Howdens Kitchens compared to B&Q (2024)

chippi_2 Posts: 16 Forumite

16 January 2012 at 6:41PM

Cheeselady Posts: 345 Forumite

16 January 2012 at 9:10PM

chippi wrote: »

See Also

The Six Best Fitted Kitchens Companies in the UK - Today's HomeownerKitchens | Fitted & DIY Kitchens by Expert Kitchen Designers | B&Q

Howdens wins hands down and no i dont work for them :j. There kitchens are sronger and better quality carcases also they are rigid and not flat pack, a designer will come out for free via your builder and finally if you are paying someone else to fit than the money saved on labour fitting rigid compared to putting together flat pack is a big plus. I have fitted both for comparison.
The only plus with some people is that b&q will sell you a 4k kitchen for 6k on the never never

Thanks for your reply, it sounds great, I'm meeting up with my fitter tomorrow so will talk to him then, as he does deal wtih Howdens, but I wanted to look at B&Q first, but the quality was a big let down. We don't need credit, so that's no problem for us. I really hope they can fit our budget!

Doozergirl Posts: 33,702

16 January 2012 at 11:26PM edited 16 January 2012 at 11:29PM

Howdens should be cheaper all day long than Cooke & Lewis if your fitter has enough of a relationship with them and passes his discount on to you.

The IT range might be more difficult to match but they are totally different kitchens. I wouldn't buy an IT kitchen and expect it to last. It will depend on which Howdens kitchen you choose as to the price - the cabinets are mostly the same, but the doors do vary. In the brochure, they go from most expensive to cheapest IIRC. No prices on the brochure, of course, but that's how they're set out.

Which style were you looking at?

Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.

17 January 2012 at 12:25AM

Howdens should win if your chippy is not profiteering. Cooke & Lewis kitchens are actually not bad for the price and some of the door quality is actually better than those offered by Howdens.

Good lead time and delivery accuracy are not things the orange square is famed for though...

Howdens will always be cheaper to fit as units come pre made so saving fitters time. Having spoken to many fitters though, the claims for superior rigidty over flat pack are a bit spurious at their level though. True of higher end rigid carcasse, but not really at Howdens price point.

The real win is in the saving in fitting costs and in that Howdens stock so any delivery errors or damages are easily dealt with, there is little difference in overall quality though.

17 January 2012 at 1:13AM

I've used diy-kitchens dot com Very good quality, price and range of units, but internet orders only & need to plan yourself - or use B&Q (etc) plan

Cheeselady Posts: 345 Forumite

17 January 2012 at 9:17AM

Thanks everyone for your help, appreciate it.

Doozergirl wrote: »

Howdens should be cheaper all day long than Cooke & Lewis if your fitter has enough of a relationship with them and passes his discount on to you.

The IT range might be more difficult to match but they are totally different kitchens. I wouldn't buy an IT kitchen and expect it to last. It will depend on which Howdens kitchen you choose as to the price - the cabinets are mostly the same, but the doors do vary. In the brochure, they go from most expensive to cheapest IIRC. No prices on the brochure, of course, but that's how they're set out.

Which style were you looking at?

I will get the brochure from my fitter today, so not sure which style yet, but thanks for the heads up on the brochure order, that helps a lot. :T

cubanbetty Posts: 17 Forumite

17 January 2012 at 3:51PM

dollywolly Posts: 8 Forumite

17 January 2012 at 11:46PM edited 17 January 2012 at 11:49PM

Sorry to chip in but have you considered Wickes? We spent hours looking round for a decent kitchen but at a good price- the Wickes takeaway range seems brilliant so far! Really good quality and literally over a grand cheaper than competitors! It looks identical to them too, if not better. Only downside is our branch wont do kitchen design for the takeaway kitchens but we just did our own. Good luck!:)

P.s we used "Sweet home" (not allowed to post link, just google it) to do our own designs- saved us alot of money. And we need all help we can get as doing up old cottage which swallowing money so quickly!

Cheeselady Posts: 345 Forumite

18 January 2012 at 9:47AM

Thanks everyone, I met up with my fitter last night, and he is going to arrange for a Howdens designer to come round to the house to give a costing, so we shall see how it goes.

dollywolly - thanks for the heads up on Wickes and also the sweet home website, I will definitely keep them in mind if Howdens doesn't work out.

ListysDad Posts: 307

18 January 2012 at 12:32PM