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When looking at kitchen units what makes some better than others. Is it the thickness of the carcass or the material the carcass is made out of i.e mdf, chipboard or solid wood.

If money was no object and you wanted something to last a min of 10-15 yrs what would be the minimum spec of the structure and what would you absolutely avoid

I would not bother about it Ski. The carcases rarely fail if it is all screwed together properly on installation. Focus on door quality. Avoid foil covered doors and try to get properly made wooden doors instead. Also very fashionable looking units like the zebra finish will date quickly and also the gloss look nice but they are so vulnerable to knocks and banks.

Keep as traditional as possible and you will not be pulling it out in 5 years.

DWD

we fit howdens units they are ready built 18mm chipboard with a 6mm mdf back, nice and solid,

Completely agree. Having fitted hundreds over the years teh only carcass I ever came across that was as much use as a one legged man at a bum kicking contest was teh old Great Mills 15mm units. A customer bought them and asked me to fit, took ages reinforcing the orrible things.

I only supply and fit Howdens units, all rigid and 18mil so will last a lifetime without breaking into a sweat. Conversely, I have built them from scratch when a customer wanted an old fashioned looking kitchen in a 300+ yr old farmhouse.

BanQ current carcass is excellent, the only consideration with FP over rigid is the jig wandering off, thus line-up is occasionally compromised. Nothing that cant be put right though with a tweak ere an there.

If money were no object and it was to be fitted, I would have recommended Chippendale kitchens, tis what I fitted for meself. Methinks though that they went to the wall and got integrated into Omega PLC.

Mozzy

same here , you re splitting hairs these days with carcasses /only one id say stay away from is homebase /its a 16 mm and i ve seen the sides shear down past the legs when weight was put on one ...spend yur money on doors , mouldings and worktops ...even appliances ..you can get all singing and dancing ones that shampoo and microwave the cat in 6 different laguages ....but its more to go wrong and a bigger bill for a replacement ....double oven /5 burner gas hob ..free standing appliances and a classic look ...if buying a "trendy Kitchen" ..as walt says ...it might turn into an avocado suite in 2 years ..and everyone regrets having fitted those !!..expect to get 30 years out of your kitchen if you make informed choices .

just about everything from homebase is pants. it looks ok for a while and eventually bows out, sags or loads of play creeps in

Thanks for the replies guys

So the consensus is 18mm+ carcass plus solid back panel to keep it all rigid. I take it it doesn't matter whether chipboard, MDF or solid wood then

Most of the money should be spent on the doors - solid, not foil covered - and the worktops. Talking of which, what is the best worktops that will take knocks and scratching - granite, corian, laminate etc

I've seen people say they fit howdens.

Can anyone compare howdens to magnet? I have accounts at each but generally use magnet as they are more convenient.

I would go for granite but its expensive.

diyguys wrote:I would go for granite but its expensive.

me too /im a granite freak ...all tops scratch ..fact of life ..its a case of managing it and compromising between what you want and what you re happy to live with .....imagine an estate agents brochure ? solid surface dos nt quite have the cache of "granite tops"....no. 2 choice would be maia ...which is basically an aliuminium veneer ......beware of products such as earthstone that claim to be the same /they are not even close .

skiking wrote:When looking at kitchen units what makes some better than others. Is it the thickness of the carcass or the material the carcass is made out of i.e mdf, chipboard or solid wood.

If money was no object and you wanted something to last a min of 10-15 yrs what would be the minimum spec of the structure and what would you absolutely avoid

Hi have read all answers I personally have fitted howdens, magnet and b and q kitchens and out of those 3 would prefer magnet although offer is pretty limited in styles and b and q do offer a much larger choice but if money was no object have a look at manhatten kitchen range. hope this helps and does not add to confusion