On Fri, 22 Jul 2005 14:25:09 +0000, Brian wrote:

I picked up an Ikea kitchen catalogue and wanted to compare prices with B&Q. I'd worked out how many units I needed but can't really compare because most of my units were going to be 1000mm base units and for some reason Ikea only do up to 800mm. Does anyone know the reason for this or have I read the catalogue wrong? I thought 500mm & 1000mm were the norm!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"
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DIVFONT size=2I picked up an Ikea kitchen catalogue and wanted to compare
prices with B&Q.  I'd worked out how many units I needed but can't
really compare because most of my units were going to be 1000mm base units and
for some reason Ikea only do up to 800mm.  Does anyone know the reason for
this or have I read the catalogue wrong?  I thought 500mm & 1000mm were
the norm/FONT/DIV/BODY/HTML

The ranges are not directly comparable.
Note that because non-IKEA unit have a substantial space behind the back
panel that the corner units don't go to the corners, so as to put the same
space on the side aswell. I found this out earlier this year when I tried
to mix and match a pile of stuff.

I really should have got everything from the same place but I thought I
could get away with it, which largely, I did. However what I mostly learnt
was not slick ways of changing a 720mm B&Q wall cupboard into a 700mm
HB unit, but not to be so clever.

Another big difference is that "900mm sq" corner units form B&Q can't take
a carousel, and they are 925mm.

See this picture. www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/photos10/00002.jpg

B&Q kitchens have a post in the corner which allows for
the carousel to be fitted.

The only problem with using 2x500 (for a sink base say) is that you will
have to more surgery on the cupboard that you would have to do with a 800
cupboard. However the 2x500 cupboard is stronger and you'll likely have to
remove the middle support rails in the double cupboard.

A very big plus of the IKEA unit when fitting the sink is the lack of a
void behind the cupboard. Other makers always seem to have the back panel
exactly where the tails of the mono-mixer want to go.

Note that IKEA prices tend to be exclusive of shelves and hinges and legs
which other ranges include. However you don't need as many legs or shelves
as IKEA auto-add or others include.

Overall I'd say that IKEA are easier to fit provided you orgsanize the
services to go in the rat^h^h^hkick-space.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html