Best place to buy kitchens in the uk.

[Mutley Racers]

Hi all. Long time since I have been on here but hope you have survived lockdown etc.

I am not sure if this is the right place to post or if this site at all could recommend where to get a kitchen (you might all make your own) decent quality and decent price.

Any advice would be great.

Thanky you

 

[AJB Temple]

There is no answer to this question. You tend to get what you pay for. It depends on style preference. It also depends on how you use a kitchen; warming stuff up or really serious cook.

How long do you want it to last: do you need pro level robustness for 20 years or will you sell up and move on in a few years?

A lot of budget should be allocated too appliances. Are you Wolf, Miele Gagganau - or at the budget end? Induction or gas? Quooker boiling water on tap or happy with a kettle?

Wren, B&Q, Howdens, Ikea etc. Much the same really.
High street brands - at least triple the price.
Bespoke and hand made - can be similar to the high end kitchen shops or much more if you want furniture quality throughout.

I am towards the end of making my own. Mine is very much designed around serious cooking.

 

[Mutley Racers]

There is no answer to this question. You tend to get what you pay for. It depends on style preference. It also depends on how you use a kitchen; warming stuff up or really serious cook.

How long do you want it to last: do you need pro level robustness for 20 years or will you sell up and move on in a few years?

A lot of budget should be allocated too appliances. Are you Wolf, Miele Gagganau - or at the budget end? Induction or gas? Quooker boiling water on tap or happy with a kettle?

Wren, B&Q, Howdens, Ikea etc. Much the same really.
High street brands - at least triple the price.
Bespoke and hand made - can be similar to the high end kitchen shops or much more if you want furniture quality throughout.

I am towards the end of making my own. Mine is very much designed around serious cooking.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. It is for a rental property I have just purchased so half decent I guess. None of the appliances you have mentioned are within my budget. Would love them in my house though as I do love cooking.

 

[Blackswanwood]

MKM do a decent range and we recently used them for a replacement in a rental property. Haggle on price (we also got Howdens to quote) and don’t buy the knobs or handles from them without checking online - we found the same ones at half the price and they matched the price without batting an eyelid.

 

[Mutley Racers]

MKM do a decent range and we recently used them for a replacement in a rental property. Haggle on price (we also got Howdens to quote) and don’t buy the knobs or handles from them without checking online - we found the same ones at half the price and they matched the price without batting an eyelid.

Thank you

 

[Mutley Racers]

I am also wondering about flooring. The property was built in 1947 and has a concrete slab with asphalt topping which has lumps and bumps in from where the furniture has been. I want to put in something hard wearing so no carpets. Something between laminate and hard wood. Any ideas?

I want the place to be decent for the tenants but not too expensive. Quite hard really.

Thanks

 

[Mutley Racers]

Ah, another thought, as all the pipe work to the rads run above skirting level, I want to drop these behind the skirting and pop up into the rads but I don't want the depth of the boxes to be too big. Anyone boxed in some pipes before like this?

Cheers

 

[lurker]

MKM do a decent range and we recently used them for a replacement in a rental property. Haggle on price (we also got Howdens to quote) and don’t buy the knobs or handles from them without checking online - we found the same ones at half the price and they matched the price without batting an eyelid.

I am fitting a howdens kitchen at the moment, her majesty talked to howdens designer and I never quibbled the list, except for crossing off knobs, handles and taps. Which were three times the price of toolstation/ screwfix.

 

[PeteBowen]

I've got the same kind of floor in my house. I put laminate from B and Q down on top of 5mm foam (Diall 5mm Extruded polystyrene foam Laminate & solid wood flooring Underlay panels | DIY at B&Q).

The underfloor was very dodgy but the laminate flooring has held up OK for 5 years so far.

 

[Doug71]

You won't go far wrong with Howdens, the good thing about them is they keep most things in stock so if you need an extra end panel or cut the coving short you can just nip along to the local depot and get another.

You do need a trade account though or know a friendly tradesman who won't add 50% to the price

 

[Mutley Racers]

I've got the same kind of floor in my house. I put laminate from B and Q down on top of 5mm foam (Diall 5mm Extruded polystyrene foam Laminate & solid wood flooring Underlay panels | DIY at B&Q).

The underfloor was very dodgy but the laminate flooring has held up OK for 5 years so far.

Hi. Thanks. This is good to know. The hall is laminated which was done in 2006 and so cannot match to go into the other rooms. This was done after the skirtings so after taking old skirtings off there is a huge gap so It all needs replacing.

 

[Mutley Racers]

You won't go far wrong with Howdens, the good thing about them is they keep most things in stock so if you need an extra end panel or cut the coving short you can just nip along to the local depot and get another.

You do need a trade account though or know a friendly tradesman who won't add 50% to the price

Hi, this is good to know. I think I might have a trade account at howdens actually.

 

[Richard_C]

Flooring - in a similar situation I used a thick-ish laminate, they vary from about 8mm to 11 or 12, over a decent thick underlay and its been fine for 8 years. I chose a laminate with quite wide long panels which meant a bit more cutting but maybe a bit more stability when it was down. I prefer to take skirtings off, lay to within 10mm of wall (for expansion) then put skirtings back on top.

Kitchen - no experience of anything other than the one I fitted, IKEA. Again doing fine after 8 years in a proper hard-worked kitchen. IKEA is all flat pack which has + and -. The - is you have to put it together, the + is you can do it in batches and install so you don't run out of space. One feature is the lack of a gap twixt wall and unit back. That gives you about 15-20% more internal room in cupboards and particularly drawers which are very space efficient, but it can make more work. For instance the sink plumbing ran horizontally at knee height behind 4 cabinets in the old kitchen, in the new one I had to make up a new set and bring it all down to ankle height to run below the cupboard bottoms. I have heard good things about Howdens as well.

Appliances - I've done pretty well with Bosch, sometimes you get good prices on 'last years model' from people like AO. They don't call it that but its pretty obvious that there is a £XXX one and a £XX one with similar spec. Worth a search on their, and others, website. Having spent ages wrestling with replacing fully fitted/mock door stuff in a house my sister in law bought - dishwasher leaky, Fridge door cracked and if you turned the freezer on the whole kitchen circuit MCB tripped out - I resolved to have freestanding standard size appliance - a 60cm white dishwasher sits under the work surface, if it packs up I drag it out and push a new one in. You will always be able to buy a 60cm one at a decent price unlike odd sizes. Same with fridge and freezer, they free stand along one wall.

Generally - lots of suppliers/retailers are under financial and rent pressure right now and I wouldn't be surprised if a few folded or went into pre-pack administration which of course leaves customers who have pre-paid for orders losing their money. Pay by credit card - at least you get some protection if that happens. (OK, I'm a pessimist).

 

[the_g_ster]

Diykitchens online? Some of their ranges look good.

 

[porker]

We're just installing a Diykitchens kitchen. Having trawled through endless companies looking at samples they came out well with us and we are really pleased with the units we have. I think as has been said there are a lot that are a much of a muchness. I've seen good installations of Wren, howdens, Ikea etc. I think a lot has to do with the quality of the install and the hardware used. A few things to bear in mind

- With self assembled units have you got somewhere to store them?
- Is the hardware a good make - Blum hinges and metal drawer boxes for example - makes a big difference to how long they last IME
- What is the aftercare service like? Once they have your money how do they handle issues. You will have some - we had a scratched panel and a discrepancy on a cabinet that had an incorrect drawing in their brochure but the correct dimensions. (DiyKitchens I would score a 7/10 for resolving this -they replaced the damaged door no problem but needed to be persuaded to do something about the error in their brochure leading to an incorrect order)
- If you buy online it will be cheaper than the flashy showroom merchants but you have to work it all out for yourself

Having experience of rental properties, assume your tenants won't look after anything (most won't) and get the most durable finishes you can without spending a fortune. Seen examples of tenants leaving as they found several years later to a complete refit required of kitchen, bathroom and carpets etc.

 

[gregmcateer]

Howdens for the kitchen if you have an account.
Wickes Windsor laminate floor- they always have specials on end of line. Definitely ensure you buy enough as they change range, but discount is HUGE. You can get an account there, too, for extra 10% off. Also, make sure the laminate has bevel edge - straight flat surfaces just chip and break almost before you've put it down. Don't ask me how I know!!

 

[Mutley Racers]

Hi all. Thanks so much for all the advice.

Diy kitchens is what we used for my home kitchen which is great. It is the 6 week waiting time that's the issue here. Same as Wickes, they are 6 weeks. Does anyone know off the top off their head how long howdens and benchmarx is?

Was thinking of just getting carcasses from B&Q and then buying doors and fittings from some where else as then if it is 6 weeks I could have all carcasses in and just need to wait for doors.

Great info on the rounded edge laminate. Will check this out at Wickes. I do have an account there.

Again, thank you all for your help and advice.

 

[Mutley Racers]

Flooring - in a similar situation I used a thick-ish laminate, they vary from about 8mm to 11 or 12, over a decent thick underlay and its been fine for 8 years. I chose a laminate with quite wide long panels which meant a bit more cutting but maybe a bit more stability when it was down. I prefer to take skirtings off, lay to within 10mm of wall (for expansion) then put skirtings back on top.

Kitchen - no experience of anything other than the one I fitted, IKEA. Again doing fine after 8 years in a proper hard-worked kitchen. IKEA is all flat pack which has + and -. The - is you have to put it together, the + is you can do it in batches and install so you don't run out of space. One feature is the lack of a gap twixt wall and unit back. That gives you about 15-20% more internal room in cupboards and particularly drawers which are very space efficient, but it can make more work. For instance the sink plumbing ran horizontally at knee height behind 4 cabinets in the old kitchen, in the new one I had to make up a new set and bring it all down to ankle height to run below the cupboard bottoms. I have heard good things about Howdens as well.

Appliances - I've done pretty well with Bosch, sometimes you get good prices on 'last years model' from people like AO. They don't call it that but its pretty obvious that there is a £XXX one and a £XX one with similar spec. Worth a search on their, and others, website. Having spent ages wrestling with replacing fully fitted/mock door stuff in a house my sister in law bought - dishwasher leaky, Fridge door cracked and if you turned the freezer on the whole kitchen circuit MCB tripped out - I resolved to have freestanding standard size appliance - a 60cm white dishwasher sits under the work surface, if it packs up I drag it out and push a new one in. You will always be able to buy a 60cm one at a decent price unlike odd sizes. Same with fridge and freezer, they free stand along one wall.

Generally - lots of suppliers/retailers are under financial and rent pressure right now and I wouldn't be surprised if a few folded or went into pre-pack administration which of course leaves customers who have pre-paid for orders losing their money. Pay by credit card - at least you get some protection if that happens. (OK, I'm a pessimist).

Hi. Thanks fornthis detailed post.

Some great info. I will avoid wickes cuboards due to not having the 3inch service space behind the units. Although installing battens would be good but not what i want to faff about with.

I will definitely use a credit card to pay. You have to feel for these companies that have, are and going to go under.

Large boards laminate sounds good to me...

 

[lurker]

Unless they have changed, wickes used weird measurements I assumed to lock you in to their range.
I'm doing a howdens at the moment and am impressed. Don't know what the lead time is as it was me putting back the delivery dates.
Ask them. Also they will do a design for you foc.

 

[RickG]

We had a new kitchen a couple of years ago. We spoke to pro kitchen fitters and they all said Howden or Wickes for the best made ones. Wickes was more in our price range and we're well happy with it.