Hi everyone.
I have just moved into a new flat with a small kitchen. We've had a quote for a new kitchen which comes to £3200 and I'm quite happy with that. We've also had a kitchen fitting company in that we found on check a trade and we've been quoted £2950 incl. VAT to fit it. That includes tiling, changing some sockets to different positions and moving some pipes below the floorboards. The kitchen includes a dishwasher, microwave, sink, oven, cabinets and fridge freezer, all which will need installing properly.
Does anyone who knows what they're doing think that's a fair price? I do have other companies coming in to quote but wondered if you though that was competitive?
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Try breaking it down to what is reasonable to assume.
If you pay people with the appropriate level of skill (there may be a cascade effect from the quotes for specialist trades for example). However if you reckon it will take say eight working days for the equivalent of two skilled workers each day, and they get paid £120 per day, then that gets you to £1920.
Then you look for the costs of materials. If everything is supplied from Screwfix for example you can look online at their prices. Doing a bit of research might pay dividends.
I have a feeling that with a bit of effort you could probable knock a thousand off what you've been quoted so far.
Actually a small kitchen, two workers, with the work you have described ought to take no more than a week surely, especially if events are co-ordinated well, so that may take the cost of labout to, I dunno, £1500 max. AND it looks like you're doing a fair bit of prep, so they have to come and only screw stuff in properly and wield the old spirit levels. Hmmmnnn
Is all the stuff you're putting in really going to cost £4600?
Yeah, I've convinced myself, you could get a grand off that quote.
The fitter is highly rated on check a trade.
One good chippy can do a small kitchen in a week with a labourer and that is including ripping out and making the carcasses up
If you buy from howdens they are well reasonably priced and they come pre-made up and are ok quality. Don't have anything to so with wickes under any circumstances homebase are cheap but that is reflected in the quality. Wrens do some very good deals but I have no idea on the quality of what they are selling.
Benchmarx sell exactly the same gear as wickes for a lot less and I know a good few chippies who will fit it for you if you need
I also know good sparkes and an excellent tiler
I bought my last kitchen from Wren Kitchens - comparable with Howden's on price, and also comes pre-assembled.
The £3k sounds steep to me, but difficult to say without seeing what you've gone for. Get a quote for the units and other bits and pieces from at least one other place - you'll either find out you can save a load of money by buying from somewhere else, or you'll get reassurance that you're paying the right price.
Sounds like you've done your research on the fitter, which is good. I've found from bitter experience that there's more crap tradespeople than good ones out there. Never use any that are recommended to you by the kitchen shop, always arrange the fitter separately.
Saying that I would avoid them like the plague. Their designer made several mistakes which caused a lot of problems.
All in I would say thats too expensive. £2500 for the kitchen, and about the same for installing (including making up the units for you.
Small kitchen I wouldnt spend more than £5k
A decent builder could easily fit that in a week - including electrics, plumbing, tiling and flooring, so the fitting price seems well over the top. I suppose it depends on how busy he is at the moment.
It might not matter if the the kitchen is 6 foot square or not, there are a large number of factors involved in giving a quote. They should not be figures sucked out of the air.
Some have suggested to time scales which quite frankly are way off. If you took, for example, decorate a bedroom. 1 day for clear out and stripping/preping. 1 day ceilling and walls under coat wood work
and 1 day for finish. 3 days work total to a reasonable finishand you would have to moving. Now throw into the mix all the the bits on top of that which are involved in kitchen fitting you will see there might be a little more time needed.
Or may be some are happy with a quick cheap job. Labour rate in the south east £150 min / day and likley to more.
I've used these in the recent past; www.larkandlarks.co.uk.
Ok quaility, price and delivery times. Also they dont limit you to a standard cabinet/ door size.
Worth remembering, carcasses are pretty well hidden and strong when fitted together regardless what they are made from it he doors and trim that I would choose to spend the money on.
I dont like Ikea units they lack service space at the rear.
I've emailed back to ask him to remove something from the quote and said it's not competitive ATM. Worth a try!
You are really under no obligation at all, even if you've had a home visit and been initially charmed and softened up.
Ten years ago when I went to Sundridge Park Nissan to help my wife buy a Micra (which is still going strong!), I got into a conversation with the head salesman fella and discussed doing deals. He told me they look at customers as either 'floppers' or 'ruckers' (and nothing personal in it at all). The implication being is that a flopper will basically give you free access to their bank account because the sales staff are exploiting the customers wants and needs. A rucker will argue every single part of the deal.
Don't be a flopper.
I am sure you could probably get a better job (especially as it is an IKEA kitchen!) for a thousand pounds less. Lots of great advice here. Think how much more fun it might be to spend (or not borrow) that £1000 on something else.