we're getting a new kitchen fitted, and have had quotes from b&q and ikea, but have heard lots of horror stories about parts missing, delayed deliveries etc from b&q. As we're on a very tight budget, I was wondering whether Howdens is an option, even though it's trade only. Can I register as trade considering we are renovating a rental property, or if not, how can i find someone to buy from them for me?
new kitchen help
- Thread starter azmiat
- Start date
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If you are having the kitchen fitted by a contractor ask him to get the kitchen from Howdens.
I was speaking to a guy the other day who is still waiting for his B&Q kitchen to be finished off at least 6 months after it was started
He told me he has had nearly £1500 in refunds due to parts missing and work not done. I'd give that one a miss I think
If you are fitting the kitchen yourself I would ring your local Howdens and be honest and tell him that this is your first venture into property developing and does that qualify you for "trade" prices.
Don't know about IKEA but I suspect not much better than B&Q.
Problem with getting kitchens fitted by the sheds is they screw the contractors into the ground on price in order to make a bit more profit from the kitchen. What you pay them for the labour is not what the contractor gets. Also the guys who do the "surveys" the measurer uppers are often cluless as to what can be fitted where, this then causes problems with wrong parts being sent and then delays while the correct parts are being ordered. You and your contractor then lose money
I was speaking to a guy the other day who is still waiting for his B&Q kitchen to be finished off at least 6 months after it was started
He told me he has had nearly £1500 in refunds due to parts missing and work not done. I'd give that one a miss I think If you are fitting the kitchen yourself I would ring your local Howdens and be honest and tell him that this is your first venture into property developing and does that qualify you for "trade" prices.
Don't know about IKEA but I suspect not much better than B&Q.
Problem with getting kitchens fitted by the sheds is they screw the contractors into the ground on price in order to make a bit more profit from the kitchen. What you pay them for the labour is not what the contractor gets. Also the guys who do the "surveys" the measurer uppers are often cluless as to what can be fitted where, this then causes problems with wrong parts being sent and then delays while the correct parts are being ordered. You and your contractor then lose money
Get your kitchen from B&Q, 95% of the stuff is there to be picked up, especially the warehouse ones.
The quality for price is excellent.
Find a carpenter who will fit for you, the price you save on B&Q kitchens and the carpenter fitting will be cheaper than Howdens kitchens to buy, before fitting, trust me, it will.
Howdens carcases are ready made, and try fitting a coordinated end panel on, it has to go over the carcase end panel and look terrible, added on the side, any kitchen fitters will know what I'm on about.
Would recommend B&Q for price and quality, every time
The quality for price is excellent.
Find a carpenter who will fit for you, the price you save on B&Q kitchens and the carpenter fitting will be cheaper than Howdens kitchens to buy, before fitting, trust me, it will.
Howdens carcases are ready made, and try fitting a coordinated end panel on, it has to go over the carcase end panel and look terrible, added on the side, any kitchen fitters will know what I'm on about.
Would recommend B&Q for price and quality, every time
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Yeah 95% then wait weeks for the other 5%.
If you can get all you need from B&Q (or any of the other sheds) in one hit then its good.
I bought some replacement doors from B&Q for a kitchen in a rental property. I was two doors short of what I needed but I was assured that they would be in in a weeks time so I paid for them and fitted what I had.
I don't need to tell the rest of the tale do I.( Well just in case.) No doors turned up and they then discontinued the range.
So now I am 24 hrs away from tenants moving in and two cupboard doors missing. BIG row with B&Q, reluctantly they took my original doors back as I had altered them to fit my cupboards. had no time to shop around for cheapie doors and took next best from B&Q. Never again.Kitchens from sheds are OK if they have all the stuff in stock, my advice would be don't part with a penny until they have it all together.
I take your point about the end panels from Howdens but for rental properties they are ideal. Ready built carcases are fantastic. I have fitted a few Howdens kitchens now and all the stuff turns up on one truck and on the odd occassion that I have needed to swap an item I have never had a problem.
Just fitted my last kitchen in château gcol in September. I looked at Howdens and they were charging a fortune compared to BnQ. Got oak doored units from BnQ. Sure with BnQ you have to put them together, but if you do that properly they're spot on and saves storage space while you're ready for them. The money we saved on units was spent on appliances and if I do say so myself, the kitchen is blo*dy great.
thanks, we might just end up going with b&q after all, although it might be a bit of a gamble.. we do have a good few weeks before we plan to fit the kitchen anyway so a bit of a delay is not a disaster - noone will be living in the property until june at least.
what's the best way of getting hold of a kitchen fitter other than word of mouth? we don't know a local fitter and don't want to pay over the odds for the b&q installation.
what's the best way of getting hold of a kitchen fitter other than word of mouth? we don't know a local fitter and don't want to pay over the odds for the b&q installation.
I fit Kitchens & Bathrooms for a living. We specialise in the full job (plastering down to underfloor heating)
As a guide, When someone calls me and says " I have bought a kitchen from B&Q and I want to know how much you will charge to fit it because they want my right arm and both legs" I always say " half the price and you wont be far out"
So thats your forearm and only one leg sir
I am quite friendly with the 2 main kitchen designers down at my local B&Q and although they are not meant to, they have passed on my number to some of their customers in the past. Ask them if they know any local guy's they could recommend.
If you are quite competent at the old DIY, why don't you assemble the units yourselves and just get someone in to scribe the worktops and cut the cornice & pelmet
As a guide, When someone calls me and says " I have bought a kitchen from B&Q and I want to know how much you will charge to fit it because they want my right arm and both legs" I always say " half the price and you wont be far out"
So thats your forearm and only one leg sir
I am quite friendly with the 2 main kitchen designers down at my local B&Q and although they are not meant to, they have passed on my number to some of their customers in the past. Ask them if they know any local guy's they could recommend.
If you are quite competent at the old DIY, why don't you assemble the units yourselves and just get someone in to scribe the worktops and cut the cornice & pelmet
If you do get a contractor to buy your kitchen from howdens (not saying it happens or anything ) they can when prompted provide two separate invoices ,one obviously being more expensive than the other .
) they can when prompted provide two separate invoices ,one obviously being more expensive than the other .DIYnot Local
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