I've put in 3 DIY Kitchens (the largest was about £18k of just units!) in the last 2 years and they've all been great. I've actually found them to be pretty good at fixing delivery issues, or things that got missed with most things being onsite in a few days. I think the longest we had to wait was a week for a replacement door that someone ended up damaging during the build.
Spec me a kitchen!
- Thread starter tamzzy
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Soldato
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I hope it all goes well.placed the order!
total damage = £6904 (changed some cupboards to drawers instead)
can't wait till next month lol
I spec'ed up on DIY kitchens before I got the kitchen fitter round for a quote. Wanted to keep use it as a base to keep the quote honest. 7k iirc correctly. He designed and priced up the kitchen from Howdens for 3k, apparently they do a sale every year around September so if you can hold off till then you will slash any prices you've seen so far.
Ok cool, good to see you getting quotes.
Beware that Howdens discount thing is a bit funny. If you're going through your builder, he will probably be paying nearer to DIY asking price then adding a "lol jokes" markup ontop
Don't go for a slimline dishwasher unless you're really tight on space. Ideally get 2 dishwasher hehe 
AEG..... Shudder, I'm all about ex-dem Siemens appliances and Liebherr refrigeration. Bosch S4 dishwasher is excellent value also.
Are these handless kitchens you're looking at proper handless, or that fake j-handle horribleness? Go for a real handless kitchen ideally, much better look and ergonomics, plus you then have space to run LED strips firing down into the U-channel area to give a great effect that lights the inside of your big pan drawers when they're open.
Design looks pretty good. Now one VERY VERY IMPORTANT thing when it gets fitted. You see that end panel between the large cupboard on the far right (fridge/freezer?), that sticks out where the foot plinth is?
When it's fitted, have the joiner/fitter, cut that end panel back so it sits behind the plinth, then you have a continuous single run of plinth. The sticking out end panel always looks utterly awful and isn't needed, so should be cut back flush with the bottom of the unit for a seemless look:
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Thank you, yes, also in part why i went with DIY kitchens...full size dishwasherOk cool, good to see you getting quotes.
Beware that Howdens discount thing is a bit funny. If you're going through your builder, he will probably be paying nearer to DIY asking price then adding a "lol jokes" markup ontop
DIY is having a sale on at the moment with AEG appliances
buy 4 (which i am - hob/oven/hood/fridge) and the dishwasher is free...and also £200 cashback to top it all off
my appliance cost for the kitchen is £1977 (inc vat) for all 5 items
so after cashback (£1777) works out to be less than £360/item...can't argue with that man-maths value
fake j-handles
good enough for me lol thanks, yes i'll mention that to my builder. well spotted.
Soldato
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Just shop around for your appliances. You don’t have to go with them.
Get Howdens in to design a kitchen. Send it to diy kitchens, my kitchen if you’re getting handless.
Then get your worktop done by an independent place.
I went with DIY kitchens in the end because their appliances were the best value - For my 5 items i'd be paying £1777 via DIY kitchens
if I were to buy the exact appliances separately, it would've cost me £2700 (exc del) from multiple other etailers (would've cost me over £1k extra + other hassles such as taking delivery on multiple dates/times)
same with the worktops, i'd be needing one 4m run and another 2m run - DIY kitchen was within £20 of independent worktop shops so just got it from DIY
Soldato
What about ikea kitchen?
did ask my builder - absolutely refused to fit them. he doesn't want to deal with flat pack (understandable) and also ikea units do not have the rear service void, so the plumbing/gasworks already installed can't be accommodated
Caporegime
Howdens were super dodgy when we tried to order through them. The design lady only really wanted us to use one company (turned out it was her husbands) they denied another fitter we wanted existed in their records despite a regular Howdens fitter. When asked to pricematch DIY Kitchens they did with some changes but they kicked off royally about it.Your builder won't fit the DIY Kitchens because he's probably factored in the £3k kick back he gets if you go to Howdens
Unpleasant experience and all felt very murky.
Without challenging them on fitters or price match it would have cost double.
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Associate
Just fitted my first DIY Kitchen in my kitchen extension with my mate who's a joiner / carpenter.
No complaints here, good quality and a good price.
Howdens with there non-transparent pricing are a joke.
No complaints here, good quality and a good price.
Howdens with there non-transparent pricing are a joke.
Soldato
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I'm surprised Howdens are still in business with all the negativity in this thread. I was starting to get worried after we've just had one installed by a local joiner. I can only speak from experience though, and we had a great all round experience with them. Yes, we could have got it cheaper, but we wanted to be dealing with a sole supplier and in that regard, it was completely stress free. Also, our designer was great in suggesting different aspects of the design, but also incorporating ideas of our own. She even helped us source appliances from elsewhere when we weren't happy with the Howdens offerings. I did toy with the idea of sending our design to DIY kitchens as I know their quality is very good. However, you're then very much in the hands of your chosen fitter, and as I mentioned previously, a friend of mine is having a nightmare which has meant his installation is now several weeks behind schedule.
I can only speak from experience though, and we had a great all round experience with them. Yes, we could have got it cheaper, but we wanted to be dealing with a sole supplier and in that regard, it was completely stress free. Also, our designer was great in suggesting different aspects of the design, but also incorporating ideas of our own. She even helped us source appliances from elsewhere when we weren't happy with the Howdens offerings. I did toy with the idea of sending our design to DIY kitchens as I know their quality is very good. However, you're then very much in the hands of your chosen fitter, and as I mentioned previously, a friend of mine is having a nightmare which has meant his installation is now several weeks behind schedule.
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Soldato
Use anyone but Wickes 
Happy enough with the kitchen once it was finally fitted. But they cocked up just about everything, taking two months to get our kitchen installed! Oh and their customer service is truly shocking!
Happy enough with the kitchen once it was finally fitted. But they cocked up just about everything, taking two months to get our kitchen installed! Oh and their customer service is truly shocking!
So, the Howdens depot manager call me today and said he's able to revise their best offer from £8300 to 7300 and able to deliver within 48h...
Had to break the news to him that DIYK spec is still better and still £500 cheaper (and I didn't mind waiting an extra 4 weeks)
WWOCUKD?
take Howdens or stick with DIYK?
Had to break the news to him that DIYK spec is still better and still £500 cheaper (and I didn't mind waiting an extra 4 weeks)
WWOCUKD?
take Howdens or stick with DIYK?
Soldato
What does "better spec" mean?So, the Howdens depot manager call me today and said he's able to revise their best offer from £8300 to 7300 and able to deliver within 48h...
Had to break the news to him that DIYK spec is still better and still £500 cheaper (and I didn't mind waiting an extra 4 weeks)
WWOCUKD?
take Howdens or stick with DIYK?
This is what I dislike about howdens, very little visibility/consistency of pricing
drawer units rather than el-cheapo cupboards
integrated bin unit
all AEG appliances (for what it's worth) rather than the mix of aeg/lamona that Howdens are offering
full size 60cm dishwasher rather than the slimline 45cm
upstands to go round the length of the worktop
led spotlights for the bottom of the wall mounted units to illuminate the worktop
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fully agree
Soldato
Oh yeah all those items are worth keeping. I wouldn't drop out those (apart from appliance brand loyalty can be mixed)
Honestly would be no chance I'd go 45cm Dishwasher.
I thought you were gonna say "cabinets are 20mm rather than 18mm" which some of them make a big deal of
, in reality once they're all bolted together they're fairly sturdy.
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