Lamona appliances - any recent experience?

[LyraLilly]

I've been to view a new build today, which I liked a lot. I loved the kitchen, all the appliances are integrated and are branded Lamona who I hadn't heard of. A quick Google showed up some awful reviews, but some are quite old, so I was hoping that someone here might have more recent, hopefully positive, experience of them.

It would seem that they are Howden's own brand of electricals but are actually rebrands of other makes.

Any info gratefully received.

@notheragain4 I think it's beko.

Good luck with Smeg down the line! Style over substance!

@MarieG10 you do realise viewing ONE new build doesn't mean you speak for the thousands of houses being built by a plethora of developers? Tarring every new build house with the same brush is a bit like saying every "old" house is dysfunctional and a money pit. If we knew who the developer was and if it was the same then that might be a fairer opinion.

@notheragain4 Hmmm, my carpenter (who is a family friend) is a contractor who has worked on many a new build in London. His experience is the same as pp. He was shocked by how 'cheaply' done the kitchens/bathrooms were for the prices being charged - he would know, he was the one fitting them! Said it was easy money for the developers, and told me to avoid new builds like the plague, unless I got a very good deal on one.

In order to get a 'good deal' on a new build, you'd probably need to get it at a 30% reduction, which would be a price closer to what they're actually worth (new builds are notoriously over-priced in London). A friend of mine also viewed a flat in a popular new build in Camden, where prices start from circa £650k - he too was shocked by how 'cheap' the kitchen appeared. These flats are developed for investors abroad so why would developers care?

@My0My

Good luck with Smeg down the line! Style over substance!

Agreed, if Which reviews are anything to go by - they perform very badly in those.

I guess you can't go wrong with your standard Bosch, Neff, AEG etc.

Don't worry, my only Smeg appliance is a 5 ring gas hob with knobs on the side rather than the front (my boobs like to control knobs at the front )- Smeg was the only one we could find. Built in double oven is Hotpoint - my 3rd in 20 years and 4 kitchens. All other appliances are freestanding so easily (cheaply!) replaceable

Agree totally with pp about large overpriced housing developments cheaply fitted out with crap specifications. Especially 'luxury' flats with central electric heating and air con but no water softeners and cheap chrome taps/showers which are destroyed by the hard water we have here.

@notheragain4

Suggest you read The Times then this morning about what the Grenfell enquiry has heard about evidence and builders in general about how they used to employ their own tra amen and now it is mainly (85%) subcontracted out. The subcontractor then subcontracts more of it out so the end person doing the work has little interest in quality and safety. Pretty much sums it up I think

Ps... not just based on one experience. Several friends have all bought new and had similar experience. However this was one I actually looked at for myself.

I have Lamona dishwasher, hob, oven and fridge freezer. All are 6 years old and still going strong. I've had no issues with any of them.

@MarieG10 I suggest you read my comment again, nothing you have written there changes anything I had previously written. If you want to find out who the developer was and find information about them specifically, crack on, but you can't generalise an entire generation of houses based purely on the year they were put up, it's nonsensical.

@Smallgoon yes I've heard the "dad is a builder" "my uncle is an electrician" they wouldnt touch them a barge pole bla bla bla, never any direct experience themselves (appreciate plenty have bad experiences but people always seem to be keen to talk about the tradesmen in their lives like its's gospel). Yes there are shit new builds and developers out there, but like anything not all new builds are built equally, you can't generalise an entire style of house based on the year they were built.

Yes you pay more for a new build than an older houses usually (when similar sizes etc) in a new build you are getting brand new appliances, kitchen, bathrooms, boiler, roof, often flooring, usually a more environmentally friendly and energy efficient house with limited maintenance costs and a warranty, of course that costs more you're not going to have to pay out on any works in a while. Just as you pay more for a newly renovated house, I'm sure you wouldn't bat an eye at two identical houses being sold for differing prices based on the work done on them? New builds around here cost £20-30k more than their similarly sized older counterparts, but how much will people spend putting in a new kitchen and maintenance on moving in or shortly after? I can't speak for everywhere else but in my area I think the price difference is fair. I know in London the issue is more acute where help to buy does seem to have artificially allowed much too high prices that are difficult to maintain on selling, particularly as you generally live in a flat for a shorter time. But I'm not in London.

There are developers I wouldnt touch with a barge pole, but after living in 3 new builds I know exactly what I'm looking for, how to research a developer and my way around them generally. My argument remains there is no such thing as a "new build description" that fairly describes every house built in the last 2 years, it's a lazy argument to say otherwise.

We have a lamona dishwasher in our howdens kitchen. 4 years on its still working well and our kitchen also looks good as new. I’d get howdens / lamona again for sure

This has been useful, thank you.

Unfortunately the house is already complete, if we were negotiating whilst it was still being built we'd have specified higher spec appliances. It's non estate, the last one available in a small development on an existing residential road. We've put in an offer as we love so many other things about it, keeping some money in the pot in case we need to replace or upgrade anything in the kitchen. The bathrooms and boiler are a better spec which is great.

Wrt the price. We viewed an existing property, similar size and layout, the asking price is within 5% of the new build in an area in which house prices are relatively low. So I don't feel we're paying a premium for the new build at all.

We had a lamona cooker and it was pretty naff. The over door exploded for apparently no explicable reason, twice! I think the brand is cheap and not built to last.

@LyraLilly the house we are buying was passed the kitchen stage too. Thankfully we were happy with what was picked generally (would have upgraded a couple things but there we go).

As it's that close to completion you should have some negotiation leverage in other ways, see what kind of incentives they offer (different developers do different things) legal fees, mortgage cash back, we are getting removals paid for (we just want the cash, they label it as something for the lender).

@Smallgoon yes I've heard the "dad is a builder" "my uncle is an electrician" they wouldnt touch them a barge pole bla bla bla, never any direct experience themselves (appreciate plenty have bad experiences but people always seem to be keen to talk about the tradesmen in their lives like its's gospel). Yes there are shit new builds and developers out there, but like anything not all new builds are built equally, you can't generalise an entire style of house based on the year they were built.

@notheragain4 You can be dismissive all you want. Yes, my thoughts centre on London new builds, since I'm based in London. Unsurprisingly, it will now be the new builds that will struggle to shift, since they're grossly over-priced in the first place.

However, I'm more inclined to believe a carpenter, whose very career for the last 5 years has centred around new build properties, in key part of London, since these have been prioritised by the govt. He laughs at the quality that the poor folk parting with £500k are going to receive, oblivious because all they see is a 'nice looking bathroom', or a decent looking kitchen which is made up of cheap units/appliances.Not to mention the shortcuts that are taken to complete on time, which also means the finishing on these properties is sub-standard.

New builds work for some, and those people should crack on, though if they have any sense they'll only purchase right now if there's a significant drop in price. But for others, like me, I prefer to choose my own decor and have my kitchen made to my exact spec.

@Smallgoon I'm sure you realise that one carpenter can not speak for every new build in the country? As good as a carpenter as he may be.

@notheragain4 Yes of course, but my opinion isn't formed of what a single carpenter had to say. As I mentioned, I'm of an age whereby me and my friends are now purchasing. Unsurprisingly, none purchased a new build. I also mentioned that a lot of the London new builds are geared towards overseas investors, who probably could care less about how good a kitchen is. Location is what sells in London.

@Smallgoon This thread is about lamona appliances. It really doesn't need to become a "oh I wouldn't touch a new build thread". London is one part of the country. Every house has been a "new build" at one time, and in every generation there are snobs who put them down for various reason. It's a tired discussion.

@notheragain4 I'm well aware that this thread is on Lamona appliances. But you derailed it when you it started your 'not all new builds are crap' after pp mentioned lots of new builds had Lamona appliances...

For what it's worth, the flat I purchased was built 12 years ago, but feel free to tar me with the 'anti-new build snobbery' brush (which in itself is ironic given your posts in this thread...).

I hated everything about the flat I bought; it was dull, generic and identical to every other flat in the same block (which is fine, if that's what you like...). I decided to rip everything out and start again, to my particular taste/finish. Not a Lamona appliance in sight. It works for me.

Just to say that I have had a Lamona gas hob for the last seven years. It is still working but the plastic knobs are awful. Cheap plastic which means they cracked underneath after a couple of years and all now pop off when I wipe them. A few years ago they would have cost about £8 each to replace so I have learned to live with them until one day the whole hob may need replacing.

We moved into a new build with a Howdens kitchen and appliances last December. The builders use Howdens so we went along with the appliances and like you LyraLilly kept a budget to replace if we didn' like them. We love the kitchen units. However most of the appliances have been a nightmare. The undercounter freezer drawers once opened will not shut unless you take them completely out and put them in again. The engineer called a week ago and said there was a fault which was causing the doors to drop away from the runners which he couldn't repair. He said he would recommend a replacement although we haven't officially heard yet. The drawers always felt wobbly and cheap.

Next is the sink. When we met with Howdens to choose the litchen I asked for their best quality sink. In the previous house we had a Blanco sink which I was really happy with. So their best quality sink was fitted. Not happy tho. Sounds like a tin can when tapped. Developed very obvious scratches after just 4 weeks - they said it was wear and tear (after 4 weeks?) but the main issue is the razor sharp edge all around tne sink on which I cut my finger. To be fair and to our relief they have agreed to replace the sink.

Next are the work surfaces. We went with the laminate square edged. This had blown along a join and has let in moisture. It's degrading by the dishwasher and by the sink. The undersurface of the laminate is just showing the bare chipboard. Also there's no condensation strip above the dishwasher so the laminate is crumbling. Happily Howdens have also agreed to replace the worksurfaces. Howdens only offer 12 month guarantee with the laminate work surfaces so now thinking of giving up on the laminate and paying for quartz.

Next is the gas hob. My main concern with this hob is that the pans fall off the pan stands so as they're replacing the work surfaces we've decided to buy a new hob with better pan supports. Oh yes it also takes a few attempts to get the gas going and fiddly to turn down really low.

Lastly is the electric fan oven. Nothing has gone wrong with the oven yet just not happy with a) the fact it doesn't cook evenly. Have to turn food which I didn't expect to be doing in a fan oven b) shelves slide out too easily so worried about things ending up on the floor. Just don't feel safe c) door quite hot to touch when oven is on d) takes a while to cool down which is fine but its quite noisy and irritating while you're eating your meal. So will be replacing that too.

Well I think that's about it. I hope this story has been of some use.

I'm in the process of having a new Howdens kitchen installed and Lamona appliances are in the quote. I had never heard of the name previously but of course I know they don't actually make washing machines, tumble driers and dishwashers themselves so knew they were made by other brands. I had the independent kitchen fitter out today and he says they are mostly rebranded Beko's. He has them himself and has no complaints at all with them. In fact he prefers them as they carry a 3 year warranty and if anything goes wrong during that time, Howdens will fix it at their cost, or replace it with new. That's a good deal to me.

my-kitchen.howdens.com/plan/s3B3900371001F9i

I had a Howdens fitted Kitchen and bought all Lamona appliances. The Fridge Freezer had three years guarantee. 5 days after the guarantee expired it broke down and is unrepairable. Original cost was £335

Ours are still going strong, nearly 8 years for the dishwasher, fridge and freezer! They came with the house which had just had a Howdens kitchen installed and no issues so far (except the dishwasher handle is starting to wobble a bit!).

Lamona: Cheap and mostly crap. Remove them and get Bosch or similar. Check the hob snd oven electric supply so you can buy decent appliances. Men who say they are ok never use them. They would persuade me not to buy a house!!