearer than a DIY shed but not particularly so. I sourced all the appliances and they came and ripped the old kitchen out and fitted the new one. They would happily supply only and getting the units ready assembled is significant advantage - if you're DIYing you'll spend a day assembling units and building drawers etc.
Visited IKEA Croydon this evening. If ever there was an indicator in how retail and society has changed in my lifetime IKEA is it. How on God's own Earth is that temple of consumerism THAT full at 10pm and later? What were all those kids doing still up? And was I the only one in the place for whom English was their first language (Irish wife aside)? Off topic but what an unapproachable sales experience it is, too. It reminded me of Heathrow. Mile upon mile of seemingly random purchasing opportunities prior to the relief of exiting the place, with endless queueing en-route (the Mrs "had" to buy a throw as a gift for a colleague).
Anyway, I came away really rather disappointed with the quality or lack thereof in the feel of their kitchens. The weight of the doors and drawers was very lightweight and the overall impression was one of cheapness and plasticity. Most disappointing. While it remains our intention for this kitchen to be a short term exercise in looking good to aid selling within a year, that's still a good number of days opening and closing doors to make toast in the morning.
We move on.
Anyway, I came away really rather disappointed with the quality or lack thereof in the feel of their kitchens. The weight of the doors and drawers was very lightweight and the overall impression was one of cheapness and plasticity. Most disappointing. While it remains our intention for this kitchen to be a short term exercise in looking good to aid selling within a year, that's still a good number of days opening and closing doors to make toast in the morning.
We move on.
B+Q were booked for a home visit tonight (we're seeing a few others over the next several evenings. 15 minutes after the arranged appointment time we called the store who apologised and surrendered the mobile number for the rep. We called her and left a message. Half an hour later, and with no response, we dispayed an A4 sheet of paper on our front door stating "Wickes - its got our name on it" as we left to visit their competitor's show-room.
Poor form from the B+Q rep.
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
Poor form from the B+Q rep.
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
micky
Care to share out in the open? Looks like I'm in the running for a new kitchen too (cracked my acrylic sink which is non-standard size which means new worktops which means new tiles..........units must be 15 years old and installed by coffin dodging previous owners so may as well go the whole hog
)
Care to share out in the open? Looks like I'm in the running for a new kitchen too (cracked my acrylic sink which is non-standard size which means new worktops which means new tiles..........units must be 15 years old and installed by coffin dodging previous owners so may as well go the whole hog
)Edited by Flintstone on Monday 30th August 16:50
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff