Are B&Q or Homebase kitchens ok or are there better for the price?

[Lavendersbluedillydilly1969]

We are finally thinking about replacing our kitchen which is the original one from when the house was built. It's an awkward shaped kitchen with just two walls to fit against so looking for clever ideas.
Neighbours have a B&Q kitchen that looks quite nice (wood effect though and I'm looking for a white or cream gloss) and I'm just a bit overwhelmed about the choices available.
Budget would be upto 5000 I think plus appliances so not really budget but definitely not an expensive one.
Any thoughts on where would be good to start? Ideally I would like to gt a couple of companies out to have a look and make suggestions on how to maximise the space and storage.
If anyone can help it would be most appreciated. This is likely to be the one and only time I get a new kitchen so would really like it to be the best we can afford.
Thanks.

fussychica - we've had the same trouble with wall cupboards. Our current Ikea ones are 35cm. Magnet are 33 I think. Most other companies are 29 or 30. We're planning to go with diy-kitchens.com who say they will make deeper ones to order for £18 extra a unit - not placed order yet so can't confirm what will happen when we finalise everything. 40cm width drawer units have also been difficult to source.

Oh, and on the grey kitchens, there are a couple of ranges at diy kitchens that you can get painted in a colour of your choice - you can just order the doors from them if you have the rest sorted.

Howdens do a kitchen called Greenwich Grey. That is the one we are after.

Marking spot!

My friend has just had cooke and lewis from B&Q kitchen installed and had no end of problems. I nearly fainted in Magnet when they gave us a quote - HOW MUCH!!! Howdens drove me mad because their pricing is so bonkers and you cant get a straight price or have any input/control (its trade). Benchmarx cheaper but the same deal, no control or input, your builder has to do it all. Homebase took FOREVER to do a quote and we nearly lost the will to live in the store, then they phone you every weekend with a different discount (why not just give us the best price straight away). With Ikea you can use their online planner, design it all yourself, know what you are getting for how much, adjust it, try different things, and then just go and get it. If you change your mind just go and get another bit. That was the beauty of Ikea for us, the simplicity and the control and lack of utterly ridiculous pricing and marketing.

I've used DIY kitchens too, I think the price was pretty similar to B&Q but the quality is vastly different. I actually have 1 small Cooke and Lewis unit in the kitchen (due to the builders cock up, not DIY-Kitchens) and I could tell the difference between it and my DIY one with my eyes closed. Far harder to open, weaker, just much cheaper feeling even though the price was almost identical.

We've got a Homebase one and it's good quality. DH and my Dad fitted it.
Homebase price matched on kitchen appliances too so we saved money on the cooker.

DIYkitchens were extremely responsive to all my queries and I was really impressed despite ending up not ordering from them. We ended up using these guys www.pricemykitchen.co.uk/ - I've recommended them before on here. They do supply only of German Schuller kitchens and they were seriously good value and a different league of quality from B&Q and the like. Admittedly our kitchen was nearer 8k but it is massive (16 units), and we also picked their most expensive door range , plus all sorts of expensive extras like pull-out larder, a full height larder with internal drawers, and a load of drawer units.

To compare my IKEA kitchen cost 2.2k including fridge and dishwasher (but not oven and hob). That's 13 units, including 3 drawer units and a further 3 units with internal drawers, soft closers on everything.

Our Ikea Adel kitchen still looks great 9 years on. No regrets. We added extra wall units a few years after fitting the rest and we were able to match everything up.

Are you going for a HOMEBASE kitchen? I considered using Homebase and discovered some valuable bits of information. I was provided with a detailed quote, took it home and went through it with a fine toothed comb. I compared the prices in the quote with the prices I could get elsewhere for every item. The kitchen itself was hard to compare (they seem to keep the real cost and name of manufacturer secret). But everything else I subjected to the utmost scrutiny (taps, sinks, worktops, cookers, hoods, plumbing kits, adhesive products, jointing kits etc etc).

At the time Homebase were running a half price sale with a further 15% off. Sounds good? No! It was a complete sham. The prices they quoted WITH those reductions were ON AVERAGE 60% HIGHER than elsewhere. I took my breakdown back to Homebase and the salesman (who had looked at me like I was naïve meat the first time) looked shocked. He said he'd talk to his manager and work up a more competitive quote.

However, he said he COULD NOT SHIFT on the installation cost. Now, my kitchen isn't that big or complex and yet he quoted me £6700 to install! That is absolutely mad. The correct figure should be around £2600 to fit the kitchen plus around £700 to do the electrical and gas bits.

I'm just getting my kitchen fitted now. It's not a Homebase one. I started researching and doing the legwork in March, now it's July and I've learned a shedload on the way.

I recommend the following: Find a fitter, a trustworthy one with over 10 years experience. Ask your neighbours, ask your friends, personal recommendations are like gold dust. That fitter will almost certainly be able to recommend an electrician and a gas man. Look around the smaller independent kitchen companies and look at what they sell. Pick a kitchen you really like at a price you're happy with and get the fitter to obtain & fit it. Set a budget and stick to it!

Keep a separate contingency fund to cover the unforeseen.

You're going to want a kitchen you'll love so learn all about the process. Investigate the best cookers, the best floors and the best worktops. Don't pay silly money for substandard fittings! If you leave it to people like Homebase they'll palm you off with shoddy goods at a premium.

Example: A solid oak 40mm thick/ 40mm stave worktop for my kitchen from Homebase would have come to a whacking £1730! I bought the worktop myself from Worktop Express for £435!!!

Know your stuff! Once you get your teeth into it it's great fun and with your knowledge you'll be able to see the frauds and charlatans a mile off.

I had magnet kitchen before, their cream country shaker style. It lookee good at first but it started to fall apart after 2 years. It just wasn't robust enough and the PVC finish on the doors started to peel. I am now looking at the budget end of German kitchens and they are in a different league altogether in terms of quality. I also second pricemykitchen.com !!

Anita did you bump a zombie thread just to slag off homebase?