Ikea or B&Q kitchen?

My builder is here drilling concrete outside on my patio and I've had a chat with him about my kitchen. He recommended Howdens and can get cheaper prices for me. He reckons about £1500 for units, sink, drainer, worktops and appliances. I've decided to go electric and not gas anymore which he'll need to do some cabling for. I want a ceramic hob, silver looking cooker, chimney style hood. £500 to fit all that. He's going to smash out all the floor ceramic tiles and put new ones down, smash off all the walls and ceiling plaster, replaster and skim. Depending on the RSJ in the middle of my ceiling which is boxed with plaster, I want him to smash out the chimney breast and level the wall so there's more wall for units, cupboards, fridge freezer, whatever. Total is about £4800. And now he's persuaded me to have gas central heating in which has to go in before all the pretty stuff is done. So that's gonna be another £2K probably. Not sure what colour my kitchen units and worktop is to be yet, but I think I'm going to go for black, possibly glossy black with thin silver handles, and maybe beech colour worktops. Along with my bathroom, new double glazed windows, and the exterior work he's currently doing, it's all gonna come to around £14000. :(
 
Merlin5 said:
My builder is here drilling concrete outside on my patio and I've had a chat with him about my kitchen. He recommended Howdens and can get cheaper prices for me. He reckons about £1500 for units, sink, drainer, worktops and appliances. I've decided to go electric and not gas anymore which he'll need to do some cabling for. I want a ceramic hob, silver looking cooker, chimney style hood. £500 to fit all that. He's going to smash out all the floor ceramic tiles and put new ones down, smash off all the walls and ceiling plaster, replaster and skim. Depending on the RSJ in the middle of my ceiling which is boxed with plaster, I want him to smash out the chimney breast and level the wall so there's more wall for units, cupboards, fridge freezer, whatever. Total is about £4800. And now he's persuaded me to have gas central heating in which has to go in before all the pretty stuff is done. So that's gonna be another £2K probably. Not sure what colour my kitchen units and worktop is to be yet, but I think I'm going to go for black, possibly glossy black with thin silver handles, and maybe beech colour worktops. Along with my bathroom, new double glazed windows, and the exterior work he's currently doing, it's all gonna come to around £14000. :(
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He sounds like he knows what he is doing at least. When I was in the trade Howdens used to come with the units all pre-made we use to save a fortune becuase it removed most of the time makin the units, sometimes you would get some that wouldnt fit but we used to `adjust` them and make them fit. Prices from this dude seem resonable as well.
 
Merlin5 said:
My builder is here drilling concrete outside on my patio and I've had a chat with him about my kitchen. He recommended Howdens and can get cheaper prices for me. He reckons about £1500 for units, sink, drainer, worktops and appliances. I've decided to go electric and not gas anymore which he'll need to do some cabling for. I want a ceramic hob, silver looking cooker, chimney style hood. £500 to fit all that. He's going to smash out all the floor ceramic tiles and put new ones down, smash off all the walls and ceiling plaster, replaster and skim. Depending on the RSJ in the middle of my ceiling which is boxed with plaster, I want him to smash out the chimney breast and level the wall so there's more wall for units, cupboards, fridge freezer, whatever. Total is about £4800. And now he's persuaded me to have gas central heating in which has to go in before all the pretty stuff is done. So that's gonna be another £2K probably. Not sure what colour my kitchen units and worktop is to be yet, but I think I'm going to go for black, possibly glossy black with thin silver handles, and maybe beech colour worktops. Along with my bathroom, new double glazed windows, and the exterior work he's currently doing, it's all gonna come to around £14000. :(
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£1500 for for units, sink, drainer, worktops and appliances?

You sure about that?
For the same products mine cost me well over 10x that, I know it can be done much cheaper than I did but are you sure that's a realistic figure?
 
A friend and also a colleague at work have had nothing but disasters with B&Q kitchens so i'm steering clear of them. If it was out of the two, IKEA. Otherwise Wickes or Magnet.
 
Stay away from B&Q, just complete tat.

We have a B&Q bathroom (I fitted myself) and the actual bath and sink is fine but it's the ancillaries - taps are terrible quality, 'chrome' plug surrounds are rusting, shower fixings are falling apart.

A friend of mine had no end of issues with his B&Q kitchen he had fitted a couple of months ago.
 
chipperhead said:
£1500 for for units, sink, drainer, worktops and appliances?

You sure about that?
For the same products mine cost me well over 10x that, I know it can be done much cheaper than I did but are you sure that's a realistic figure?
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Don't know tbh. He seemed very confident, though I suspect they're value type units he's talking about for the cupboards, drawers, worktops and sink unit. Not sure how many cupboards I'm having yet, probably less than 8, and B&Q for example do 8 piece value kitchens including worktops from £800 to £1400, so they might be similar quality.
So he's talking about £1000 or so for a few units, and about £400 for those appliances. But he's going to draw me a plan and measurements next week that I can take to my nearest Howdens and get a proper price. I've no doubt the quote will get higher, they always do.
 
Got a laminate worktop from B&Q as i was doing the kitchen for my mum on an ultra low budget. If their cabinets are similar quality to their worktops then avoid them. I used a jig and router to join the corners and used waterproof PVA and butterfly bolts underneath and now the laminate is lifting at the joins. I have fitted plenty of kitchens in the past using Formica worktops and never had that problem before. The laminate must be paper thin :rolleyes:.

Howdens are decent gear and comes ready built (a - point for me as I love building the units :D).
 
would you consider fitting it yourself?

it will prob take a bit longer but save a lot of cash, and it isnt that difficult.

i fitted my dads with him some 12 years ago and its still fine.

you lso learn a bit of diy too.
 
Another Howdens vote here. Apart from changing the worktops/handles after about 10 years to give it a different look, the rest still looks brand new when it's cleaned.
 
The Ikea "no service void" thing isn't really an issue if you get a decent (independent) fitter - he can just space them out from the wall a bit, then cut a worktop to suit. Worked fine in my old student flat, cost a bit but we got the fitter hammered every night on homemade wine, he kipped over in a spare room, and was up at dawn working away. Looked great in the end, lasted 3 years of student abuse with no signs of wear.
 
Hey chaps, I popped down to my local Howdens today to take a look at their kitchens. I should be going down there again on friday with my builder since they'll only give me prices with his account details as they're trade only. Weren't too many on display but they looked quite nice. I took a look at a sample black gloss door which I think I might go for with thin silver handles to go on their carcasses. I saw their Lamona appliances, black ceramic electric hob with touch buttons and silver ovens with lots of press buttons. Looked very nice. Are Lamona any good? Seems to be reviews saying they're rubbish. Is that true? I believe all appliances are standard sizes to fit a Howdens kitchen (or anyone's kitchen?). So should I steer clear and look at other brands of hob, oven and hood? Baumatic any good? I saw that brand mentioned in this thread. Their prices seem good.
 
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Unit carcases will take any standard size appliance as they are just an open frame, and hob holes in tops are cut to size. One piece of advice though: make sure they deliver the right colour before you let the workmen begin! It's marked on the packages. Also, I think Howdens have a sale in October? My local one certainly does.
 
Merlin5 said:
Hey chaps, I popped down to my local Howdens today to take a look at their kitchens. I should be going down there again on friday with my builder since they'll only give me prices with his account details as they're trade only. Weren't too many on display but they looked quite nice. I took a look at a sample black gloss door which I think I might go for with thin silver handles to go on their carcasses. I saw their Lamona appliances, black ceramic electric hob with touch buttons and silver ovens with lots of press buttons. Looked very nice. Are Lamona any good? Seems to be reviews saying they're rubbish. Is that true? I believe all appliances are standard sizes to fit a Howdens kitchen (or anyone's kitchen?). So should I steer clear and look at other brands of hob, oven and hood? Baumatic any good? I saw that brand mentioned in this thread. Their prices seem good.
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I wouldn't touch a Howdens appliance with a barge pole.
 
I wouldn't skimp on tis. We had a Magnet kitchen fitted 15 years ago. It's still looks as good today as it did then. We have had a new work surface fitted as you can't expect them to last. I'm sure the carcases will last another 15 years, might need new doors at some stage.
 
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