I need to fit a new kitchen to a property we rent out to tenants.
Nothing too fancy, but something that may last. I know, mutually exclusive requirements!
It's a straightforward layout - sink/window on one side, cooker/cupboards on the other. No 90 degree corner joints in worktop.
Wickes looked good, but long story, not now available, but I have their plan images with dimensions, so can go anywhere.
Any suggestions? B&Q, Homebase? Others? Howdens look too expensive...
Thanks.
Jan
e requirements!
on the other. No 90 degree corner joints in worktop.
lan images with dimensions, so can go anywhere.
PS: Wickes have a similar range to the one we were contemplating (the Mephi s suddenly discontinued) so if Wickes are considered a good buy, all is not lost. We can assemble fit ourselves, but when the current tenet moves out at end of April we need something ready, and not waiting months for deliver y. Any experience appreciated. Thanks.
(delivered flat pack, Premium range can be delivered assembled at extra charge)
(rigid assembled glue and dowel)
Owain
I always regard B&Q as the devil I know
The kitchen here is B&Q. Fitted in 2007-8, the house was mostly empty from 2008 until 2013, so it's really only had about two-three years use.
Frankly, it's shit. Doors are sagging left, right and centre. Drawers are reluctant to shut properly.
I cannot wait until it reaches the top of the priority list. It's not far away.
If I was going for an off-the-shelf cheap kitchen, I'd be straight to IKEA.
On 28 Mar 2015, Janet Winslow grunted:
I would definitely recommend Howden's, but as you've found. the published prices are massively expensive. Howden's are trade-only and nobody, but nobody, pays those. Their sole purpose of the published list is for tradesmen to show their punters, to justify charging them massively marked- up prices. There is no 'real' price list; the actual prices paid are subject to individual negotiation with between the company and (trade) customer. So, the trick is to blag a trade account; or persuade a friendly account-holder to buy at cost for you.
I had a trade account some years ago and I'm sure I got at least 50% off everything. (In fact, the info in this post is based on that experience, so could conceivably be out of date)
+1 diy-kitchens - from one happy customer Paul R
I'm surprised. My experience of B & Q diy off the shelf kitchens has been very good. Very robust shelves. I used them to fit out the garage some years ago without life problems and the quality was better than the Wickes product I used in the workshop. I can't speak for the made to order B & Q products. I find Ikea a pain to shop at, and there isn't a local one.
The Wickes take away kitchens are OK. All the same apart from the door/drawer fronts.
B&Q have always had two ranges - now I think the cheap is called "IT" and t he better Cooke and Lewis. We looked a the Howdens catalogue and know someone who could get it for us at cost price, but we did not like the designs that much. There was *one* B&Q design we really liked. We got a mostly Ash kitchen (th e big end panels are vaneered MDF), and it is very solid - should last many years based on the 2 years so far. Base units are standard flatpack plasti c coated chipboard, but the backs are a decent thickness. I have beefed up a few areas with timber and even if the chipboard eventually crumbles at th e bottom, the screwed on end panels will keep it standing. And it was a "ha lf price" sale (actually the real prices) plus bank holiday 15%. We need to get a couple of extra bits now, but we are waiting for another sale. At th e moment the sales seem less frequent than they were a few years ago. Simon.
I have the cheaper B+Q units - solid enough, but the foil/laminate does seem to be a little thin. Not chipped - yet.
For reasons probably associated with my sruffiness, the B+Q design fella advised the cheaper range on a quality/price basis.
I asked a trade person to do the pricing for me - worked out at half the catalogue price, but twice B+Q.
*Well* over half the price was the doors. So got some from ebay - set of solid oak, £50. They seem to be a standard fit, so doors, facia panels and drawer fronts slot straight in.Adrian wrote in news:mf64dn$8vf$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:
Surely sagging doors are a hinge problem and no reason to damn the whole range. Possiblu user abuse?
In message , DerbyBorn writes
Yes. Domestic persons using the open door as a stabiliser/lever to return to a standing position.
Why do they have this unshakeable belief that a new kitchen will allow them to hide all the stuff they could not fit into the existing one?
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. In the end we went for diy-kitchens. A bit more expensive than the Wickes one (that had been discontinued between us selecting it and trying to pay!), but comes assembled and by all accounts better quality.
The guy there "Steve" worked out a suitable selection of carcases from the Wickes images and dimensions. After a few tweaks I ordered it. All being well it will arrive in about four weeks and everything will be ok...
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