Has anyone here installed an IKEA kitchen themselves? Were the instructions
easy-to-follow? For example, how easy is it to mount the wall cabinets in an
older house with uneven walls? The kitchen I'm looking to remodel is in a
small 10'x10' room (approximately 7'x7' for the actual kitchen area), so it
would basically consist of about 5-10 wall/base cabinets, a range, and sink
arranged in an L shape. The sink/range will be about a foot away from their
current positions, so the service lines may need to be extended. Does the
particleboard construction hold up over time (at least they make it easy to
replace doors/shelves, etc.)?

I've heard horror stories about people ordering kitchens from IKA and
receiving broken/missing parts or late delivery or some parts. Is the
customer service really that bad or is just a loud, vocal minority? I live
in the Philadelphia area is it makes a difference.

How would you rate the IKEA kitchen remodel experience to an equivalent Home
Depot/Lowes "ready to assemble" path?

Just thought I would say that I needed some nice white cabinets for a
laundry room to replace ugly shelves. Started with Lowes and Home Depot.
One had assemble yourself cabinets and the other reasonable preassembled
cabinets. I then went to a smaller cabinet store that has been around
forever and often used by builders. Installed they were much cheaper and
easier to work with. I went with them and it was a perfect job. Cabinets
weigh a ton by the way.


"Spiderman" wrote in message
...
Has anyone here installed an IKEA kitchen themselves? Were the
instructions
easy-to-follow? For example, how easy is it to mount the wall cabinets in
an
older house with uneven walls? The kitchen I'm looking to remodel is in a
small 10'x10' room (approximately 7'x7' for the actual kitchen area), so
it
would basically consist of about 5-10 wall/base cabinets, a range, and
sink
arranged in an L shape. The sink/range will be about a foot away from
their
current positions, so the service lines may need to be extended. Does the
particleboard construction hold up over time (at least they make it easy
to
replace doors/shelves, etc.)?

I've heard horror stories about people ordering kitchens from IKA and
receiving broken/missing parts or late delivery or some parts. Is the
customer service really that bad or is just a loud, vocal minority? I live
in the Philadelphia area is it makes a difference.

How would you rate the IKEA kitchen remodel experience to an equivalent
Home
Depot/Lowes "ready to assemble" path?

We've bought many items from IKEA, but never kitchen cabinets.

We redid the kitchen at our old house with maple-finish "Mill's Pride"
cabinets from HD. Assembly and installation were straightforward, but
nothing (appliances or sink) had to be relocated. We were not there long
enough afterwards to find out how durable they were, but somebody else
reported here a couple of months back that the white Mill's Pride stuff
did not last long in a situation with which (s)he was familiar. (But the
maple doors and drawer fronts are solid wood (seemed to be, anyway),
whereas the white have just a laminated finish.)

MB


On 09/18/04 05:13 pm Spiderman put fingers to keyboard and launched the
following message into cyberspace:

Has anyone here installed an IKEA kitchen themselves? Were the instructions
easy-to-follow? For example, how easy is it to mount the wall cabinets in an
older house with uneven walls? The kitchen I'm looking to remodel is in a
small 10'x10' room (approximately 7'x7' for the actual kitchen area), so it
would basically consist of about 5-10 wall/base cabinets, a range, and sink
arranged in an L shape. The sink/range will be about a foot away from their
current positions, so the service lines may need to be extended. Does the
particleboard construction hold up over time (at least they make it easy to
replace doors/shelves, etc.)?

I've heard horror stories about people ordering kitchens from IKA and
receiving broken/missing parts or late delivery or some parts. Is the
customer service really that bad or is just a loud, vocal minority? I live
in the Philadelphia area is it makes a difference.

How would you rate the IKEA kitchen remodel experience to an equivalent Home
Depot/Lowes "ready to assemble" path?

"Minnie Bannister"
We redid the kitchen at our old house with maple-finish "Mill's Pride"
cabinets from HD. Assembly and installation were straightforward, but
nothing (appliances or sink) had to be relocated. We were not there long
enough afterwards to find out how durable they were, but somebody else
reported here a couple of months back that the white Mill's Pride stuff
did not last long in a situation with which (s)he was familiar. (But the
maple doors and drawer fronts are solid wood (seemed to be, anyway),
whereas the white have just a laminated finish.)
" path?

I installed Mill's Pride kitchen cabinets from HD in a rental about five
years ago. I just sold the house and the cabinets looked as good as the day
I installed them. They were easy to assemble and install and fit the
available space perfectly. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Don in Tracy, Calif.

On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 17:13:42 -0400, "Spiderman"
wrote:

Has anyone here installed an IKEA kitchen themselves? Were the instructions
easy-to-follow? For example, how easy is it to mount the wall cabinets in an
older house with uneven walls? The kitchen I'm looking to remodel is in a
small 10'x10' room (approximately 7'x7' for the actual kitchen area), so it
would basically consist of about 5-10 wall/base cabinets, a range, and sink
arranged in an L shape.

The sink/range will be about a foot away from their
current positions, so the service lines may need to be extended.

I had about the same situation. Despite the advice of several friends
who said that gas piping was easy, I had a plumber do it. I had a
clear vision of myself standing outside the hole in the ground where
my house used to be, explaining to the insurance adjuster about a
do-it-yourself gas installation.

But I decided I could probably move the sink plumbing the fairly small
amount that was needed. At the last minute I decided to have a (VERY
handy) friend come over to help me, but only because I was worried
that I couldn't rip out the old counter, install 2 base cabinets,
countertop and sink in a weekend by myself.

I was very lucky to have had him come over. It ended up taking the two
of us 2 full days. My house is 50 years old. It turned out that the
trap and the nipple that attached to the waste pipe were too corroded
to leave, but frozen on and nearly impossible to remove. It was only
my contractor friend's vast experience that saved me from going
without a working kitchen for what might have been weeks (until I
could get a plumber).

It sounds like you're at best a weekend handyman like me. I think
you'll be able to manage the cabinets, but you should at least get
someone knowledgeable to have a look at the utilities.

I had about the same situation. Despite the advice of several
friends
who said that gas piping was easy, I had a plumber do it. I had a
clear vision of myself standing outside the hole in the ground where
my house used to be, explaining to the insurance adjuster about a
do-it-yourself gas installation.

Could have probably just used a longer flexible connector. On the
other hand, working with black pipe for gas is very easy but equally
unforgiving if you don't get it right, so you made the right decision:
insurance companies don't have much of a sense of humor about these
things.


But I decided I could probably move the sink plumbing the fairly
small
amount that was needed. At the last minute I decided to have a (VERY
handy) friend come over to help me, but only because I was worried
that I couldn't rip out the old counter, install 2 base cabinets,
countertop and sink in a weekend by myself.

I was very lucky to have had him come over. It ended up taking the
two
of us 2 full days. My house is 50 years old. It turned out that the
trap and the nipple that attached to the waste pipe were too
corroded
to leave, but frozen on and nearly impossible to remove. It was only
my contractor friend's vast experience that saved me from going
without a working kitchen for what might have been weeks (until I
could get a plumber).

You discovered one of the laws of old plumbing: if you touch it, you
will have to keep taking out pieces further back. (Especially if it is
brass.) If you're lucky, you can find a section of galvanized strong
enough to cut with a hack saw (also a good time to talk the wife into
buying that sawzall), stick on a no-hub fitting, and rebuild the bad
parts with pvc. (Just finished doing that under the kitchen sink. The
only galvanized left are the bits of fittings that make an
inaccessible curve in the wall behind the cabinet and down to an
unreachable spot just below in the basement.

Bill

Hi, I have installed an Ikea Kitchen and found it to be very simple....and look - I am a girl! The flat pack instructions were simple and precise. Had no problems with the delivery and they took back bits I didn't need in the end (always over order on plinth/cornice etc - its easier to take it back than wait another six weeks for 2.4m if you make a bad cut) and gave me my money back - no questions asked.
Would use them again for sure - except my taste in Kitchens has improved, bit more fussy now!