Howdens kitchens, any good?

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Soldato
Joined
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How are they rated for build quality etc? I know everyone says it's a lot to do with who fits it, in that respect we have our builders that I'm sure will do a very decent job.

We've had an expensive quote so far from a local indie kitchen shop. They're very well rated but it's at the top end of our budget. We've priced it up on DIY Kitchens and it's obviously a lot cheaper, so we're expecting Howdens to be somewhere in the middle pricewise. Thoughts? :)
 
They’re handy in that the cabinets come built, saves mega time over the DIY and well worth and you know they’re all going to be bang on.

The carcass/doors are all much of a muchness tbh although you can get coloured so you have to shop around. It massively depends on what you’re after as in handleless, j-pull or traditional. I’m sure (I’ve not checked) that the DIY places like B&Q, Homebase etc places don’t do handleless and they also don’t do quartz, granite, corian etc worktops which are the real game changer. I think Homebase does Minerva though.

*edit*

I just checked B&Q now sell handless - marked up as new so probably just started stocking them.
 
Yup we used Howdens prebuilt cabs, they are strong units, we fitted ourselves so can't comment on Howdens installer quality but ours came out well, mostly because they were built so well and lined up nice and easy, I had zero DIY skills when attempting this, only slightly dodgy bit in ours is when I went off reservation and tried to create my own drawer section using a Howden cab, they were not pre-drilled for this and relied on my skills, so its a touch out :D
 
Reuben klang said:
It massively depends on what you’re after as in handleless, j-pull or traditional
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Thanks. It's an Edwardian house so we're aiming for a shaker style with brass cup handles/fittings etc. Definitely have budgeted for a quartz worktop, fortunately our kitchen is small-ish!

@sandys how are they fitting? Any paint chips, other issues etc? Not really sure what issues you would get on a kitchen after a while :o
 
Our Kitchen was from Howdens, Fitted by me, 9 Years ago. The unit carcases are built well, in fact I have malled nearly all of them so they would fit around services (plumbing and so on) and are still as strong as the day they were installed. the doors and facia panels on the other hand have warn badly and look faded, the worktop (standard laminate construction) has some massive dents, chips, cuts and scratches in it, the joys of a wife that did not know what a chopping board was for, oh and 4 children!

Every time I look at our kitchen I want to change/paint the doors as I dont thing they suit the room any more, the units are solid, laminate worktops are ok, you get what you pay for and the wife is tight when it comes to things she does not understand. Value for money? I spent the best part of £4k on units and fittings (including sink, taps, hob, oven and extractor hood) so yeah at the time it was pricy but worth every penny.

I hear good things about diy-kitchens.com for quality, price and customer service. I think I will be shopping around more next time I'm doing the kitchen.
 
Definitely not, I had one fitted, within 12 months the veneer was lifting, warranty wad supposed to be 10 years, but the way they sell the kitchens makes it nearly worthless, the kitchen is sold to the fitters who are supposed to take on the warranty had to get solicitors involved.
 
bobuk said:
Definitely not, I had one fitted, within 12 months the veneer was lifting, warranty wad supposed to be 10 years, but the way they sell the kitchens makes it nearly worthless, the kitchen is sold to the fitters who are supposed to take on the warranty had to get solicitors involved.
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Hmn that's a good point. Do Howden's treat you as a customer? Do you even get a warranty etc? Would you be able to go back in after 1-2 years and ask them to fix issues?
 
Recently had the chilcombe dove grey kitchen fitted with chrome handles, granite worktops etc - it looks bloody superb and has been flawless for a year so far. I love it.

my wife’s uncle is a builder and highly experienced kitchen fitter which I’m sure helped.

it wasn’t cheap…….
 
fastwunz said:
it wasn’t cheap…….
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It's ok, the indie kitchen companies around here are insane. One was advertising finance up to £500k :eek: Needless to say we did not approach them for a quote...

I'm hoping Howdens are somewhere between our current quote (indie) and what we priced up vaguely on DIY Kitchens.
 
I'm gonna throw in a vote for DIY kitchens. Comparable to Howdens but available in more sizes (eg 400mm, 500mm, 600mm, 700mm etc wide), more colours and cheaper. They also come prebuilt and ready to go :) Visit their show room if you can. It's very large and gives a good idea of what units go together and how the fiddly bits work.
 
jellybeard999 said:
I'm gonna throw in a vote for DIY kitchens. Comparable to Howdens but available in more sizes (eg 400mm, 500mm, 600mm, 700mm etc wide), more colours and cheaper. They also come prebuilt and ready to go :) Visit their show room if you can. It's very large and gives a good idea of what units go together and how the fiddly bits work.
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Yeah I do really like the idea of DIY Kitchens. Problem is we're knocking two parts-of walls down in the kitchen/dining so it's a bit unclear at the moment how we will land with how much of the wall will be left, where the steel will be etc. So pricing up everything on DIYK is fine, but not sure how easy it is to change/amend orders and basically going down that road with some unknown in the plans..

Sidenote, when they say custom colours can you pick any colour? Looks like on their website there's just a bunch of well known colours available like F&B etc.
 
Howdens Kitchens
"kitchens for your BUILDER" EDIT: This used to be one of their tag lines
NOT
"kitchens for your Joiner"


Builder. Ask a joiner if his "square, True or Plumb" is the same as a builders "Square, true or Plumb"

Then go and get a better kitchen for cheaper but a little bit more work from DIY kitchens. Just use Howdens for the planning....
 
I forgot to post above that we are going to Howdens on Saturday for a design meeting. It’ll be interesting to see what they say. (and price)
 
Scam said:
Yeah I do really like the idea of DIY Kitchens. Problem is we're knocking two parts-of walls down in the kitchen/dining so it's a bit unclear at the moment how we will land with how much of the wall will be left, where the steel will be etc. So pricing up everything on DIYK is fine, but not sure how easy it is to change/amend orders and basically going down that road with some unknown in the plans..

Sidenote, when they say custom colours can you pick any colour? Looks like on their website there's just a bunch of well known colours available like F&B etc.
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Can second the vote for DIY Kitchens. I got ours from there. Planned it all myself and got them to review my choices to make sure all the units were what I was expecting and there werent any weird units that may not go together or pieces missing. Cheaper than Howdens, can't comment on quality compared to Howdens but everything arrived pre-built and my joiner had no issues fitting everything.
 
danoliver1 said:
Only problem with DIY kitchens is they don't do true handleless just those awfull j pull doors.
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They're quite good the handleless j pull from diy kitchens. They are far better than the equivalent my parents had from wren (the opening was small and difficult to get fingers in)

From my old house pic below. Personally I wouldn't go for handleless again as I feel it will go out of fashion and something like shaker looks nicer/more "timeless" for want of a better word. The function of the handles from diykitchens was great though.


0u8xvLO.jpeg
 
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I used Wickes for the planning and was quoted an obscene amount. Then gave this plan to Howdens who priced it all up for me.
Fortunately saved a few quid as I was able to do it direct, using a mate's account with them. Don't know how much more it would have been if I got it through the kitchen installer.
Only thing was I had the lot stored in our garage for a few months waiting for the fitter to be available.
Found it to be quality for the 8 years I had it prior to moving.
If price was reasonable, I'd go with them again I think.
 
Had a Howden's kitchen in my previous place, went with DIY kitchens in my current place. I wouldn't really be able to say many things different about them really. Only real difference for me was that Howden's required a trade account whereas DIY kitchens don't. Both kitchens are pre-built cabinets and of sturdy design.
 
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