OT Kitchens

[Arthur]

Apologies for the massive off topic thread but NSC being the font of all knowledge I thought I'd pose the question here.

Need a new kitchen. Anyone recommend any companies local (I'm in Crowborough) or national from first hand experience?

Had a nightmare getting my bathroom done using local tradesmen so I'm probably favouring towards using a Wicks/Magnet type place as I don't want the hassle. Basically I want everything doing. Old kitchen removed and disposed of, new one installed including appliances, tiled and flooring. Not looking for anything fancy or bespoke just a functional practical kitchen that looks good.

Ta in advance.

 

[Paul Reids Sock]

Mother in law used Wicks last year and it was pretty decent

Good quality for the price and she has no issues. Only problem was the guys doing the install managed to not connect the gas properly meaning British Gas had to make an emergency visit. When the installers turned up the next day they didn't seem too bothered. That was up in Reading though so you probably won't get the same guys!

 

[happypig]

Have a look at Ikea, they do some decent kitchens. Means going to Croydon though

 

[lost in london]

Thinking of doing the same, Howdens keep being mentioned as a good option. And if you've got the money stick a fancier worktop on top.

 

[Superphil]

Wren Kitchens did mine, can't fault it. Got an independent fitter to install, he too was impressed with quality.

 

[Arthur]

Have a look at Ikea, they do some decent kitchens. Means going to Croydon though

Someone else mentioned Ikea to me so I had a look at their site this morning and it was a nightmare as they seem to sell every bit individually. They do have a design service though so I shall give that a thought. Do you know if they do a fitting service as well? As for Croydon......well that would actually probably closer for me than Shoreham (should that one ever get built). I'll make sure I have my jabs first though.

Thinking of doing the same, Howdens keep being mentioned as a good option. And if you've got the money stick a fancier worktop on top.

Hahahaha funnily enough I was a little later going in to work today and ended up having to park in the next street up to the one I normally park. Started walking to the station from my car and noticed a big sign out of the front of the industrial unit at the end of the road saying "We sell flat pack kitchens". It was a Howdens and I had no idea it was there. So I had a peak through the door assuming it would be shut at that time only to see two blokes stood at the trade counter. I must have looked a right berk......more so than normal! Display kitchens looked good though.

 

[happypig]

Someone else mentioned Ikea to me so I had a look at their site this morning and it was a nightmare as they seem to sell every bit individually. They do have a design service though so I shall give that a thought. Do you know if they do a fitting service as well? As for Croydon......well that would actually probably closer for me than Shoreham (should that one ever get built). I'll make sure I have my jabs first though.

I don't think they fit them but I never looked as I fitted mine myself. We went there and used thier planning service, very useful if you got all your measurements right (we did). I cannot remember if we had to book a slot in advance.

 

[brakespear]

OT I know but why do people say 'OT' - surely they've read the board before and realised that only about 20% of the content is on-topic

 

[DavidRyder]

When we got MFI (RIP) to do ours years ago (yes, I should have known better), they sent it all in about 30 boxes for my fitter to sort out. Some things were missing, some duplicated. So after a few phone calls, missing pieces sent and money back, we now have a nice kitchen - and in the cupboard, about 5 spare doors!

 

[Commander]

Howdens are good. Much better than the likes of Wickes or Homebase or someone like that.

 

[Arthur]

I don't think they fit them but I never looked as I fitted mine myself. We went there and used thier planning service, very useful if you got all your measurements right (we did). I cannot remember if we had to book a slot in advance.

Ahhh right well that probably rules them out to be honest. I'm useless at anything DIY related and following the bathroom fiasco I'd rather just get one firm to do the whole lot. Ta though

OT I know but why do people say 'OT' - surely they've read the board before and realised that only about 20% of the content is on-topic

Very true. Should (obviously won't now) stop the comedians on here making some comment like "I opened this thread hoping we'd signed Kitchen Kitchenski from FC Dropabollockov" or similar.

 

[DFL JCL]

We used this lot last year. http://www.diy-kitchens.com/ good product, very good price. But you will need to get a local kitchen installer to fit it, or do it yourself as we did.

 

[DFL JCL]

I found this helpful when looking for a kitchen http://www.diy-kitchens.com/about-diy-kitchens/price-and-quality-comparison/

 

[PoG]

Someone else mentioned Ikea to me so I had a look at their site this morning and it was a nightmare as they seem to sell every bit individually. They do have a design service though so I shall give that a thought. Do you know if they do a fitting service as well? As for Croydon......well that would actually probably closer for me than Shoreham (should that one ever get built). I'll make sure I have my jabs first though.

We used Ikea last year, I designed it myself on their site and it took me a few hours with the few tweaks I made. Went into the store one Saturday morning nice and early, spoke to a member of the kitchen staff. They looked over my plan, filled in a few blanks and offered a few suggestions like a double draw (which is great!). They submitted the order and booked in a delivery date, everything was delivered on date which was great but there were a lot of boxes! Found a local fitter on checkatrade and he built and fitted it all in a few days.

In the end I think we spent £2.5k inc some plastering work, fitting, new laminate flooring which is a bargain considering B&Q/Wickes quoted me up to £5k.

One thing to note with ikea though is the cupboards have no to little recess behind them which is great because more space but can also be a pain for pipe work. Luckily this wasn't an issue for us.

 

[dazzer6666]

My next door neighbour builder did ours about 7 years ago as part of an extension build, said he almost always used Magnet - local availability and very quick to sort out any issues, and decent quality without being stupidly priced. It's still in pretty pristine condition now so it was a good call. Easy to go and look at what they've got with places in Brighton, Crawley and Eastbourne too.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Inherited my kitchen when I moved into my flat 20 years ago. seeing as how I rarely do any cooking in it, it's never been a priority. Basically it's kitchen equivalent of bathroom avocado suite (which I HAVE had replaced). Would appreciate any recommendations for a local firm who can source and fit a kitchen from one of the reasonably priced 'name' kitchen suppliers together with associated white goods. Oh, and a bit of basic tiling to finish it off. Basically take just about everything out the old kitchen and make me a new kitchen. Ideally while I'm out of the country for a month or so. Cheers.

 

[Arthur]

We used Ikea last year, I designed it myself on their site and it took me a few hours with the few tweaks I made. Went into the store one Saturday morning nice and early, spoke to a member of the kitchen staff. They looked over my plan, filled in a few blanks and offered a few suggestions like a double draw (which is great!). They submitted the order and booked in a delivery date, everything was delivered on date which was great but there were a lot of boxes! Found a local fitter on checkatrade and he built and fitted it all in a few days.

In the end I think we spent £2.5k inc some plastering work, fitting, new laminate flooring which is a bargain considering B&Q/Wickes quoted me up to £5k.

One thing to note with ikea though is the cupboards have no to little recess behind them which is great because more space but can also be a pain for pipe work. Luckily this wasn't an issue for us.

£2.5k including fitting That sounds very cheap. I'm guessing that didn't include appliances?

If you don't mind asking how many units was that for?

 

[PoG]

£2.5k including fitting That sounds very cheap. I'm guessing that didn't include appliances?

If you don't mind asking how many units was that for?

It was very cheap and included a new oven and extractor fan. The total for the kitchen was actually around 1.5k I can't remember exactly. I think it was 6 units, sorry we've actually moved house since we did the kitchen! I purposely designed it to optimise the space we had. It included one corner unit for the sink, double sink with taps around 6 metres of worktop. A unit to house the oven, this included a draw underneath the oven. One large base unit, one large hanging unit, one smaller base unit and one smaller hanging unit. The larger base unit also had the draw with the two levels, also we went with the cheaper plinths, soft close doors and added side panels to the units to match the colour of the cupboards.

I've possibly missed some bits out if I remember I'll update.

 

[Triggaaar]

Howdens are good.

You need to get the stuff through someone with an account, at their account price (like 50% off or something).

 

[Lush]

Not sure about Ikea. Great design but had to wait ages for crucial side panels that were out of stock, by which time the fitters had moved on to another job

Heard good things about Wickes only this morning.