Cockney
Well-Known Member
maybe he's just got a scary wife.
maybe he's just got a scary wife.
I'm trying to get a new kitchen, and I took my measurements to Wickes. I quite liked the design, but looking at the quote I'm pretty much able to find everything individually a LOT cheaper (the tap on my quote is £220, can find it for less than £180) likewise for the appliances but we're talking £000's! This makes me think the whole kitchen is probably pretty overpriced. I'm still tempted to go back to the in-house designer and tell him to take off all the stuff I can find cheaper but I'd imagine that will go down like a lead balloon. Should I go elsewhere? Surely I do better £/?I've fitted quite a number of kitchens, over the years - mostly supplied by Howdens.
Howdens quality is OK. Not poor, not amazing. One thing that does piss me off about them is that they almost never deliver a full order on the due date, and it's a pain in the arse having to chase them up for missing components when you should be concentrating on fitting the damn thing.
Having said that, they have some really decent, helpful staff working at their branches.
Avoid B&Q off-the-shelf generic cabinets - they are made somewhere in Eastern Europe and they are appalling quality. Absolutely shocking.
Diykitchens.com are, I would say, one notch above Howdens, in terms of quality, but you can't just drive down to a local branch (unlike Howdens) if you have a problems or need to replace a damaged component, etc. However, if you are willing to tolerate the inconvenience of ordering online, then Diykitchens.com are worth considering.
I've never fitted a Wren kitchen, and they pitch themselves as better than average, but I've seen quite a few mutterings of discontent on various kitchen-fitting forums, from past reading.
Whoever you go with, for the love of god, please don't make the rookie error of trying to economise on worktops. Economy laminate is garbage, not fit for purpose, and I absolutely guarantee you will regret it if you buy cheap worktops. Approximately £120 is the beginning of acceptable laminate, with quality improving as you climb higher in price. Below that, you'll be throwing your money away on paper-thin laminate with sub-par blistered post-formed front edges. If you stand about 3 metres away from budget laminate Cheap kitchen cabinet, in the right light, you will see the front edge of the laminate is blistered / not fully glued to the chipboard substrate. This makes it insanely fragile and it fractures when it gets a light knock with something hard. Budget laminate also has unacceptably thin top surface layer that doesn't yield a reliable result when routing joints etc. It's actually so absurdly thin that you can often see the texture of the underlying chipboard showing on the top surface, instead of it being glass-smooth. Imagine if you put a paper-thin slice of cheese on a ryvita cracker - it wouldn't stay smooth.
Another thing to watch out for with chipboard laminate worktops is that the ones with a 100% flat front edge (I mean no post-formed roll-top / radiused front edge) may look nice, but, over the longterm, they have a tendency to allow water to penetrate and then the front edging tends to 'blow'.
Wickes kitchens all come flat packed, but they're ok if you take your time putting them together.I'm trying to get a new kitchen, and I took my measurements to Wickes. I quite liked the design, but looking at the quote I'm pretty much able to find everything individually a LOT cheaper (the tap on my quote is £220, can find it for less than £180) likewise for the appliances but we're talking £000's! This makes me think the whole kitchen is probably pretty overpriced. I'm still tempted to go back to the in-house designer and tell him to take off all the stuff I can find cheaper but I'd imagine that will go down like a lead balloon. Should I go elsewhere? Surely I do better £/?
I'm trying to get a new kitchen, and I took my measurements to Wickes. I quite liked the design, but looking at the quote I'm pretty much able to find everything individually a LOT cheaper (the tap on my quote is £220, can find it for less than £180) likewise for the appliances but we're talking £000's! This makes me think the whole kitchen is probably pretty overpriced. I'm still tempted to go back to the in-house designer and tell him to take off all the stuff I can find cheaper but I'd imagine that will go down like a lead balloon. Should I go elsewhere? Surely I do better £/?
Wait until January, price has to be cheaper.I'm trying to get a new kitchen, and I took my measurements to Wickes. I quite liked the design, but looking at the quote I'm pretty much able to find everything individually a LOT cheaper (the tap on my quote is £220, can find it for less than £180) likewise for the appliances but we're talking £000's! This makes me think the whole kitchen is probably pretty overpriced. I'm still tempted to go back to the in-house designer and tell him to take off all the stuff I can find cheaper but I'd imagine that will go down like a lead balloon. Should I go elsewhere? Surely I do better £/?
DIY kitchens is in next village . Save money but you have to work everything out . It was cheaper for us to get it from wickes when they had 50 percent of doors and then my 10 percent and silver tongue shaved a bit more offDIY Kitchens .com. These are good quality, not flat packed . have a look.
To be honest on this one mate, if it came to looking for a new kitchen or killing myself I'd surely be well gone by now .DIY kitchens is in next village . Save money but you have to work everything out . It was cheaper for us to get it from wickes when they had 50 percent of doors and then my 10 percent and silver tongue shaved a bit more off
To be honest on this one mate, if it came to looking for a new kitchen or killing myself I'd surely be well gone by now .
I'm trying to get a new kitchen, and I took my measurements to Wickes. I quite liked the design, but looking at the quote I'm pretty much able to find everything individually a LOT cheaper (the tap on my quote is £220, can find it for less than £180) likewise for the appliances but we're talking £000's! This makes me think the whole kitchen is probably pretty overpriced. I'm still tempted to go back to the in-house designer and tell him to take off all the stuff I can find cheaper but I'd imagine that will go down like a lead balloon. Should I go elsewhere? Surely I do better £/?
DIY kitchens is in next village . Save money but you have to work everything out . It was cheaper for us to get it from wickes when they had 50 percent of doors and then my 10 percent and silver tongue shaved a bit more off
So did you buy half the doors from somewhere else? Do they match? Or are 50% of your cupboards still doorless?DIY kitchens is in next village . Save money but you have to work everything out . It was cheaper for us to get it from wickes when they had 50 percent of doors and then my 10 percent and silver tongue shaved a bit more off
I shaved 50 percent of doors to eye em in with floorSo did you buy half the doors from somewhere else? Do they match? Or are 50% of your cupboards still doorless?
So many questions you silver tongued dog.
what a sly oneWife wanted me to paint kitchen. I couldn't be ased so said why don't we put extension on. That would save me time. Wish I had just painted kitchen