# Kitchen suppliers



## Ennoch

So I've been putting off sorting a new kitchen out for a good few years and finally came to doing something about it this year. Then lockdown happened and I put it on hold, despite having a design in the DIY Kitchens 3D planner that was basically good to go. Now that I'm ready to go I'm finding their process utterly infuriating as I suspect they've got more queries than they can deal with. As a result it's taken me three weeks of email tennis to get to the point a ten minute phone call would have answered in one go (but they're not doing calls). The final nail in the coffin is that they can only say what week the kitchen's getting delivered rather than day which makes it impossible to plan for any electricians or plumbers to come and do some bits that can only be done once the units are in.

As a result of all of this I'm now looking for alternative suppliers. Are there any suggestions for something that comes close in quality and price?


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## Sam6er

We had our kitchen done coming upto 2 years ago now. Went with Wickes in the end. Looked at a few companies and it was narrowed down to 2, either magnet or Wickes. Magnet was via the trade side and the person who was helping with the planning was doing too many finger in the air guesses for measurements, even after they came to take measurements it still left me without enough confidence in them. 

Wickes was on the ball when it came to the planning side and price wise they were about the same. The small bits like the sink, taps, tiles, splashback etc i sourced myself rather than getting everything from wickes and i had my own fitter as their rates were quite high for fitting. 

Depends if your looking for 1 company to do it all or will outsource other bits. Happy we went with them but now the Mrs is bugging me to replace the counter to a granite one, something which we compromised on initially to get a range cooker instead, but seems that came back to bite me in the behind :lol:


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## Ennoch

Wickes do keep coming up with good reviews. I'll be fitting it all myself apart from wiring in new sockets (the kitchen only has three in the walls just now, everything else is extended out and mounted in wooden cladding) and some plumbing, therefore fitting costs aren't really an issue. The thing that's annoying me is that DIY Kitchens stuff is good, but their service at the moment has really gone downhill. 

Things like taps/washing machine/dishwasher I'll be buying separate, the cooker isn't being replaced and the fridge and freezer are both virtually new. So it's really just a carcass supplier I need!


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## LeeH

A local independent who manufactured their own was better and cheaper than Wren Wicks etc for us.

Have a look around locally.

https://www.hullkitchenstudio.co.uk/

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## PugIain

Our kitchen (self fitted) was from Howdens.


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## THE CHAMP

I am a kitchen fitter fitting kitchens every day the kitchens I would not recomend are wren, howdens homebase and magnet. These are all just a kitchen and no more there is much better quality and service to be had from some smaller firms. Have a look at DIY kitchens in yorkshire great quality with great customer service. I fit Nobillia kitchens 95 % of thetime these are German which are very good quality and dont have to be that expensive if you steer clear of a lot of the fancy bit that soon add to the cost.


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## Ennoch

THE CHAMP said:


> I am a kitchen fitter fitting kitchens every day the kitchens I would not recomend are wren, howdens homebase and magnet. These are all just a kitchen and no more there is much better quality and service to be had from some smaller firms. Have a look at DIY kitchens in yorkshire great quality with great customer service. I fit Nobillia kitchens 95 % of thetime these are German which are very good quality and dont have to be that expensive if you steer clear of a lot of the fancy bit that soon add to the cost.


Thanks, I appreciate your feedback from the inside so to speak. Unfortunately DIY Kitchens are the ones I had originally priced up with but they seem to be really struggling to cope with demand at present which is going to cause me a major headache if I stick with them (but also good to know they're good once they deliver!). Are the Nobillia ones available for self-fit?


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## THE CHAMP

Ennoch said:


> Thanks, I appreciate your feedback from the inside so to speak. Unfortunately DIY Kitchens are the ones I had originally priced up with but they seem to be really struggling to cope with demand at present which is going to cause me a major headache if I stick with them (but also good to know they're good once they deliver!). Are the Nobillia ones available for self-fit?


Yes I dont know what part of the country you are in But I fit for Vagas kitchens that are based in hawkinge kent if you have a plan contact Jon Stewart who is the design guy there and tell him Mark you fitter sent you his way


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## Trix

PugIain said:


> Our kitchen (self fitted) was from Howdens.


Heard good things about Howdens..


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## Darlofan

Trix said:


> Heard good things about Howdens..


I popped in Howdens 5yrs ago when we moved to view kitchens. They told me it was trade only. Has that changed?


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## Ennoch

Thanks all! I'm going to have a look this weekend, in between running and car shopping and sorting out skirting board (ghastly job), and come to a decision. I finally got some answers today from them but only under threat of cancelling the order, and even then I'm having to do a lot of figuring out myself. And they have also now stopped supplying sinks in addition to appliances, so that would be yet another thing to source. I get that they're struggling and otherwise I'd be more than happy to support them, but their current service suggests they're out their depth. And my thought is that if they're struggling at this point, what will the order be like if I complete it and how will I resolve issues should any appear?

Thanks for the suggestions, it's given me some thought. 

@The Champ, I suspect your kind offer may not be suitable given I'm up in Scotland, but thank you all the same!


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## ollienoclue

How much complexity is involved in fitting your own kitchen?

I can source a new worktop myself, a Belfast sink and the plumbing looks straightforward.

How are the cabinets fitted to the walls? The walls are flat and I would tile underneath the cabinets once they were fitted if that makes sense so no cutting or messing required.

Only an integrated oven to fit (I would buy this from a third party) as everything else is free standing.

New oven extractor hood I will source and probably fit myself unless it is wildly complex?

I reckon I need about 6 metres of cabinets basically.


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## Rundie

Not too difficult fitting yourself, if the worktops require routering in corners just pay a chippy to do that and any other finer details. Most carcasses are pre-built these days.


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## Deathstar

We changed our 3 years ago to an IKEA one, it’s been flawless to date. 
25 year warranty, fitted by an independent fitter whom they supplied. He done a great job in and out in 3.5 days. 
All appliances replaced too.


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## renton

Ive been through this process recently and DIY kitchens was the front runner but then they started to struggle with demand and all local kitchen fitters were starting to get booked up until next year.

Ive now gone with a local company who are fitting me a really nice German kitchen (Hacker) for cheaper than I could get a howdens one for.


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## Trix

Darlofan said:


> I popped in Howdens 5yrs ago when we moved to view kitchens. They told me it was trade only. Has that changed?


You need to know someone with an account but they are very accommodating if you know what I mean.


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## Lexus-is250

We had a Howdens kitchen fitted with our extension nearly 10 years ago and it's still going strong. We pretty much live in the kitchen so it takes a pasting. 

The builders who did the work were family friends and built it pretty much at cost, we were given the receipt that Howdens give them and it gave both the cost to the builders and the recommend charge to the customer. We paid £9k for a kitchen that would have been £18k. 

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