Flat pack kitchen cabinets

Wickes sell flat pack furniture but I do not know if they have a minimum value for delivery as we took delivery of our whole kitchen as I had a big enough garage to store it until required.

Richard

Thanks. Wickes used to be part of the Travis Perkins empire until recently, I wonder if they use the same units?

I came across:

Theo

Wickes flat pack kitchen units are utter junk, and not particularly cheap. I've fitted 4 of their units recently, they are rubbish. Wobbly when assembled, lots of holes on display when finished, the chipboard flakes away when screwed, difficult to get square, and, worst of all, the measurements are wrong. The 1000 base unit we got was actaully

You also have to consider if the manufacturer have a policy of changing the range every year and or they are just a re-seller of a third party supplier and they keep their margins by changing suppliers occasionally. Although the sizes of cabinets may be standard the fixing holes etc. may not be (as mentioned in another thread).

Doors for kitchen cabinets may be a area of fashion that changes more rapidly so depending the overall period of your DIY it may be advisable to at least get all the doors and drawer fronts in one go, if going flat pack.

You may find it very difficult to remove and refit individual items without removing worktops. The original carcasses may be secured into a wall with brackets, then the backboard of the carcass slid in before the worktop was installed. There may even be sealant between the top of carcasses and the worktop, primarily acting to stop liquid ingress to chipboard but also acting as a glue.

In reviews you have read, are the bad points about the quality of the materials or about the poor quality of the workmanship carried out by the "professional" fitters?

Again, depending on the length of time you intend to do the work, if you get all the items in one hit I would recommend checking all for damage or manufacturing defects on delivery rather than waiting many months before discovering them on the day of fitting.

That's true. Having to go back and reorder things is awkward - especially trying to match existing ones that are long out of production. Somebody like Ikea does seem to maintain a good supply of parts, although I don't know how much they change their ranges (they aren't great for having consistent ranges of smaller items like tableware which tends to change a lot from year to year)

I'd likely want to buy all the fronts in one hit anyway, in case there are subtle colour differences or whatever. More likely to order the carcasses as and when needed and then install the doors in one go at the end.

Good point. I haven't looked at the current setup to see how it's attached. I'm assuming it would mean removing the whole row of cabinets in one session. But eg with the Ikea system I think you can temporarily hang units without screwing them to each other (although not sure how much weight they will take in that state), so you can get back to something workable if you don't mind rigging up a temporary worktop.

Often it's the buying process - 'trade' suppliers doing 'the price is whatever your fitter wants it to be' and refusing to talk to consumers, and DIY Kitchens having a reputation for poor delivery planning, delivery damage and difficult to contact customer service.

That's why I'm querying about the quality of the product because that's all that matters a few years down the track.

Agreed. The advantage of buying piecemeal is you don't have big piles of boxes lying around unopened for months.

Cheers, Theo

Although IKEA do the continuous rail system many suppliers have a system of hangers you attach to the wall the cupboards have mechanisms that have hooks to go over the hanger and the ability to adjust the cupboard position and to level it out. Although these systems are essentially for adjustment they do enable you to remove the cupboard as required.

Years ago when I did my kitchens I bought cheap flatpack units and expensive doors and tops Ultimately you may need to chew out units to make way for e.g. pipes or electrics

I am fairly sure there are places selling 'industrial' or 'trade' kitchen units around still Certainly

I just screwed mine to the wall. Its tiled undernbeath mostly and I masked the sides and top and painted in place. cant be faffed with removing them!

I haven't got much to say to Theo's request (sorry!), but on a slightly related note...

Our kitchen is in fairly dire need of a refurb, but I/we are loth to fully gut it. One thought I have had it to keep the unit carcasses and get new doors & drawers fitted. There are a few places which offer this kind of approach - any thoughts?

Thanks J^n

I don't myself think there's any great benefit to rigid pre-assembled units, despite the marketing claims, all of them are chipboard with a hefty mark-up. If you need to adapt and cut standard units it's actually easier to do it when in pieces than after assembly. There is a benefit in getting the best hardware - the properly engineered swiss made hinges and drawer runners which won't be standard on any low budget units.

B&Q are not appalling for off the shelf flatpack.

I was in the trade for many years.

TW

I did wonder about gluing flatpacks... But I've found the cam lock systems pretty good at keeping things together and square - perhaps better than dowels.

How do you rate Ikea? They use Blum hardware, who are Austrian I think?

Theo

I have never actually handled any ikea units, but blum is the proper stuff. TW