Hi, Has anyone here worked with IKEA to do there kitchen renovations? I just want to know how they work and how are the appliances, and all (cabinets, counter tops, etc...) I'm thinking of going to them to do my kitchen reno.
Thanks.
I just got through doing an Ikea kitchen (I am a general contractor). The clients picked out the cabs and brought them to the jobsite for installation by me. Here is my opinion;
The cabinets are inexpensive (read that as cheap) and the instructions border on insanity. I have put together at least
200 kitchens and by far these were the hardest to work with. Assembly of everything is required, the plans that came with them didn't indicate much of anything as to where things went, how to install, etc.Where I could go and get a set of cabinets from my regular supplier and install them in less than a day, these took about
3 days to assemble and install, partly due to the strange method of installation that they use, and the lack of coherent instructions.Summation: If you don't have much money, don't really care much about quality and are willing to spend the time it takes to put them together, then these are the cabinets for you. I will not do another set of these.
Be prepared to make several mistakes when installing them. On the up side, they send about twice as much material as you need for everything. This is probably so that when you follow their directions (which have no words at all, just diagrams with arrows, etc.) you will be able to make several errors and still have enough material to complete the job.
We did Ikea cabinets a year ago. For what it is worth, consumer reports rated them fairly highly compared to other basic cabinets. I like their design, Sears quoted us over 20k for similar quality cabinets, and I hated the look of their cabinets (what can I say I have euro taste, and expensive tastes too but can't afford them). We also looked at home despot cabinets, and a few local places but I also didn't really like way they looked and they were way more expensive too. We had to do something our kitchen was hideous (and I do mean hideous) original 1959 kitchen cabinets, that had been beat up as a rental house for years.
We did the kitchen plan, the demo (put a listing on Craigslist -free cabinets- you help demo and you have to take them all and they were gone in a day), the drywalling, etc, had their installer do the cabinets, had another guy do the counter top.
I'm not sure where you are located, but the guy who did our install showed up when he said he would, put all the cabinets in in 2.5 days (and our house drove him crazy, because nothing it in it was plumb or level) and did an awesome job of the finish details. They did a plywood rough top for the granite installers. They even built a custom cabinet for the 33" fridge. It looks great.
The cabinets were ~3.5k (including a cool telescoping stainess range hood), the installation was 2k. I'm sure we could have done it ourselves, but we wanted to be done quickly or I was going to go out of my mind.
Our complete remodel took 3.5 weeks from start to finish and cost 13K (US$) including appliances (stainess fridge and stove, we already had the dishwasher), slab granite and SS undermount sink. email me if you'd like to see pictures. The cabinets have some nice features like a pantry with pullout shelves, and drawers that close themselves the last little bit. everyone that has seen it is shocked that it is Ikea.
I'd check references for the installer, and be really careful about your kitchen design.
They will deliver everything on a pallet. have it delivered early. BE SURE YOU CHECK TO SEE THAT YOU HAVE EVERYTHING. it is a huge PITA, but if you are missing something key (like a corner base cabinet) you'll be screwed if its backordered, or shipping takes a while.
Good luck.
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