New Kitchens - Howdens?

[penguinsnpandas]

Buying a thatched cottage which has a small 11x8 kitchen in galley style - a bit dated so would like to add a new traditional one in, probably Shaker style white or cream with solid oak worktop and a Rangemaster cooker.

Contacted builder who says he usually gets from Howdens - any experience of them? Alternatives? How long is normal to wait for installation - also getting quote from Homebase but they say fitters don't come until end September, was aiming for end August. Husband wants tiles on the floor as he wants a waterproof floor, are there any better tiles for this? Any other good kitchen companies? Aiming to spend £10k including fitting and appliances, cooker will be £2k, need fridge, freezer and dishwasher. Currently have Homebase kitchen which has lasted very well, fitting was a nightmare but not Homebase fitters. Thanks very much.

Worth speaking to Benchmarx, we have a lovely shaker style kitchen with rangemaster cooler from them.
They are generally pretty good at working to your timescales as well.

We have a Howdens kitchen, love it. Looks brill, very similar cost to IKEA but much shorter waiting times for delivery.

Thanks very much - glad you love yours Sausage and will have a look at Benchmarx. Trying to get the painted ones not the pvc as sometimes these don't last and need a traditional look.

We were thrilled with our Howdens kitchen. Really good quality and we are 6 months in with no issues at all. Buy in October though when they have their sale! You will save a fortune! It is a genuine sale too, unlike some other kitchen companies.

Thanks very much - I saw the sale was once a year and we maybe to work round October if they can fit in the half term.

One thing to note is that Howdens incentivize builders - so essentially some of the money you spend on the kitchen will go to the builder. But a lot of people seem to be happy with them.

You'll never really know how much a Howden's kitchen costs and the sale price means absolutely nothing. The price is a deal between the fitter and Howdens, and how much of the discount they pass onto the customer is entirely up to the fitter.

I chose not to go with Howdens and got a small local firm to fit a Lochanna kitchen. It worked out cheaper than the Howdens quote and the pricing was all transparent. Our kitchen also came with some fittings as standard that Howdens charge extra for, such as soft-closers on the doors. Howdens will also quote for their own range of appliances which are absolutely awful and to be avoided.

You're definitely best to shop around.

Our builder shudders whenever anyone mentions Howdens - we're going with Benchmarx who have been wonderful so far, a good range and very helpful team.

Thanks very much - we are getting three quotes Homebase, the builder with Howdens and a joiner who makes kitchens. I'ld love the joiners one but wonder if it will be off our price scale but we will see.

Try DIY Kitchens online, very reasonable prices. Prices are on their website, so you can price it up, if you know what units you need.

Thanks very much - yes I do know what units we want though need to double check measurements, just completed today. Good to know exact prices, builder asked me to choose from Howdens but sometimes it depends on price what I would choose and no prices.

The Howdens one we put in last year(Burford Tongue & Groove) is still looking great. My joiner is completely transparent on pricing to the point that I just went into Howdens and paid the money straight to his account with them, he then charged me an hourly rate for the installation.

Just had a modern Howdens kitchen fitted seems very nice but as others have said the price depends on the discount the fitter negotiates with Howdens . The appliances are guaranteed for 2 years and are called Lamona. Probably not the best and so I would wait till the January sales and get something better. Wicks winter sale compared well with Howdens. The lack of transparency can be a problem for some people. WE paid just under £2000 for hob, oven extractor and 8 units incl 3 drawers and a laminate worktop (exc fitting)

Hate Howdens wanky hidden pricing I would avoid
We have some in our utility, quality seems fine.

Thanks very much. DH just had the joiner round for a quote though DH isn't great with this and when asked what he wants always says I don't know so guy couldn't give a complete quote. DH said he said it would be around 6-8k but DH isn't sure for what - sounded like for off the shelf units with a timber frame and doors they handmake but not appliances. DH wasn't sure if it included installation. DH said he also said they could do tiling and painting so presumably that is extra as well as flooring extra. DH said we currently have 14 units.

Most joiners I know rate Howdens kitchens similar to Ikea. Decent quality, mid range. Bit better than B&Q and Homebase which would be seen as more 'budget'. Our joiner recently fitted a Wren kitchen though and although he was sceptical, said he couldn't fault it.

We have had a Howdens fitted for 3years now and we love it, got it in the Oct sale too with the appliances (double cooker and washing machine) and wood worktops it was around 5k fitted x

We have been looking at kitchens.
Howden's were not up front about prices and the kitchen designer told us only two of their kitchens were decent quality - the rest were 'only fit for rental properties and even then only really cheap ones' which I found an astonishing thing to say. We never got a final price, after two drops in price we gave up. Thought the range was limited.
Wren's were terrible. Looked great on the surface, lovely showroom but could wipe 2, 3 and £4000 off the price as soon as DH said he wasn't happy and then offered us another £3400 off when we went to another place to look. (Supposedly all ontop of their 50% discount offer) I questioned customer after care service as I have read it is centralised and awful if things go wrong and they could not reassure us it is any better.
Benchmarx seemed ok but did not have a kitchen we liked.
Tecaz were over-priced and limited, quality didn't impress us.
We settled on Magnet and have found them wonderful - had 3 kitchens we loved and more stylish in a timeless way. Prices were competitive and upfront, especially quartz worktops. Price matched appliances if we found better deals - including a hob we chose which was expensive and much the same price everywhere and then we found it on offer on the internet for £540 less and they matched it. Really attentive and helpful staff. Definitely worth a look.
Looked at local places which offer 'exclusive' stuff but the prices were madness.
Second Nature kitchen place but it was a hard sell and made us feel uncomfortable. He kept trying to get us to choose things we didn't want.

I think with Howdens you get your final price via your fitter/joiner. I don't think what your kitchen designer said was fair. I've heard from trades people (who've seen a lot of them) that Howdens generally do decent kitchens for the money. They're not the cheapest either so landlords would be more likely to get from b&q or the likes I would think.

We went with Howdens. Don’t know if our builder wasn’t getting it but he kept forwarding the price list from Howdens so I could see exactly what everything was costing. We worked with one of their designers who was v helpful and did loads of iterations until I was happy. Wouldn’t go with their appliances though. I also provided my own tap, sink, splashback and worktop. I think you can get a more bespoke look by mixing in other bits. Magnet seemed v expensive in comparison. Homebase never even bothered to get back to me about a design visit which in retrospect I think was because the company is in a bit of a mess following its disastrous takeover

Our builder pushed for Howdens, but we eventually ordered from DIY kitchens, as we could get higher spec for less money. When he installed it, the builder confirmed that the products were, indeed, better than Howdens. I think there was nearly £1000 difference in like-for-like quotes. We did, however, buy the oak work surface somewhere else (but I can’t remember where).

As for your budget, I guess it depends where in the country you are exactly what’s pec you want etc. I think we paid around £4K for fitting, but I think our kitchen was probably bigger. We didn’t But such an expensive cooker, but did buy all integrated appliances, and a large American fridge-freezer, so I think we ended up paying about £12k.

We have a Howdens kitchen. We had amazing customer service when something quite major went wrong - the company were brilliant.

Spongebob We have friends who have Howden's kitchens and they say they are great. But when the Howden's designer is telling you that about them, it is hard to put it aside, especially when one of the only ones I liked was the one he said was their worst quality kitchen.

Our builder says he likes Magnet and Benchmarx followed by Howden's and Wren in terms of quality and service. Says Wren is as good quality as Howden's and fine if nothing goes wrong but the company is a nightmare if something is wrong- phone calls are directed to a central line nationally, you wait ages, there are nowhere near enough staff and can literally wait weeks. Mind you he did some work last summer for someone who was having a Howden's kitchen and Howden's sold her a worktop that they could not get or fit for 6 months but did not tell her and just kept putting her off and cancelling. She spent Christmas with a new kitchen, old worktops, hob and cooker and sink because they could not be fitted until new ones were in place- which were by then in her garage. A week after Christmas they told her to get someone to fit them and they would pay because they could not do it until February.

Ive just had a howdens kitchen fitted by our builder. I love it! Iv been very impressed.

I’ve put Ikea kitchens in 4 houses / flats. Great quality and cheaper than Howdens (they are in next day delivery).

Get a good fitter whoever you go with.