Thinking about spunking £6k on a new kitchen. Anyone got any experience of magnet? Good bad indifferent.
Any ideas to make it cheaper?
Just been through all this myself and ended up with Howdens; the feedback I got basically said outside of bespoke kitchens=lots of money, all is much of a muchness but with a builder with good discount at Howdns you can do quite well.
The fitter also makes a massive difference.
Howdens have their annual sale every October.
We had excellent service from benchmarx in Guildford. Top kitchen and price. If that helps.
My kitchen came from Magnet, designed and fitted it all myself. Still going strong 10+ years later. Think it cost me about £3k for units + beech worktops. I didn't bother with fitted appliances, as the choice is (or was) so limited.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/5759641316/ ]Kitchen[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
I fitted one recently for an old client of ours and done small build works
But the cabinets themselves aren't of good quality and you have to convert
cabinets into say a blind corner unit and the blanking panel is a 4mm hardboard panel
and you just have to sort out the problems and you come up against a lot with Magnets
Also the micro wave housing shown in the picture don't exist but they designed it
and just sold the client a few end panels so i had to draw it up and make it on site
so make sure you have the correct tools for the job.
Also be careful Magnet flogged the client over £ 1,000 in end panels and cornice that was not
used or needed, so make sure you can return such items has it was a battle to get the money back.
There doors are about the best part of the kitchen.
Would I buy one Never !
Before
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After
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Used Magnet years ago for a kitchen and utility room. Units were good but the fitters were seriously rubbish. No re-planning was involved. Had a fight to get it sorted.
The previous kitchen was done by County Kitchens, not sure whether they still exist, but they did a brilliant job including tiling, flooring and electrics.
We got ours from Wren. Decent quality, worked out about the same price as Ikea as they come preassembled, unlike most others, so once you factor in the time it'd take your fitter to build the carcasses you save a bit.
2nd Howdens
howdens. all good lads in sheffield.
Howdens do the same kitchens as branded Schrieber elsewhere. The pictures of ours in the Howdens catalogue was the same room set as the MFI brochure of the time - just a different image.
johndoh - Member
Howdens do the same kitchens as branded Schrieber elsewhere. The pictures of ours in the Howdens catalogue was the same room set as the MFI brochure of the time - just a different image.
So stay away from them has well then !!!
Well ours has lasted 10 years - can't complain really. The carcasses were all pre-built too.
When I was looking to do my kitchen three years back, I was willing to pay whatever it took to get something nice and durable so I went to Magnet.
I have never encountered such a band of pretentious twits in my life.
Most pre-fab kitchens units = sawdust held together by glue with macktak stuck on top. Magnet just charges more for it.
they are all much of a muchness, have fitted loads, more important that your fitter is good, any decent joiner should be able to advise on what you do or don't need. These units have huge mark ups, so when they are getting rid of a range they are seriously discounted, if you can wait, you'll find a 'bargain' so to speak.
Some have better components than others, but only marginal, chipboard and MDF, thats your 'quality' kitchen these days......
Howdens do the same kitchens as branded Schrieber elsewhere. The pictures of ours in the Howdens catalogue was the same room set as the MFI brochure of the time - just a different image.
Howdens and MFI were owned by the same company IIRC.
That said, I would have a Howdens kitchen....but would never have entertained an MFI kitchen!
We've just been through the same thing.
Wickes = cheap but couldn't offer what we wanted (90cm wall units as we have high ceilings).
Magnet = came out and measured up and couldn't figure out how to fit the units we wanted in the space we wanted, despite the fact there was a modern'ish kitchen with the same unit dimensions already fitted! Ended up having to chase them at least 3 times for a quote over a 5/6 week period and despite repeated promises a quote never arrived. Staff at the shop (Huddersfield) were ignorant pricks and as mentioned, the guy who came out to measure didn't know one end of a tape measure from the other.
Howdens = guy came out and measured up everything in an instant. Could offer the exact kitchen we wanted. Were flexible about us supplying worktops and appliances ourselves and put us in touch with a number of local reccommended joiners who could do the job. Ended up going with them as they were a really good price and the joiners/builders we got in to do the job were superb and we've since had back to do other work.
Plus, if anything goes wrong, wander down to the local Howdens and pick up a replacement. Order from Magnet/Wickes and wait x weeks/months for stuff they don't have in stock.
That said, Wickes, if they'd have done the 90cm wall units we'd have probably gone for as they have endless offers on so just wait til the one that suits you comes up (think it was 40% off one month followed by £x of free appliances the next...)
Nice work grantway!
We had one from Magnet. The stuff was OK, better than Howdens, but the fitters were rubbish. Magnet contracted in the fitters - they were driving 80 miles a day to get to us - did a poor job, left it unfinished, and magnet customer service was very poor - rude in fact.
Next time we had a kitchen done we picked the fitter first and went with what they recommended.
Ikea? Although they don't have any space behind for pipes etc. so can be a bit of an arse unless you plan for it.
You get what you pay for and that certainly applies to Ikea kitchens.
From what I saw, the kitchen we got (the high gloss one with integrated handles) was exactly the same thing in Wickes, Howdens and Magnet (also the same as the one Tesco show on their website).
As someone else has said, make sure you get a decent fitter (as applies for most of these things...).
B&Q are the current favourites for our next kitchen.
We've had our Magnet kitchen for 6+ years. STill going strong with no complaints.
(The soft close door mechanisms could perhaps do with replacing on the most used doors but I just can't be bothered!)
We went into Magnet with our floor plan for our tiny london kitchen.
The guy looked at it for a bit and asked if we would like an american fridge and an island (the room isn't even 3mx3m!)
We ended up using Schmit - possibly the best customer service I have ever had and the perfect design for the space.
http://www.schmidt-kitchens.com
Seeing as everyone's sticking their oar in - we checked out all the usual, ended up using Homebase - good choice and they use external contractors to fit, who were very good.
Tip: get taps from Ebay or you pay stupid money for them.
wrightyson - Member
Nice work grantway!
Thank You Wrightyson