Skeggsy’s Blog

Visit to B&Q to look at their kitchens. The white gloss slab looks ok and was very cheap but all the cabinets are poor quality with a naff old fashioned looking flowery pattern inside.
We did like the quartz onyx black worktop though, the example price given for a small kitchen was �800 although I guess that doesn’t include installation.
Dropped into MFI which had same worktop called Diamond Black Quartz. They had other colours including red. They quoted �300-�500 per metre dependent on exactly what you want done. This would cost �1560-�2600 based on our measurements.

Appointment with Magnet designer/salesman in Orpington.
Showroom was very slick, lots of plasma screens which is nice- obviously Magnet are doing well. Bit early so browsed around. Almost hit in the head by a piece of wood that flew out of a high cabinet - it did have a sticker on it saying open me so bit sloppy on the health and safety side! Designer/salesman was very pleasant, that is until the end when I said our timescale was 1 year and then he was suddenly very off. That was rather disappointing really. I asked how long they save the quote for and he said they save the quote for one week and that they don’t work to 1 year timescales! He obviously cussed us to one of the other salesmen who meandered round to give us a quick look. Considering how glossy the showroom looks I expected a bit more professionalism but I guess they don’t need our money. Anyway the quote was midway at �5300 after discounts which is ok. They used 20-20 Design software (http://www.2020technologies.com/us-eng/20-20Design/index.aspx) which crashed once and of course he hadn’t saved the design and had to start again.
Started work on the floor, replacing woodwormy joists and laying plywood.
Costs so far:
Joists (3 x 3.6m) �14.59 champion timber
joists (4 x 3.6m) �19.46 champion timber
Plyboard 9 x �9.49 �85.41 wickes
Plywood 3 * 9.99 = 29.97 wickes
screws �2.89

Appointment with MFI Orpington. They used Moben plans to design kitchen.
Process took about an hour. The final price was about �3600. This included about �1000 for fitting.
We thought this rather reasonable especially since MFI are currently outside their sale period but they still offered us half price fitting which would reduce the cost to about �3100. We will wait for the next sale (apparently four weeks in a sale, then four weeks outside sale throughout the year) to get upto 40% off the units - so hopefully final cost will be about �2500 fitted!