Various kitchen questions

[wemorgan]

I've read the various forums, but feel little wiser.

We're in the process of replacing our kitchen. The 3 options so far are:

Homebase Odina range
Local independent kitchen place
Local carpenter with Howdens account

Budget is up to £5k for 9 units and 4m worktop (fitting and appliances not included)

The kitchen plans are nearly complete and one quote is now in. But in my search for quality at the right price I'm unsure on certain products.

1. Is Homebase Odina better than average (Howdens?), as it's marketed to be?
2. I dislike laminate worktops and want either a composite stone or Dupont Corian surface. Laminate £500, composite stone £1300, Corian ~£2000+. Have I missed a 'no-brainer' option?

I'm asking the above as from my experience kitchen sellers and especially their pricing/discounting make any reasonable comparison very difficult.

Any other random thoughts worth sharing.

Cheers.

 

[Charles Morgan]

I have a Howdens kitchen installed 2 years ago. They are fine, not stylish, but their pricing is totally opaque - the fitter will have a quote from them showing a discount, while he or she most likely is getting a lot lot more off. My builder gave me all the discount he got (after 40 years in the trade something around 75%). So the total kitchen cost (not fitting - took a couple of days) for 13 base units and 11 upper units, doors, extractor fan, sink and tap was a smidgen over £2k.

Most tops apart from composite are pretty much the same, I had granite (thank you RedC220) which was about double the cost of the units, because there was a lot of it and I chose a rarer granite. I think bamboo looks quite nice too - my sister had this put in.

Apart from that, not a lot more to add, but negotiate!

 

[tali]

I got my kitchen from Selco few years back -it was a mid range unit with 15 drawer(4 kids to feed!), ebony worktops , all the pricey add ons -(plinths, panels, cornices) came in under 2k
Oh and try to bung it on cashback card -Amex will give 5% back

 

[MCFastybloke]

I fit kitchens and am not a howdens fan,its cost engineered and lacks a sufficient range of décor products to cover all senarios,leaving a fitter to cut and the conceal the cut edge,against the wall etc,rather than a bespoke panel for a specific application,also recently problems with high gloss panels being bent.

The local guy would be my choice,he should be able to get doors to custom sizes not 300,500,500 and so on,

 

[MCFastybloke]

Worktops I like timber.Oiled,and reoiled and reoiled,good as new over and over.

 

[wemorgan]

I have a Howdens kitchen installed 2 years ago. They are fine, not stylish, but their pricing is totally opaque - the fitter will have a quote from them showing a discount, while he or she most likely is getting a lot lot more off. My builder gave me all the discount he got (after 40 years in the trade something around 75%). So the total kitchen cost (not fitting - took a couple of days) for 13 base units and 11 upper units, doors, extractor fan, sink and tap was a smidgen over £2k.

Most tops apart from composite are pretty much the same, I had granite (thank you RedC220) which was about double the cost of the units, because there was a lot of it and I chose a rarer granite. I think bamboo looks quite nice too - my sister had this put in.

Apart from that, not a lot more to add, but negotiate!

My carpenter sounds similar to yours. He's given me his Howdens account details and said I can buy directly from them myself taking all the discount I can negotiate. Nice chap.

In my ideal world for £5k I'd have solid wood doors, composite stone worktop and ceramic sink. Some of our units that we want, for example pull out ladder I know are expensive verses more basic shelves. So far the independent kitchen place has quoted £5k for laminate doors, laminate worktop and steel sink. A real pity as I wanted to give them our business.

 

[Piff]

I prefer Crown Imperial kitchens - quite good quality, not the cheapest but then not the most expensive.
Solid surface worktops - Bushboard Encore.
Where are you in the country? Crown have a massive showroom in Daventry. You can only get in via pre-booked appointment. They won't try to sell you anything - it's purely display, you buy from your installer.
Crown have recently bought out the wholesaler I used to use, then merged it with another - Waterline
Waterline should be able to put you in touch with an installer in your area

edit
I'm also not a Howdens fan. I would fit them in a cheap house, but not my own kitchen.

 

[IanA2]

Worktops I like timber.Oiled,and reoiled and reoiled,good as new over and over.

Yes I have that....an industrial sander and a lot of oil!!!!

I'd also be inclined to go local, any problems they'll sort it out. E.G. I had four new hardwood external doors fabricated and fitted by a local outfit. Couple of years down the road one of them became a bit sticky. They came along, took it away, resized, painted and refitted it, no mention of money at any point.

 

[Piff]

2. I dislike laminate worktops and want either a composite stone or Dupont Corian surface. Laminate £500, composite stone £1300, Corian ~£2000+. Have I missed a 'no-brainer' option?

Trade cost (your fitter also needs to make a profit though)
Laminate worktop 4m length £100 upwards
Encore solid surface 4m length £420 upwards
edit
Encore also needs some installation extras

 

[mattc]

Have you considered Ikea units?

Last kitchen had marble off ebay 3 x3mtr lengths. Straight runs and channeling for drainer for £1150. Current kitchen has 3x3mtrs of beech, danish oiled and looking great after 5 years (we do dry round the drainer religiously and don't have small children who I imagine would just leave the damp to rot! Wood was £300 ish IIRC

 

[Darrell]

We used to fit a lot of Howdens stuff without any problems.

I am in fact sitting in my sisters Howdens kitchen as we speak and it looks fine.

My bro in law fitted it himself. He is quite handy but no fitter and he said it went together without any hitches. Him and my sister are both surveyors and use Howdens products where they can.

 

[davidjpowell]

Use a lot of Howdens stuff in office kitchens. Staff are very good at breaking stuff, but never had any of the kitchens go wrong... Decent stuff at good price.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

There's an old saying with kitchen fitting: "A great fitter can make a cheap kitchen look good, whereas a bad fitter will make an expensive kitchen look cheap."

Try and make sure that the base units come with solid backs, not hardboard and don't scrimp on work tops would be my main two bits of advice.

Corian is a great surface, my friend fits out dentist surgeries using Corian tops and thoroughly recommends it. In fact, we will be having it for the work tops in our new extension.

 

[Piff]

Each to their own.
I've been supplied with Howdens worktops that don't even have a "balancing" paper on the reverse! Just bare chipboard.
A lot of kitchen "quality" comes from the fitter - how well it is installed.
However, the ones I linked to earlier have 2mm pvc lipping on the front edge of the carcases to protect the chipboard carcase edges (amongst other things).
It's little things like that that make the difference.
They also do a lower grade range called Lifestyle which is probably closer to Howdens quality

 

[brigadier]

Ikea has a completely new kitchen range coming out in around 4 weeks, which looks good. Lot's of new things like motion sensor lights in units for drawers, sliding baskets on top of drawers rails, lots of different organizers to go in drawers etc. They changed the sizes as well base unit will be now 80cm tall and the plinth only 8cm. Width will be 20,40,60,80. The quality is great for the price imo.

 

[Piff]

Ikea has a completely new kitchen range coming out in around 4 weeks, which looks good. Lot's of new things like motion sensor lights in units for drawers, sliding baskets on top of drawers rails, lots of different organizers to go in drawers etc. They changed the sizes as well base unit will be now 80cm tall and the plinth only 8cm. Width will be 20,40,60,80. The quality is great for the price imo.

I've looked at Ikea kitchens for a possible install for a bro-in-law. They have some "different" unit arrangements, for example in corners. Fitter would need to be conversant in Ikeas methods to make sure right units are ordered. We had to visit the store to see the corner arrangement, which confirmed that the particular run of units he had selected on-line didn't work in his situation.

 

[geraldrobins]

I prefer Crown Imperial kitchens - quite good quality, not the cheapest but then not the most expensive.
Solid surface worktops - Bushboard Encore.
Where are you in the country? Crown have a massive showroom in Daventry. You can only get in via pre-booked appointment. They won't try to sell you anything - it's purely display, you buy from your installer.
Crown have recently bought out the wholesaler I used to use, then merged it with another - Waterline
Waterline should be able to put you in touch with an installer in your area

edit
I'm also not a Howdens fan. I would fit them in a cheap house, but not my own kitchen.

We have a Crown kitchen that I installed about 7 years ago. We have had no problems with it. The disadvantage was that it was only available flat pack at the time. not sure if nowadays you have the option of assembled units. Im in the trade and wouldnt say, imho, it was not any better than Howdens.
Howdens are a good product but the 18mm carcasses are best. The reason we chose Crown was that they manufactured the only kitchen that my wife liked or was really happy with. But thats subjective.

Im currently involved in building some new 5 bedroom houses that will sell for around £750,000 and the developer has chosen Howden Kitchens.

But everyone is entitled to their opinion and may have good reason to disagree.

 

[Piff]

We have a Crown kitchen that I installed about 7 years ago. We have had no problems with it. The disadvantage was that it was only available flat pack at the time. not sure if nowadays you have the option of assembled units.

Yes, I think they now offer an assembled option

One of the advantages of their flatpack range is that vertical components are in one box and horizontal components in another. So you can make non-standard units with different horz/vert packs. Then put on the appropriate drawer/door front.

Im in the trade and wouldnt say, imho, it was not any better than Howdens.
Howdens are a good product but the 18mm carcasses are best. The reason we chose Crown was that they manufactured the only kitchen that my wife liked or was really happy with. But thats subjective.

Im currently involved in building some new 5 bedroom houses that will sell for around £750,000 and the developer has chosen Howden Kitchens.

He's probably getting a free bar-be-que or satnav Howdens were full of promotions last time I used them!

 

[Andopose]

Ikea fan here. Had one for 13 years and have just renewed doors and end panels. Kitchen looks brand new again for a fraction of the new cost. You can buy doors seperately to have a change at any time as ikea keep the same fittings and sizes.
I would agree about the fitting being important and always go for nice worktops, I have had granite and it still looks as good as new.
good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[John]

We just went through this fun exercise.

Started with Howdens - our installer allowed us to contact them direct. He got an 80% discount. However, for the PVC doors, all 900mm uppers - 2 upper corner cupboards, 2 large uppers, 2 small uppers, 1 lower corner, 1 large lower, 1 small lower, 1 set of drawers and 1 tall oven cupboard with worktops and handles as well as ridiculously-priced pullout organisers - £5k alone. £3k for the chipboard doors.

I guess 80% discount sounds impressive but if your starting price is £20,000,000, it's still quite expensive.

So we went with Ikea. Same setup as Howdens minus the worktop - £1800.

Quality is the same although our fitter was excellent.