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Help! Our kitchen needs sorting out: units/lino

IKEA is shit. Poncey looking rubbish which lasts slightly less well than the carboard packaging it comes in.

Wickes kitchens are cheap and good quality. Get someone to fit it though. If you don't have much time and hate DIY you will just make an awful mess of it.

Top tip. Find the kitchen you want at Wickes, then find a carpenter. Get him to get the kitchen (with your money) and he will get a big trade discount.

Lino for the floor is a good idea. Get stuff on a roll as it is easier. It's not hard to lay. Just cut it to shape and glue it down.
 
ikea have a cut price section where they have slightly damaged goods incl kitchens for cheap - my mate bought kitchen and got it put in by polish posse (work three times as hard for three times cheaper than the average slackass conartist english builder) for v cheap
 
ikea kitchens are ok but they never quite have everything you need in stock. So they'll be missing the odd feet or drawer front of the right size or handles to match what you've chosen.

So you have to go all the way back about 6 times before you've got everything you need, and each time you have to go round from playpen to checkout the long way round, and each time you think "best just get another 100 tealights/set of 3 scissors/etc" and "oh a beige velcro zipup cd case that'll come in handy" (will it fuck) and before you know it you've spent all the money you saved by going there in the first place on junk you didn't need.

I speak from experience.
 
Idaho said:
IKEA is shit. Poncey looking rubbish which lasts slightly less well than the carboard packaging it comes in.
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When I was looking into kitchens, IKEA were reviewed very favourably in Which? in terms of price/quality, and I haven't had a problem with any of mine. And no missing parts, either.
 
I've got some mates who I was at furniture college with who do fitted stuff in and around london. They know their stuff and can either design and build from scratch or just fit ready made kit. I'll bung you their details in a PM.
 
maximilian ping said:
ikea have a cut price section where they have slightly damaged goods incl kitchens for cheap - my mate bought kitchen and got it put in by polish posse (work three times as hard for three times cheaper than the average slackass conartist english builder) for v cheap
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Many Poles work for pretty much diddly squat and many live several to a room and some even hot-bed! Most British builders have realised its better just to let them take the work off you than stoop to working for £30-40 a day cash which is what a lot of Poles are prepared to work for.

Do you think that in this day and age living in London, £40 is a enough to live on? I know some Chinese labourers who work for even less than £30 a day in London. I don't think people should be that proud of getting really cheap building work done for cash as some foreign labourers are probably being exploited if you do.

Hopefully in your case the Poles made a bit more than £40 quid each.
 
Mrs Magpie said:
The walls of the editor's flat are steel reinforced concrete...I know because Lambeth council tower blocks are made of this stuff and I burnt out a (borrowed) Bosch hammer drill attempting to put up a poxy curtain rail. I know people who have used the IKEA kitchen unit putting-in service and they are good. If i were the editor, I'd go for IKEA.
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I thought they would be and the concrete is likely to be pretty strong.

In which case you want to use a drill from a hire shop rather than your own.

A diamond bit should make it a bit easier.
 
Ms T said:
When I was looking into kitchens, IKEA were reviewed very favourably in Which? in terms of price/quality, and I haven't had a problem with any of mine. And no missing parts, either.
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Facts - mere facts!








;)
 
maximilian ping said:
ikea have a cut price section where they have slightly damaged goods incl kitchens for cheap - my mate bought kitchen and got it put in by polish posse (work three times as hard for three times cheaper than the average slackass conartist english builder) for v cheap
Click to expand...

Go fuck yourself hard up the shitter, you ignorant racist cunt. :rolleyes:
 
Errol's son said:
I thought they would be and the concrete is likely to be pretty strong.

In which case you want to use a drill from a hire shop rather than your own.

A diamond bit should make it a bit easier.
Click to expand...
It's not actually the bit that's the problem...my son in law is a builder and came round with a drill that looks like a kango made sideways with a very low rumbling noise...it was the only way I could get shelves up
 
Lisarocket said:
If the Eds a Council or HA tenant. It's probably not a great idea either. Thye usually tell you to keep the units you took out and replace them when you leave.
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There should also be a kitchen replacement programme if its a council or housing association flat
 
Yep, that'll be the one.

The post is so ridiculous, it was meant to be a complete send up of that kind of attitude.

Sorry to anyone that didn't get it, I can see how it could be interpeted that way with hindsight. :)
 
So, as long as it's you doing it that's fine, but no-one else is allowed to then...sorry Drew, it just won't wash.
 
Mrs Magpie said:
So, as long as it's you doing it that's fine, but no-one else is allowed to then...sorry Drew, it just won't wash.
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Wont wash with you maybe Mrs M, but I don't think maximilian ping was trying to make an ironic point with what they said.

I maybe wrong and if I am, then sorry for over-reacting mp.

His remark could quite easily be concieved as offensive against both the Polish and the English. Why should that go unchallenged on these boards ?

I was a bit ott in my response, but I stand by it.
 
Thing is Drew, your post could also be construed as extremely offensive, as indeed it was...
angry PM said:
Ban the cunting little racist he's bitter for not having a council flat
Click to expand...
 
Mrs Magpie said:
Thing is Drew, your post could also be construed as extremely offensive, as indeed it was...
Click to expand...

Well the pm just shows how wrong they are :D

Like I said I've apologised, if it gets construed as racist. It was meant as the opposite in a completely ironic way to send up that kind of attitude. Anyone in particular who knows me, knows how patantly ridiculous that post was sposed to be. Those who don't, can think what they want quite frankly.

Apologies for playing my part in derailing the thread.
 
Ikea here too... I'll post up some pics of our kitchen in the countryside tomorrow...

The most expensive bit is generally (oddly enough) the worktop... We ended up using tiles, which are actually surprisingly good looking. I'd go for a tiled floor too - there's a great little place at the top of Parkway in Camden... Very good selection of ceramic tiles and pretty cheap.
 
Im in the same situation as Editor (except with the bathroom too), I've been looking at Ikea. I've heard a few people say their stuff's not that good but since I've been looking around I've heard a lot more people say their stuff's good quality & value for the money.

Anyone know about the quality & value for money aspect of the installation service?
 
Well, I have a friend who has moved twice, hasn't got money to chuck around, can't do DIY, has four kids who slam cupboard doors, and she's used IKEA every time and raved about how good they are.
 
Can you just buy the doors at Ikea? Would they fit standard size units?

I want to update my kitchen but the units are solid so it seems a waste to change them.
 
Sounds good, Im really tempted. Had a good nose round a couple of weeks ago, saw some stuff I really liked. :) I did'nt know they did installation though. It's always so much better to get word of mouth recommendations, the thing that's been putting me off as much as anything else is the thought of trying to find someone trustworthy & reliable to do the work - you know, instead of ending up on Watchdog, or something.

Wasn't so keen on the bathrooms at Ikea though, but that's another room. One thing at a time!! :)
 
We almost bought the free-standing kitchen units from Ikea.. glad we didn't in the end, when I saw my ex-boss had them in her kitchen ;)

We paid about £8k for our kitchen, but it's definitely been worth the money.. and when we had our water meter fitted, the fitter said "I usually just bash a hole in the back of people's cupboards, but your cabinets are too well made" - which was good to hear :)

BTW, we have Ikea Billy Bookcases, and 2 HUGE Ikea wardrobes, and we're very pleased with them.
 
I had a friend who bought an Ikea kitchen about 5-10 years ago, and he said it was good value for money, but it wasn't installed as well as was displayed in the store. He'd had to make repairs and alterations to it since, but said he would still reccomend on the price alone compared to what he'd been quoted from other places.

My Aunt has just had hers done. Granted she's only had it for two months, but she is completely over the moon with it, price and quality wise. And she didn't think that she could afford a new kitchen at all, until she went browsing in ikea with me and was very impressed with what she saw there.

For what it is worth though, I'd check with the council first about what alterations you are allowed to make to the kitchen, and also check whether there are any plans in the near future to update the kitchens in the whole block. They do sometimes do this as maintenance, depending on how old the fittings are.

We're unlucky atm, our kitchen must be well over 20+ years old, yet in our block they seem to be only re-fitting them on a flat by flat basis as the tenancies change hands.
 
In terms of installation it's probably better to get a good builder to do it than Ikea themselves... Fitting a pre-made kitchen will be pretty cheap. Ikea appliance can be a little sub-par, the taps aren't very good, tend to spray water around a bit, but tbh they're fine. Our kitchen cost about £1k with an oven, extractor, electric hob (no gas here), sink and the worktop (which was done separately). There are things you should avoid of course - laminate onthe cupboards is a no go for example (it tends to split when it gets wet) but overall Ikea are gerat value for money.
 
From wha I have seen first hand, Ikea have improved a hell of a lot.

Before they seemed like, excellent prices = adequate product

nowadays they seem like, very good prices = very competitive quality
 
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