Bespoke solid oak vs German factory made kitchen cabinets

[donmaico]

I just had an estimate from a bespoke kitchen manufacturer and the total for the cabinets including pelmets plinth and cornices came to about £10k .Labour and quarts worktop would add an extra 6k. Appliances, sink, taps I would have to supply myself and they would possibly another £2-3 k depending on make and model.
I submitted a plan which pretty copied my existing Benchmark kitchen blueprint with a few alterations. All told I did not think the price was too bad and I kind of reasoned that a German off the factory floor make would probably be quite similar in price if not more so I am wondering whether a bespoke option would be much better given their longevity - no chipboard in sight and no ghastly Blum hinges .I say that because of the number of times I have had to relocate clip on cabinet hinge dampers and in some instances the whole hinge itself popped out because the screws were too short .MFC may be stable and cheap but it just does not hold on to screws too well, besides I have noticed doors tend to sag over a period of time . Would I be wise going down the bespoke route?

 

[Bonni]

I've fitted a few German kitchens, they age the same as all kitchens and are a fortune. As at the kitchen is being fitted, you find the customer makes alterations, a damaged in transit mark becomes apparent and we've even had the wrong item picked in the German factory. So all that just means you have to wait a week or two for the replacement item. You do get some little refinements though with German kitchens but you can easily live without them.

So if you weigh up the cost etc.. German kitchens wouldn't be on my list, just purely down to the price and any claimed benefits in refinement and quality doesn't justify the price difference. Also, I will only use a manual screwdriver on hinges and the wall bracket cabinet hanging mechanism. A cordless causes no end of problems which might be you you're suffering problems. If you take the hinge off and leave the plate on the cabinet, there's normally a hole in the middle of it to screw a woodscrew through to secure the hinge even further. After setting the doors up, I normally unclip the doors and pop woodscrews in.

And like anything, kitchens need maintained and serviced, not many do this. Once a kitchen is fitted, it's used for life until a hinge plays up. Checking the tightness of screws, cleanliness of hinges, lubrication of hinges and runners, door alignment and water damage to plinths rarely get checked.

I fitted a £30,000 kitchen and in general conversation, the customer mentioned why they went for German, "When we have friends round, I couldn't possibly tell them it was from Homebase".

But it's just down to personal preference and budget.

 

[lynchnigel]

I would say the same, its wood they still move like any other kitchen furniture, doors are opened and closed endless times. Not all kitchen companies are equal I would say have a shop around and have chats with companies as to if they will install and if they maintain it for a period of time. Not everyone uses the same hinges either so you can identify which they use. I think our Hafele hinges had been in place 10 years or so before they started giving trouble.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Personally I think that MFC for cabinets makes a lot of sense, especially in terms of cleanabiity and hygiene. If you want to get away from hinges into MFC and those "ghastly Blum hinges" you could always specify a solid hardwood face frame with solid hardwood doors and brass butt hinges. Only downside to that is that it does deliver a more traditional look

 

[donmaico]

I've fitted a few German kitchens, they age the same as all kitchens and are a fortune. As at the kitchen is being fitted, you find the customer makes alterations, a damaged in transit mark becomes apparent and we've even had the wrong item picked in the German factory. So all that just means you have to wait a week or two for the replacement item. You do get some little refinements though with German kitchens but you can easily live without them.

So if you weigh up the cost etc.. German kitchens wouldn't be on my list, just purely down to the price and any claimed benefits in refinement and quality doesn't justify the price difference. Also, I will only use a manual screwdriver on hinges and the wall bracket cabinet hanging mechanism. A cordless causes no end of problems which might be you you're suffering problems. If you take the hinge off and leave the plate on the cabinet, there's normally a hole in the middle of it to screw a woodscrew through to secure the hinge even further. After setting the doors up, I normally unclip the doors and pop woodscrews in.

And like anything, kitchens need maintained and serviced, not many do this. Once a kitchen is fitted, it's used for life until a hinge plays up. Checking the tightness of screws, cleanliness of hinges, lubrication of hinges and runners, door alignment and water damage to plinths rarely get checked.

I fitted a £30,000 kitchen and in general conversation, the customer mentioned why they went for German, "When we have friends round, I couldn't possibly tell them it was from Homebase".

But it's just down to personal preference and budget.

From what you are saying a Howden's kitchen would serve me just as well as any German kitchen? The problem I had with the hinges was mainly with corner cabinets where on tow occasions a sure popped out sand left a door dangling The screw as very short so I just replaced them with longer ones and so far they have held out. One irritating aspect is the soft close dampers on the hinges keep dropping off when I just brush them with my hand by mistake. It took me awhile to get the hang of relocating them but they shouldn't just drop off like that. Anyway my wife is persuading me to opt for a Bowden's or Benchmark provided it is not one of their pvc/ foil/vinyl wrapped door options which is what we have now.They are starting to peel

 

[donmaico]

Personally I think that MFC for cabinets makes a lot of sense, especially in terms of cleanabiity and hygiene. If you want to get away from hinges into MFC and those "ghastly Blum hinges" you could always specify a solid hardwood face frame with solid hardwood doors and brass butt hinges. Only downside to that is that it does deliver a more traditional look

yup Shaker which I like .You are referring to in frame where the load posed by the door is met by the wood frame via two butt hinges? It just seems more sensible

 

[Deleted member 174758]

In frame, face frame, same thing.

 

[lynchnigel]

From what you are saying a Howden's kitchen would serve me just as well as any German kitchen? The problem I had with the hinges was mainly with corner cabinets where on tow occasions a sure popped out sand left a door dangling The screw as very short so I just replaced them with longer ones and so far they have held out. One irritating aspect is the soft close dampers on the hinges keep dropping off when I just brush them with my hand by mistake. It took me awhile to get the hang of relocating them but they shouldn't just drop off like that. Anyway my wife is persuading me to opt for a Bowden's or Benchmark provided it is not one of their pvc/ foil/vinyl wrapped door options which is what we have now.They are starting to peel

Again all wrapped doors aren't equal.
But to circumvent that you could go for sprayed doors instead.
If you go to a bespoke kitchen company they can be solid timber or MDF sprayed. So you either get the wood grain as a feature through the sprayed door Which a friend of mine does in various colours.

Soft close dampers? Do you mean the bumpons (little round dot) that's generally stuck on the edge off the door or cabinet?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Soft door closes are either pistons which is drilled into the edge of the door, a clip on damper which works with specific hinges or hinges with built-in dampers. There may be others, but those are what I've come across.

The rubber bumpers are just that, bumpers....

 

[lynchnigel]

Soft door closes are either pistons which is drilled into the edge of the door, a clip on damper which works with specific hinges or hinges with built-in dampers. There may be others, but those are what I've come across.

The rubber bumpers are just that, bumpers....

Innit just

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Yeah, s'obvious really...

 

[lynchnigel]

bumper-licious

 

[donmaico]

Again all wrapped doors aren't equal.
But to circumvent that you could go for sprayed doors instead.
If you go to a bespoke kitchen company they can be solid timber or MDF sprayed. So you either get the wood grain as a feature through the sprayed door Which a friend of mine does in various colours.

Soft close dampers? Do you mean the bumpons (little round dot) that's generally stuck on the edge off the door or cabinet?

No, these things https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk...reyv1xmD_UxFp2kx-qgz0PclcOMfL9yBoCgo4QAvD_BwE.
I am considering painted MDF doors as an alternative to veneered ones..As I understand it wrapped doors were fine when first introduced because the glue used in the manufacture of MDF didn't react with the wrapping. Unfortunately the EU banned the glue and its replacement caused all sorts of problems associated with delamination. Maybe things have improved but I wouldn't know which wrapped options work better.Benchmarx offer lifetime guarantees on their cabinets but only 5 on their PVC wrapped doors and that tells me they will delaminate not long after

 

[lynchnigel]

My friend who builds kitchens does kitchens that have a timber frame on the front face that's about 40mm wide in parrot wood I believe that's close grained which is painted. Doors are then inset in the frame which are painted by hand or sprayed.

 

[donmaico]

My friend who builds kitchens does kitchens that have a timber frame on the front face that's about 40mm wide in parrot wood I believe that's close grained which is painted. Doors are then inset in the frame which are painted by hand or sprayed.

Do they have butt hinges attaching the doors to the frame therefore making them in frame or Blum hinges attached to the cabinet therefore making them in frame style?TBH I see little point in the latter as it's just about appearances