Extortionate kitchen quote

[scintilla87]

Magnet has just quoted me £25K for my tiny kitchen of twelve units - This was their entry level model, mid-range appliances, and excludes installation. It does include a quartz worktop which is obviously bumping up the cost but still…

My mind is blown! Do people pay this much?!

Another fan of DIY kitchens here. We had a quote of £14K from B&Q and a terrible design. Used the design and tweaked it myself, went to DIY and did the whole job for just under £6K - that was 10 years ago but we learnt it was cheaper to spend the time and source appliances/worktop/flooring separately.

You need to source your appliances and material for the flooring and worktops yourself.

Have you also looked at things on Facebook marketplace, eBay and so on? they often have second hand kitchen cupboards that you can then up-cycle.

I would never, ever pay £25K for a kitchen...

I always use our community FB page to ask for recommendations for trades. Found an excellent bathroom fitting company that way. Usually the same names come up, ask to see their portfolio and never pay 100% up front - good luck

I agree. DP was obsessed with hiding everything and it was a headache trying to replace stuff. I also hated not being able to see the washing machine display while it was on and the kicker board had to be removed to clean the filter. So we have a standard washing machine now. Still got an integrated dishwasher though, but when it dies I might go with a visible one. They aren't that ugly!

Do Magnet still make you pay the full amount before they start installation? We used them and our 3 week installation (granite worktops so base units have to be in before they can template for the granit) took 16 weeks because of endless cockups. Fitter went on holiday during the installation, parts arrived damaged (which they accused me of damaging by cleaning despite their fitter telling them it was damaged when he opened the box), the dishwasher wasnt fitted properly, and the whole kitchen is a bit wonky! I would never ever use them again or recommend them! (This was over a decade ago and I'm still angry with them!)

We had a £20k kitchen quote from Howdens - and that's with the irritating Howdens 'mystery number which we can only whisper to your builder' pricing factor.

We got pretty much the same kitchen from DIY Kitchens for £12k, and I found identical integrated brand name appliances on the Boots Electricals site for less, plus Advantage Card points. Builders thought the units were really good quality and have started recommending them to other clients.

Solid wood isn't all it's cracked up to be, I had a very expensive Harvey jones kitchen in my last house, this time I went with a very similar design inframe from DIY kitchens and this one is wearing much better than the solid wood. I had exceptionally pleased with DIY, I used a different design in my laundry room, topped with a quartz worktop that cost nearly as much as the units, it still looks great four years later.

try Kitchen collection, online, fab quality much better than Wickes or Howdens.
You need to plan it yourself and order online but excellent value.
(No l don't work there but have used them many times in my business)

You don't have to pay this much, no. Find an independent kitchen installer who have an account with Magnets, most do along with Howdens, Wren etc. They will get a discount and will install for half the price. Magnets charge at least 5k for installation, yet the installer will get half that. My cousin is an independent installer so I know this to be fact

OP

We live in London and anyhting and everything is massively gone up

RE "Magnet" wickes and similar, they have always quoted higher - your quote just for the items seem a bit high from what you said - you should easily get something for 20k and if your really shop around for 15

Dont forget, its the caracuss the makes or breaks a kitchens quality along with good make of hob, oven, microve, etc

With respect, 6k is not enough for a decent kitchen however small. Don't get one so cheap it falls apart. I can honestly say that I have never had to adjust a single door or cupboard since my installation years ago. It still looks just as good today

I got a quote from Howdens about 5 years ago. Ended up getting a local carpenter it was much cheaper a better kitchen and he made us some cupboards to fit in a difficult space so we have more storage.

Some great advice, thanks everyone. I’ve had to adjust my expectations on price and have upped the budget to £8k. That’s far more palatable than the first quote of £25k!

DIY seems to be getting a good rep here so I’ll order some samples and have a look at sourcing my own worktop and appliances. We are replacing x7 appliances so that is a not insignificant part of the cost!

I’m laughing at the poster whose husband was obsessed with hiding everything, that is very much me! Mainly because despite the number of units, the kitchen is tiny and I feel like it would be neater to hide the bulky appliances.

Builder is going to quote with his trade discount as well so let’s see :)

That's great you have a plan op. I got lots of units so everything can be stored away and only a few bits are out. I would highly recommend a hot water tap (gets rid of a kettle) I got one from wicks around £200.

Also I am wondering how you have 7 appliances

Another recomendation for DIY Kitchen we had ours put in 3 years ago , wickes qouted us 5k just for the unit which we couldnt see a kitchen version just a door stuck to a wall, DIY kitchen came in at 3k we went to the showroom as we live near enough, we went for high gloss blue ones though, got the tap from somewhere else , lradey had the washing machine and cooker , ours was a demolition site when we pulled out the old units had extra wiring plugs put in , tiled the floor with ceramic tiles, and tiled behind the units had to pay for some plastering too the total cost of everything was around 6k so the 2k we saved went towards the rest of it and three years later my kitchen still looks like a brand new kitchen, my son in law and grandson did the fitting and they said the units were far better than howdens

7 appliances does seem a lot to get for the £8k

Look at DIY kitchens and find a good kitchen fitter.

No way would you get solid wood, even for £25k!
I was trying to figure out what 12 units looked like so counted my own. I'd say mine was a mid sized kitchen and it has ten units (one is 900mm) - three wall, seven base, including integrated F/F, dishwasher and waste bins. It cost £25k fitted including appliances (not oven/hob, but boiling water tap). Quartz top was £5k extra.

I used DIY kitchens too but bought appliances, sinks, taps and work surfaces separately as this made it significantly cheaper. Large L shape kitchen and units for utility all for 5.5K from DIY. I’m not disappointed with it all. I would definitely play around with the online design tool, it really helped me understand exactly how much each unit cost and what different units looked like.

7 appliances could easily cost about £3k, I think expecting a decent kitchen for another £3-5k is a bit unlikely.

I was quoted 50,000 euros for my not very big kitchen in Spain but it is stone and wood. I’ve got it down to 30,000 without appliances. And it will take 3 months to build so no kitchen for that period. Hoorah!

Another one for DIY Kitchens. I was quoted £14k plus fitting by Magnet and £12k plus fitting by Howdens just for the units. My entire budget was only £15k. My fitter took the best of both plans and redrew it. Ordered the unit's from DIY for £5k, granite worktop was £4k, I had to have new oven, microwave, hob. A wall was removed and a steel put in, a door bricked up and a large window put in, floor patched where the wall came out. The coloured glass splash back behind the hob took the whole thing to £150 over £15k. It's huge !!! I love it. Fitter loved the units said they were better quality than normal

We had a quote from Wickes at £12k had a lot of stuff we didn't want. When we asked them to remove the unwanted items they blanked us.

We've got someone coming round who does refurbishments instead

I have a large kitchen and large island, quartz tops (quartz was 4.5k) and solid wood shaker doors. It was 3 years ago but with appliances our kitchen came in at £13k
we got it from DIY kitchens and I can’t recommend them enough. The kitchen is fabulous quality.

We went with DIY kitchens - really pleased. Still looks amazing after 4 years.

We bought everything separately as that was the cheapest way to do it

We bought units from DIY kitchens
Appliances AO.com & John Lewis
Worktop quartz from a specialist.