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Really useful information
Sadly the showroom is over 200 miles away so going to struggle to make it there unless I sort a weekend out with the in-laws looking after the kids. Could be worth it though
we’re the quartz tops precut for you based on the planner?
I’ve never used DIY kitchens but quartz and the like are usually templated after all units and sinks etc. are installed and then fitted by the fabricator. The DIY options come in lengths which need cutting by the fitter and then polishing etc. once glued up. Don’t ever buy precut worktops as they’ll almost always not fit somewhere Unless you’re design is very straight forward and your room 100% square.
And those worktop vids were useful. “Just treat it like wood without the end grain”. Well, there is a bit more to it!
I actually have a festool tracksaw and extraction, so was tempted by a router. Oooof. Over £1k plus cutters Could justify by selling it on for £800 after the job. However I know I won’t…
Given the cost of the worktops I’m leaning towards someone who has fitted lots
Vid didn’t cover fitting the worktop to the cabinets
I’ve read ikea don’t have a service void? Is that right?
What are you going to put in it? Serious question.
I've bought & fitted 3 IKEA kitchens in the last 5 years (Mum's, ours and used one for our large utility room), each time though I've used a carpenter to cut/fit/seal the worktops as it's just too easy to get it wrong.
They're very easy to put together and are logical in both fit and 'build'. For example, We've a 3m island and IKEA supply a specific set of supports/braces to ensure it's securely bolt down.
Only cupboards in our kitchen are on the wall, the rest are all drawers.
Note, thee IKEA units are deeper than most, so either buy their worktops or ensure the ones you get are deep enough.
I used the Erbauer 1/2" cutters from screwfix. Top job and half the price of Trend
The router was a DeWalt, I'm guessing 2300W (I borrowed it but can check if you want model, etc) and a Trend jig (also borrowed)
Like I said before, the old Makita 3612c workhorse is the one I'd go for for a one off worktop, less than £80 on the 'bay. My old Makita cut 1000's of worktops over it's 20 year service until I retired. I bought the Festool, which is obviously a much more deluxe machine and collects a lot more dust at source so a more professional tool, I only really fit 10 Kitchens a year these days and only cut about 20 sets of worktops so the Festool was a bit of an extravagance but I'm a sucker for a bit of grey and green!
Given the cost of the worktops I’m leaning towards someone who has fitted lots
It's not technically that difficult with a bit of thought and learning how all the kit works, but there's lots of little tricks and techniques to make it a better job. you can damage a very expensive top really quickly with a blade spinning at 10,000 rpm!
We've just had a mostly IKEA kitchen fitted (we customised the look with some non-Ikea doors and fronts) and you're correct that there are no service voids. Our fitter batoned the cabinets out from the wall about 15mm and apart from leaving the back panel off the sink cabinet and notching an under sink drawer to fit round the U bend, there weren't any difficulties. We had loads of fitters refuse to touch IKEA - even though we were doing all the assembly ourselves - whilst others would only do it for a higher cost.
IKEA cabinets are also taller as they're based around 8cm legs, not 12cm. So the insides are cavernous. Which makes sense in many ways: why make all your cabinets 50+mm shorter just because one or two may have pipes behind? Similarly, beneath the cabinets is usually dead space.
We didn't like anything in Wren but we did get an extortionate quote from Magnet in their February 'half price' sale. The AEG appliances and worktops were actually very well priced, showing just how overpriced the cabinets were. Surprisingly they never followed up either.
We visited DIY kitchens in person and made a weekend of it, staying over in Sheffield. Everyone at the site was very helpful and we'd have happily used them if they'd had some different styles. They've got loads of in-frame and shaker styles which might have suited an older property. We wanted something slightly more modern, but not handleless and definitely not gloss, so we had to look elsewhere.
We had a local granite firm supply our quartz tops (Affordable Granite in Surrey). They quoted based on our kitchen plan measurements, took a deposit about 6 weeks in advance, came to template on a Thursday and fitted on Monday. All very smooth.
The Neff/Siemens appliances were a challenge. We signed up to alerts everywhere we could and got very lucky I think - all sold out again within an hour of us ordering online. Marks Electrical and Appliance City I think - so be sure to look at the smaller places. 16 weeks is optimistic - many shops quoted us indefinite delays or couldn't take an order as they already have large queues for the first few batches.
Ikea kitchen here. Fitter said he would never fit one again (this was 10 years ago). The wall unit is particular were a pain to get square due to the type of fixing they used. In the end it was big screws and lots of packers. They haven't fallen down yet despite my wife loading about 2 tons of Denby in them.
We went granite top and like above got a local firm to come and template, supply and fit. Its all lasted really well with just a little fading of the doors compared to the pelmets. Doors and real wood but pelmet/cornice are all mdf with 'wood' effect covering which seems to not fade.
Daughter has just got a Wren quote for 15k (supply of units, worktop and some appliances).
Anybody know if you can buy replacement cabinets from howdens if you already have a kitchen from them? We didnt purchase the kitchen direct obviously but the house we've bought has a howdens ktichen and a belfast sink which we hate. The rest of the kitchen is perfectly fine but we just want a normal sink back so I'm thinking replace the worktop/sink cabinets and 2 either side of it.
Or does anyone know of a replacement model for the Chilcomb range from Howdens but from DIY Kitchens, last 2 I've done have been from there and we're just not in the right place for a full kitchen refit!
Anybody know if you can buy replacement cabinets from howdens if you already have a kitchen from them?
You can if you have an account, failing that you’ll need to ask nicely in branch or find someone who has.