I started out to buy a couple or three kitchen units to use in a home
office.

Firstly, we went to Wickes for a looks see. They were akin to a chocolate
fire guard with useful information, but we came away with a book for
bespoke kitchens (the kind you have to order through the sales droids)
which are apparently different from the boxed self-assembly ones in store.

We then went to the nearby Benchmarx kitchen place, which we initially
thought was a public (as opposed to trade) version of Howdens (which was
next door). Turns out that they are owned by TP and allegedly I can use my
TP trade account to buy there.

Comparing the brochures at home afterwards the unit measurements at the
back looked suspiciously similar.

Turns out Wickes are owned by TP as well, so it looks very much as if a
bespoke (retail) Wickes kitchen and a Benchmarx (allegedly trade only)
kitchen are the same range (or at least the same manufacturer).

I am now looking at the TP website and they offer kitchens as well,
although I haven't delved deep enough to see if they are only flatpack or
if they come pre-assembled as you would get from Benchmarx.

All very confusing.

I would opt for pre-assembled (as from Howdens and Benchmarx) instead of
flat pack because you get it the next day and also you don't have the
issue of missing or broken bits in the flat pack. Plus the time taken to
assemble.

Has anyone else been down this route and compared the prices etc. from
these three separate routes to possibly the same kitchen units?

Is there yet another route to the same kitchen units?

TIA



Dave R

--
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David wrote:

Turns out Wickes are owned by TP

I though everyone knew, along with toolsatan, bss, pts, city plumbing,
etc, etc

https://www.travisperkinsplc.co.uk/our-businesses.aspx

On Sunday, 19 May 2019 16:00:18 UTC+1, David WE Roberts (Google) wrote:
I would opt for pre-assembled (as from Howdens and Benchmarx) instead of
flat pack because you get it the next day and also you don't have the
issue of missing or broken bits in the flat pack. Plus the time taken to
assemble.

I don't think most pre-assembled units are any better quality, as I assume the shop assembles them for you from flat-pack before putting them on the van.

They're also a lot harder to get up stairs etc.

However, DIY Kitchens which seem to have a large number of fans do prebuilt units, 17 colours so you can get a colour match etc.

"assembled using glue and dowel construction techniques and with doors and drawer fronts factory fitted." They can also supply unglued if getting up stairs is an issue.

https://www.diy-kitchens.com/about-d...-ready-to-fit/

For comparison, this is real wood, about £180 for a 500mm base unit without door

https://www.solidwoodkitchencabinets..._cabinets.html

Owain

On 19/05/2019 16:00, David wrote:
I started out to buy a couple or three kitchen units to use in a home
office.

Firstly, we went to Wickes for a looks see. They were akin to a chocolate
fire guard with useful information, but we came away with a book for
bespoke kitchens (the kind you have to order through the sales droids)
which are apparently different from the boxed self-assembly ones in store.

We then went to the nearby Benchmarx kitchen place, which we initially
thought was a public (as opposed to trade) version of Howdens (which was
next door). Turns out that they are owned by TP and allegedly I can use my
TP trade account to buy there.

Comparing the brochures at home afterwards the unit measurements at the
back looked suspiciously similar.

Turns out Wickes are owned by TP as well, so it looks very much as if a
bespoke (retail) Wickes kitchen and a Benchmarx (allegedly trade only)
kitchen are the same range (or at least the same manufacturer).

I am now looking at the TP website and they offer kitchens as well,
although I haven't delved deep enough to see if they are only flatpack or
if they come pre-assembled as you would get from Benchmarx.

All very confusing.

I would opt for pre-assembled (as from Howdens and Benchmarx) instead of
flat pack because you get it the next day and also you don't have the
issue of missing or broken bits in the flat pack. Plus the time taken to
assemble.

Has anyone else been down this route and compared the prices etc. from
these three separate routes to possibly the same kitchen units?

Is there yet another route to the same kitchen units?

TIA



Dave R

Last time I did one (admittedly a few years ago) I was surprised to find
that B&Q had a good range of carcase sizes, reasonable prices, and quite
good quality. (I did just buy the carcases, and made the doors myself as
there were three random sized "waste bin" slots in my layout).

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On Sun, 19 May 2019 08:48:50 -0700, spuorgelgoog wrote:

On Sunday, 19 May 2019 16:00:18 UTC+1, David WE Roberts (Google) wrote:
I would opt for pre-assembled (as from Howdens and Benchmarx) instead
of flat pack because you get it the next day and also you don't have
the issue of missing or broken bits in the flat pack. Plus the time
taken to assemble.

I don't think most pre-assembled units are any better quality, as I
assume the shop assembles them for you from flat-pack before putting
them on the van.

They're also a lot harder to get up stairs etc.

However, DIY Kitchens which seem to have a large number of fans do
prebuilt units, 17 colours so you can get a colour match etc.

"assembled using glue and dowel construction techniques and with doors
and drawer fronts factory fitted." They can also supply unglued if
getting up stairs is an issue.

https://www.diy-kitchens.com/about-d...e-and-quality-
comparison/wickes-ready-to-fit/

For comparison, this is real wood, about £180 for a 500mm base unit
without door

https://www.solidwoodkitchencabinets.../gbu0-display/
base_cabinets.html

Owain


Thanks for the useful links.

The solid wood kitchens are out of our price range.
One 900mm wide 3 pan drawer unit is £765.
Our quote from Benchmarx for:

600mm 3 pan drawer

900mm 3 pan drawer

800mm tall wall cabinet

2 decor ends for the drawers

1 decor end for the cupboard

Handles

Came to £742.38.

So no competition in the pricing stakes. Noting that this is one up from
their base range because the cheapest range doesn't do the 900mm wide pan
drawer.

Legs are one length plastic but can be cut right down.

DIY kitchens are of a comparable price to Benchmarx (no idea about the
quality) but Benchmarx can deliver next day and because they are local
they are currently offering free delivery.

So at the moment Benchmarx look to be a good option.

We may well have a look at B&Q just for comparison. Hopefully they no
longer stick you with 8 weeks delivery time plus another 8 weeks for any
fault rectification.


Cheers



Dave R



--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

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David wrote:

We may well have a look at B&Q just for comparison. Hopefully they no
longer stick you with 8 weeks delivery time

22 days from order to delivery of a full kitchen refit last autumn.