Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is the cost of a new kitchen - AIBU

72 replies

CrappingMyself · 05/09/2021 12:21

Got a quote in for a new kitchen - £15k! Kitchen is approx 3mx5m (10ft x 16ft) in size so not huge.

Includes removing and disposing old kitchen incl tiling, new carcasses and doors. New worktops, splash backs and flooring and then painting. But no new appliances.

I thought the price was exhorbitant but another family member disagrees. If it matters at all, we're in the SE.

YABU - the price is right! YANBU - go elsewhere,

OP posts:
Badgergirl123 · 05/09/2021 12:53

Sounds about right I'm afraid, it's always more than you think! We paid not far off £10k for a smaller kitchen in Scotland about four years ago. Sorry OP!

switswoo81 · 05/09/2021 12:56

Could you save money by doing the demolition and removal work yourselves?

GreyhoundG1rl · 05/09/2021 12:58

Sounds about right, I'm afraid.

Smartiepants79 · 05/09/2021 13:00

I would suspect that not too bad.
Ours was done 2 yrs ago for a similar price. Slightly bigger than yours but I suspect not much more in terms of cabinets etc.
I also believe that building costs have risen significantly in the last 18 months.
Good builders are like actual gold dust.

Travis1 · 05/09/2021 13:02

It’s all relative. Have you chosen hi end options? Have they given you choices of materials? Could you do some of it yourself? Have you only had one quote?

CaddieDawg · 05/09/2021 13:08

Depends where you go. You could remove the existing kitchen yourself, get an IKEA DIY kitchen and pay a local handyman/joiner to fit it for you or do it yourself if confident and you'd save at least 5k, depending how end the fixtures are etc.

Proudboomer · 05/09/2021 13:10

Mine was finished about a month ago about the same size but did include the cooker. Total cost a bit more than your quote.
Howdens units, sink, tap extractor and cooker.
Polymer flooring
New ceiling new lighting
Replastered after tiles removed, new windowsills, upstands instead of tiles, cooker splashback and decorated.
Some slight changes to electrics and new electrics for the boiler.

Speakuptomakeyourselfheard · 05/09/2021 13:11

If you don't plan on rearranging your kitchen, then I'd highly recommend having the doors and drawer fronts replaced, assuming that the actual cabinets aren't falling apart.

Amigobay · 05/09/2021 13:13

We are SE too, slightly bigger kitchen is costing us £15k including appliances - but that’s with my husband doing all the fitting, electrics, plumbing, tiling etc. I think that your quote doesn’t sound unreasonable for the works you've mentioned

PinkFootstool · 05/09/2021 13:17

I went to to Wren and was quoted £12k for a small kitchen. In the end I used an independent kitchen fitter and bought everything at B&Q with his trade discount and all in (with removal, electrician, plumber, gas work, new ceiling, new floor) it was under £5k.

SandyDays · 05/09/2021 13:18

I agree with speakup - if the units are solid then look into replacing the doors and work tops, we did this as the existing frames were absolutely fine it was just the design which looked dated. Took two and half days and looks fab 2 years on

twinkie100 · 05/09/2021 13:18

This sounds about right, but I would say it's absolutely worth a go haggling down, and if you can wait (and it's not desperate to be done now) I would recommend waiting until Boxing Day/27th December to book it in.

Our kitchen salesperson (Wickes) was v honest with me and said they really offer good discounts at that time, so I waited and she was right - able to offer X% off of units and then a further X% overall etc (sorry can't remember the exact details). It made a difference!!

Good luck.

GCAcademic · 05/09/2021 13:19

Ours is around the same size as yours and has cost us £20k. That includes disposal and fitting, £1.5k of electrical and plastering work, £3k in appliances, £3.5k for quartz worktop, and the rest is lighting, Amtico flooring, Blum cabinets and Kitchen Stori doors from a local kitchen company.

Sushirolls · 05/09/2021 13:19

SE here too and YANBU that it's ridiculously expensive, but YABU as it's average. We're going to save costs by fitting ours, ourselves.

DJSteves · 05/09/2021 13:24

Just paid £14k for a kitchen with a very simple island. Does include fitting. We are having an extension so life savings are dwindling rapidly. Ours is from Wickes

StrongerOrWeaker · 05/09/2021 13:26

Ours cost £5k (inc granite worktops) but we kept the inside of the cupboards and the appliances which were both good quality. We used B&Q for the cupboard doors, got an independent kitchen fitter to fit these. He also recommended a place for the granite worktops that was so much cheaper than B&Q.

2bazookas · 05/09/2021 13:32

If you are competent DIYers, you can do it a lot cheaper yourself.
Places like |IKEA, B and Q offer a free design service if you buy their products.

chocolateorangeinhaler · 05/09/2021 13:34

Well personally I wouldn't pay that. But if your not in a position to DIY then it is what it is.

You could buy ready made carcasses from John Lewis get a local carpenter to fit them then choose the doors you want from somewhere else if you want. Just get a company in to do the worktops. Then a tiler in once worktops are fitted to do walls and floor. That would save a lot of money but you would be sourcing and organizing everything. A skip will be about £200 will take all the old kitchen smashed up. Try and sell old appliances to get a few quid back.

BarbaraofSeville · 05/09/2021 13:36

Depends on the cost of the units and worktops. Ours was under half that, but was an Ikea kitchen with normal worktops because we didn't have the budget for fancier versions. A kitchen can cost anything from under £5k to £50k+ depending on what it's made from and where it comes from.

Calmdown14 · 05/09/2021 13:37

Think you need to start by getting a better understanding of what the quote includes. Get on the internet and read up.
What type of carcass and more importantly, what kind of doors? Cheap foil wrapped or painted solid wood? What about internal fittings? Pull outs cost more than the cupboard for example.
Recommend taking a look at DIY Kitchens. They have a Yorkshire showroom too.
Even if you don't go with that option, their pricing is really transparent so you can see exactly where extra costs come in.
Remember end panels, trims and kick boards also add up. Wren couldn't even tell me what theirs were made of making it hard to compare like for like.
I did a similar room for about 6k but I ordered it myself and got a joiner, electrician etc in separately.
Like all things there's a big cost for convenience

Calmdown14 · 05/09/2021 13:42

And what are your worktops? The difference between laminate and granite is about 10 fold!
Look at Worktops Express or another online option to start understanding what costs what.
Solid surfaces are expensive but lovely, wooden nice but need looking after, there are some with a solid veneer which can look good or laminates...but these are not all made equal and come in a range of qualities

Simonjt · 05/09/2021 13:43

It depends how much you’re paying for the units.

I bought an ikea kitchen for my flat, larger than your intended area and with an island and appliances, I paid around £9k including fitting and extras like tiles, pipes being moved etc.

I’ve recently fitted a kitchen at our holiday home, it was largely secondhand so very cheap, I had a few quotes and it was averaging £3.5k to have it fitted, so I did it myself. It was fairly easy, I did have to move a water pipe, but now you can use plastic pipes thats also another fairly easy job, the only thing you can’t do yourself is certain electric and gas bits. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would either, I’d definitely go for a self fit again and I’m not a hugely experienced diyer.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 05/09/2021 13:44

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

AngelPrint · 05/09/2021 13:45

Just bought a new Howden’s kitchen with all new appliances of similar size. Including fitting it was £10k

TwoLeftElbows · 05/09/2021 14:03

There are so many variables. We paid £4k for DIY kitchens units and doors, excluding fitting. Having painted doors vs vinyl, quartz vs laminate, newest range vs older one in some stores will result in wildly different quotes.

Go through the quote in detail. I once saved £700 (!!) by changing from 2 X tall 60cm cupboards to one 100cm cupboard in Wickes. Get a couple more quotes and take it from there. I give my business to places like IKEA and DIY, who give you a good transparent quote. I can't bear some of the others putting ridiculous "RRP" prices up front and then randomly applying huge discounts. Some places I think they just look at you, decide how many thousands they reckon they can get out of you and then fiddle it until the numbers fit.

Swipe left for the next trending thread