Cost of kitchen carcasses !!

I've just been helping a friend by reviewing a quote from B&Q, here are a few examples:

800 corner base carcass £92 (£174 with door and hinges) 500 base carcass £76 (£144 with door and hinges) 400 wall carcass £82 base side cladding panel £76 500 3 drawer unit £384

These seem ridiculous prices for a few bits of melamine coated MDF. Where's a good place to buy good quality carcasses at a sensible price, or 18mm coated MDF sheets?

The labour costs are "interesting" too: Gas certification (for a hob installation!) £129 Elec certification (for moving a couple of sockets!) £129 Constructing and hanging a few cupboards £1164 Installing a hob £157 Installing an oven £202 Installing a cooker hood £135 Installing up to 1 metre of protective bonding £143 Installing an RCD to an existing circuit £207 Move a radiator £207

It beats me why people pay these ridiculous costs.

One final irritation: the gas section says "it is a legal requirement to use a Gas Safe registered engineer to carry out gas work in your house" !!!

Reply to
Biggles
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Shop around, thats what I do.

Reply to
Bob H

Because they can't DIY....

Which is near enough the truth with a little ambiguity...

Reply to
John Rumm

I was looking at prices on some Wickes stuff a while back:

Seemed notably cheaper than those quoted above...

IIRC a 600mm drawer base unit with real oak drawer fronts was about £76 last time I looked. The side cladding panels about £17 for a pair.

Reply to
John Rumm

That's why people DIY it.

Reply to
harryagain

They look like their inexplicably expensive deluxe range. Even the B&Q bloke told me not to bother, and get the basic version. They were just about the cheapest overall, and no complaints about quality, except the laminate is rather thin and chip prone.

I got the doors separately from ebay. Plenty of rich people changing doors.

Reply to
RJH

That's interesting; all I've got is the quote pack but she did say that these carcasses were thicker and "looked better than the others" so maybe they are the more expensive option. I've got the ability to make the carcasses but don't know where to get good quality melamine-coated MDF from - any suggestions? I could make the doors as well but don't think I could get a good-enough finish so will probably plan to buy those.

Reply to
Biggles

I couldn't have bought the wood (chipboard I'd expect, though) for the prices I paid. I reckon there's an element of loss leading/cost pricing, and they make their money on the doors.

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It's the 'it' range - recommended by a kitchen fitter mate. In fact it was his 2nd recommendation - Ikea first. BQ have certainly been handy, though, for the inevitable things I'd forgotten.

I bought 18 solid oak doors on ebay in very good condition for £50. Took a couple of months to get the combination of type/number/size/distance I was after, but a saved ebay search got there in the end.

Reply to
RJH

It has been a while since I rebuilt a kitchen, but builders' merchants always used to be the best place to buy carcases.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
Nightjar

Melamine coated mdf cost a bomb last time I looked, and that was some specialised supplier with a hefty minimum order. I fear you'd end up buying the carcasses too :-)

Reply to
stuart noble

Have a look at the Wickes 'in stock' range.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

No idea, but if you know a good place to buy melamine coated chipboard that can deliver, where the sheets are not all marked and the edges knocked rag ged and the price is reasonable, please do mention it. I have a fitted ward robe I need to fit out inside.

Philip

Reply to
philipuk

I've bought carcasses and doors from

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At least for large units, they were quite a bit cheaper than the sheds. And you can get them in custom sizes at no extra cost.

Matt

Reply to
matt

Depends where you are in the country.

West of London look for Kitchen George.

Anywhere else look for Howdens.

They keep all their stock locally so if there is a problem or something missing you can get it same/next day.

The sheds tend to have an 8 week lead time on orders and another 8 weeks on anything wrong/damaged/missing.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David.WE.Roberts

Are you after free precision cut to your spec Eggerboard & similar stuff?

I have used

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click on view boards. You choose the board(s) and enter your dimensions for cutting. The optional edging is NOT thin veneer, it is thick commercial stuff.

The online website is actually under a commercial shop fitting company. So I suspect utilising their cutting gear & driving own materials cost.

I recall their website expects LENGTH > WIDTH, or you may get the wrong sid e edged. Have used them twice, the material is very high quality - it is co mmercial Eggerboard and some other, not knockoff rubbish.

If you want samples, go to the manufacturers website (Eggerboar or whoever) , register, select and A4 sized samples will arrive quickly thro the post. Do not order them from WoodByPost as it is just adding another layer and I suspect they are quite busy (do not expect 10min email response).

There is a minimum size, which makes small battens seemingly impossible to order, in which case you jumble the sizes up and send an email to say "spli t in two" or such like. I doubt very much anyone will need such a small siz e though.

Brilliant for someone custom-designing things though. Packaging is with all corners plastic-moulding protected so you do not get a bashed end result.

Reply to
js.b1

Last time I looked (some time ago) B&Q carcases were cheaper than Wickes, but I made my own doors. You just need to shop around.

Reply to
newshound

Nearly half the time B&Q have a sale (up to 50% off). Nearly the other half of the time they have their "summer prices". The other remaining small per iod of time they are full price. I suppose someone might buy them then. We had a design done by B&Q and the designer reminded us the sale was on it s way ! We payed around "half" price. Of course, that is the "real" price ! Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

ide edged. Have used them twice, the material is very high quality - it is commercial Eggerboard and some other, not knockoff rubbish.

r), register, select and A4 sized samples will arrive quickly thro the post . Do not order them from WoodByPost as it is just adding another layer and I suspect they are quite busy (do not expect 10min email response).

o order, in which case you jumble the sizes up and send an email to say "sp lit in two" or such like. I doubt very much anyone will need such a small s ize though.

ll corners plastic-moulding protected so you do not get a bashed end result .

A few years ago a friend bought a kitchen from a shed. She was cunning thou gh. I cant remember which company she used but she went to the first shop, had the kitchen designed and got a quote. Went to the next store, same chai n with the design and got a better quote. She settled for the quote from th e third store she saved over a grand.

Reply to
misterroy

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