Kitchen disaster near miss - you were right!

Great idea Lathyrus3. That's what we've found out now through using an independent fitter - they have utilised every bit of space and all the cupboards are bespoke so they fit the kitchen perfectly. The Wren plan showed blanking plates and empty patches everywhere. We were going to pay top price with Wren because they said they were bespoke but they aren't. I must admit I loved their quality and choice but the planning leaves a lot to be desired.

We got our kitchen from Wren but sourced our own fitter to install it . We also were a big part of the planning process and got exactly what we wanted .
We will be having a small extension to the house built soon but are planning to order the kitchen units from DIY Kitchens who are cheaper than Wren .

Oh dear our neighbours have just had a new Wren kitchen and bedroom, there have been workmen there on and off for three weeks now, when we had our new kitchen we used a local company and it took three days.

We have literally just been on the telephone to ask why we haven't had our deposit returned yet - it is getting on for a month now since we cancelled.

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We went to DIY Kitchens near Doncaster, they also have a showroom in Witney.

They expect purchasers to do their own design, but they check it over before fulfilling the order. We got an excellent local kitchen fitter in to fit it and were entirely happy with every stage of the process from the showrooms and their staff to our fitter.

As soon as we hav planning permission we will be up the A! to Doncaster to use the same company for the kitchen in our current home. DD used them fo her utility room and plans to use them for her kitchen as well.

52bright

We have just received a quote for a refurbished kitchen. Not a kitchen from scratch as we have very good quality cupboards. We need to change the doors because we are moving a table out and putting new cupboards in its place and in order for the whole kitchen to match we will need to change the cupboard doors and work tops we have. Add on new sink and the estimate for this small kitchen has come in at over £12000!! I must admit I was surprized as we had a recent estimate for having the whole thing done from scratch for about the same price so will rethink the refurbishment idea.

Wanting to replace some fairly old units in our utility room, I got a quote from a door replacement company who prided themselves on giving kitchens etc. a complete makeover. Their quote for doors and works surfaces was pretty expensive, given there isn't much labour involved. Eventually used B&Q, who ripped out existing units, replaced those and work surface and all of that came in cheaper than the door replacement company quote. I was also intending to replace a stainless steel sink but the fitter advised me not to do that, on the basis that the existing sink was far superior to the one I ordered. He arranged for the return of that to B&Q and the cost was refunded bringing the overall cost down further.