Kitchens

[Harbo]

I am under pressure to have a new kitchen!

Any recommendations for reasonable makes or ones to avoid?
"Which" customers give Ikea top marks - cannot quite believe it myself?

Rod

 

[marcros]

I have just opened a howdens account, on the basis that I need some flooring for home. The kitchens in their showroom looked good- not sure proce wise, but I have heard that they are very competitive. They aren't flat pack either which should save a fair bit of time.

 

[paulm]

Are you not making it yourself Rod ?

Good excuse for some more toys !

Cheers, Paul

 

[Boatfixer]

Our present Ikea kitchen is 14 years old and I can't see any reason for changing it. The units are very solid and the price was reasonable. The only slight thing with fitting them is they don't have a space behind the units for pipe runs (or at least didn't 14 years ago!) so plumbing etc. has to be either run through them or at plinth level. The drawers have stood up well to a lot of abuse and still run nicely. I would consider buying them again if I had to do another kitchen.....

 

[mickthetree]

Ditto, I did mine 4 years ago and the units had no back service area like you get from wicks units etc.

But the units were sturdy and all of the internals were Blum.

I've heard their worktops are spendy but we sourced solid oak ones elsewhere for a good price.

 

[Max Power]

I,d be amazed if there wasn't a local manufacturer nearby that could at least match if not better the prices of the sheds and ought to be able to significantly improve on their quality
Howdens is pretty much the Phoenix that rose from the Ashes of MFI and as said Ikea don't even bother with a service void and are mediocre at best (are they still supplied flatpack?)
Contact a local fitter and they should point you in the right direction ( it certainly won't be either of those)

 

[Graham Orm]

I use Howdens regularly. Free design service, rigid kitchens, quality kit, excellent service. Most of the time anyway. They say they only deal with trade.....I've heard otherwise.

 

[No skills]

Last one I fitted was a Benchmarx, ready assembled - better than a B&Q but not fantastic, found it quite annoying when the pan draw unit wasn't drilled correctly for the runners they supplied.

 

[chippy1970]

I did three benchmarx kitchens for a house builder , never again they are absolute rubbish. The solid wood doors all fell apart and split within one month of fitting.

 

[No skills]

Wow thats bad. Gloss mdf on that one I did. Between my visits the owner decided to fit the plinths himself. Instead of scribing/cutting to suit he just wound up the front legs and forced them under the units. Later he complained that the doors all seemed to have moved since I first fitted them...

 

[Lons]

I use Howdens regularly and it's beneficial for me to be able to send in customers trusting that they will be given advice, a computer drawing and not be given my prices. I do usually change the designs however as the Howdens salesmen "do" lateral thinking :lol:

I also use a local company for carcases if I don't have time to build myself and I buy Vinyl wrap doors from Browns 2000. This beats Howden hands down and again if no time to make hardwood doors if required there are a number of suppliers all too happy to sell std sizes.
The beauty of vinyl wrap however is that just about any size / shape can be made to measure so the kitchen can be as unique as making by hand.

A lot of satisfaction to be gained by making it all yourself though!

Bob

 

[Graham Orm]

I use Howdens regularly and it's beneficial for me to be able to send in customers trusting that they will be given advice, a computer drawing and not be given my prices. I do usually change the designs however as the Howdens salesmen "do" lateral thinking :lol:

I also use a local company for carcases if I don't have time to build myself and I buy Vinyl wrap doors from Browns 2000. This beats Howden hands down and again if no time to make hardwood doors if required there are a number of suppliers all too happy to sell std sizes.
The beauty of vinyl wrap however is that just about any size / shape can be made to measure so the kitchen can be as unique as making by hand.

A lot of satisfaction to be gained by making it all yourself though!

Bob

Bob I buy from Howdens regularly, do you just use them to design & then go elsewhere?

 

[Max Power]

If Howdens were a car they would be a Vauxhall Corsa
They will perform the basic function required of them, but there are many better options
Try http://www.diy-kitchens.com which is the public arm of a nationwide trade supplier.
I haven't used them myself but have had a factory tour of the trade facility and they were decent quality, WAY better than Howdens, think more along the lines of a BMW 3 series

 

[MrYorke]

I can't stand Howdens these days. They ALWAYS have bits missing and take ages to deliver replacements. I never use them any more.

I've also had 3 customers get in contact after they bought their kitchens from Howdens.....none were trade. I'd say they are feeling the pinch and starting to take anything.

The whole discount thing is crap. I used to get a quote from 1 store, go to another and they always beat it. Yes the cabinets are all put together but not any better than building flat pack.

Ikea, well the service gap at the back not being there is a pain unless you have really straight walls and pipework/cables running very low over floor level. They bang on about guarantees for their units/doors etc but let's face it, they all should stay intact for years.

Shop around. Walk into showrooms with a pile of brochures to show your serious. Go back and back again to hammer down the prices and get the different designers in as each have slightly different ideas on the lay-out etc.

If they tell you that their discount deal is only on for 14 days or whatever, just tell them that if you want your money, you'll extend the time that's available while youake a decision

........or, make one yourself if you have the tools!

 

[Graham Orm]

I can't stand Howdens these days. They ALWAYS have bits missing and take ages to deliver replacements. I never use them any more.

I have to say they are right on the ball when something is missing (which it often is), and I've never had to stop a job to wait for something, a phone call get's it delivered within 24 hrs. Just a matter of taking time to check through the order on delivery day. Probably differs greatly from branch to branch. My only issue is with one individual who has double charged me twice for bits and then I have to hold back payment before they will issue a credit note, regardless of how many phone calls I make. But things like that will always happen when dealing with a big company.

I understand what you say about shopping around, but there's a lot to be said for continuity when fitting one after another and a relationship with the people at the branch, which is possibly why I have no issues with service.
From a personal perspective it's simpler for me to send the Howden's rep to measure and give me a price, which I then 'adjust' and give to the customer.
I had a partner a long time ago who insisted on buying everything separately from different suppliers, it caused nightmares and the savings were outweighed greatly by the time spent going back to jobs when the missing bits finally turned up. Not to mention the damage it did to our reputation. I find I have total control over the job using Howdens, plus I'm used to all the idiosyncrasies of their kit.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If Howdens were a car they would be a Vauxhall Corsa
They will perform the basic function required of them, but there are many better options
Try http://www.diy-kitchens.com which is the public arm of a nationwide trade supplier.
I haven't used them myself but have had a factory tour of the trade facility and they were decent quality, WAY better than Howdens, think more along the lines of a BMW 3 series

:shock: This one's worth watching for the factory tour. Unreal!

 

[Peter Sefton]

I have fitted Ikea, Howdens and Magnet kitchens and feel Magnet are the best of those three for quality but they do require extra screws fitting the Blum runners to the carcass when hanging heavy plate drawers or bin units!

 

[davin]

Stay away from b and q at all costs..

 

[chippy1970]

I know what you mean about the discount thing with Howdens.. Its all bull, I went in to get some gear this week and for a change looked in magnet for a quote first. Magnet was around £150 and Howdens came in at £340 . I mentioned the magnet quote and they beat it, why not do that in the first place. It was only a few doors and locks so well over priced

 

[RogerS]

The thing with all the kitchen box boys is that they make their markup on the end panels and doors. Designing to keep these to a minimum saves ££££££.

If you go for a plinth then it's always worth buying some spare because if you are unfortunate enough to have a water leak and the plinths swell up...sod's law will guarantee that the colour way of your plinth is no longer available. Cost of spare plinths is cheaper than a new kitchen!