Kitchens And Bathrooms

[Tim Reid]

This is a little off topic but it's good to get the advice of others....

I am looking to refit my kitchen and maybe bathroom. In my last house I bought the bits from Magnet and the Bath Store and did it myself but in the new house I would like to avoid the hastle and time so thinking about getting others to do it.

Here are some of the options I am thinking about. Does anyone have experience of them:

1. Get a "fully fitted" service from B and Q (both bathroom and kitchen).

2. Get a "fully fitted" service from Homebase (both bathroom and kitchen).

3. Get a "fully fitted" service from Wickes (both bathroom and kitchen).

4. Get a "fully fitted" service from Bathstore (bathroom) and Magnet (kitchen).

Or would it be better to buy the bits and find a contractor it fit it?

Does anyone have experience of the above companies fully fitted service?

[Norman Verona]

Tim, can't advise on the above but I fitted an IKEA kitchen and the best bit was planning it and seeing it come to life.

Took me a week of building but I was on my own, and only working about 6 hours a day in two shifts, 5-10 in the morning and 7-8 in the evening.

Had I had a helper and worked a 10 hour day it would have been finished in a few days.

This is it:

ed to add that on the right hand side there are 2 wine racks and a large larder and a unit with coffee machine and microwave

The dresser is not part of the IKEA units.

Some say that Ikea stuff is rubbish but for the price and the design it's good value for money. The two B&Q bits (toilets) I bought at Casterama (Kingfisher company) and branded Cooke and Lewis are complete garbage.

[Bean]

Interesting question, I've been wondering the same Tim. No doubt you've seen my pics on FB as I tackle one room at a time.

I think the finish from DIY stores will be down to the particular companies they sub contract to, therefore hard to gauge without recommendation from someone who used your local B&Q for instance.

Get quotes for a contractor (via personal recommendation) and do the comparisons. If you can see examples of their work, even better.

I doubt I'd ever let someone do the work for me though, I have very high standards and probably wouldn't let anyone near my house unless I know they were also perfectionists.

[SootySport]

You get what you pay for as a rule. Stick with Magnet and Bathstore for the best quality and best fit. Alternatively find a small local kitchen company for bespoke fitted units and their own fitters. I had my kitchen completetly rebuilt 4 years ago with much better qualilty units (15mm carcases) from a local company and it was cheaper than than all the usual DIY stores. The bathroom I done myself but bought good quality vitreous units, the tiling cost the most would you believe.

And sorry Norman, IKEA is about the worst kitchen unit quality I've ever seen, I would never buy anything from there.

[Hammy]

I set up a trade account and bought my kitchen through Magnet trade ( you can mix and match from the " other side" too) . I took all the units out myself and employed the Magnet fitter to install it . Have a word with the designer on the trade side to fix up a good fitter .

[Norman Verona]

Sootie, can't argue about quality or not of IKEA units. I'm not qualified. However I've had no problems with the finished units and I made a right pigs ear of assembly, mainly because I was on my own where the instructions stated It needed two.

ed: The Ikea units have a 25 year guarantee, I'll be 90 by then.

Having looked at B&Q offering I couldn't see the difference. I looked far a wide (over here) for better stuff but the price of better quality was as much as four times the price. It all comes down to cost/benefit.

ed to add that this isn't really helping Tim. I guess he should set a budget (probably has) and then see what he gets for his money.

[SootySport]

25 year Guarantee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't think they offer that sort of term over here. You are right though, budget plays a part in the decision and I know a friend or two who buy the cheapest available units but change them every 3 or 4 years, a strange scenario to me.

[skOOby]

Hi Tim, we did our bathroom last year. All fixtures and fitting from Bathstore, but their fitter didn't even bothering turning up for the initial visit, so we got all the stuff delivered and had a local guy fit it for us. Did a brilliant job, everything went together as it should, no missing bits.

Parents had all their bathrooms done from B&Q (the one near Madjeski) and were really impressed by the fitters...

[housebeautician]

Hi Tim

This is what i do for my living, specialising in kitchens and bathrooms. (Never advertise)

In answer to your questions of options open to you, and from a professional point of view i would not use A B or C. As they use contractors on a price. IMO and what i have seen of it that means chuck it in and leggitt , and delays and completion times can be stretched shall i say.

Bathstore i can't say as i do not and have not seen any works fitted by them. But i will say that they can supply generally good quality products at a reasonable price.

IKEA i would not touch with a barge pole. AFAIK its total crap.

Fitted one once and swore i would never fit another.

Myself, i generally supply and fit Howdens kitchens (Strictly trade only) which are of generally good quality and ready assembled, which if using a contractor will save you lots of money as he won't be charging you for screwing them together.

I have spares in the van for them and if i need anything else i can get it easily and not have to wait six weeks for it to be reordered if its not in stock.

It all depends on how much you want to spend, what you want done, if you are doing some yourself, etc etc.

From what you said above, if i was you i would get a recommended contractor in to do the work and you supply the stuff or let the contractor supply the kitchen of your choice and you supply the bathroom fittings.

Its a shame i'm not a bit closer as i would be happy to quote.

If you need any info etc or have questions send me a PM

HTH

Tony

[Doug Dastardly]

My joiner supplied and fitted a couple of howden's kitchens for me now and I'm happy with them. Yes he gets a cut, but it's still cheaper to you than some others of similar quality. They generally have loads of stock too and can supply within days.

You need a good joiner you can trust and work with though. Better to find that, than trust to an unknown subcontractor though.

Not as nice as the german kitchen in my house, but about a third of the price.

[s2rrr]

Another vote for Howdens my lad, the builder one, has negotiated a good discount and if your fitter is the same he can pass some of that on to you or at least make it appear so. So you get a fairly reasonable kitchen installed by someone in the game who knows all the quirks and at a negotiated decent price. Everyone wins and in this day and age as long as the three parties are happy thats good news for the building industry who are suffering big time and you the punter who wants the best for the least. Make sure your electrics are done by a certifed sparky as the part P business is required, easily done.

Bob

[Fangi0]

Just done my kitchen and bathroom. It was a complete re do as we last did it properly 25 years ago.

Did the home work and found Wren were really good on the kitchen fittings and units, the units come assembled rather than flat packed. Bath Store well priced, reasonable quality and local.

Daughter had trouble with B&Q's fitting and installation people, I think she got the B team.

So we got quotes and recommendations and ended up with a cracking kitchen fitter, absolutely brilliant (Bromley Kent). Plumber turned out to be good but a bit prone to juggling jobs and disappearing

So, go for recommended workers only. Get more than one quote. Tie them down to a schedule. The kitchen chap even asked us to agree and sign a contract, which was very professional.

Hope this helps

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Totally agree with Much of the above and Tony's comments

In my line of work (LA building inspector) i hear may mixed stories from people that use a "supply and fit" service from their local DIY store.  The greatest risk is that you have absolutely know control over who will be fitting your kitchen/bathroom etc.  In some cases the results are superb, whereas on other occasions the workmanship may be questionable.  

My best advice is to go for someone local and take advice and recommendations from your neighbours on local tradesmen or builders, that way you know who will actually be doing the job. You can easily spend 1000's on a kitchen and bathroom but it can look crap if the job is rushed and it's fitted badly.  The Local tradesman will be much more inclined to do a better job since bad feedback in his home town could adversely affect his potential future business.  Likewise if the worst should happen and you have a dispute, it would only be a short walk around the corner to "discuss" it with them and hopefully resolve the issue.

The negative side obviously is that all this would involve more work for you as you would potentially need to source your units/suite/fittings/taps etc from different sources.  Although the builder may have a trade account with magnet/Graham Group/howdens etc so could buy on your behalf at a discount if you can tell them exactly what you want.  

The other negative is that you probably wont be able to get them to start right away and personally speaking i would walk away from anyone that says they can start tomorrow.  I cant comment on the state of the building market in reading but in my part of the south, the best builders presently have waiting lists of 6-8 months and enquiries for jobs starting 12 months from now.  A one week job to fit a kitchen or bathroom they could probably squeeze in between bigger jobs, but with some exceptions still expect them to say the cant do it for a few weeks.

[Dave the Sparky]

Howdens are very good for the money as said, ours is Howdens 5 years old as new, they will barter to, Ive worked on probably over 50 Howden kitchens and they have loads of branches so spares are easy sourced. I wouldnt touch BnQ, no experience with Ikea or Homebase. Bathstore are decent quality we have bathstore units and have again worked on tons of Bathstore bathrooms.

Fitters, dont use shop supplied unless you can see examples of their work, its usually farmed out. Small local firms that come recomended (its all been said) are where Id go. Theres loads of websites that offer to point you in the direction of recomended local firms like a trip advisor but for tradespeople.

Dont forget that shop supplied fitters are probably not getting the full fit price to do the job so again theres margin for cost saving using your own guys...

If you want any advice on the elecs, ask away....

Dave

[Dave the Sparky]

Norm, why no plinths? :suspect: ?

Nice kitchen btw.....

Dave