Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

DIY Kitchens vs Howden #4587601

12 replies

chris2x1 · 29/03/2018 20:00

I know this has been done to death and i have read up on a lot but i feel i still need some advice.

Got howdens quote for my kitchen which was £8500 approx
Got DIY Kitchens to quote and it was £5200 approx

Pros of Howdens is its 5 mins from my house, in central belt scotland.
Pros of DIY Kitchens is its nearly half price.

Do DIY Kitchens really rectify issues really quickly if something comes damaged?

I have attached a rough like for like comparison on most of the items in each quote.

DIY Kitchens vs Howden #4587601
OP posts:
Tobuyornot99 · 30/03/2018 11:51

Can't comment on one vs other as have neither, but I know that advice is usually not to buy appliances from either but to shop around more widely. Good luck with your new kitchen!

Original poster
chris2x1 · 30/03/2018 13:37

Thanks for replying, yeah am taking appliances and worktops off quotes and getting my own!

It's the actual carcasses that are more than double with howdens which is crazy!

OP posts:
4yearsnosleep · 30/03/2018 16:23

You could see if Howdens will price match? We haven't had ours yet (DIYKitchens) but I've read lots of good reviews. Most of the bad things I've read are people that didn't rate their delivery service (but only booked the basic) and issues with errors with what they'd ordered (due to the plan not being correct) but I've had friends that had bad experiences with Howdens too. DIY Kitchens pre-sales service has so far been excellent and they are very highly rated on Which

Original poster
chris2x1 · 30/03/2018 20:19

@4yearsnosleep yeah I went to howdens to try and match but it was 4:30 on Thursday and they were shutting for long weekend so manager said he will look on Tuesday for me!

When do you get yours?

OP posts:
NotMeNoNo · 30/03/2018 20:59

The carcases are daylight robbery. It's five pieces of chipboard and a £50 door. We have a Howdens kitchen in this house installed by previous owner, it looks nice but the cabinet quality is definitely lower than the DIY kitchens ones in our previous house. No reinforced edges, thin backs, hinges are plugged into the chipboard so it must be weak. They're OK but definitely not worth that price.

4yearsnosleep · 30/03/2018 21:01

🤞🏻 that he can do something. Hold out as long as you can, hopefully it'll get better & better!

Ours is a far away dream of October, I was hoping for September but the screed takes ages to dry! We took advantage of their sale and ordered ahead as it saved us a fortune

Original poster
chris2x1 · 30/03/2018 21:26

@NotMeNoNo yeah that's what I thought, DIY kitchens it is!

OP posts:
cansu · 31/03/2018 11:29

Can I ask what kitchen you are going for from howdens? I am having them come round next week to do design.

FrangipaniBlue · 31/03/2018 11:52

Other thing to bear in mind is that Howdens don't carry a large amount of "spare stock" generally, especially larger items like carcasses, so even if something arrives damaged you may still have to wait for it to be re-ordered as opposed to just driving to your local Howdens for replacements.....

whitemarble · 31/03/2018 12:29

I'm very happy with my diy kitchen having previously had howdens. My builder was sceptical but actually admitted the quality of the units was much better than howdens. My howdens units in my old house were falling apart after 6 years.

It's worth paying the (rip off) price for the 'platinum' delivery if there's likely to be any issue about delivery times or if you won't have people there to help unload. The basic delivery service is awful - basically they expect you to have 2 people available to unload from 8am-10pm for 2 days in a row and won't tell you until the last possible moment when it might actually be Hmm and the attitude of the call centre for delivery is very much 'computer says no', the platinum service was much better though.

There were a couple of things damaged, my builder just repaired them himself as I didn't want to delay the fitting and they weren't anything that would be seen/or affect the structural integrity.

You do have to check & recheck your order though, and make sure you get the right lengths/numbers of cornice/plinth/upstands/end panels/knobs etc. The pre sales advice is pretty good though and when my builder was having issues with the worktop layout they drew one out for me (no extra charge).

Overall I'm v happy with diy kitchens and would definitely use them again.

Original poster
chris2x1 · 31/03/2018 12:29

@cansu white gloss Luca handless

OP posts:
Original poster
chris2x1 · 31/03/2018 12:31

@whitemarble thank you am sold on them for sure, now to find a appliances brand and supplier and worktop supplier Smile

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page