Magnet kitchens - good or bad?

[reastie]

We've spent months now planning our new kitchen I've probably bored you all here about it too much . We thought we had it all sorted with a hacker kitchen (German made, supposedly very good quality) but it's slightly beyond our budget. We are going to magnet next week end to get a more high street comparison in the hope they are cheaper and in our budget (albeit maybe a bit less quality wise).

I hear very mixed things about them though. We would just be buying the units from them and get our own builder to install. Does anyone have any experience of the quality of units/useful points to know before we visit?

They're fine but expensive for what they are tbh.

I heard a rumour that B&Qs (or wickes or homebase one of them!) take it home range is magnets previous seasons range.

I would argue that The take it home ranges are just as good quality especially if you're having your own builder install it anyway

My mum has a magnet kitchen, it is perfectly nice. But when she told me what she paid I was shocked.

She could have had a much better kitchen for the money she paid, so on that limited experience of them, I think that they are very overpriced for what they sell.

Our kitchen is a magnet one, installed by previous owners about 10 years ago and looking great even with the hammer we give it. We made some changes a couple of years ago using a mix of B&Q and Howdens and they're not as good.

it is unusual to pay more than half-price

the solid-wood fronts are quite good, I got the Caldo Walnut, one of their more expensive, with grey worktops. Not sure if it is in this year's catalogue, but there are a few others.

The pan-drawers and some of the other accessories are very useful.

Thanks guys. Our builder has a ten year old magnet kitchen and says it's faired very well which is why we are going there.

If they are expensive for what they are, maybe that means in a half price sale they are more as expected price-wise

Piglet we'll be going for a cream painted type of unit.

I think the vast expense (seemingly) of our kitchen is we have awkward spaces and need alot of chamfered units - 4 wall and 6 floor. From what I can gauge these are more than a basic square one and magnet have told us they can have them made but they're not standard, so this will probably build the price up nicely

Well, there have been no big 'avoid like the plague they are awful' comments yet which is reassuring.

Our kitchen is from Magnet Trade, our builder fitted it and cost less than half what it would have if we went through the showroom.
It was fitted two years ago and it it bloody gorgeous!

Ohhh illegal that sounds what we need to do. DH mentioned something about our builder having a quote. Did you have to get it planned via the showroom or was it all an entirely different process?

Go to one of your local "one man bands". In my experience they can often be cheaper than the big boys and sometimes have more choice because they are not always just tied to just one manufacturer. I got my kitchen from a local family run company. It was very good value for money and good quality too and they had loads of choices from lots different manufacturers.

Our old kitchen was magnet (hlaf price sale, natch) - and we were very impressed with it. But lots of people on here have been recommending Howdens recently - or is that too far below your budget

iam we had gone into howdens and got a rough quote from them. Thing is, we want a good quality kitchen to last us a number of years and weather well (which is why we were going with a less known brand via an independent), DH isn't convinced howdens is that durable.

IIRC the carcasses are pretty average but they have lots of options and extras. The ones I looked at had thin hardboard back panels which put me right off. I've had too many kitchens where the hardboard has popped out and can't be put back in. I like the way Magnet make a virtue of this "removable back panel for easy access to plumbing" . We felt they were expensive for what they were, not that different to Wickes or B&Q but much posher showrooms is all. Much better quality can be got from independent kitchen places or Second Nature stockists IMO.

It's also about the design though and if you don't want to work it out yourself then maybe Magnet would come up with something you like.

Have you looked at the Which report comparing different kitchens?

Howdens do two levels of finish. If you go for the "upgrade" you get the soft close drawers and hinges used in 99% of kitchens. What does he think might not be durable?

We found that once we had looked at 2 or 3 different showrooms and poked around in the cabinets/wiggled drawers etc, it soon became obvious re: the variations in quality.

interesting reading.

We have had an ikea kitchen in the past. Painted wood (well, painted mdf) and after a year some of the tops of cupboard doors under the sink started buckling from water (we aren't that wet or messy and this was pre DC) and the cupboard fronts got chips in the paint making it look tatty. DHs parents have recently had a homebase kitchen and less than 5 years later it's already having problems and breaking in bits/getting alot of wear and tear signs. We just want something of decent quality that won't chip/get knackered quickly. We're only going with magnet as it was our builders suggestion as a comparison for us to see what the price difference is from that and the independent (which we are concerned is expensive, but have no clue).

Independant has quoted us £15kish for new kitchen units, granite worktop, sink, built in extractor, integrated undercounter fridge and integrated dishwasher (all applianced just pretty basic ones). Doesn't include tiles/upmount (or whatever it's called) above worksurface (we have bought them separately), tap or any other appliances. I don't think our kitchen is huge, we have a smallish kitchen and then a wall of units to go in in the dining room. Does this sound like an expected price or are we right to spent more time looking at different places for comparison. We have the design we believe we want now FWIW.

my dh did a price compare with all the usual people but didnt use magnet as had to go in there, and they didn't like pricing off a design.
He used magnet trade (meant to be cheaper) with his trade discount along with howdens etc and its quite odd how the quotes all compare to each other and the limitations from one to another with draw packs etc and all for the same design.
have a look
www.evokitchens.co.uk/compare-price.html

That's interesting! There have been a few threads on kitchen prices. I would budget for an average kitchen, £5k very cheap (Ikea & diy install or very canny shopping) £10k average, over £15k quite posh (wooden units, lots of granite etc). All in.
So between £10-£15k might be your price range. Probably worth getting another quote. But if you are spending that much it might as well be something decent as you say.

I had a Magnet kitchen put in last November. I managed to get better-than-trade prices due to knowing someone.

The kitchen is great, I am very pleased with it. The backs are not the pop-out kind, they are solid. The quality of the cabinets is superb, and a big difference to the former Ikea kitchen we had before. They planned the kitchen well, and listened to what I wanted and the problems I had in my old kitchen.

However, the main reason I have posted on this thread is to say do not get an integrated under the counter fridge!! They are hopeless. So much of the available space is taken up by the sides of the fridge that you are left with a poky hole and you have to sit on the floor to get things from the back of the bottom shelf. My old kitchen had one and I couldn't use the fridge whilst heavily pregnant. We ended up ripping out a cupboard and buying a fridge. If there is any way you can redesign your kitchen to have a proper fridge please do so. You won't regret it.

Magnet and homebase use the same suppliers.....just saying

Magnet make their own carcasses, they buy in doors from a supplier, not sure if it is the same supplier as Homebase. Homebase carcasses are a lot thinner than Magnet ones.

Can't link on my phone probably can just don't know how but if you google magnet interior solutions you'll find it

I don't remember seeing kitchen units with non-hardboard backs. Which range were they?

On the Magnet kitchen I bought in 2011, there was a peninsular unit, and I had additional doors fitted to the back for show and for optional access.

That says that Magnet sell kitchens to other suppliers. That doesn't necessarily mean they are the same quality of kitchen.

Anyway, having seen the cabinets in every shop, Magnet were one of the few that actually had solid factory-assembled carcasses instead of flat-pack. The Magnet factory is in the UK, which also was important to me. Having had a crappy kitchen before I wasn't prepared to have cheap carcasses again. It is a joy to be able to pile shelves with heavy things without the shelves bowing and the back popping out of the cabinet.

If you have a Magnet Express near you they sell to trade and public at lower pries than the retail only outlets. A big advantage as well is that they can deliver either from stock or within a couple of weeks, whereas the retail arm has a six week lead time.

It's very wrong, but if you go and get a plan drawn up in the nice showroom you could then take it to the Express store for a price comparison.

Good. Much better than howdens

We had a Magnet kitchen installed many years ago, two houses ago and it was superb. One of my workmates was a cabinet maker originally and he said that he would use them as he rated their quality. We put the house on the market three years later and everyone who looked around thought the kitchen was brand new.

PigletJohn - I apologise, I have just checked and the backs are hardboard, however they are very thick and so feel solid (I have just had a look where one is cut through). I have also just tried to dislodge one by pushing it out and it will not move. I'm glad about that, because I would have been annoyed with myself for doing it if it had popped out!