Kitchen Carcass

[novocaine]

Currently in the middle of an extension (not being done by me because apparently I'm far to busy). part of having the extension means my sub 5 year old kitchen has been ripped out

"no it's not getting a new kitchen, your JUST moving what we already have down" (her words not mine).

As part of this "move" I'm going to need to purchase a load of new carcasses (haven't got power in the workshop right now because of building work so can't make them and wont have time to make them once I do have power as I'll be fitting out the rest of the house as well). at least I'm still allowed to make my own doors, for which I should be eternally grateful.

so long story and a bit of a rant, but that's over, where is the best priced place to get plain white carcasses?


I've also been told I'm not allowed wooden work surfaces this time as "they are impossible to keep clean and I got to upset about people not wiping up spills and water" can't afford corian, refuse to have granite so it looks like I'm going with laminate, isn't married life wonderful.


note, I love my wife dearly, wouldn't be without her for all the world.

 

[Droogs]

Perhaps you should enter this years Secret Santa, you might get Dr Bob, apparently he gives you a new kitchen

 

[AJB Temple]

Go into any Wren kitchen showroom and they will (usually) have a display showing a carcass from them, B&Q, Wickes and Howdens. What this will tell you is that none of them are all that good and they are all much of a muchness.

It sounds like you are operating to a tight budget. If that is so, I would probably take a look at Ikea. Their carcasses are no worse than the above and pricing is sensible. Externally they look stylish if you choose well.

If you use laminate worktops throughout this always looks cheap and dated these days. However, I am a soft southerner now so I have been conditioned to what people round here buy (we are inundated with up market kitchen shops where I live, who seem to go bust and resurface on a 10 year cycle). Maybe try to have an Island or one area that uses (say) quartz.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'm no expert, but I gather that the problem with the Ikea ones is that they have very little, if any, void at the back for pipework and services.
The best carcases that I have seen, by a country mile, are made just round the corner from me by Kesseler. They are M&T'd not cam & dowel. Everything that should be flush is flush. Perfectly flush.

 

[novocaine]

Previous carcasses are Ikea, as have the last 4 out of 5 kitchens I've had the displeasure of fitting (the other being from scratch build). I like them, in fact I prefer them because they have no service void. They changed their dimensions a while ago so getting it to match what we have is unlikely.

it's not that the budget is tight, it's that I'm a yorkshire man. I agree about laminate worktops, they don't have that "look", but I can fit them without special tools (there will be a number of awkward cuts that I simply can't do in corian with risking destruction or having them pre cut off site which worries me. they are cheap enough that in 10 years time I can change them out to something else without to much worry.

 

[SammyQ]

Careful! Ikea kitchens DO NOT conform to 'normal' sizes, particularly in wall units. This can make for ****ing horrible problems with doors and (sometimes) appliances. DAMHIKT.

Sam

 

[ScaredyCat]

note, I love my wife dearly, wouldn't be without her for all the world.

Just is case anyone notices the new patio, eh? :wink:

.

 

[novocaine]

Careful! Ikea kitchens DO NOT conform to 'normal' sizes, particularly in wall units. This can make for ****ing horrible problems with doors and (sometimes) appliances. DAMHIKT.

Sam

not sure if that's true anymore Sam.
they did do something ridiculous a while back but they seem to have returned to somewhat more typical.

 

[novocaine]

note, I love my wife dearly, wouldn't be without her for all the world.

Just is case anyone notices the new patio, eh? :wink:

.

have to wait for the builders to bugger off before I can do that, they keep digging the floor up.

 

[sunnybob]

Whats your objection to granite?
Ours has been in place for 12 years now, looks as good as new.
The mrs keeps mumbling about new doors but doesnt complain about the worktop.
No, we are not obsessive about scrubbing or treating, or any other of that nonsense.
Our friends have a top of the range sparkly granite around a larger than average kitchen (must be 5 times to cost of ours), also many years in place, also still looking just as fancy.

 

[novocaine]

Whats your objection to granite?
Ours has been in place for 12 years now, looks as good as new.
The mrs keeps mumbling about new doors but doesnt complain about the worktop.
No, we are not obsessive about scrubbing or treating, or any other of that nonsense.
Our friends have a top of the range sparkly granite around a larger than average kitchen (must be 5 times to cost of ours), also many years in place, also still looking just as fancy.

environmental impact.

truthfully I just don't like it, granite is for grave stones and surface plates not for worktops.

No one wipes up spills as it is, imagine how mental I'd be over something that cost 6 times that of wood worktops.
I have a nice number of chemical burns on the wood worktop, again, not wanted on something that expensive.
I also have a fare few dings in the wood from things falling out of cabinets above, a ding in granite would make me cry.

basically, I just don't like it. if it was completely up to me I'd have modular stainless steel, as is I need to keep others happy.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Crockery survival, is also an issue with granite - and environmental impact is a huge one.

I would rather look cheapskate and actually be green, than vice versa.

That said SB, if it comes from a quarry on the island, that's probably a different matter, although you still have the crockery issue, at least around here.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

It's probably very passé these days, but I tiled my kitchen top. Cheap enough, virtually indestructible, and if you do happen to break a tile, just pop in a new one. It seems to cover all your eventualities.

 

[Distinterior]

It's probably very passé these days, but I tiled my kitchen top........... It seems to cover all your eventualities.

Perhaps,.....Back in the 1980's....!!!!

What about the environmental impact that occurs during the manufacturing & transportation of the sub panel, Tiles, adhesive & grout...????

I mentioned the 1980's, as that was the last time was requested to install one....!!

Also, I never found them to be very hygenic.....

 

[sunnybob]

Whats your objection to granite?
Ours has been in place for 12 years now, looks as good as new.
The mrs keeps mumbling about new doors but doesnt complain about the worktop.
No, we are not obsessive about scrubbing or treating, or any other of that nonsense.
Our friends have a top of the range sparkly granite around a larger than average kitchen (must be 5 times to cost of ours), also many years in place, also still looking just as fancy.

environmental impact.

truthfully I just don't like it, granite is for grave stones and surface plates not for worktops.

No one wipes up spills as it is, imagine how mental I'd be over something that cost 6 times that of wood worktops.
I have a nice number of chemical burns on the wood worktop, again, not wanted on something that expensive.
I also have a fare few dings in the wood from things falling out of cabinets above, a ding in granite would make me cry.

basically, I just don't like it. if it was completely up to me I'd have modular stainless steel, as is I need to keep others happy.

Your fears are completely false. Stuff has been dropped many times on ours, much liquid spilt and much fewer wiping ups and maintenance. It would need a cast iron wok from 10 feet to chip real granite.

I worked with stainless steel for many years, aint a woman in the world that would put up with stainless worktops unless she was a pathologist :roll:

All the granite here is imported, as is the marble and all the tiles, billions and billions of tiles. :shock:

Environmental impact????? I am going to resist starting yet another ranting session, but nobody in this world, let alone on this site, could convince me a granite worktop is causing global warming.
No, seriously, DONT respond to that, because I wont.

Now if you had just said up front that you didnt like it..... all arguments disappear.
8) 8) 8) 8)

 

[SammyQ]

Thanks Novocaine, I was looking about two years ago.

Sam

 

[Jake]

I worked with stainless steel for many years, aint a woman in the world that would put up with stainless worktops unless she was a pathologist :roll:

Can confirm this is false if you choose wisely.

 

[sunnybob]

How many men can claim to have chosen their women wisely :shock: :lol: =D>
Possibly in hindsight though. 8) 8)

 

[Steve Maskery]

Can confirm this is false if you choose wisely.

I wouldn't know.

 

[AJB Temple]

I chose wisely. I do the cooking. My wife doesn't give a damn what I have in the kitchen. Ideally she never goes in there. She likes shoes and handbags. And she helps in the workshop when I need it. Perfect. She can lift her end of a 140kg beam. makes a bit of a fuss but she does it 8)