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?

most kitchen suppliers offer ridged backs now 8/15/18mm - 18, creates a more ridge unit for glue and dowel construction
only magnet do the 6mm hardboard back panels

www.ssk.uk.com/

Why not try having one made to measure?

it might not be as expensive as you think

I definitely agree that rigid-built cabinets are far superior to flat-pack.

All really interesting. I should add FWIW the 15k doesn't include installation, our builder is doing that. They are made to measure British made units the independent has quoted for. We really like them but it's slightly budget busting and we want to make sure we aren't paying over the odds.

Anne that's a v useful tip. We currently have an integrated worksurface height fridge (with freezer under) which we're keeping but putting in the dining room units, so we'll have 2 fridges, the kitchen one for things we need to get out alot (butter, milk, fruit and veg etc) and the dining room one for things required infrequently/drinks which are had in the dining room anyway. This gives a small kitchen alot more work surface. I hope we won't regret it. I'm hoping the lack of loads of stuff in it will mean it's not too hard to lose things in there and have to lie on the floor to get them!

I'm tempted to ring up a very local firm who do handmade kitchens and are very good and give them my budget and see if they can supply units for builder to fit for our budget and see what they say, I imagine based on the cost of my parents' kitchen they won't but might be worth asking (parents' cost 25k for less units than we need but that included installation and all neff integrated appliances)

It's always worth asking!

We had a magnet kitchen and were very happy with it. We chose the units and our builder bought them for us at trade prices so it wasn't that expensive. When we sold the house six or so years later they still looked very smart and survived both accident prone dh and two toddlers.

My parents had their Magnet kitchen installed a couple of years before we did and it still looks smart with no damage/failings ten years later. So I'd say the build quality was good. Certainly a great deal better than the B&Q kitchen we inherited in the house we bought next.

I think a lot is dependent on the look you are after though. I did a vast amount of research when we put in our kitchen, and the reason I went to Magnet was ultimately they had the units we liked (plus our builder recommended them).

nooka we are after a traditional look. Our kitchen isn't that bright and so to lighten it up (we currently have oak units which really make the room look smaller) we were thinking painted wood type of look. At Magnet we like shaker cream and linton units but with granite worktop. Also in the dining room we will have victorian dark wood chairs (just need to get them upholstered) and so something off white will go with any furniture we have and not close the room in too much and make it look too small. That's the plan anyway!

Sounds very nice :)

We have those units in our kitchen. I don't know whether it is a Magnet kitchen, but the units are identical. Just two comments though. Our drawers are very shallow and I am always having to clean the indents on the cupboards because they are real dust traps.

Thanks bun duly noted and will consider

Whenever I hear about Magnet kitchens I think of the drawn-out industrial dispute back in the day, 70s. I vowed I'd never go buy anything from them. To me they are a bunch of arseholes, but then I'm in Australia and don't have to have qualms about this. :o

None of this is helpful to the OP's particular case; but I had to say it, in the spirit of turning one's back on Thatcher's funeral kind of thing.

I agree with soaccidentprone. Getting a made to measure kitchen may not be as expensive as you think. Also the likes of the big stores, for instance, seem to quote very high. Your local family run company will often have access to many more manufacturers so the choice is much greater. They will also have to cut their margins to compete with the likes of Magnet,Homebase etc. so you can often find that for a good quality fitted kitchen you can pay much less. I worked for a family company until my recent retirement so I do have experience of the prices various companies charge.

I have just had a Magnet kitchen installed bought through Magnet trade via my builder's account - huge discounts. The designer in the trade branch was excellent and not at all pushy, which was refreshing as I can't stand the sell in showrooms. When I went into the retail showroom to have a look at their better displays they offered to undercut the trade price! I got trade to match the price and stuck with them. One word of warning - I bought the handleless Integra range in grey and white and it looks fantastic, but was a pig to install as we were the first kitchen in south Wales to be installed - but the builder came up trumps in the end. Time will tell how it lasts.

Thanks. Just an update. The Magnet kitchen was more expensive than a locally hand made to measure wooden kitchen (even with the cheaper magnet kitchen and laminate worktop). We went via magnet trade and discount was 50%, but when we went to regular Magnet they had a 50% off sale so no real advantage of going that route. Maybe my builder would also take a cut from this too which is why discount not so huge . We've chosen a made to measure kitchen but are compromising on laminate worktop not granite (we might upgrade to granite at a later date). We are just awaiting to hear from the builder that he's happy to go ahead with this independent and hoping he won't change his prices given he'll be getting a cut if we went elsewhere via him.

We just did our kitchen and I looked at everyone. An independent local company quoted 24k (it is a big kitchen) which was too much. I thought Magnet, Howdens, Ikea, etc were are comparable quality-wise. An interior decorator friend said that many in her industry used Ikea carcasses with custom made doors for bespoke kitchens. The kitchen we inherited was 20 yrs old Ikea, 3 families w kids & dogs, and was still looking good and perfectly working but needed to be removed to do essential structural work to kitchen. We went with Ikea in the end and granite counter tops. Everyone asks if we had a custom made kitchen it looks so good! FYI we used Granite & Marble UK (www.granitelondon.net/) near Vauxhall as they had great prices and did a fab job.

My magnet cream kitchen looks nice also but quality is not as good as perceived....just a year old and already on third fridge freezer doors due to bowing. They came out yesterday and confirmed i need all new doors, fascia's because they are bowing like a banana!!! Kitchen not heavily used. They say I am the only person this has happened to but i know from other sources that this is not the case. I expect the new doors will bow also and then the tough talking starts as i cannot allow the disruption of the last year continue for the next 15 yrs!!! We have not yet been able to have glass splashbacks fitted after ordering from another company so we are in limbo. Also should mention took nearly 7 weeks to fit tiny kitchen and i had to write to MD in order to get completed in this time so itsnot just the quality of products.

The Magnet sales are not genuine sales so half price is the most you should ever pay. We have a small kitchen and Magnet in Enfield quoted £50K for an mdf kitchen but £25K for today. Bloody mad. Went with one of the better B&Q ones with all Bosch appliances and an expensive work top from elsewhere for a lot less than Magnet and it is great. Neighbours used Magnet and bits of the order were missing and it took ages for them to sort out, does look good though. I wanted JL initially but they took forever. Try B&Q, Stuart is Enfield is brilliant at the design and their whole attitude was about giving us what we wanted whereas Magnet was more "computer says no" and they insisted we met the planner on a weekend before the offer ended so we had to drag DC along. Shite IME.

We looked around and in the end went with a Magnet kitchen from their mid-price range. The designer from Magnet was excellent, and thought of lots of things I wouldn't have considered, I really feel he gave us the best layout possible (and no, i don't work for them!).

The prices in the brochure bear no resemblance whatsoever to what you will pay. For a start, just like DFS, they seem to have a permanent 50% off sale. Even with that, the kitchen I liked with the units I wanted was going to come out at £12k which was way more than we could afford. The magnet designer then basically asked me what I could afford and designed to that budget. So some units/cupboards came in at 50% of the list price, and for some we paid 20% of the listed price. One unit I wanted was listed at over £2k full price but we ended up paying less than £400 for it. I think the final price was around 25 - 30% of what the supposed full price was.

We went elsewhere for (granite) worktops as the Magnet guy said straight away that we would be better buying them from a stonemanson as it would be cheaper for us.

So far everything is fine, but we've only had it since the summer so i might be telling a different story in a year's time. But so far so good.

Weare looking to install a new kitchen, first time I'm doing it. Looked around at a few brands. Liked a magnet kitchen. The kitchen is a galley kitchen, the quote we got is for 5k. Does it seem a reasonable price? The kitchen is from their mid-range, Studio Creme with laminate worktop. The installation cost is 2.5k. Any opinions? I didn't expect the installation to cost so much. Is it too pricey?

Hi please post an update on the Integra kitchen - is it working out ok? Any drawbacks? We are thinking of going for the Fantasy Oak version. Appreciate all feedback. Thanks!

Magnet Kitchens - 25 units delivered, 18 days, still no kitchen, endless promises, still no kitchen!! Dont touch Magnets.

we just bought a magnet kitchen and our experience was terrible. We are having it installed and it seems that 2 cupboard doors are missing. We contacted magnet who said because we didn't report this within a 14 day period we have to pay for an additional 2 doors! Who has their kitchen fitted the day that it arrives?! They were completely inflexible about this, even though the non-delivery is their fault. I would never use them again.

I don't know about the magnet but if you are going to buy the units from them and get your own builder to install then you should contact a professional to work for you.

I would say check your deal really thoroughly. Magnet didn't deliver two kitchen cabinet doors and because our builder didn't install the kitchen until more than two weeks after the delivery they refused to supply them unless we paid for them again! We also had problems with their fitters for the worktop which has never been properly sealed, and with their floor which was cheap but is very insubstantial .... I'm not sure i would use them again.

bought a magnet kitchen about 4 yrs ago this was good quality but pricey. recently requested small mod to allow fitting different cooker
magnet did not want to know job too small they said.
so much for after sales service. AVOID Magnet joinery
much better service available elsewhere.