Using a second hand kitchen - a good idea?

[misterhelpful]

After a more detailed look, it does appear to me that the kitchen is custom made to fit so there would be no way of telling how the cabinets would come apart, if this is the case. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire kitchen's cabinets are made of ply/MDF with a decorative frontage added once they were in place. Also, the hinges appear to be just small butt hinges and not the standard euro cabinet hinges that would come with 'off the shelf' units.

When you look at the pictures that show open doors, you can see that there appears to be a face frame added to the fronts of the 'carcasses'. If this has to be removed in order to take out the units, you are likely to cause even more damage than I first anticipated. Some of the fluting and beading detail around the frames looks a bit uneven (might just be my eyes) which also points to the facing being made out of pine/MDF, routed and then attached to the cabinets. The T&G detail might be a single panel of MDF glued to the back of several units, or even individual pieces.

Personally, I'd avoid this one and look for one that has standard units, for which accessories and hardware are readily available.

 

[abcd123]

Right - I think I agree with you guys now. It'll be too much work. Whats more - the price has gone up quite markedly.

What do you think about this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kitchen-Ex-Display-/271946829666

It's ex-display, and looks quite nice. It's not a 'whole kitchen' so we would need some more units, but I think they're still making this model..

 

[JohnD]

keep looking for a whole large kitchen, with more units than you need. Often you will get a sink and extractor thrown in.

Do your ebay search as "within 50 miles" or something. Have you got a van and a strong wife?

 

[abcd123]

Do you think it'll be possible to move that granite worktop without breaking it?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Do you think it'll be possible to move that granite worktop without breaking it?

Providing you can detach it from the units and have enough bodies to manhandle it out of the kitchen (they are very heavy), then, yes. Granite worktops are often bedded on silicone and the joins may therefore be a so and so to break, or even be impossible. personally I'd steer clear

As to the units, I'd avoid bespoke kitchen units. These are mainly what we refer to a "rigid units", i.e. they are assembled (glue/dowels/screws, etc) in the workshop/factory and they won't come apart, so you'd need to hire a box van or Luton van to move them