DIY Kitchens... still the best value for money?

glitch

glitch

glitch

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I've had the local kitchen designer around to quote me for my kitchen and, predictably, the end result is somewhat extravagant when it comes to the price. But the chap had some interesting design ideas, so there was that.

Are DIYK still the best value for money out there? I'm not looking for anything special, just a matte-effect handleless kitchen in a U configuration, which on the face of it comes in around £6k less than I have been quoted for by the local chaps.

Who can I use to design me the kitchen and then take said design to DIYK to get a proper quote? I'd rather utilise one of the more 'faceless' brands out there than the local chaps, as they have been good to me so far and I don't want to take advantage of their good nature too much.

And before anyone asks, I've been trying to teach myself SketchUp and... yeah, my brain can't take any more learning at the moment. Sorry!
 
glitch said:
I've had the local kitchen designer around to quote me for my kitchen and, predictably, the end result is somewhat extravagant when it comes to the price. But the chap had some interesting design ideas, so there was that.

Are DIYK still the best value for money out there? I'm not looking for anything special, just a matte-effect handleless kitchen in a U configuration, which on the face of it comes in around £6k less than I have been quoted for by the local chaps.

Who can I use to design me the kitchen and then take said design to DIYK to get a proper quote? I'd rather utilise one of the more 'faceless' brands out there than the local chaps, as they have been good to me so far and I don't want to take advantage of their good nature too much.

And before anyone asks, I've been trying to teach myself SketchUp and... yeah, my brain can't take any more learning at the moment. Sorry!
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Wren kitchens have a good design service.
 
If you know the design you want, there's not much left to do apart from measure. A 500mm unit is the same size no matter where you buy it from.
 
rexehuk said:
Wren kitchens have a good design service.
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Perfect - thank you.

Mr.E. said:
If you know the design you want, there's not much left to do apart from measure.
Click to expand...
Design is where I'm needing assistance - silly pricing aside, the local chaps had some very interesting design ideas and have made me want to get a second, third and fourth opinion.

And what I really need to see is a similar kitchen in-situ, so I can walk around and test the 'triangle' and make sure I have enough worktop space for my needs.
 
One thing that the process so far has thrown up is the issue of extractor hoods... is there a specific regulation which dictates their height above the hob or is that purely down to the manufacturer(s) in question?

The guidelines I've seen of being between 650 and 750mm from the hob is, quite frankly, laughable. I'd have to be 5-foot and a fagpaper to use that without smacking my head on the damn thing every time.
 
Oh, and one more thing... for now, anyway.

I really need to get some of the tiles off the current kitchen wall to see what is behind them and get my measurements completely spot-on. What do I need to rake out the grout? Can I pick something good up from Screwfix/Toolstation/Wickes/etc?

I have chisels and I have hammers.
 
glitch said:
Oh, and one more thing... for now, anyway.

I really need to get some of the tiles off the current kitchen wall to see what is behind them and get my measurements completely spot-on. What do I need to rake out the grout? Can I pick something good up from Screwfix/Toolstation/Wickes/etc?

I have chisels and I have hammers.
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Multitool would do the job.

And I agree, once you get a design done it's much easier to get your head into the kitchen. I found it extremely hard to visualise it without a 3d model.
 
glitch said:
One thing that the process so far has thrown up is the issue of extractor hoods... is there a specific regulation which dictates their height above the hob or is that purely down to the manufacturer(s) in question?

The guidelines I've seen of being between 650 and 750mm from the hob is, quite frankly, laughable. I'd have to be 5-foot and a fagpaper to use that without smacking my head on the damn thing every time.
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I did mine 760mm from the worktop and don't hit my head against it. Depends on how far they stick out. If you get a massive bulky one you will hit your head, I got this one:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Flat-Glass-Designer-Cooker-Hood/p/112775

For grout raking just use a flat head screwdriver and a hammer.
 
I need one at least 900mm wide as that's the dimensions of the hob, but even at 760mm above the worktop I'm still going to be banging my head. In fact, I'd probably be able to rest my chin on it.

I'd be looking at mounting it at least 1000mm from the worktop.

rexehuk said:
And I agree, once you get a design done it's much easier to get your head into the kitchen. I found it extremely hard to visualise it without a 3d model.
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Have you got a kitchen thread on here? I recognise your name, but not sure if that's because you're always on hand to offer help or I'd also seen a build thread from you...
 
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I highly recommend going to diy kitchens showroom if you can. They have loads of kitchens set up which helped us decide what to go for. They are also really helpful. I already had a design drawn up but was able to critique it with one of the factory managers who had some great suggestions and ways to improve the design.

It was also really helpful being able to try every unit type, particularly the corner ones which can be very expensive with various designs.
 
I'm up in Harrogate over the coming weeks, so that was my plan - hopefully to go by the showroom and pop in with some designs and measurements and see what DIY have to say.

Do you have one installed?
 
glitch said:
I need one at least 900mm wide as that's the dimensions of the hob, but even at 760mm above the worktop I'm still going to be banging my head. In fact, I'd probably be able to rest my chin on it.

I'd be looking at mounting it at least 1000mm from the worktop.

Have you got a kitchen thread on here? I recognise your name, but not sure if that's because you're always on hand to offer help or I'd also seen a build thread from you...
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Yeah 1970s build log ongoing at the moment. I've had my wren kitchen and sent it over to DIY kitchens and had all the quotes.

Few months off kitchen phase yet though, still need to do my own SketchUp go work in the wren design and do all the tiling and flooring mockups.
 
Ikea offer a design service and give you a complete list of units.

Avoid Wren they'll try wrestle you for a sale and won't give a breakdown on unit costs etc.

I've bought a Diykitchens handle less gloss to be delivered early October.
 
Will I be able to glean what units are what from Wren, if I pay enough attention during the design phase? Or do their designs include enough info to work it out?

On the subject of IKEA, I recall their units are pretty standard in terms of height, width (cabinet dependant, obviously) and thickness but they are deeper? Does it take much messing about to adjust their specs for DIYK?
 
glitch said:
Will I be able to glean what units are what from Wren, if I pay enough attention during the design phase? Or do their designs include enough info to work it out?
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I have full unit breakdowns from wren... so not sure why people say you can't.

I have full list of units, individual dimensions and so forth. Sent it to DiyKitchens and they sorted everything else out for me.

See below: This is in conjunction with top down design + 3d renders

5q4qjKJMRGuhq5MwxGFe1Q.png
 
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If you would be comfortable with it, rexehuk, would you mind sharing your price for the comparable kitchen from DIYK?

Would be rather interesting to see what the difference was!
 
glitch said:
If you would be comfortable with it, rexehuk, would you mind sharing your price for the comparable kitchen from DIYK?

Would be rather interesting to see what the difference was!
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From memory it was about 4k for units by comparison. The kitchen wren price included appliances, so guess it was about 14k vs 4k.
 
rexehuk said:
I have full unit breakdowns from wren... so not sure why people say you can't.

I have full list of units, individual dimensions and so forth. Sent it to DiyKitchens and they sorted everything else out for me.

See below: This is in conjunction with top down design + 3d renders
Click to expand...
Must depend on the store, they refused to give me a breakdown and also wouldn't even give the quoted price (of circa £5k) down to me in writing!
 
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