Kitchens..... Schreiber and Homebase....

The Tewkesbury is all solid oak front. Your IKEA unit is £63 if you want solid oak. A similar (in dimensions) Tewkesbury unit would have cost us £67 in 2011.

They do have a price list, but normally not available to the public, AFAICT. You're supposed to work through your installer, they don't sell direct to the public (well perhaps they might at 4 x the price). But we went in there and asked for one.

Well, I'd certainly pay 10% extra not to have to deal with Ikea! :)

I suspect that at the bottom end Ikea are difficult to beat.

My builder was dead keen on Howden, mainly because they would give him a big box of screws if I purchased the units from them. He was happy to pass on the price discount, but not the screws.

Actually I lied a bit - I forgot that there's VAT to add to the Howden's prices.

I still have and use the double bed I got from IKEA up the road from Geneva in 1980. And it's been to California & back, too.

A few years ago, Ikea calculated that 10% of Europeans are now conceived on a Ikea bed.

I went to try it out in-store, but there was a long queue...

Yes. Make sure there are no obstructions behind a machine location. Put things like the socket and waste trap in the next cupboard.

as the bishop said at my daughter's ordination service "It must have been a pretty big bed."

I've had none of those fail across several Ikea kitches installed.

Door hinges on a Wickes kitchen are now regularly failing at 14 years old - probably 5 failures in last 2 years.

Having ordered B&Q carcases and doors a few years ago, I was expecting oak veneer doors, pleased to find they were solid wood when they arrived.

Yes. Spacing them out is more work but does make accommodating services (especially waste pipes) a lot easier.

What sort of brackets do you use to fix them?

When I've done this, I've put a 100mm corner brace horizontally, fixed to the cabinet side at the top and the wall as a temporary fix. Once the worktop goes in and is fixed to the wall and cabinet nothing can move.

What type of tiles do you use ? Do you use the tiled surface as a preparation surface or always use chopping boards etc. ? Is it hygienic when you get tomato juice, grease etc. on the grout lines ? Tiled worktops seem to be a very American thing in general.

Simon.

Just to note that, I think in mid Feb, IKEA are replacing Faktum kitchens with a new Metod range. Thus there may be bargains associated with end-of-line Faktum (and conversely, problems with continued availability of parts).

Owain

Ikea is saying that the 25 warranty will be honoured on Faktum.

I'm more interested in the comparitive quality of the old and new ranges - is it value engineering by a new name?

For worktops you should use epoxy grout.

I use about 4 x 8 floor/wall tiles or a similar size. Very hard and not shiny. Almost always use a separate plastic preparation surface, which will go in the dishwasher. The grout is very waterproofed so there is no significant penetration of either grease/white spirit/meths/acetone or water etc and is easily cleaned/sterilised. Old Nitromors paint stripper can damage the grout. It is a pig to apply the grout and it needs smoothing after 24/48 hours with something abrasive like a golden fleece, but as it lasts for many years it's worth it. I think the epoxy grouts might be easier to use nowadays, but much more expensive. IME even granite scratches if used for food preparation and can stain easily under some circumstances. However the granite worktops I have seen recently are joined so well that the joint is invisible without a magnifying glass. The protective coatings applied to granite don't like very hot things stood on them. I've never managed to scratch a tile yet. Corian etc are very nice looking, but again suffer from heat,scratching and staining. I've never seen a laminate joint on chipboard which survived standing water. IMO butler sinks should stay as garden ornaments as they always chip and are death to crockery. Just my experience.

This may be a bit late but thought you might like to know my experiences wi th Homebase and Schreiber. No, life is too short to tell you the whole story so here's the summary... Delivery 17th Jan. Fitters started 21st Jan with expected completion on the 25th. It's now the beginning of June and it's not finished! Is this just a few units? Nope... £20,000's worth. So if you haven't decided yet DON'T DO IT!! And if you have ..... Good luck

er.. £20k on cheap kitchen units? did you consider a partition?

Jim K

Thanks for the heads up. we did not go with Homebase and Shreiber in the end .....