Howdens v IKEA carcasses only

[Citygirlrurallife]

Any feedback? Our builder really wants us to go with Howdens (obviously more expensive but come ready built not flat pack)

if we go with Howdens they can also build out our corner unit. If we go with ikea we’d need to get that made bespoke

if howdens we’ll use naked kitchens for the door fronts, if ikea we’ll go with Plykea

both are affordable for us so it’s down to quality really

Howdens. Stronger, better quality. The cost you save with Ikea will be lost in the extra labour charges to make the carcasses up. Ask the builder to also cross cost against Benchmark.

Also look at DIY Kitchens.

I would not get Howdens, the quality is not great. I think builders get discounts on Howdens too, so they are probably putting on extra margin in the cost to you,
We've had an Ikea kitchen in our old flat and it's still going after 16 years! One thing to watch is the sizes/measurements in Ikea aren't always standard. We had to get an oak counter top made last minute to fit the depth, although this might have changed now, was a ling time ago.

My IKEA kitchen has been in 20 years and carcasses still going strong.

We have IKEA carcasses (and fronts unfortunately). We like the carcasses as they are deeper then Howdens.

We need to replace the fronts as lots of them are splitting and we won't have IKEA ones again - but do like the carcasses.

Builders get big trade discounts on Howdens.

IKEA kitchens recently came out almost at the top of one of the Which? Consumer guides.

Howden's are a waste of time - your builder will get kickbacks from them, hence they are keen to use Howden's. Doubly so if they can't be arsed to put together some cabinets.

We put an IKEA kitchen in our old house - the carcasses were really heavy duty - and far superior to the stuff in our new house, which cost considerably more. The IKEA carcasses have a 25 year guarantee and are rated to about 25kg.

They also have a much greater variety in widths for their cabinetry, from (I think) 10cm to over a meter, so I would check what your builder says when he says a corner unit would need to be bespoke.

We recently had an Ikea fitted. Carcasses and external doors etc are excellent. We paid for them to do the Labour too

It's really easy to build an ikea carcass, literally takes minutes, so if you're joiner us kicking up a fuss, build them yourself. We went ikea, love it.

I have had both and noticed that the newer Ikea was not as good as the older version (previous home) and we've had to remove the foil coating (it started to lift very quickly and the kitchen had light usage) and have now repainted the doors, which has given them a second life. We bought (they gave us a trade account) and fitted a Howden's kitchen ourselves (7 years and counting), but had worktops from a different supplier, plus bought our own appliances, handles etc. It has been great and I do think a great deal of how well a kitchen does is down to how well it is initally fitted too. One tip, get the overhang on the worktops right, alongside the worktop profile, so is is robust and any fluid runs onto the floor and not onto the units. Not sure what either company is like presently.

I built and fitted an IKEA kitchen and it was a piece of piss. I was 7 months pregnant at the time. If you want them, and your fitter is going to moan about it, then just build them yourself and then get him to fit - it's no harder than a Billy bookcase.

I then moved into a place with a brand new Howden's kitchen in situ and it was such poor quality by comparision. I actually think the problems we had were than the fitter in that instance had done a sloppy job though.

Also agree have a look at DIY Kitchens.
I used a fitter who did a lot of Howdens and was quite negative at first about my DIY, and then at the end said he was converted and would be recommending them. Said they were a better carcass. This was 4 years ago.

We had Howdens kitchen and for the utility we bought second hand which were Ikea carcass with custom doors. Was very surprised how much better the IKEA ones were.

Very interesting responses - Thankyou!

we’re actually looking at DIY kitchens too and I’m erring towards them as we’ll have their doors as well as carcasses so it might just make everything simpler

We are currently renovating. Husband is an ex-tradesman and I asked about Howdens kitchens, he point blank refused to even consider as he said they are a nightmare company to deal with, always stuff missing which they take ages to sort. He said the quality is ok but no better than Homebase, B&Q etc.
That said he also said no to IKEA kitchens because he doesn’t like the quality so he’s possibly just being super fussy!

Every single high street company uses MDF for their carcasses. It's all much of a muchness.

We literally just made this decision - went with Howdens purely because they do a pantry cupboard, they have a wider range of unit sizes and they do a bridging unit to go over a US-style fridge freezer. Price is only marginally more than IKEA for carcasses only.

We’re getting the doors from Custom Fronts as they’re one of the few companies that do ply doors for Howdens. Their quote was also considerably cheaper than Plykea.

Also this - I really don’t think there’s much between any of them on quality. How sturdy it is will be much more dependant on how it’s put together and fitted.

There are several makes that have a ready built option, so I wouldn't pick based on that alone. I don't know what the quality of IKEA units is like. But we did recently bought a Howdens kitchen on recommendation, and have been very happy with it so far.

I was going to recommend DIY kitchens. We’re really happy with ours. So many options to customise etc. Our fitter was very happy with them too.

Howdens are just a rip off - they make up the price based on how much they think you’ll be gullible enough to pay.

I agree with @NeonSoda.

we managed to get a trade account with Howdens, they regularly tell you the trade price of the kitchen is about 70% off the quoted price. I guess that’s why builders like them.

Ikea is well recommended by Which. Cons for IKEA is that many ranges don’t come with a huge choice of sizes. Ie Cabinets will come n 60cm and 40cm but there will be no 50 or 30. The other thing is they are much deeper, most British made units are made shallower so that services (plumbing pipes) can run behind. IKEA cabinets will need to have holes cut out to run the pipes through (unless you leave a space next to the wall and have a deeper worktop).

Ive used Howden and they are Ok. But don’t ever buy their own brand appliances. Howdens tend to only give whole kitchen quotes, so it’s hard to know what changes in cabinetry will be the most cost effective.

I’ve used Imperial Crown kitchens in the past via a plumbers merchants in my town. The price is usually as in their price list less 25% plus Vat. Last time I looked they had started offering a prebuilt service.

One way of checking cabinetry quality is to look at what the thickness is of the backing board.

Ikea has Satan's own customer service, so watch that. My sister had a kitchen from them, and it took weeks of nonsense to get the whole thing delivered. Things turned up broken and then customer service was appallingly bad - and days and days and days of whole day delivery slots with nothing actually delivered. Never again.

I also recommend DIY kitchens. They come assembled, your fitter will save time. The peg and dowel construction is more robust than screws.

We found the IKEA ranges had far more width options than any other manufacturer!

Thanks for all DIY kitchens rec. unfortunately the handleless doors they only do painted and we want some of them in wood

Thanks for all DIY kitchens rec. unfortunately the handleless doors they only do painted and we want some of them in wood