DIY KITCHENS

[teams]

Are there actually any Kitchen Companies that produce equivalent kitchens but at a better price?

[Scotty001]

What kitchen companies have you looked at?

[teams]

What kitchen companies have you looked at?

Homebase, Magnet, and B & Q.

[Neelix]

Is this for your own place or a rental ?

[yartin]

If you know a builder who buys from either Howden, Magnet, Benchmarx ....etc. he can get you quality kitchens at fraction of the retail price. Or do what I did, walk in to one of those mentioned, get lucky and they supply you for trade prices.

Alternatively, you can buy slightly inferior quality and cheap from B&Q and Selco, the only issue which prevented me buying was their back panels, 3mm board, you can strengthen I guess? Also those 2 have limited cabinets range. Selco is cheap and good quality, only from what I have seen in the showrooms.

I found Wickes and Homebase over priced.

You can also buy online from unknowns with good spec but may get let down by delivery, quality, returns....etc. They take 8 weeks to deliver. This happened to me, returned refunded but wasted 3 months.

All carcasses are similar, 16mm to 18mm thickness, back panel vary from 3mm hardboard (avoid) to 8mm to 12mm chipboard. Doors are mainly MDF either wrapped or painted (matt or gloss), Handless is the one to go for IMO. Doors come in 18mm to 22mm in thickness.

Good Luck, take your time.

[arco_iris]

To be fair, one of our members did suffer an unfortunate experience recently though several others have had good experiences:

DIY Kitchens.com

[yartin]

I found kitchen units at retail outlets a rip off. One of them gave me a quote, for example a standard high line 600mm base unit with door was £300, for 18mm carcass, 12mm pack panel,18mm mdf wrapped door. You should pay between £125 to £175 max.
Just think about it, it a mass produce using chipboard, mdf and paint and some PVC for wrapping plus few dowels and fixings.

[Scotty001]

From what i have read DIY Kitchens are pretty competitive on their prices.
but as Kitchens come in many shapes, sizes and forms (door finishes foil / painted...., build material, thicknesses, handle less / with handles, soft close hinges.......) unless you know the look of the units, material of the units, thickness of carcass, depth of carcass, thickness of doors it is difficult to compare different outlets for a like for like price on the units.

Howdens are another supplier but often only give prices to those in the trade.
Wren are another company
Ikea do kitchens but they often don't have service voids and are a pain to install.
Theres Benchmarx which is part of the Travis perkins group
There is also Wicks which is benchmarx under a different name (Kitchens are exactly the same) as also owned by Travis Perkins

in some ways its similar to cars, there are many manufacturers with their own model of car, often one manufactures model will not be exactly the same as another manufacturers model of which both are in the same category (hot hatch, estate, X-over/SUV )

[fin]

I found kitchen units at retail outlets a rip off. One of them gave me a quote, for example a standard high line 600mm base unit with door was £300, for 18mm carcass, 12mm pack panel,18mm mdf wrapped door. You should pay between £125 to £175 max.
Just think about it, it a mass produce using chipboard, mdf and paint and some PVC for wrapping plus few dowels and fixings.

thing is ya have the cost of manufacturing the cabinet, transport from factory, storage at the depot that ya buying it from. wages for the warehouse workers etc etc etc aswell as the raw materials costs

i fit howdens kitchens mostly although ive done a few from a local to me independent company

[yartin]

I found kitchen units at retail outlets a rip off. One of them gave me a quote, for example a standard high line 600mm base unit with door was £300, for 18mm carcass, 12mm pack panel,18mm mdf wrapped door. You should pay between £125 to £175 max.
Just think about it, it a mass produce using chipboard, mdf and paint and some PVC for wrapping plus few dowels and fixings.

thing is ya have the cost of manufacturing the cabinet, transport from factory, storage at the depot that ya buying it from. wages for the warehouse workers etc etc etc aswell as the raw materials costs

When comes to mass produce which I said, trust me other costs becomes negligible. Otherwise, it's be done wrongly.

[arco_iris]

Referring to above comments by yartin & fin, in my humble opinion......

The retail sheds (HBase, Wickes, BnPoo) are in business to make a profit on sales, they price according to what they think (and know from data analysis) their paying customers will stand, to give them an acceptable turnover at an acceptable margin - if they priced higher they'd have fewer sales, lower they couldn't cope.

The 'trade' outlets (Howdens, Magnet, etc.) are really seeking to try to protect the business of their trade customers - they understand that installers & fitters need to make a living from what they do and so firstly give them a margin and secondly don't try to rob them of their customers by dealing direct with the public. BnPoo Trade card does this to a certain extent on 'off-the-shelf' flat-packs, though not on showroom consultations.

So "horses for courses".

Then you have the online offerings, who seek to deal direct to the market that wants to DIY & there are many of us. DIYK does this..... clear pricing, clear website (ever tried ordering flat-packs on diy.com?) - manufactured to order, which is why it takes 6-8 weeks, (another) downside being not quite so brilliant QC as you'd get in mass production.

But, and not a lot of people know this (as Michael Caine would say), DIYK is the online-ordering spin-off of Ultima Kitchens who are/were basically a trade supplier. The husband & wife who started Ultima did so because they couldn't find the kitchen they wanted, manufactured their own, supplied retailers & fitters local to them, and it has taken off to a £60m+ turnover company still privately owned & with several factories.

No axe to grind, I thoroughly researched DIYK prior to ordering and I'm very happy with the service, communication & quality I received for the price I paid. Pre-assembled saved time, unglued specified where I knew units would need to be modified, dedicated delivery all the way from the factory. Yes, there are glue-splashes easily cleaned off, yes there were a couple of faults/faulty bits but they were replaced foc promptly once reported.

Not only that, but I then needed worktops. Tried local specialist, tried online suppliers, and you know what? DIYK's offering (a sub-contract company) came out tops. Asked the local guy to sharpen his pencil, he refused. The worktop people's service (to me) was exemplary. Another story, some minor hassle, it took time (which I could afford anyway), great fitting staff, journeyed all the way from the factory, happy with the result.

But that's just me, I know nothing.

[teams]

Is this for your own place or a rental ?

Own place

[London mike 61]

I’ve never used this type of company but there are some great bargains

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... L8v6ukq8qU

Don’t turn your nose up at a used kitchen because I’ve seen a few of them ( and appliances ) and they are a cut above the usual domestic kitchens.

Mike

[yartin]

The 'trade' outlets (Howdens, Magnet, etc.) are really seeking to try to protect the business of their trade customers - they understand that installers & fitters need to make a living from what they do and so firstly give them a margin and secondly don't try to rob them of their customers by dealing direct with the public.

I never knew kitchen installers & fitters don't charge for labour and they make a living from margin on unit prices.

I think the way it works that Howdens, Magnet, Benchmarx, wren ...etc are set up and geared to deal with trade customers ie: builders who buy regularly and not set up to deal with the general public, they don't have customer support, helplines. They give builder trade prices and guess the more they buy the higher discount. From my experience recently, they get more than 50% discount compared to retail prices. Prices are similar to internet prices which you can buy from unknowns but they deliver fast within a week and of course more reliable to deal with and more importantly local where you can go to showrooms.

One thing I have been told and also proven in a rented property I have, even if you buy a cheap kitchen, once fitted it will look and work perfect. The one thing I won't have is a 3mm back panel, will only last few years. I don't think a 16mm or 18mm carcass will make any difference. 8mm, 12mm 0r thicker back panel will make much difference, don't think mdf or chipboard wrapped door will matter or a 22mm mdf door will work better than an 18mm mdf door? Worktops and appliances are different.

[Neelix]

Is this for your own place or a rental ?

Own place

I would say find a local kitchen fitter with a Howdens account …..