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Hi all,
My son is looking to buy a new kitchen on a budget, as he is hoping to sell his house In the not too distant future, couple of years max, due to new family addition, he is an electrician by trade, and has been advised by chippies on the site where he is working that Wren are doing some very good deals, when I was looking to replace my kitchen a good few years back, the advice was to avoid Wren like the plague, has anything changed?, where would you advise to look and get quotes.

As always thanks for all/any advice given.

Because your son is going to move in the not too distant future he could save a good few quid by going for a used kitchen. Just have a look on eBay and you will see some fantastic kitchens at remarkable prices. Ok, you will have to get it fitted and buy new worktops, sink etc but overall worth a punt to have a look.
A few years ago a friend of ours bought a used kitchen from a large house in a posh area and got a top of the range set of appliances as well as the units for a third of what they would have cost new.

As for new kitchens , we bought ours from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... AzaWW7c-oQ and we are very pleased with every thing.
Mike

Wren kitchens as a product are pretty good. However every Wren kitchen that I've fitted has had something missing, damaged or wrong. If you're in no rush to fit it then they will get the right/undamaged items out to you within a week.
For customers I tend to recommend Howdens as they have easy supply and the quality is good too.
DIY kitchens have also been recommended by others on this site so will be worth looking at too.

darrenba wrote: ↑Sun Mar 15, 2020 9:59 pm Wren kitchens as a product are pretty good. However every Wren kitchen that I've fitted has had something missing, damaged or wrong. If you're in no rush to fit it then they will get the right/undamaged items out to you within a week.
For customers I tend to recommend Howdens as they have easy supply and the quality is good too.
DIY kitchens have also been recommended by others on this site so will be worth looking at too.

Got ours from DIY, Pontefract.
I was impressed with it. The units come pre-assembled and you can make it as 'fancy' as you like (wine racks, pull-outs etc).
Got our worktop (oak in our case) from Worktop Express. They pre-cut the sink and hob holes and pre-oiled it.

DIY kitchens were good for a family member of mine. I guess it all depends on his idea of budget. I did a super low budget kitchen for us (we are also looking to move and a high spec kitchen could cost more than our flat is worth) and used Rapide Kitchens, simple flat pack in a few styles. The cabinets are sturdy, easy to assemble and are holding up fine so far, but we are careful people who take care of things. I would buy it again.

I have a DIY kitchen, it was ok and the service was ok from them, bearing in mind I did some odd things that required some modification to standard units. The finish of the painted handle less doors is very good. Odd extra bits and bobs did take up to two weeks to sort out.

I have also fitted Howdens, big advantage being the local stock, certainly my local branch the staff were helpful.

Both provide assembled carcasses.

If you want cheap and quick look at Wickes, fitted one of those not bad either, although the carcasses are flat pack. Which means time and effort.

Thanks for all replies, Wickes quoted £7000, which they are prepared to pay if that is the best price for a half decent kitchen, not had a chance to get Howdens in for a quote yet, I have had a quick look on the DIY kitchens website, do you need to know exactly what you need down to the last nut and bolt, or if you order 20 units do they advise what else you may require?

I didn't do the order but from what I was told it was pretty straightforward as the cabinets come completely built minus handles.

Just a point that might have been overlooked here. You have to think of the logistics of storing pre-made units and assembling flat packs and how that fits the equation of the job. The units coming out have to be broken and disposed of and the new stored from delivery or assembled as needed through the job. It is a Chinese puzzle of moving cabinets around. Now this is fine if you have the space but not so if you do not have a temporary space to accommodate the storage, movement and assembly. So this might be the guide as to whether you buy preassembled units or flat packs.

DWD

DIY I drove to the showroom with all my sketches and ordered. They are helpful on the phone to, also moan and ask for discount you should get 10%

Howdens , price vary wildly , get an account , I opened an account using my company details at the time. Again I visited them with sketches to order. Barter like made you can get 80% of list as an account holder

Wickes the same , and they will barter.


Moral is don’t be embarrassed barter like mad, as if you were in a souk. At one point I picked up my stuff and walked out of Howdens , received an e mail next day accepting my offer !

Good point about the cabinets! My sisters living room was an assault course for a week with cabinets stacked everywhere.

Regarding the bartering, I really hate companies like that. I am not above bartering but I really don't care for it when doing a big job like that, makes it very hard to do a good comparison. I would much prefer to just have the prices up front for all involved.

In my parents house and my old house i made the units and doors myself and only had to buy the worktop , sink and bits . Both are still there with the one in my parents being around 30 years old although i have replaced the worktop.
In the house we are in now we originally brought a second hand kitchen and it served us for around 13 years. When i finally got round to extending the kitchen and wife wanting new we looked around several places. We didn't check wren although i've fitted them before and they seem decent enough. Magnets were decent but expensive . Wicks seem ok and was cheaper . I've an account at howdens but frankly wasn't impressed with their kitchens. B&Q seemed pretty much of a muchness but in the end we went with homebase. Even with the solid ash doors it was cheaper and i was happy with the quality. I've just done my father in laws at the behest of his other daughter and we again went with homebase. This time we went with the gloss finish doors and because my father in law is , how shall we say , lax with the cleaning i left the plastic film on

i do a fair few kitchens for a landlord... or atleast i did till he found someone much cheaper. when the cheaper fella makes a mess my rates are going up

we always put in gloss white handleless as it looks quite modern for either selling or rentals so maybe worth considering

£7k seems a quite expensive kitchen to be fair. although it obviously depends on cabinets, appliances etc

i fit a lot of kitchens and it varies between a £2k kitchen in a rental and the one and only wren kitchen that ive fitted which was £15k plus

i mostly fit howdens though. theyre a better product than benchmarx although a bit more expensive usually. deffinately better than b&q and wickes are the same as benchmarx so slightly below howdens.

the one and only homebase kitchen was about 10 years back now and it was not that good. thin hardboard backs to the cabinets unless thats changed in recent years?

ive seen a diy kitchen that my mate fitted. i cant comment on the quality as i wasnt involved in the fit. though it would have been better if i had done it seeing as my mate is an accountant not a kitchen fitter.

one word of advice which i am going to try in future regarding disposal of the old kitchen. if its still servicable and not entirely rotten try selling it on facebook market place. the last kitchen i did i priced to get a skip in as i looked at the existing kitchen and thought it was only fit for the skip. a local landlord gave the lass £100 and took the lot away within a day of her listing it. he reakoned that the amount of times tennants smashed up kitchens it wasnt worth buying new and he didnt mind paying £100 once a year or whatever to put a replacement kitchen in his properties