Kitchen Refurbishment

Ayresome

Ayresome

Active member
Got a kitchen in really good condition with quality oak doors, about 10 years old. My Missus wants to refurb it and go with replacement granite worktops, Belfast sink etc. She also wants to have the doors and plinths sprayed as she believes that we cannot get the doors of equal quality any more. I was looking at speaking to Howdens regarding a brand new kitchen but she is having none of it.

I am wondering if you have gone down the Kitchen refurb path rather than buy new and if so do you have any names of reputable companies that can (a) supply the granite worktops, (b) respray the kitchen doors and plinths or (c) do both at the same time? Is it actually worth going down this route or do you believe a new Kitchen would be more cost affective?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
My father in law went this route. And it looks stunning. On companies, I used to live in Wheldrake near York and there was a quality granite worktop supplier on the edge of the village which people used - afraid I can't remember it's name but there will only be one. I'd have thought most local kitchen companies could do something on this too.
 
I used to own a company that did kitchen refurbs, so have some experience, although sadly not in your area.
As Ginger Travel has said, for your worktops choose an independent granite supplier, also consider quartz. These companies will measure, supply and fit themselves.
There are companies who can supply replacement kitchen doors, these are very high quality and are made to measure. They can also supply all the trims and end panels that you need. If your base units are sound and you are happy with the layout then this can be a good move. However due to the quality they are not cheap but it is a cost effective way to getting a high quality kitchen.
I have not seen anyone who has been happy with painting a kitchen. They are ok, if you intend to sell up and move on, but I have replaced loads where people are disappointed with the extra wear after painting. It takes an awful lot of prep, a ten year old kitchen contains a lot of cooking grease and this needs stripping, also if you have an oak effect, you need to get the gunge out of the grain or the paint wont key. Generally a decent sized kitchen will be about £8k to refurb.
The real key to success is finding a really good fitter.
Hope that this helps
 
Had a kitchen fitted from howdens recently came in at about 9k with appliances. Wasnt impressed with their design service but no problems with the build quality
 
Thanks for the replies - giving it the first of a few hoofs as she wants to start phoning around tomorrow :oops:
 
Glover_elbow said:
Had a kitchen fitted from howdens recently came in at about 9k with appliances. Wasnt impressed with their design service but no problems with the build quality
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If anyone wants to go down this route, and shame its too late for you, but the standard approach from MSE forums is to get a quote off howdens, take it to DIY Kitchens online and they will beat the quote usually quite significantly, and then you take that revised quote to howdens and they will price match it. Usually saves a few grand.

Howdens business model is quite weird in that everything has a unit price, and installers have their own "discount" percentage - to which there seems to be no science at all and its different for each one. So the price you get from one installer with Howdens for the same kitchen might be totally different from another one. However doing the DIYKitchens price match process means you get the best price anyways

Here's an example where they negotiated £3000 discount from Howden's final price (i.e the amount to pay, not their weird price before they say theyre discounting a £1k cupboard by 70%)

I then never updated it with the outcome, and thought I ought to for the benefit of others.

In the end, we did go with Howdens for the design with our own builder doing the installation. We've been happy with the quality of the kitchen.

Howdens pricing policy is ridiculous and basically seems to be to start with a highly inflated cost (e.g. £1,300 for a simple cabinet) and then offer supposedly fantastic 60%-70% discounts.

Our initial quote was for about £10,000, with a supposed 60%-70% discount.

We were able to shave about £250 off that by sourcing the appliances ourselves and choosing well-reviewed brands such as Zanussi instead of Lamona. This was great as I feel we got better quality and less expense.

Were able to shave another £250 or so off by sourcing our own taps and sinks. E.g. their tap was I think priced at £150 and we found an almost identical one on screwfix for £70.

Finally, we were able to get a further £3,000 or so off by getting an equivalent quote from DIY Kitchens, and asking Howdens to price match.

So all in all, a fairly considerable reduction in price. Shame they couldn't just give us a good price in the first place. I guess 1/10 buyer doesn't negotiate which makes it worth their while to play this game.
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Also worth going to Wren etc and seeing what designs they come up with, just dont use Wren for your actual kitchen as they are shocking, but will give you some ideas to bounce around between.
 
Had ours done through Howdens at Ingleby just under 2 years ago.
Great design , the girl who did it got us space for 2 ovens and a dishwasher that we didn't have previously but more importantly designed in a pantry that has more room , and shelves than we ever thought we could have. The fitter also helped with getting flooring we couldn't get locally and lighting. Also fixed other issues. They were great.
 
Blf said:
Had ours done through Howdens at Ingleby just under 2 years ago.
Great design , the girl who did it got us space for 2 ovens and a dishwasher that we didn't have previously but more importantly designed in a pantry that has more room , and shelves than we ever thought we could have. The fitter also helped with getting flooring we couldn't get locally and lighting. Also fixed other issues. They were great.
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Try vinyl wrapping. Results can be very good.

Avoid Howdens they are not the cheapest or best as they try to make out. Plenty of independent kitchen suppliers if needed. Don’t ask Howdens for quartz or granite as they only contract it out and take a percentage.
 
We got a full new kitchen a week before Christmas, great planning, went with MKM good quality and absolutely no pressure to buy, Howdens business practice should be illegal, watched them change every price in the screen to undercut MKM by £20 and never believe they have a sale on. Anyway spent about 12k all in with fitting and AEG appliances tbf it was black Friday when we got them but worth going to MKM for help
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
If anyone wants to go down this route, and shame its too late for you, but the standard approach from MSE forums is to get a quote off howdens, take it to DIY Kitchens online and they will beat the quote usually quite significantly, and then you take that revised quote to howdens and they will price match it. Usually saves a few grand.

Howdens business model is quite weird in that everything has a unit price, and installers have their own "discount" percentage - to which there seems to be no science at all and its different for each one. So the price you get from one installer with Howdens for the same kitchen might be totally different from another one. However doing the DIYKitchens price match process means you get the best price anyways

Here's an example where they negotiated £3000 discount from Howden's final price (i.e the amount to pay, not their weird price before they say theyre discounting a £1k cupboard by 70%)



Also worth going to Wren etc and seeing what designs they come up with, just dont use Wren for your actual kitchen as they are shocking, but will give you some ideas to bounce around between.
Click to expand...
Did this and saved £3500 about two years ago. Actually found Howdens design was great to be fair and have heard nothing but good things about DIY Kitchens so would have been happy to go with them if we needed to. Kitchen is still in great nick a couple of years later and really happy that I managed to save so much for the exact same spec.

We had a Howdens kitchen in our first place and it was still in good shape when we left it 12 years later.
 
Emmersons_BrazillianDong said:
Did this and saved £3500 about two years ago. Actually found Howdens design was great to be fair and have heard nothing but good things about DIY Kitchens so would have been happy to go with them if we needed to. Kitchen is still in great nick a couple of years later and really happy that I managed to save so much for the exact same spec.

We had a Howdens kitchen in our first place and it was still in good shape when we left it 12 years later.
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Yeah apparently fitters like DIY kitchens because the carcasses come assembled already.

It's what we are going to do, we'll probably go with howdens but I'm all about that best price possible.

Our kitchen is a good size but previous owner just fit a plain white b&q kitchen and while it looks good at first glance it's a lot of wasted space and needs more worktop space and potentially an island to maximise use of it

Girlfriend wants island as social space whereas I do all the cooking so need the golden triangle maintained 😂
 
Thanks all. We have arranged a visit from Howdens to measure up and price and will then go to DIY Kitchens for them to quote as outlined above.
I was thinking of going direct to either Gemini Worktops (M'Bro) or Riverside Stone (Sunderland) for the quartz or granite worktops as the tips given is to avoid using Howdens as they will mark up the price.
 
If you end up replacing the kitchen I would recommend a quote from Kutchenhaus.
They are a German company with a big presence in the UK - nearest to you may be Northallerton followed by York and Harrogate.

Had ours done and was delighted. They will quote you a price based on factory hours to manufacture. It comes in price blocks so they will say things like that price band is x but there is some free time in there so we could add in y for no extra cost.

The alternative is to say you only just fall into that price band if we take out x then we can reduce the price to ...
 
Ayresome said:
Thanks all. We have arranged a visit from Howdens to measure up and price and will then go to DIY Kitchens for them to quote as outlined above.
I was thinking of going direct to either Gemini Worktops (M'Bro) or Riverside Stone (Sunderland) for the quartz or granite worktops as the tips given is to avoid using Howdens as they will mark up the price.
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Compare the prices. By all means go independent but when I checked on mine there was minimal difference.

Similar to the appliances, I looked around and was only saving a few quid and it wasn't worth the hassle of having them delivered separately etc. By all means get the best deal you can but check before you hassle yourself. It can be stressful enough as it is depending on how much work you're having done.
 
If there's nothing wrong with the kitchen then don't bother changing it. Save a load of money that can pay for a nice holiday or treat your kids/grandkids, or both.
 
Thanks again for the replies
ThatFragranceGuy said:
If anyone wants to go down this route, and shame its too late for you, but the standard approach from MSE forums is to get a quote off howdens, take it to DIY Kitchens online and they will beat the quote usually quite significantly, and then you take that revised quote to howdens and they will price match it. Usually saves a few grand.

Howdens business model is quite weird in that everything has a unit price, and installers have their own "discount" percentage - to which there seems to be no science at all and its different for each one. So the price you get from one installer with Howdens for the same kitchen might be totally different from another one. However doing the DIYKitchens price match process means you get the best price anyways

Here's an example where they negotiated £3000 discount from Howden's final price (i.e the amount to pay, not their weird price before they say theyre discounting a £1k cupboard by 70%)



Also worth going to Wren etc and seeing what designs they come up with, just dont use Wren for your actual kitchen as they are shocking, but will give you some ideas to bounce around between.
Click to expand...
I have a design from Howdens which I am happy with but I only have a price from them not itemised and without the plans. I do have a 3D design though.
I am wondering how you managed to get a quote from DIY Kitchens with just the high level quote and no dimensions as I really want to get a quote off them?
 
Ayresome said:
Thanks again for the replies

I have a design from Howdens which I am happy with but I only have a price from them not itemised and without the plans. I do have a 3D design though.
I am wondering how you managed to get a quote from DIY Kitchens with just the high level quote and no dimensions as I really want to get a quote off them?
Click to expand...
Get MKM to come out they will give you the plan and price breakdown then use that to shop about
 
Ayresome said:
Thanks again for the replies

I have a design from Howdens which I am happy with but I only have a price from them not itemised and without the plans. I do have a 3D design though.
I am wondering how you managed to get a quote from DIY Kitchens with just the high level quote and no dimensions as I really want to get a quote off them?
Click to expand...
Just ask them for it, if they won't give it tell them you'll go elsewhere
 
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