First Time Buyer

[nicholak]

Hello there!

We’ve just bought our first flat and have a builder in knocking a wall down so we can have an wee kitchen off our living room. He’s recommended a company for the cabinets etc, and we’ve received our quote including appliances but from what I gather, their appliances should be avoided!

I’m just looking for a wee bit of advice really; do you think it would be a major spanner in the works if we were to shop elsewhere for our gas oven, hob and hood as well as a wee under counter fridge with freezer rather than get everything from the other company?

Hope this isn’t too vague, and thanks in advance 🙂

Nichola

[nicholak]

Re: First Time Buyer

p.s. I’m also concerned about the timing factor…is it stanard to have the kitchen units installed then to have the white goods going in afterwards, and do the white goods tend to have standard sizes, i.e. would we be able to retro-fit the cupboard door to our new fridge?

Thanks so much…this is such a great resource!

[iadom]

Re: First Time Buyer

If you could tell us just what makes they intended to fit we could answer you better.

Also, it would be rather difficult to install the appliances before the cabinets they are to be fitted into. 😉

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[nicholak]

Re: First Time Buyer

Hi there,

I wasn’t sure if I could mention the company, but it’s Howdens and their initial quote included a Lamona oven, hob & grill. We could upgrade to Bosch, but from what I’ve read, it seems to work out better if we buy these independently.

Thanks!

[nicholak]

Re: First Time Buyer

p.s. sorry if this doesn’t make much sense…we’re new to all of this and I have plenty more silly questions in my brain 🙂

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: First Time Buyer

Generally but not always you will get an economy product if it is part of a package. Also with built in you seem to pay twice the price for half the product. That being said, you need to see what you save by not taking the offer (ie how much will you knock off it I dont take the appliance package) At worst you could let them fit the stuff, pull it out and flog it on Ebay. Whichever way you go it would be helpful if you had an idea of how much money you had to spend and then we can better advise you. 😀

[Martin]

Re: First Time Buyer

nicholak wrote:I wasn’t sure if I could mention the company, but it’s Howdens and their initial quote included a Lamona oven, hob & grill. We could upgrade to Bosch,

From what I’ve seen Howdens do fit a reasonable kitchen. If you’re just talking oven and hob then Lamona are indeed a bit basic but that’s not to say upgrading will you give you anything much better. Bosch are just as fallible as any make in all honesty, yes, better by far than Lamona but still do exactly the same job.

If on a tight budget cut your cloak accordingly (was it Confusius that said that first…..dunno?) but if you can throw more money at it then start with Bosch and work upwards. 😉

[DrDill]

Re: First Time Buyer

My advice would be to seek out your local independant retailer and let them advise you on appliances. My experience is that howdens kitchens are cheep and poor quality sold by low wage sales people who earn high commissions on the sales, the design is basic and more often than not dosnt fit.
To say that a cheep oven is the same as a more expensive one would depend on how you cook, the better the oven the better it will cook and in my experience cheeper appliances always fail sooner than a premium product on average. Ask someone who uses a Zug oven for instance and they will tell you how well it cooks.
If the howdens kitchen suits you then have it but buy better appliances, ie bosch, neff, etc. the fitter should fit the appliances as he fits the kitchen, not normally at a later date.

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[nicholak]

Re: First Time Buyer

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for your replies…here’s more info for you:

It’s a small kitchen off the living room, with measurements of roughly 2.5 x 1.8 metres. The plan is for an L-shaped kitchen and we have a budget of around 2.5k for everything. Our initial quote from Howdens was 1.7k with a Lamona oven, hob and 60cm conventional hood. They sent a quote through today which is 3k which now includes a Bosch oven and hob, Lamona built-under fridge and Lamona hood.

Thanks again for your help!

[Dales-Electronic]

Re: First Time Buyer

As both Martin & Nigel have said above going down the BSH route is alway a good choice but have a look at Gorenje products most of which come with a five year parts and labour guarantee.

[BEARGER]

Re: First Time Buyer

Cannot give you any advice on equipment to buy. But do not listen to anybody who says Howdens kitchens are poor, for the money they are as good or better than the rest. Well made sturdy units.

[DrDill]

Re: First Time Buyer

Sorry mate, howdens kitchens are made out of the poorest quality materials, fact, thats why they are cheep. Get a howdens carcase side panal and put it next to a quality one and test both with a lump hammer. You will see how quickly the howdens carcase falls to bits of dust. I have done this and that is what i base my opinion on.

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[iadom]

Re: First Time Buyer

Reviews here.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews182104.html

[DrDill]

Re: First Time Buyer

That sums it up, 23.1{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of 182 reviews recommend howdens kitchens,

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[Author]

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