[Closed] New Kitchen advice needed

I would suggest you find an independent fitter that has a sparky and plumber contacts. Im in the middle of taking a wall down and having a new kitchen fitted. Some of the quotes are mental.
So i have decided to copy the design and buy it from diy kitchens and save £2000!
Get a few of the well known companies in to design it and quote then pick the design u like and send it to diy kitchens to price££

Wot he said.

I was about to write a long spiel but then realised that Robbie did what we did. We got loads of quotes from shops which could do the lot ranging from local companies through to Wren, B&Q etc. Somehow we managed to secure some plans from one of them. One company quoted us an astronomical figure for the kitchen we really wanted and fitting but we realised that we could get the same kitchen from Online Kichens UK for literally thousands less and then get someone decent to fit it for about half what the original company wanted. If the fitter knows what they’re doing, they’lll have their own preferred plasterers, sparkies etc. Spend some time getting the independent fitters in to quote for the work and importantly ask what problems they can foresee - it’ll give you an idea of the complexity of the job, plus a good idea of their competence or if they’re just bullshitting you. And if they’re available immediately then it’s a sign they’re not in demand! All the best tradies I’ve employed, I’ve had to wait for and book in advance.

Edit: I still wrote a spiel!

Some of the quotes are mental.
So i have decided to copy the design and buy it from diy kitchens and save £2000!

Get a few of the well known companies in to design it and quote then pick the design u like and send it to diy kitchens to price££

 We got loads of quotes from shops which could do the lot ranging from local companies through to Wren, B&Q etc. Somehow we managed to secure some plans from one of them.

One company quoted us an astronomical figure for the kitchen we really wanted and fitting but we realised that we could get the same kitchen from Online Kichens UK for literally thousands less and then get someone decent to fit it for about half what the original company wanted

Hmmmm. So getting companies to design, quote and provide designs in good faith, then going to another company online with the 'borrowed' design and getting all the bits for cheap after the legwork has been provided for free?

Yeah, cool 👍

I wonder why the design companies charge so much more... 🤔

I designed my own with DIY Kitchens. can't knock the quality but you'll spend a fair bit of time learning what you've got to include and even then you'll miss a load of end panels and filler material! Luckily the lead time for single panels and flat pack bits is 7-10 working days, not the original 4+ weeks.

A decent local fitter will help you design it. Get a quote from other outlets too - you are not going to spend that much and not speak to a few companies.

We found a great local guy, went with a Howdens kitchen (they come ready constructed), had to haggle like mad with them.The whole room was stripped bak, walls, ceiling down etc.

This was three years ago and it still look like new.

I was not impressed with many of the well known outlets incl Wren, but went in with an open mind.

We have just done our kitchen. I used the IKEA kitchen planner tool and modified our current kitchen design with a few tweaks. Compared prices between DIY kitchens and IKEA and it wasn't much different. Went with IKEA and got a family member to fit kitchen but arranged builder for plastering and some modifications, electrician for wiring and plumber separately. It was tough getting it all to go smoothly and fitting an IKEA kitchen is a nightmare if you live in a property which is slightly out of shape but it's done and looks good.

I'd probably go down the route of getting a recommendation for a local fitter and speak to them in the first instance with an idea of the style you want.

if You buy a supply only kitchen from a decent kitchen company they will probably tell you that if the kitchen isn’t by thier fitters you waver the guarantee. Regarding electricians etc, once you have the plans call an electrician to set out the electrics and the plumber to set out plumbing and make sure to get a price for final connection.
Make sure to get certificates of work for electrical and gas so you know
they are qualified to carry out works.

We completely revamped our kitchen at the start of last year: walls knocked through, totally replastered, new ceiling, new floor, relocated sink, the job lot. Quote from Wren was in the region of £14k, granted that involved using their fitters and buying appliances from them. I ended up buying from DIY Kitchens on the many recommendations from here and doing it all myself, apart from the electrics and routing the worktops. Granted I had time to do it and you maybe don't, but all-in that brought the total spend down to ~£4k. The quality from DIY Kitchens is easily on par with the Wren stuff we originally looked at.

I'd go down the local Travis Perkins or whatever builders merchant is nearby and ask behind the counter if they can recommend a joiner and take it from there. A joiner should be able to work with whatever kitchen is supplied so don't worry about that.

You need to find a decent independent fitter and then go with there recommendations in suppliers.

If you go through a big shed company like Wickes, b and q etc you will pay a massive premium for them then to sub it all out to individuals fitters.
I'm a kitchen fitter based in Hertfordshire, message me if you would like more info and advice if who I use.

Just as a warning my sister went to Wickes and got s grest deal on a kitchen in one of their sales and they did the fitting via a subbed fitter. It turned into a total joke with thousands being put on the quite and took nearly 2 months to complete and numerous complaints made to Wickes during this time. She ended up getting a refund if all the fitting and got the kitchen at a cheap rate in the end but avoid them.
Also 4 years on and the untis are already looking pretty crappy.

Independent fitter all the way. Although, I fitted the cabinets myself as it's pretty easy and then just paid someone to cut the worktop, worth considering if you're semi-proficient with a screwdriver and spirit level.

Another vote for DIY Kitchens. In our last place we had design work done by Howdens, who bought a working drawing round for the sales pitch. We memorised their ideas and bought from DIYK.

Current place was simple as there weren't many clever ideas to incorporate owing to the layout - again bought from DIYK and self installed.

We measured up ourselves, and got Ikea to design it. Got the gear from Ikea and had a mountain biking mate who is a builder fit it, he organised the sparks & plumber.

We were really pleased with the units & worktops, the design was pretty original too. The Ikea appliances were a bit crap though & they have been back a few times under the 5yr guarantee they offer (they are good at honouring the guarantee).

jim25 - do you cover Cheshunt?

Hmmmm. So getting companies to design, quote and provide designs in good faith, then going to another company online with the ‘borrowed’ design and getting all the bits for cheap after the legwork has been provided for free?

Yeah, cool 👍

I wonder why the design companies charge so much more… 🤔

I guess if you're upfront about it, no problem? We're getting a bathroom and we're using a design service from one of the suppliers, but happy to pay them their fee for the design, which is refundable if we use them to supply and fit. Is that not how kitchens work?

The place I fit for, charge a design fee and refund if purchased too, but you won’t get any technical drawings etc to tout round until you’ve paid a deposit.

Ikea kitchens are decent & they will help you design it. Many years ago I used a Magnet & they were expensive & rubbish. A good local fitter if you can’t do it yourself, is the way to go.

Hmmmm. So getting companies to design, quote and provide designs in good faith, then going to another company online with the ‘borrowed’ design and getting all the bits for cheap after the legwork has been provided for free?

Yeah, cool 👍

I wonder why the design companies charge so much more… 🤔

I'd say that's a fair reaction but yeah, actually in this instance it was ok imho: the plans came from the company who quoted £24k for the kitchen all in, and it was their choice to give us the plans for us to do with as we wished with no obligation. We did not ask for them, nor were we charged for them; they just left them with us. We then used their suggested layout to guide the designer from Kitchens Online who provided his own version of the plans in his own format which we paid for.

Do I feel guilty for using another company's plans? Not even slightly, they said the plans were ours free of charge. Was I annoyed that they tried to charge us about £10,000 more than I actually managed to get the kitchen made, delivered and installed for using all local tradies? Yes. If they wanted my business they should have charged a more realistic price and not been so dismissive when I pointed out that their prices were astronomical in comparison to competitors. I'm happy to support local business but I'm not flush enough to give away £10,000 if I don't have to.

Fitted my first DIY kitchen for a customer before Christmas, must say I was quite impressed with the quality and the fact that you can order bespoke sized panels at a very reasonable cost. The units come in 50mm integers so there are no space wasting infills; compare that to IKEA's 200mm integers!

I fitted an IKEA kitchen myself last year, it's pretty easy. Got a sparky in to do the wiring, plumber to put a line in for the fancy fridge, everything else was me.

We paid $100 or so to spend an hour with one of their consultants to design the kitchen, which I felt was excellent value. He was able to recommend a few tweaks based on feedback from customers who'd had kitchens fitted, and had good ideas for making best use of the space and so on.

The cabinets can be assembled in about 5 - 10 minutes each once you've done a couple. You bolt a rail to the wall and all the cabinets hang of it, like a French cleat system.

The only bit that really stressed me out was cutting the benchtops. They were solid wood and would've been pretty hard to replace if I'd cocked it up without getting a whole new set of tops (we got some of the last solid wood ones before they went to veneer-only. And there's no IKEA in the country we live in, had to import everything).

Turns out that even that bit wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Bought a router jig off eBay for the dog-bone cuts underneath (which are hidden anyway so more room for error) and a track saw to get straight cuts for the joins and the holes for the sink and hob (good excuse for a new tool 🙂 )

Definitely with considering, if you're reasonably competent with a few basic powertools.

I fitted an IKEA kitchen in 2015. It's easy if your room is square. Mine wasn't. I wouldn't recommend one on the fact that we've had loads of issues:

Kitchen tap with 10 year guarantee was replaced last week as it started leaking from somewhere in its internals.

Washing machine with 5 year guarantee has shed some of its concrete weight and also does what it wants in terms of its program module. Currently claiming.

Oven with 5 year guarantee shat its control module. Replaced.

6 cupboard doors disintergrated with their 25 year guarantee. Just had new ones delivered, they literally delaminated.

Integrated fridge door has been back 3 times. Warps. Seems 120cm long is outside the manufacturing tolerances. The fridge door itself is straight but the cover panel warps.

Just keep the receipt of you go down that road.

jim25 – do you cover Cheshunt?

Yes, I'm fairly close by.

For those of you having DIY Kitchens, did you or the fitter do the ordering?

Lots of options and looks quite faffy / chances of getting wrong stuff / not enough stuff

Do units come ready built too?

I ordered it all myself. Just measure it all up, follow their advice guides & videos on measuring, planning, how much space to leave on corner units, etc. and you'll not go wrong. The units are pre-built, you just need to clip the doors on. It's easy to find you've forgotten something, but once you've ordered you get a sales reference that you can then add more stuff to: I needed another base unit and pelmets for the wall units, took about a week to be delivered.

Thanks for all the great advice above. We went with Jim25 in the end who did a fantastic job and we are very pleased with our new kitchen.

If you need any interior building work done then get in touch with him.