howdens or B&Q for a kitchen

[steve76]

i had a designer from b&q to do a kitchen for me, and it came to £1448 thats for 10 units, worktops, sink, oven, hob and hood. ichocolate brown colour with a light worktop.
howdens didnt have the same colour but they priced a beach coluor with a dark worktop, which they said is a populor style and would apeall if i came to sell in the future. and the price was £1478.
i think the b&q kitchen is really smart, but would a kitchen from howdens be better.

 

[noseall]

the question is entirely subjective.

what do you mean by 'better'?

if a kitchen is delivered on time.

if a kitchen is delivered without missing parts.

if a kitchen is delivered without damaged goods.

if the supplier replaces parts without a quibble.

if a kitchen is designed without awkward and unnecessary infill panels.

if a kitchen is designed with the user in mind.

if a kitchen is fitted well.

if a kitchen is fitted without delays.

if a kitchen is fitted with tiling, all edge sealing and painting complete.

if ifs and buts were candy and nuts everyday would be Christmas.

i had a Howdens kitchen fitted recently and we were very happy with the way they dealt with all the components. i sourced my own Bosch oven, hob and dishwasher as the wife was not happy with their stuff.

 

[LiamPope]

I dunno - you saw them! Is the Howdens kitchen better?

I assume that price is just units plus those appliances etc, so you're planning to fit it yourself? So no difference there. Price is the same so no difference there. Technically, all these take-away kitchens are pretty much identical - a cheap contiboard box is a cheap contiboard box wherever it comes from. All the money is in the doors. I take it they both have pretty much the same spec - adjustable legs, soft closers etc etc.

Apples and oranges. Get the one you like the look of, and the end result will be as good as your job fitting it.

Liam

 

[tawelfryn]

I dont like Howdens co ordinated end panels, they look like bits added on, as the carcase is already built, where with b&q it is built on the side as part of the carcass

 

[NS215]

got mine from B&Q very pleased with it now its all done but........ what a nightmare with a couple of issues.
got a 60/40 integrated fridge freezer and they sent the cupboard for a 60/40 but sent a 50/50 fridge freezer which wasn't a problem as the 50/50 was about £150 more expensive, obviously the doors were then wrong so when to exchange them had to get a credit note and then go to kitchen department to order new doors only to be told they were discontinued and maybe we could ring another store to see if they had any left in stock, (WIFE GOES MENTAL) explaining perhaps they should ring as its their cock up.
dishwasher was ordered but out of stock for 10 days (not a problem) 4 weeks later phone call saying will be delivered between 12 and 8 pm so wife books half a day off, no dishwasher by 7.30 so rings up and is told none in stock, they ring up again about 3 weeks later and give another delivery date for the morning, so i take the morning off work gets to 12 o'clock and no sign so ring up and they say we'll ring the driver and ring you back, which they did and said he's been stuck in traffic be with you in the hour, 3 hours later and still no delivery, so rang back again only to be told item still out of stock, to which i said well i'll cancel it, i don't want it anymore to which the reply came 'can i ask why sir'
ended up at a local appliance shop and took home the same day.
My friend spent £27,000 on a kitchen from B&Q and after 18 months still items unfinished,
i'm sure people have had bad experiences with Howdens but I personally would never buy or reccommend anyone to get a kitchen from B&Q

 

[kingandy2nd]

Not quite sure how you can spend £27,000 on a B&Q kitchen... or why you would buy such a kitchen from B&Q for that sort of money!!

Anyway back to the question at hand - my input would be that if you're ordering a B&Q kitchen, make sure it is a ranged that is stocked by your local B&Q store.

As with anything you order where there are hundreds of items to be delivered, things do get sent out incorrectly. As per one of the previous posters here, our B&Q kitchen had one wrong door sent out. Because our kitchen style wasn't stocked at our local store, we could return the incorrect item locally but the correct one had to be re-ordered and we had to have a 6 week period with one door missing from our nice new kitchen until the new item arrived.

 

[noseall]

howdens swapped any damaged items instantly. missing items were sourced from other depots and were available within 24hrs.

the kitchen was completed in 4 days. i did all the running around, as i am the account holder at howdens. my fitter would ring and say i need such and such and i would collect it/swap it/exchange it.

the guy at our howdens new his stuff and so did my fitter. this made life very easy for me as all i did was nod and run around.

the space for the kitchen was completely stripped, the floor fully tiled, all electrics installed ready and totally plastered. i even fixed 18mm wbp plywood to the stud wall so that they had freedom to fix where they liked.

i then tiled the splashback area between worktop and wall units and Mrs N. painted any remaining wall space.

 

[noseall]

spending £27000 on a b&q kitchen is outrageous

 

[kingandy2nd]

spending £27000 on a b&q kitchen is outrageous

glad i'm not the only one who thought so

 

[ub7rm]

I bought a B&Q kitchen over a year ago and had ansolutely no problems, everything was delivered in one shot exactly when they said it would. Mine was ranged at the local store so no issue in picking up a few extras.

For the money I thought the quality was good. Watch out for designers speccing lots of small cupboards where a few big ones would do - adds a lot of cost!

 

[steve76]

thanks guys, i've decided to go with b&q after going back to the store and haggling i got the kitchen for £1200 which i thought was a bargain but i have to wait 4 weeks which gives me time to get the kitchen ready as soon as it comes.

to that person who spent 27 grand what a mug unless his kitchen is a s big as a tennis court then its a good deal.

 

[Peter16]

Our neighbour got a B&Q kitchen & I think the big plus was getting everything under one roof! flooring, tiles etc! & all on easy interest free payments!
Howdens they said was ok for tradesmen but not customer friendly at all!
& they wanted paid up front so the joiner said! so say what u like, when we change our kitchen next year I will look at B&Q & perhaps Homebase where the wife can pick her stuff & give me some peace!

 

[tim00]

So, a guy who claims (in his other post) 31 years experience in kitchens then goes to his neighbour for information when he wants a new kitchen for himself?
A mysterious joiner then advises, as joiners do, that you can get "everything under one roof! flooring, tiles etc! & all on interest free payments!"
He finally ends on a cosy domestic note about the wife and peace.

I noticed five exclamation marks in his script - and, typically, such abundance of exclamations are used by those that speak blurb, and lie for a living, aka salespeople.

 

[foamit]

I have fitted around 12 kitchens all from B&Q.Have a van so able to pick from shelfs at Exeter big shed, great kitchens,nice strong carcase, I put a drop of adesive on dowles and run a bead around rebate for back panels makes them really strong,and as a someone said end panels look good,use a support panel for the end of a run,and you dont have a silly bit of plinth showing.

 

[jeds]

I don't think there's much to choose between the products. You can't go by individuals who had a bad experience. If it was possible to do a proper comparison my guess is, overall, you'd get as many problems from B&Q as you will from Howdens.

Cooke and Lewis stuff is made from Canadian timber/particle board imported by Norbord. The cabinets are assembled in the UK. Howdens cabinets are made in the UK in their own factories and the particle board is also manufactured in the UK from UK grown timber. So if UK made is a factor for you then Howdens is the best option.

Happen to be up on this at the moment as I had a kitchen fitted about 12 months ago. (A Howdens kitchen)