Recommended Kitchen Supplier
- Thread starter Furton
- Start date
People who say its easy have never fitted one
Seriously though, its not hard to do the basic fitting out, units etc is all very simple. Some people will find fitting wooden tops harder if they need cutting and fitting together, stone is much easier they come and template it all for you. The bits most people will find harder are the electrics, plumbing, cutting plinths in and cornices etc.
People who say its easy have never fitted one
Seriously though, its not hard to do the basic fitting out, units etc is all very simple. Some people will find fitting wooden tops harder if they need cutting and fitting together, stone is much easier they come and template it all for you. The bits most people will find harder are the electrics, plumbing, cutting plinths in and cornices etc.
I think it's one of those where it's easy until it isn't because a complication comes up and you need to make an adjustment. For example in ours, we had a larder corner cupboard where the door opened at 45" rather than the usual corner style where half of it is inaccessible.
All would've been fine, but the Smeg oven next to it had a handle which stuck out a bit too far which blocked the door opening. The fitter had to trim off around 5mm from the door and then add a new bezel to the edge and paint. That's the little thing where the DIY option can potentially ruin the whole thing.
I'd say fitting a kitchen is perfectly do-able for a DIYer, although there's a difference between a "fitted" kitchen and a "well fitted" kitchen which is usually fairly noticable. Our fitter mentioned he has a couple of mates who are joiners, yet they get him to fit their kitchens just because his tolerances are so much smaller to give a perfect finish whereas a regular carpenter can just use some filler/paint etc to cover any flaws.
I'd actually find the plumbing and electrics the easiest bit, never fitted kitchen units myself.People who say its easy have never fitted one
Seriously though, its not hard to do the basic fitting out, units etc is all very simple. Some people will find fitting wooden tops harder if they need cutting and fitting together, stone is much easier they come and template it all for you. The bits most people will find harder are the electrics, plumbing, cutting plinths in and cornices etc.
I'd get someone in to do the worktop though. Plastering ill do myself as well.
Doesn't really fit here perfectly, but it kind of ties in the kitchen suppliers and quality.
We've looking here in Spain (so sadly no option for DIY Kitchens!) Currently the best quote/design has come from Kutchenhaus. However i've been reading a few things about the poor quality of their cabinets with only 2 chipboard cross beans across the top rather than a full cabinet and quite thin back panels.
The price is decent without being cheap, and the door panels etc are exactly what we want and feel better than the properly cheap options but that obviously comes at a price. Feels like they've focused budget on the front facing parts and cheaped out on the background. Am curious how important cabinet rigidity actually is with a kitchen. In theory it's going to be installed and then never moved so presumably doesn't need a huge amount of structural strength once the worktop is installed and everything is screwed together.
Am i over simplifying things here and it actually is important or is it oversold?
We've looking here in Spain (so sadly no option for DIY Kitchens!) Currently the best quote/design has come from Kutchenhaus. However i've been reading a few things about the poor quality of their cabinets with only 2 chipboard cross beans across the top rather than a full cabinet and quite thin back panels.
The price is decent without being cheap, and the door panels etc are exactly what we want and feel better than the properly cheap options but that obviously comes at a price. Feels like they've focused budget on the front facing parts and cheaped out on the background. Am curious how important cabinet rigidity actually is with a kitchen. In theory it's going to be installed and then never moved so presumably doesn't need a huge amount of structural strength once the worktop is installed and everything is screwed together.
Am i over simplifying things here and it actually is important or is it oversold?
not a joiner or fitter, so my opinion may be disregarded 
i would've thought that once all bolted together and the counter top is fitted, it doesn't really matter much and the overall structure would be pretty strong and rigid (united we stand, divided we fall...comes to mind lol)
the backpanels also wouldn't matter much as you're not really going to stare at it for more than a couple of seconds at the time either. the only issue is if you force an item into the cabinet and it cracks the back panel
i would've thought that once all bolted together and the counter top is fitted, it doesn't really matter much and the overall structure would be pretty strong and rigid (united we stand, divided we fall...comes to mind lol)
the backpanels also wouldn't matter much as you're not really going to stare at it for more than a couple of seconds at the time either. the only issue is if you force an item into the cabinet and it cracks the back panel
Yeah, that's kind of my thinking, but people seem to get very argumentative between a 16mm panel vs an 18mm panel and then thickness of back panels etc.
At the moment this is front runner for us as a balance of price and layout as some other companies have either been crazy expensive (around 60% more expensive than this), or either not got back to us or said they can't do certain units as it's not in their stock sizing.
We kind of want to go ahead but this is a little niggling point holding us back.
At the moment this is front runner for us as a balance of price and layout as some other companies have either been crazy expensive (around 60% more expensive than this), or either not got back to us or said they can't do certain units as it's not in their stock sizing.
We kind of want to go ahead but this is a little niggling point holding us back.
Had a Grohe boiling water tap fitted in my old house, was very good, however, if you are in a hard water area like me, the little gauze in the end of tap would often scale up and reduce the waterflow, nothing a night in lime juice wouldn't fix, but sometimes it was a little hard to remove depending on how scaled it was.
The thickness will depend a lot on the types of units and their use. My flat was fitted with a basics kitchen where every detail was done on a budget and after a couple of years the faults were clear. End panels starting to warp and pulling at the cabinets, larder unit shelves not being able to take the weight long term, wall units holding crockery starting to bow at the base. I've had to rearrange how the kitchen is used/stored. Compared to my parents kitchen which was from DIY they have significantly more weight in their cupboards and after 8 years of use there's only a hint of movement where a pelmet has a hairline gap in one corner.
Something very important, check the quality of the drawer runners. Smooth and silent over something which rattles the spoons every time it's used.
Something very important, check the quality of the drawer runners. Smooth and silent over something which rattles the spoons every time it's used.
Might be worth contacting DIY Kitchens and ask if they might consider shipping?
When my Wife worked for Bath Store (who "don't ship outside mainland UK"), she'd often get asked to do similar for Isle Of Wight & Channel Ilses - one quote was for 14 bathroom suites to a boutique hotel in Mallorca. It was expensive, but when they were already spending over £100k, it wasn't a massive percentage of the overall cost. It helped that her store was a franchise, so her boss was always willing to go further, for the right incentive.
When my Wife worked for Bath Store (who "don't ship outside mainland UK"), she'd often get asked to do similar for Isle Of Wight & Channel Ilses - one quote was for 14 bathroom suites to a boutique hotel in Mallorca. It was expensive, but when they were already spending over £100k, it wasn't a massive percentage of the overall cost. It helped that her store was a franchise, so her boss was always willing to go further, for the right incentive.
I think it really comes down to what they're actually used for. If they're just bog standard cupboards then as long as they've got soft close they should last a long time. If they're a big set of pan drawers without soft closing, then the weight of the drawer closing will really put some stress on the chassis. Similar for things like washing machines, they'll put some stresses on all the nearby cabinetry.
We have a Wren kitchen.
1. The design was a little bit of a pain
2. The finalised BOM of the design we rejected three times due to wrong components (check colours match etc)
3. Had to go with a non-Wren builder/fitter as they wouldn't do the changes required on one cabinet and re-direct the soil pipe.
Components seem fine and that's quite a time later.
1. The design was a little bit of a pain
2. The finalised BOM of the design we rejected three times due to wrong components (check colours match etc)
3. Had to go with a non-Wren builder/fitter as they wouldn't do the changes required on one cabinet and re-direct the soil pipe.
Components seem fine and that's quite a time later.
Another DIY kitchen user here and I fitted it myself and used their online designer to spec it all.
The fit was a doddle, square room, L shaped kitchen down 2 walls. Also did the utility at the same time but that was only 2 base and 3 wall units (2 appliances + standard sink).
The kitchen was very high quality and the finish was great on the pained in frame shaker style units we got - pretty sure it was top/near top of their range mind. I also did oak worktops with a Belfast sink myself, stressful but doable. Measure 1000 times, cut once and prey it fit (it did).
I also fitted a Qettle tap, good bit of kit, 100C water and a chilled option if you want it. It’s a 4 way tap with normal hot and cold, filtered cold and filtered boiling water.
I’d recommend both a to anyone.
The fit was a doddle, square room, L shaped kitchen down 2 walls. Also did the utility at the same time but that was only 2 base and 3 wall units (2 appliances + standard sink).
The kitchen was very high quality and the finish was great on the pained in frame shaker style units we got - pretty sure it was top/near top of their range mind. I also did oak worktops with a Belfast sink myself, stressful but doable. Measure 1000 times, cut once and prey it fit (it did).
I also fitted a Qettle tap, good bit of kit, 100C water and a chilled option if you want it. It’s a 4 way tap with normal hot and cold, filtered cold and filtered boiling water.
I’d recommend both a to anyone.
Soldato
- Joined
- 2 Feb 2010
- Posts
- 11,623
- Location
- Crowmarsh
Not Wickes that's for sure, we had an utter nightmare.
Remember a woman at work having an appalling time with magnet too. None of her granite worktops matched up.
Howdens are supposed to be decent.
Or just order what you want from DIY kitchens and hire your own fitter.
Remember a woman at work having an appalling time with magnet too. None of her granite worktops matched up.
Howdens are supposed to be decent.
Or just order what you want from DIY kitchens and hire your own fitter.
Last edited: