B&Q, Wickes or Ikea kitchen?

Phate · 10 Oct 2011 at 16:20

So...as above.

Its time to start sorting a kitchen out. Which one of the above would you pick?

Appreciate a bespoke kitchen will be far better quality but hey ho, finances won't allow! And the above will be fine providing you treat it with respect which we will.

Assembly is not a problem so we don't need to worry about costs for that!

So people, personal experiences welcome - which would you recommend?

Chaaaars,
Jake

cymatty · 10 Oct 2011 at 16:22

My dad is a builder and uses these, not sure on prices though

http://www.howdens.com/

Phate · 10 Oct 2011 at 16:35

Ah nice! Completely forgot about them as well! Kinda stupid as my friend has a trade account and he gets like 70% off due to it. Shall take a look!

What's the quality like mate? Good?

cymatty · 10 Oct 2011 at 16:38

Phate said:
Ah nice! Completely forgot about them as well! Kinda stupid as my friend has a trade account and he gets like 70% off due to it. Shall take a look!

What's the quality like mate? Good?

Well he used them in his own home so I guess that speaks volumes.

From what I have seen the quality looks good.

aldo1234 · 10 Oct 2011 at 16:40

IKEA stuff is fine. Installed two kitchens with no issues. Worktops are rubbish and a strange size so you can't use ones from other stores without messing around. Get someone to custom make the tops, the kitchen will look amazing obviously depending on price and purpose.

nicRob · 10 Oct 2011 at 16:49

As Cymatty says, Howdens kitchens are pretty good - used them in some flats recently and they were fine.

joemc · 10 Oct 2011 at 16:56

B&Q make some nice stuff, just takes a while for it to be delivered.

Salsa · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:08

Im going to be biased here but I will suggest Homebase as a possible alternative.

Budget/Spec/Style kitchen are you looking for?

From my dealings with most of the big sheds

Wickes: Are overly expensive and dont give you much choice in handles and accessories.

B&Q: are very competative on price but their product is inferior especially the IT ranges. They have also recently been supplying cheaper IT carcasses with their higher end Cooke and Lewis kitchens to keep costs down without telling the customer. Delivery is usually quite a wait and if there are any issues with missing or damaged items you are in for a long frustrating battle to sort it.

Howdens: competative on price but will only sell to trade. Their after sales support is practically none existant. Delivery is very fast and carcasses are supplied pre-assembled.

Wren: Have a very nice product with much more variety and choice in unit sizes. 50mm increments instead of 100mm increments in unit size. After sales support is awful and their sales team are very very pushy. Once they have your money they dont care.

Ikea. Not a great variety of styles with Ikea. Also non standard sizes as with most of their stuff. So if you want to replace say worktops further down the line then you will have to get custom ones or buy from Ikea again. Worktop choice is poor. After sales is fairly good.

Homebase: Pretty decent selection of styles and accessories. Unit quality is the best of the bunch except for perhaps Wren. Appliance pricing is not all that competative but the same could be said for most of the kitchen retailers. Delivery is around 4-6 weeks so not the fatsest but not the worst. After sales is much better than most.

I currently work as a kitchen designer for Homebase and have previously worked for two of the other big sheds.

If you have any further questions just ask.

Best advice is to shop around. Dont jump at the first quote you get. Most of these places will have a quote beater guarantee and you can normally knock a few hundred quid off just by bartering with the sales team.

/Salsa

WillyNelson · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:15

Howdens or Matchmaker (who are very similar to Howdens). The kitcen we put in our flat was a Matchmaker one and it was excellent quality.

God I loved that kitchen...! Now I'm stuck with a crappy one with horrible blue laminate worktops *sob*

ZG002 · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:28

Could give

http://www.magnet.co.uk/ a look also mate, The more choice you have the better right?

EddScott · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:29

Ours is from Homebase with a few bits from Howdens.

Very happy with it TBH. We bought appliances seperately.

Phate · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:34

Salsa said:
schnippity snip.

Awesome info, thank you!

I never even considered Homebase!

And all info appreciated

- Thanks for the suggestions people!

Freakbro · 10 Oct 2011 at 18:34

Will throw a ringer in and say ebay

And before you all laugh, my folks bought a 2nd hand kitchen off ebay, solid oak, hand made - loads of units, 3M solid oak worktop, double ceramic sink, free standing table, free standing 6ft+ double cupboard, loads of extras for just over a grand.

Would have been £12k+ new easy.

Far better quality than anything you will get from the flat pack stuff.

Not that oak is to everyones tastes, plus you have to make it fit your space, but it's not usually where people would think to look to buy a kitchen

JDMaverick · 10 Oct 2011 at 18:50

My cousins just done up his first house and they got a kitchen from Wickes. Was an absolute nightmare...

His mate is a builder and put the actual kitchen in, but the amount of things that had to go back and be replaced. Never mind the items that weren't even delivered.
Just looking at some of the boxes that were delivered, he described them as if a forklift truck had run over the top of them. They should never have been put on the lorry/taken off it.

So in my experience don't touch Wickes

Django x2 · 10 Oct 2011 at 18:54

Howdens or Wren (over any listed in the OP). Not far off the price and may well come in cheaper in some instances.

If I had to go with the OP, it would be Wickes. I've fitted a couple of IKEA kitchens for friends and family. IKEA do a very good job of hiding cack carcasses so may well fair slightly better than B&Q

brummie · 10 Oct 2011 at 19:13

B&Q will beat every ones quote if you take it to them. Get quotes from all the others and take it to them and see. Whatever you do do not go to Wickes or Homebase, you'll regret it. Howdens are great for trade but i would never install one in my own home. It's like crapping on your own carpets. You just dont.

SeatIbiza · 10 Oct 2011 at 19:49

Howdens.

DO NOT USE WICKES. The kitchens are a nightmare to fit.

I have a mate who'd do this for you phate (builder)...or give you an honest quote at least.

Mark A · 10 Oct 2011 at 19:54

Howdens is the obvious choice if you have a mate in the trade.

Shame you missed the Focus closing sales. I managed to get 40-60% off my mums kitchen.

Phate · 10 Oct 2011 at 20:12

SeatIbiza said:
Howdens.

DO NOT USE WICKES. The kitchens are a nightmare to fit.

I have a mate who'd do this for you phate (builder)...or give you an honest quote at least.

Hi mate, thanks but its ok.

Dad and I are more than handy with DIY and my friends a builder so shouldn't be an issue, I'll bear it in mind incase it does go wrong though

Pajeh · 10 Oct 2011 at 20:14

Ikea were the best for the price when I was re-doing my kitchen 18 months ago. One thing to consider is that the Ikea units don't have a gap at the back.