Hi,
Anyone have any recent experience with installing Wickes kitchen units, and any comments on their quality? I'm looking getting their plain gloss white units, and they seem to be reasonable value for money.
Is there any significant difference in the quality of the fibreboard/chipboard used by different kitchen manufacturers (Wickes, MFI, Ikea, B&Q, Magnet etc)?
Thanks, David.
The quality good. Not cheap and nasty.
I have just today taken delivery of a roomful, having been persuaded by Which? magazine that their quality is good. I have only assembled one so far but it seems indeed good; nice and solid with a proper back (not nasty thin hardboard). Fairly decent customer service throughout too. I recall that Which? also thought Ikea does good quality units but their customer service stinks and I just couldn't stand the thought of having to deal with them.
BTW today's Bank Holiday weekend Sunday delivery was their idea not mine and incurred no extra cost.
According to my mate who fits kitchens for a living, Ikea are the only one of the mainstream suppliers whose units do not allow space at the back of the base units for running services. His advice therefore is that, unless your water, electric, gas etc services come out of the wall exactly where they are meant to be used, avoid Ikea.
A friend of mine is a bit of a perfectionist - first used Wickes 20+ years ago and he has just installed about his 6th kitchen (house moves! :-} ) with them - he rates them highly. We installed Wickes
20years ago - recently spray painted the dooors - Estate Agent put on the house details - newly installed kitchen. We put him right, of course. Yep, Wickes are OK.Hi,
Thanks for the comments. I was asking because a kitchen fitter that recently worked on my brothers house claimed that Wickes were "total crap". He may have been talking about the units that they keep in stock on the shelf though, that people can take away in their car.
I think their "take away" range may be cheaper and lower quality construction than the standard units that you have to order and have delivered. From looking at the show units they look just as good (even slightly more robust) than the MFI and Magnet units I've looked at.
David.
David,
Whichever units you choose ( I have 19 year old Wickes ones which are as good as new) Take the time to seal the bottom edges of the chipboard with
50-50 diluted waterproof PVA wood glue and allow to dry before assembly. If you ever get a water leak in the future, this will significantly reduce the water absorbed by the carcases. Without this precaution they will soak up water and swell and have the strength of Weetabix.Regards
Bob
The take-away ones are crap.
But the ordered in ones are very good, but you need to note a few things.
The inners are white. This isn't a problem for lower cabinets but can be quite noticeable for uppers. But they do uppers in the correct laminate for open display and glass fronted units and it is possible to order these for standard door fronted units, provided your assistant knows how to use the computer ordering system properly.
The lower cabiner outer end is usually replaced with a decor end matching the range chosen. This is the wrong thing to do - instead order the worksurface support end and drill holes in the appropriate places (through the white end bit you still get). This way the end piece reaches to the floor rather than using a side plinth which in Wickes' case is almost flush with the side panel and doesn't look so good.
The feet are crap. It is impossible to adjust them one handed unless you screw them to the bottom of the cabinet - which they onely say is necessary for the oven unit. Do it for all of them.
If building a wide wine rack, consider drilling through the middle vertical pieces and using a single one rather than two sandwiched side by side - you need to shorted the threaded bits by 1/4 inch to stop them clashing.
The threaded bits need a bit of 'adjustment' with a hammer to get the top and bottom bits to be flush with the sides if this is important to you. Drilling out the dowel holes helps as well, especially on things with no doors.
Doors are very good.
Buy the higher quality drawer runners - excellent action.
Some of the trim bits are a bugger though. You may need a bit extra to practice mitre-ing pelmet corners for example with as the raised trim bits can break off.
Don't order their electrical accessories - lighting bits are MUCH cheaper at tlc or Screwfix.
Don't order their hobs/hoods/fridges/etc - much cheaper at Biasco.
Don't order their sinks - these are generic either handed ones whereas you can get the correct handed version from your reputable plumbing merchant for slightly cheaper.
Same for taps.
Overall - would I order from them again - Most probably.
The old units that I took out didn't have any separate legs - the sides of the carcasses rested directly on the ground, but all the new units being sold seem to be supported on plastic or metal legs to avoid the problem you mentioned.
I'm putting metal legs on the base units rather than plinths, so water shouldn't cause any problems :-)
David.
They are not great but to be fair they are not the worst...
When we needed to sort out the kitchen in our place on the cheap when we moved in we looked around all of the normal places.
Wickes take away kitchens where one of the best out of that sort of price range. We had no B&Q warehouse near at the time - they seem to have an impressive range of units available off the shelf (dunno about quality).
The Wickes takeaway units were cheap and chearful but certainly seem comparable in quality to the other stuff,
One thing that was annoying (and a sign of how cheap they were I guess) was that they didn't have adjustable legs - the chipboard sides were expected to sit on your perfectly dry, flat floor.
We ended up with a completely new kitchen for 800 quid including sink+taps, hob and fan oven. 5 years on and it is still fine.
My sister has recently had a real Wickes kitchen (ie, non off-the-shelf) fitted and is very happy with it.
Darren
Hmm ? We actually bought one of these to tide us over until the constructional work in the kitchen area was done and the read kitchen delivered from Wickes. It did it's job well but after six months of admitted abuse, neither door fits and there is some decay at the base where the chipboard gets wet.
B&Q take away ones are better but I'd still recommend the Wickes ordered ones over these.
Hmm.
Maybe they are not the same as they were then - yes. if the chipboard gets wet then it will fall apart but other than that 5 years on the whole lot is still fine.
Indeed.
Darren
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