Kitchens

[Toooldtoworry]

Hi, we are in the process of planning our downstairs remodel. We've had building control go ahead.

In the process of choosing builders and kitchen suppliers. Previously we've had Howdens but they've got very expensive. We've been told magnet or wickes or ventura (live in Southampton area).

Does anyone have any experience with any of these and care to share their experience, or does anyone have any suggestions themselves?

Do not use howdens! Dreadful . Pricing completely hidden and down to your builder, the paint on ours was all slightly different shades of white, the paint flaked off within months. Thin and nasty quality. If you need an extra bit or new bit, they’ll make a fuss and charge the earth.

Avoid Wren, they are known for terrible service

Wren did our kitchen and we found the service excellent...

We got ours from DIY Kitchens. Excellent quality, transparent pricing, bespoke colour and unit options. Highly recommend.

Another vote for DIY Kitchens. My parents fitted one about 5 years ago and we followed suit last year. Very impressed with the quality and pricing. We managed to get solid wood cabinets for the same price as MDF from Howdens.

I used Wickes 9 years ago and my kitchen still looks very good. They have an excellent design service. We also got a great fitter but we could have just been lucky. I've also had a Symphony kitchen in a btl house and it is also good quality and they have a good range of styles and some unique units.

DIY kitchens- prices are great and many excellent Facebook reviews- check the group!

Wren service & quality was absolutely fine in my daughter’s kitchen. But they always get a bad press on here. I just hope all the people who criticise them have actually used them or know someone who has.

There were one or two small issues but they got sorted by Wren without fuss so I’m not sure they’re as bad as some people say.

I've had 2 friends use them recently and they had bits missing from their delivery and took months to resolve. As they used my local Wren shop I'll not be using them.

Precisely why I don't want to use Howdens.

The service from Magnet was shocking, the builder works with them all the time and he was really cross too as their fuck ups made him much more work ( measurements totally wrong, wrong range cooker delivered three times so they couldn't finish when they needed to, etc.) They were just appalling. However the actual kitchen is lovely and seems better quality than the Howdens one we nearly went for.

My family member had one item missing from their delivery but one phone call (made by the fitter) got a replacement delivered with no fuss a couple of days later.

I wouldn’t use your local Wren either based on your friend’s experience but my point is, they’re not always bad & can be good. I wouldn’t discount them personally based on what I’ve heard from my family member.

We also had wrong sized doors delivered and because they were being made took 12 weeks to get the correct ones after the rest was finished. That was irritating.

@ohmydiddlydays that sounds a nightmare

Wonder if the builder dislike of IKEA is also about the availability of replacement parts etc?

We had a couple of cupboard doors with defects when the boxes were opened which were easily swopped over the same day via our local Howdens branch, which would have been days if not weeks to resolve with IKEA. So it didn't hold up the installation at all. Next door's IKEA kitchen did seem to take a while going in!

Another vote for DIY Kitchens here too!

They're about half the price of Wren, and the quality is infinitely better.

Also, although Howdens say they will price match DIY Kitchens, the quality is not usually the same. Howdens drop their spec to match the price so that claim is a bit deceiving.

Also, just in case you're like me OP, just to point out that DIY Kitchens isn't for people who are doing DIY!! I thought that DIY Kitchens was only for people who were doing their own kitchens - I didn't realise that it was a "proper" kitchen brand that was formerly known as Ultima.

We've just had two kitchens fitted - one for us and one for DM - in two completely different styles from DIY Kitchens. Both are absolutely fantastic, extremely good value for money and high quality.

Our builder - normally a Howden's devotee - has been really impressed with the quality of the units. His colleague had never heard of DIY Kitchens before and is now going to use them for his own kitchen!

If you've already got plans that you like, you can just email them to DIY Kitchens and they'll match it up for you so you won't need to do the whole design process.

I'll definitely be going back to DIY Kitchens next time. I've got my utility room and my laundry room to fit out and I'm going to use them for those too.

Also, I meant to say - I've heard loads of builders say they don't like/won't fit IKEA! It's a really common thing. Some will fit IKEA but charge more. Others refuse to do it at all.

As PP said, it's mainly to do with the lack of a service void at the back. Bit mad really that IKEA do it completely differently to everyone else, but that's the reason.

The thing is whoever you use, you'll get people who had a great experience and people who had a not so great experience!

With wren...we had a couple of design and measuring up meetings. The kitchen was delivered with nothing missing at all. The actual kitchen fitters were excellent...it was a fairly smooth process.

Did you go to their show room? We've got a utility/shower room we're yet to design (no idea where to start).

No we didn't. I would have loved to but we're in Gloucestershire and we have two SEN DC so the logistics would have just been impossible.

I did look around lots of other showrooms locally from other companies so I got a feel for the things I liked, and the things I didn't. You can get door front samples sent to you from DIYK if that helps.

Also, there's a FB group dedicated to DIYK. They've got staff members from DIYK in there too (although the group isn't run by them) so it's possible to get actual answers/feedback from DIYK. Their staff members are really active on the group and respond to questions/feedback. And there's an absolute TON of photos and advice - it's a very active group. I found it invaluable when I was deciding what company to use.

I've just done a new shower room but I've got no idea about the layout of my new utility room yet 😅 So many ideas and possibilities can be very overwhelming I find!

There is also another video of a builder type guy who compares kitchens - he basically unboxes the same type of kitchen from Wren, Magnet, Howden, DIYK, and Wickes and he builds them all in his garage. He then compares each element - like door thickness, holes, sturdiness, etc. The video is about an hour long but if you've got the patience it's a brilliant watch, really informative. I'll see if I can find the link for you.

@SpidersAreShitheads thank you

My other half used to be a fitter and he always told all his customers to go for an independent. All the big sheds are cheap and never as good quality. If you can find an independent then they always try to look after you more - and the after sales is generally better too.

Try to go for cabinet that comes 'rigid' as these are made in factory for the best finish and ideally 'glue and dowelled' as this is the old fashioned way of making furniture. A lot of the high street just screw their cabs together but they will fail sooner than then glued ones.

The other thing to consider is doors - try and avoid the ones that are wrapped. It's basically like a sticker - and they look fine at the beginning but start looking tired soon after. High quality painted all the way.

If you need a recommendation for a good supplier then feel free to reply and I can recommend someone.

Regarding Ikea units - because there is no service void as people have mentioned it can be an issue. You can bring the units forward to get around this issue though. The main problem is the appliance sizes - often you have to buy the appliances from Ikea so they fit properly and they are very very expensive - especially when considering the quality compared to other machines in the same price bracket. Also their doors are a funny size - so if you ever want to just change the doors in future you'll have to go back to Ikea only.

Hope this helps x

@AmyRose101 I would appreciate a recommendation. We won't go IKEA. Every builder I've spoken to has told me not to.

Higham kitchens

They're a nightmare. Ikea has always just been cheap and cheerful to me. Great for some things though right?!

My OH always recommends these guys and got them to do ours - we love it. They weren't the cheapest we could find in the end - but we didn't want the cheapest to be fair because we'd only have had to redo it again sooner - but we did get them down on price and knowing we were getting a better product for a pretty similar price made complete sense. Plus they saved us loads on appliances so actually they were about the same all things considered.

www.aplankitchens.com - ask for Richard - he's the main guy there - very friendly and helpful too.

DIY are ok to be fair, nothing special but much better than Wren etc - but I have to say having your own designer to help makes a world of difference to the final result.

@Toooldtoworry Apologies for reviving an old thread, but we're looking in the same area and wondered who you'd gone with in the end?