Any integrated appliances tips?

[BauerTime]

Really want my new kitchen to have integrated fridge/freezer, dishwasher, single oven and combi oven (so it is/looks like double oven but is also a microwave). Been looking at the prices and WOW. The ovens we've seen in the showrooms have been mostly Neff but I'm not fussed about make as long as they work well and look ok. But I'm equally happy to pay Neff prices if they are worth it. Fridges and freezers I just want ones with lots of internal space and dishwasher - well I'm a novice there so don't know what I want! I've seen one with drawers instead of pull down front which looks cool but I'm assuming it's style over substance there.

)))))) Integrated appliances ((((((
In four years when they break down you'll never get one the same size to fit in the gap or the door to cover it.

Go for matching simple white goods instead

yes - don't. Classic for form over function. You will pay a lot more for a worse machine. When they fail you will also pay a lot more for replacement and fitting.

oh, and a dishwasher with drawers is incredibly restrictive, so hard to fill, so wasteful.

Integrated standard fridge/freezer/dishwashers are always going to be available the same size (600mm) unit and have standard fittings.

Microwaves/ovens can be different heights and can cause problems in future, if you either stick with a standard size or have fillers available if you need to change at a later date you should be ok. All our appliances are integrated and look much better than white/silver/black etc appliances showing. Only issue with them is they tend t o be a little smaller inside and a little bit more expensive.

Love integrated appliances, but would not go for an integrated fridge/freezer as difficult to defrost/clean without ruining housing unit. Also more likely to smell as the back of the unit cannot be properly accessed for cleaning up spills.

toggo what would you spill into the back of the housing unit? Can't say I've ever managed that one myself! Best case scenario is that the existing appliances can be re-used in new kitchen (bar oven as I want the combi) but not sure how realistic that is as the kitchen is quite old.

Well we have just ordered an integrated fridge fezzes in the sale at JL, don't understand comments about replacements and defrosting. If you go for 50/50 split then same size doors 60/40 split same doors will be used, only problem would be if you changed the ratio when you come to replace.
Also not a problem with defrosting, we bought a frost free one, got a cracking deal too, was £500, paid £250 :-)

What I mean by that is 50/50 splits will all require same size doors and so as long you don't change ratio when you replace it will be fine

Wish we were ready to order now the sales are on, but unfortunately we won't be ordering until April/may

BauerTime The point I was trying to make is that you cannot just move an integrated fridge/freezer unit to clean underneath and behind it.

I once had a carton of milk leak into my old built-in unit and the milk worked itself through the fridge door under the fridge and into the wooden housing unit. It really stank and I was unable to clean it properly as I could not reach all the milk that had gone into the back of the housing unit.

Also, if I was a bit careless when defrosting the unit, some of the water would often drip down out of the fridge to form a small puddle that eventually worked itself into the housing unit so that the wood became a bit warped and mouldy over time.

I have had integrated units for about 6 years now and none has gone wrong - touch wood. the main problem with the integrated fridgefreezer has been that it is much smaller than a non integrated one.
The plus side of the integrated units is that it makes the kitchen look really neat and nothing falls between the units (no need for cleaning behind them.)