Has anybody done this, I have priced up units and Selco and Wickes but both come with white ends and the coloured end panels are quite expensive, so are the plinths, it seems a deliberate policy of making the units look cheap and racking on a load of extras on the other essentials.
The price comes in at around £550 at Selco and £600 at Wickes, has anybody then asked for them to through in stuff like end panels and plinths half price?
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Certainly MFI in their day would do a deal. Always worth asking, nothing to lose...
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Yep it is just a bit hard as both are already a lot cheaper than B&Q even with their so called 25% fake sale. It might be difficult to get Whickes to match Selco on price as Selco is 'trade only' though like Makro most the country can probably get a card.
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Try builders' suppliers....usually cheaper.
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That is what Selco is supposed to be, it is a builders merchant, certainly timber and sheet materials seem to be a lot cheaper than B&Q.
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The devon builder told you what to do, open a cash builders account at Howdens. Get them ready made,
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 20 Jan 14 at 18:02
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>> The devon builder told you what to do, open a cash builders account at Howdens.
>> Get them ready made,
>>
Agree 100%
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The kitchen I'm sitting in now is Howdens...it's fine. Go there and get a deal !
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If my wife can get a discount at Debenhams, I'm damn sure one is available at Wickes.
We bought our kitchen from them about 4 years ago, and got about 40% off, although to be fair we were spending quite a bit.
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How do the prices at Wickes compare to IKEA?
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Howdens is a no go as they will still work out a lot more expensive than the flat packs, and it is only just a kitchen to fit in order to sell the house quicker e.g not a mixture of 1960s and 1980s B&Q value units. Not checked Ikea yet as it has a more complex system of having to order the doors separately from the carcasses.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 20 Jan 14 at 20:58
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Rattle,
Get yourself down to IKEA (in a car so you can take stuff away !) and take a look at the Knockdown Corner. It's where they put their damaged returns and old display stuff. I'm a regular at ours and have picked up all manner of bits. I renewed the kitchen unit plinths in a young family member's new flat for all of £2.50 - I kid you not.
You'll find kitchen unit doors, lengths of worktops and so on. All you need is a bit of imagination and a few DIY skills to maybe modify one thing or another on an item and away you go.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Mon 20 Jan 14 at 22:22
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He might find the kitchen units, doors, worktops etc. cheaper than he imagines. Delivery is fairly cheap. You won't fit much in a Panda. When we moved into this house we needed lots and went to IKEA. We knew what we wanted and spent enough for the cheaper delivery tariff. Shopped on the Saturday and dumped the purchases (lots of them!) at customer services. All delivered on the next day.
Some bits went into the car to keep the cost down I think - it was tiered on purchases. But those items fitted in a Mazda6 hatchback.
Quality of the kitchens was good IMO. There's also an app to plan what you need.
From Rattle's house, the IKEA at Ashton isn't particular far away!
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 20 Jan 14 at 22:30
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The kitchen is too old to be able to put new doors on things. There is a build in cupboard which was probably built in the 1960s but it really has now since its best. No standard doors are the same size as this unit is bigger so I would not be able to get anything to fit.
Also it needs to come out so the fridge freezer can fit.
The other units are cheap units (probably similar to what we will end up buying) they have lasted 15 and 25 years but the chipboard has split. One of the worktops has had it and none of them match.
If all the carcasses were standard and in good condition I would simply change the doors sadly I cannot do that. Will certainly visit Ikea, even if we don't get the units from there I am sure there will be other bits.
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>> it is only just a kitchen to fit in order to sell the house quicker e.g not a mixture of 1960s and 1980s B&Q value units.
>>
>>Not checked Ikea yet as it has a more complex system of having to order the doors separately from the carcasses.
>>
Ikea is sooooo easy and the range of units and doors is good.
Perfect kit for fit and run.
I bought kitchen cupboards and doors from them and was well pleased. 18mm carcases.
I was amazed that you can buy doors so cheap.
I even fitted Ikea touch latches thus no need to buy handles.
The flat packs can be very very heavy. The tallest cupboards they make were too heavy for me to put onto roof bars. That was just one pack without doors
Three years or so ago I created a shopping list for all the Ikea bits and paid one delivery charge of £35. todays charge ?)
Ikea sub contracted delivery to two men and a van.
They were not amused when I told them 3rd floor and no lift.
I did tip to sweaty guys for their efforts.
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I had planned to simply make a few trips and pick up the units myself, but it will certainly be worth getting them delivered I think. The worktops will need to be delivered anyway.
By the time I waste time and petrol picking them up myself it won't be worth it. PS You will be amazed at just what I have had in the back of the Panda. With the seats down there is nothing it has not carried, although full sized plasterboards are too big for it.
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8' x 4' plasterboard sheets are too big for most estates!
Have you considered a second hand kitchen? Two friends have, within the past 6 months, bought almost new off Ebay. They only had to buy new worktops.
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I have, but been dismissed by my mother. Our entire bathroom is second hand, she has never had a new kitchen or bathroom in her life, so it is a bit like that new car syndrome. Also the kitchen is a very unusual shape meaning we have unusual unit requirements so most used ones won't fit well. Ideally the best thing to do would be to get a bespoke kitchen but it is also a big space, so that would cost £1000s.
I do need to replace the bath but they are cheap enough. We are going to re-use the sink bowel, it is 15 years old but in very good condition so makes sense to keep it.
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"she has never had a new kitchen or bathroom in her life"
If this is a fit and run kitchen, wouldn't it make more sense spend on a new kitchen in the house she's going to move into, not the one she's' about to sell? Or have I misunderstood?
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>> I had planned to simply make a few trips and pick up the units myself,
>> but it will certainly be worth getting them delivered I think.
>> The worktops will need to be delivered anyway.
>>
Check the weights
>> PS You will be amazed at just what I have had in the back of the Panda. With the seats down
Too much information
>>there is nothing it has not carried,
Again check the weights out.
The online site is very good but you really need to visit in order to choose the doors ( and the worktops?).
Get measuring! Lots of kitchens to see there.
I had a very unusual requirement for two very very tall kitchen cupboards.
After much pondering I bought their tallest and then put another of their smallest cupboards on top of each. One cupboard was reduced to 400 deep and the other surrounded water tanks over 600 deep. Four matching doors and touch latches completed it.
All very non standard but the finished look is four totally plain equal sized front panels.
One lower cupboard has a much higher than usual bottom shelf plus the plinth is attached to the door - one easy to wheel in, upright vacuum cleaner storage sorted.
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Had plenty of flat pack stuff in my car before, but I think even just a couple of units is heavy enough to cause wear and tear. Will get all the units delivered to save that hassle.
On a side note I bought a new drill yesterday, it around £50 in most places (£53 on Amazon) but I got it for £36 from the Black and Decker outlet store. www.blackanddecker.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/catno/KR705K/ seems very well made with a metal chuck but the gearbox is sadly plastic.
Should be more than enough for the task, as I have a Dewalt cordless 18v to do the light weight stuff. I am not sure how well the cheap B&D would stack up but I figure I only need to use a corded drill about three times a year so it was pointless getting a professional one just really need it for the kitchen and bathroom jobs.
My Dewalt on the other hand is used all the time so has been worth every penny.
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Delivery is worth every penny. A pair of big strong chaps to get it out of the Shed, into the vehicle, out of the vehicle and into your working area.
Where you can open the packet and only ever need handle one panel at a time.
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" I only need to use a corded drill about three times a year so it was pointless getting a professional one"
£36 - are you bonkers ? I do rather more DIY than you and manage perfectly well for the heavier wall drilling jobs with a £10 Aldi corded hammer drill.
If you can't wait for the Aldi / Lidl specials then try Tesco @ £24.
www.tesco.com/direct/silverline-hammer-drill-550w/212-2225.prd
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Tue 21 Jan 14 at 09:44
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>> Had plenty of flat pack stuff in my car before, but I think even just a
>> couple of units is heavy enough to cause wear and tear. Will get all the
>> units delivered to save that hassle.
Half the fun of IKEA is getting all the stuff outside and realising that it doesn't actually fit into the car.
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Forget your local town centre at chucking out time, Ikea car park is where all the real agro and frayed tempers are.
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Inside IKEA is where all my aggro. & frayed temper exists.
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>> Inside IKEA is where all my aggro. & frayed temper exists.
>>
Me too. How many miles, even with short cuts, if you can find them, is it to check out ?
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IKEA is easy. Get to know the short cuts, when you know what you want just get in (the wrong way) through the checkouts straight to the pick-up areas and NEVER go at a weekend.
I find Mondays at 10.00 am to be the best time.
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A whole kitchen including the sink - £350.
tinyurl.com/ntwcsyf
Last edited by: R.P. on Sat 25 Jan 14 at 12:22
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Howdens kitchens are a good quality-price compromise. We have solid oak on the worktop, about twice a year I oil it to keep it in the best condition possible. Howdens own label electrical stuff is labeled Lamona, I am not sure who makes it but we felt happier paying more for the Bosch electrical stuff as it’s a name everyone knows.
A small bit of DIY can be interesting and I’ve been doing some this last week as I’ve been Home Alone but I got a bit frustrated yesterday as I was raking out some old grout in the bathroom tiles. I was using an old screwdriver which took ages until my Uncle lent me his grout rake tool, I did more in about five minutes than the previous hour! I was hoping to get it all grouted in and was making good progress until girlfriend called around who hasn’t seen me for two weeks as she’s been on a course and a girlie holiday, I was hoping she might have helped with the grouting but she had other ideas and when I returned to the job later my pot of grout had gone hard.
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>> I was hoping she might have helped with the grouting but she had other ideas and when I returned to the job later my pot of grout had gone hard.
Brilliant MJW. You definitely have potential as a sort of double-take erotic writer. Keep it up!
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'50 Shades of Grout' . Has a ring to it.
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>>my pot of grout had gone hard.
Is that a euphemism?
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I thought it might add some perspective to recount our experience with kitchen purchases so far last night, just in case anyone else ever goes through this process.
We're umming and ahhing about doing something. In order to get a yardstick to judge everything by, we thought we'd start with pricing at John Lewis, as for us, everything after that has to be cheaper.
We saw in store a perfectly adequate kitchen, priced at an apparently pleasingly inexpensive £2999 for nine units. As we needed ten units, and I reckoned installation would be as much again, so maybe it would be possible to get a John Lewis kitchen for about 6k. We booked the appointment, which took an hour and a half, and went through it.
The chap was brilliant - infinitely patient, offered options and advice as appropriate, and made it a pleasant experience. Made it clear they (allegedly) project manage the whole thing, no hassles, they have a rigorous inspection process and so on and on, although I noted you have to pay the whole balance before work starts, which feels like a poor do to me.
End result? Unit cost £4500, even though at each twist and turn my stock response to options was "whichever is the cheapest". Installation costs "and this is ballpark of course, sir" - £3000 for, in his estimate, three days work. Appliances £1000. Tiling, floor work - £1000.
"So I would think, in reality, 10 to 12k, sir".
Guess I'm not very good at estimating. I'm sure it would be a delightful experience, and we would be wafted to heaven on pink clouds whilst being hand fed marshmallows by cherubs and burly men with shiny and rippling sinews would hew from the very earth a kitchen made for gods. But it's out of my budget.
The plus is, everything we look at now (IKEA, Wickes, whatever) will be cheaper. I hope.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 30 Jan 14 at 08:27
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>> burly men with shiny and rippling sinews would hew from the very
>> earth a kitchen made for gods.
Yes, its true - I fitted my kitchen.
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Yes, well, my talents may be multitudinous (and if ever I find any I'll let you know), but I struggle with the diagram that tells me how a screwdriver works.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 30 Jan 14 at 08:45
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>> End result? Unit cost £4500, even though at each twist and turn my stock response
>> to options was "whichever is the cheapest". Installation costs "and this is ballpark of course,
>> sir" - £3000 for, in his estimate, three days work. Appliances £1000. Tiling, floor work
>> - £1000.
>>
>> "So I would think, in reality, 10 to 12k, sir".
>>
>> Guess I'm not very good at estimating.
Perhaps I'm not very good at counting, but I make that £9,500 - not 10 to 12k?
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You've forgotten the tip...
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>> Perhaps I'm not very good at counting, but I make that £9,500 - not 10
>> to 12k?
That's because my anecdote was getting too long for any sane person to read, but there were dark mutterings about "extras", which included arcane terms like "plinths", "splashbacks", which to my mind sound faintly unsavoury, and of course "undercabinet lighting", in case, I imagine, you have some burning urge to find the handle to the saucepan cupboard in the middle of the night and are too effete to wander over to the light switch on the wall.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 30 Jan 14 at 08:52
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>
>> of the night and are too effete to wander over to the light switch on
>> the wall.
this burly man with shiny and rippling sinews fitted motion sensing undercabinet lighting
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Well at least if you ever get a mouse the neighbours will think they're living next to Eddystone lighthouse.
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Mice are scared of burly men with shiny and rippling sinews
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I put together a (very) rough estimate of costs before we had our kitchen refitted a few years ago, but the final bill was almost twice as much.
And, a newly refitted kitchen without undercabinet lighting, Crankcase...
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>> this burly man with shiny and rippling sinews fitted motion sensing undercabinet lighting
>>
That's not the bloke I saw on the canal towpath recently!
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too much beer and cheap burgers in weatherspoons....
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>>this burly man with shiny and rippling sinews fitted motion sensing undercabinet lighting
Cool. What sort of sensors did you use?
After a moment's thought, probably these:
www.screwfix.com/p/hafele-undercabinet-switch-kit-pir-0-3-30w-15mm/63223
I must say, I think motion-sensor lights would drive me absolutely nuts as: (1) I wouldn't be able to turn them off when I leave the room; (2) they would turn themselves on unexpectedly when I was eating by candlelight at the other end of the kitchen and needed to pop back to check the oven/whatever. How do you manage with that?
These look a better bet.
www.screwfix.com/p/hafele-undercabinet-touch-switch-kit-0-3-30w-15mm/63161
But where do you find a hole that is 60mm deep on your kitchen units?
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none of those. I fitted LED under cabinet bars with built in sensors.
That way, the lights only come on when you wave your hands under them.
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>> none of those. I fitted LED under cabinet bars with built in sensors.
>>
>> That way, the lights only come on when you wave your hands under them.
>>
Could you supply the details/ links to products ?
I do not want to buy rubbish and I feel sure you have located decent kit.
Thanks.
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got them on ebay, search for LED BAR LIGHTS TOUCHLESS.
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Everything always costs a lot more, we have spent £700 so far all the silly things add up. I reckon we are saving £1000s by doing it our selves. The end result won't be as good but we simply have not got £1000s to spend on fitting.
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Bargening a discount at the DIY sheds on kitchens - smokie
