Howdens vs DIY

[Tractortod]

We've had plans and a quote from Howdens, with full discount passed over from builder.

However I guess curiosity is wondering if DIY would be cheaper, however I am just a but shit at this stuff and don't really know what I am looking at in order to draw up a comparable.

Can I send my Howdens quote to them and have them help me draw up the equivalent? Or do I need to find someone who loves to do this stuff for fun to help me

Howdens only sell to trade, but you can diy from wickes or magnet however it's not easy - kitchens are rarely exact sizes and corners aren't 9 degrees, there's usually a bit of cutting and trimming- a good builder means it looks perfect (luckily dad fits kitchens!)

DIY will price up your Howdens design in an equivalent range for you if you send it to the quotes team there. I've got to say, I think the quality of DIY is better and they have lots of different unit sizes many other companies don't which means you can maximise storage.

Oh thank you wowfudge!
Annie sorry if you've misunderstood. Our quote from Howdens came through our builders, who will fit the kitchen. I just feel like I should just check DIY won't be cheaper as it's not our forever home.

Thank you!

I've visited the DIY showroom and was really impressed with the quality and style of the units. They'd done things that I hadn't seen in the Howdens brochure, like split level islands which I really liked. We have a plan from Howdens but my partner just added that plan to the DIY planner himself. Haven't had a quote from Howdens yet though as it was done through a friend who works for them rather than through our builder. I've read a lot of positive posts about DIY on Mumsnet too.

I've had multiple quotes from both! Pluses and minus to both too. Howdens you have no clue how much the things actually cosy. Had two quotes from different branches and different builders and they were vastly different but some units more expensive with one and some with the other. They also claimed to have a corner larder which they don't and were cobbling something together but only found this out at quote two...so currently with DIY at the minute getting that quoted again. So far it is cheaper with DIY especially as because of the colour we'd have to get the howdens one sprayed. Again something we didn't realise as I saw an ad with the colour I wanted in and assumed they did it in that colour but it was their Paintable one and they don't paint it.

So our quote from DIY came in at £5,300 cheaper than Howdens.

I mean jfc, I nearly fell off of my chair.

That's because you won't be getting the full discount from your builder. No trade passes on their full discount and they vary so much. You might be shown a discount, but not the full one.

Yeah - our quote from DIY was 40% cheaper than the one we got from Benchmarx, several thousands of pounds. We'll be ordering it tomorrow - I am very excited!

We got our kitchen from DIY and fitted it ourselves. When it came to electrics/gas, dh did all the channeling out etc and the pros did the actual wiring/piping).
If you are really organised from the point of ordering, through taking delivery etc, it's very straightforward and much much cheaper (plus you get smugness every time you look at the kitchen). The DIY cabinets are of course fully assembled and the wall fixings etc are quite easy to get the hang of.
I'd recommend a garage or gazebo with some protective flooring, get it all delivered into there, then spend some time making sure you know what cabinet is for where. We mocked up the layout outside, then did the actual fit. It took 4 days all in, including getting the appliances up and working.

Also try unitsonline. Similar setup to diy-kitchens.
They were about a third cheaper than my howdens quote plus they did some options that diy didn't.

I hate the pricing structure of Howdens, reason not to use them on it's own. I had a 75% discount on a 2.75 m of plinth bringing it down to £40 in vat. Full price of £160 for a crappy bit of plinth. Okaaaay...

We had full discount on howdens quote... Diy 4k cheaper, better quality.. Absolutely love my new kitchen.

Our builder is flatly refusing to fit a DIY kitchen. Shame as we thought he seemed good but he's shown his true colours.

We will find a new fitter. Can i ask the new fitter to double check plans and ensure we have everything we need? I really don't want to be responsible for that. 😬

Of course you can ask new fitter to check the plans, they’re the expert.
I’m glad you checked against DIY as clearly he wasn’t passing his discount on (his prerogative I guess) but his refusal to fit anything else does speak volumes. He’s probably done you a favour mind as honestly, on the whole, Howdens kitchens are shit, and more often than not people spend even more putting right problems with them to finish fitting. I work in a builders merchants, in sales, and we see it all the time. The carcases are flimsy and the fittings etc tend to be fairly low quality. Of course there’ll be success stories, but that’s just my experience.

I think that pretty much confirms your builder wasn't passing on the full discount - no other reason to be so wedded to Howdens IMO. DIY is excellent quality

This has been such an eye opener.

We are now looking for a new fitter but the original just sent through his quote to fit- no rip out, just a fit and "plumb in and electrics" 3k.

Is that normal?

How long is a piece of string? It would be impossible for us to say over the internet. There’s no way I would use the original guy now tho.

Can I ask a daft question
My builder has suggested Howdens
So when you say DIY
Is this wicks etc or a company

Thanks

Ch it's DIY Kitchens they're talking about.

the quality of fitting makes the biggest difference. I use a wrinkly old carpenter who can also do floors, skirting, architrave etc.

Kitchen fitters are notorious for non-compliant and shoddy electrical and plumbing work hidden away out of sight. No doubt there are good ones. My preference is to have it done by professionals while the kitchen is empty, but this will add time. unless you pull out the old kitchen yourself and camp out until it's all finished.

Thanks ... off to google now.

DIY kitchens are better quality cabinets than Howden, we had the first in our previous house & howdens now. I mean the Howdens is perfectly serviceable but not as solid or well finished. Maybe that's not what you need if you're planning to sell. But don't pay more for lower quality!
To compare doors you need to read the small print re paint, veneer etc on each style.

DIY Kitchens is better than all of them. No I don’t work for them.

I'm 98% certain we will be using DIY.

We are going to rip out the kitchen best we can ourselves (hope I'm not under estimating how hard this will be)

BIL Can do electrics and is going to give is his fitters number , their kitchen looks great so no concerns there. Just need to find a decent plasterer and plumber I guess now?

I really didn't want to be organising trades but I'm fed up of hearing "I can do it all"! And that actually mean I'm a Jack of all trades, master of none.