Ikea kitchen - yes or no??

RachWatch

Have spent the last two weekends visiting kitchen showrooms - prices are varying between €7k and €10k excl apppliances and fitting. Went to Ikea yesterday and price is in region of €7k incl appliances. Quality seems fine but just wondering if anyone has an Ikea kitchen - did it work out ok? Any reason why we shouldn't consider one?

Thanks!!

curiousb

Got one earlier this year and very happy with it. Did the installation ourselves with a little help.

Didn't get any of their appliances so can't comment on them. We got cheaper appliances from Powercity or DID.

bbam

I installed one in our utility last December..
The quality overall is definitely good.
I would however say that the doors would be considerably lighter than the equavlent from a kitchen supplier, I'm not sure if this is a potential problem or not, just something I noticed...
The carcasses seem very sturdy and are easy to assemble...

When your comparing prices I'm sure you've been checking if the carcasses are MDF or Chipboard.. It has an effect on the price overall..

RachWatch

Thanks bbam - I'm fairly sure my OH has been comparing MDF vs chipboard but it's a point worth noting!

Thanks curiosb - will do a price comparison on the appliances

tmc86

We have one in our family home which I put together about 5-6 years ago, it's still in very good condition and they seem to be very sturdy.

Once I put the freestanding kitchen units together we got someone in to attach to the wall to make it extra secure.

wayoutwest

After putting in my Ikea kitchen and then comparing it to a friends'one, that had been made by locall fitter - his one looks far sturdier [thicker carcassing and solid backs,rather than tacked on hard board].
Also, the Ikea floor units fit right up, flush with the walls so any pipe work is restricied to the 16 cm gap ,under the units- which might pose a problem to you. Other brands/independent fitters leave a void at the back,to accomodate pipework,wiring.

If, in the future,I was to re-fit - I wii definately be getting at least a quote from the local kichen maker, before enduring another return to Ikea.

paddy147

The Ikea kitchens are sometimes harder to fit,due to the way they are built andkitchen waste pipes and fittings.

A carpenter friend of mine also told me that Ikea kitchens are a slightly diffferent size to Irish/Uk kitchens,so you cant fit standard size kitchen doors to the carcas,if you ever want to change doors and the colour scheme.


I dont know how true that is though??

I priced with 6 different kitchen companies for my new kitchen,and Ikea were only 3rd cheapest out of the 6 companies.

RachWatch

paddy147 wrote: »

The Ikea kitchens are sometimes harder to fit,due to the way they are built andkitchen waste pipes and fittings.

A carpenter friend of mine also told me that Ikea kitchens are a slightly diffferent size to Irish/Uk kitchens,so you cant fit standard size kitchen doors to the carcas,if you ever want to change doors and the colour scheme.


I dont know how true that is though??

I priced with 6 different kitchen companies for my new kitchen,and Ikea were only 3rd cheapest out of the 6 companies.

Hi paddy147
Thanks! Who did you go with in the end? I've also shopped around about five places and am still shopping!!

paddy147

RachWatch wrote: »

Hi paddy147
Thanks! Who did you go with in the end? I've also shopped around about five places and am still shopping!!

After a good bit of battering and haggling with all companies,I eventually went with "In House".

But only after 3 trips to them and some serious haggling on my part.;)

My carpenter mate fitted the kitchen for me,he did a bit of one off work too to integrate every applience into the kitchen.




PS-This is just my own experience,so dont be put off by Ikea.

Everyone has different tastes and styles that they like.

paddy147

I also saved a small fortune by buying all my appliences from "warehouse clearence events".

Queing up/siting on a deck chair for several hours on an early Saturday Morning to get the pick of the crop when the warehouse clearence event starts.

If you shop around and haggle hard,then you can get very good bargains indeed.

barfold

Hi
The Ikea kitchens are not as solid as say in-house/ panelling centre, backs are just hardboard and the units do not have service space at the back which also means that walls have to be perfectly straight and plum, not possible to scribe to walls. If price difference was not huge would go for in-house or similar, get a fitter with trade discount and get it supplied and fitted for same as supply only price

Cerco

barfold wrote: »

Hi
The Ikea kitchens are not as solid as say in-house/ panelling centre, backs are just hardboard and the units do not have service space at the back which also means that walls have to be perfectly straight and plum, not possible to scribe to walls. If price difference was not huge would go for in-house or similar, get a fitter with trade discount and get it supplied and fitted for same as supply only price

In my opinion, any competent DIY'er or kitchen fitter would have no difficulty fitting an IKEA kitchen. Yes, the quality of the In-House kitchens is beter but the price is significantly greater.

paddy147

Cerco wrote: »

In my opinion, any competent DIY'er or kitchen fitter would have no difficulty fitting an IKEA kitchen. Yes, the quality of the In-House kitchens is beter but the price is significantly greater.

In House had a deal on that was the following.....


"Buy half,and get the other half for free".

They had large full page ads in the Herald and Northside People newspapers recently.

Im not too sure if that deal is still active?


PS-In my own case In House were alot cheaper than Ikea.Tierney Kitchens were 2nd cheapest,and then Ikea was 3rd.You CANNOT haggle with Ikea,so thats a stumbling block right there straight away.

RachWatch

Your kitchen is fab paddy147 - we're going for cream too. Have been to In House, and they were dearer than Ikea, but might go back and haggle
will also shop around for appliances

Anyone any recommendations re work / counter tops? Granite is crazy money but looks great. Most providers are recommending laminate. We like the glossy one but again, keen to find best prices!

tks

paddy147

RachWatch wrote: »

Your kitchen is fab paddy147 - we're going for cream too. Have been to In House, and they were dearer than Ikea, but might go back and haggle
will also shop around for appliances

Anyone any recommendations re work / counter tops? Granite is crazy money but looks great. Most providers are recommending laminate. We like the glossy one but again, keen to find best prices!

tks

Thanks.
I dealt with the "trade counter".We did the painting ourselves,so that saved even more money.;)

RachWatch

Thanks Paddy147 - I googled 'trade counter' but they seem to be about commercial vehicles - did you mean the trade counter in In House or a separate company? thanks

paddy147

RachWatch wrote: »

Thanks Paddy147 - I googled 'trade counter' but they seem to be about commercial vehicles - did you mean the trade counter in In House or a separate company? thanks

Trade Counter in In House.;)

RachWatch

Aha - doh!!

Cerco

Lovely kitchen Paddy. Well designed too.

Gaspode

I've fitted an IKEA kitchen a few years ago, and I have to say I'm very happy with it. The quality is good, and it came in at about a third to a fifth of what most other places were quoting price-wise. I didn't go with their appliances as they didnt do them at the time, but I've heard they are good.

If you are going to go with IKEA, download their software and design the kitchen on your PC before you go near the place. Makes life much easier. Also, do not go near IKEA on a weekend, it's mental!

paddy147

Gaspode wrote: »

I've fitted an IKEA kitchen a few years ago, and I have to say I'm very happy with it. The quality is good, and it came in at about a third to a fifth of what most other places were quoting price-wise. I didn't go with their appliances as they didnt do them at the time, but I've heard they are good.

If you are going to go with IKEA, download their software and design the kitchen on your PC before you go near the place. Makes life much easier. Also, do not go near IKEA on a weekend, it's mental!

Yep,lunchtime on a Saturday or Sunday is not the best time to go there.

Its absolutely stuffed full of people and prams and buggies.

colm_mcm

Kitchen looks great paddy, about to get an ikea kitchen.
The appliances aren't overly cheap in ikea but they have a 5 year warranty and I know it'll fit 100% and all the lines will match up.

Will post up pics in 2 weeks when I start it




Ikea are doing a €100 voucher when you spend over €1000. Can you be cute with this and divide your kitchen into a few transactions, or do they give you €100 for every €1000?

Roynie

I have installed 5 kitchens now, 4 of them being Ikea ones. I like them and the quality is good.

The problem with them is that there is no space behind them for the pipework. Consequently the pipes have to be routed underneath the carcasses. Depending on what type of sink unit you get you may have to take the pipes up through the cupboard. in our last kitchen, built last year, we had an old fashioned type of sink which fitted into a cupboard which had no back, so it wasn't an issue.

colm_mcm

I've got hole saws

Did you use ikea appliances?

Roynie

Not normally as their appliances are often dearer than you can get elsewhere. Although we did buy a cooker hood that was in a sale there and cheap. When we got it home we used paint remover to take off the Ikea label !

colm_mcm

I'm assuming everything is a standard size these days, the fridge is the only thing I'm wondering about, assume the doors are a selection of standard sizes too?

Must investigate the warranty thing, looking at all the appliances combined, there's a good bit to be saved by going with mid range brands.

Roynie

Yes the applicances are all standard sizes, usually 60cm wide, but you can get some, such as fridges that are 50cms if you need them. You can also get matching doors to put on the front of the appliances so that they are built in to the kitchen units. That's a standard whichever kitchen you get and you're right you can save a lot of money by shopping around for your electricals, the internet is often substantially cheaper. However, if you are buying more than one you may be able to haggle for a bigger discount.

Good luck which ever way you decide to go.

RachWatch

Thanks Roynie for your comments - am still 'dithering' about Ikea vs kitchen supplier - decisions, desicions!!

The Recliner

We put in an Ikea kitchen last year and got the appliances from them too

At the time they had an offer on for buy 3 appliances get one free so with that they worked out cheaper than other places plus they also had bigger cabinet sizes which we needed for storage space, much bigger than your normal size

The appliances have worked perfectly, I think they are all made by Whirlpool just not branded so no real worry there

Very happy with it so far given what we paid for it

Roynie

The disadvantage with Ikea, as someone else has said, is that you can't haggle - but they do sales and occasional offers as The Recliner says. The units also come flat packed so they can be very fiddly to build and install.

On the other hand they are very flexible and the ranges they do have been around for quite a long time so you can usually buy an extra unit or two to match ones you may have previously installed.

As the saying goes, you pay your money and make your choice.

paddy147

colm_mcm wrote: »

Kitchen looks great paddy, about to get an ikea kitchen.
The appliances aren't overly cheap in ikea but they have a 5 year warranty and I know it'll fit 100% and all the lines will match up.

Will post up pics in 2 weeks when I start it




Ikea are doing a €100 voucher when you spend over €1000. Can you be cute with this and divide your kitchen into a few transactions, or do they give you €100 for every €1000?

Thanks.

Im not too certain on whether you could split the ikea kitchen cost up to get lots of vouchers.

You could allways play dumb and try it though.;)


I managed to get 6 x 7 feet tall large Kentia Palm Plants off Ikea for a mere 25 euro each.

They were on a trolley with 25 euro price tag on the trolley.

They should have been 50 euro each.

So I played dumb and went with 6 of them to the cash till.

When it came up at 50 euro each,I said "no way,they are 25 euro each".

Shop floor manager had a "quiet chat" with me (away from other customers),and she gave me them for 25 euro each.

RESULT.:D



PS-Hope all goes well with your Ikea kitchen,dont forget to try your luck with the vouchers too.Let us know how it goes for you.:)

colm_mcm

paddy147 wrote: »

PS-Hope all goes well with your Ikea kitchen,dont forget to try your luck with the vouchers too.Let us know how it goes for you.:)

Quick update, got the units, got the appliances elsewhere except the oven and built in microwave.

Vouchers were no problem.

Waited 4 hours for them to pick the stuff from stock though.

paddy147

colm_mcm wrote: »

Quick update, got the units, got the appliances elsewhere except the oven and built in microwave.

Vouchers were no problem.

Waited 4 hours for them to pick the stuff from stock though.

Thats the 1 bad thing that I dont like about Ikea.

They are very very slow to actually get an item out of stock,where you have to pay for it in advance.

I had to wait 40 minutes just for a bloody sink strainer and sink plug.:(


They could take a leaf out of Argos,es book on how to get things out of storage fast and get it to a customer who is waiting at the desk.;)


Glad to hear it worked out for you,in the end.:D

radioactiveman

RachWatch wrote: »

Have spent the last two weekends visiting kitchen showrooms - prices are varying between €7k and €10k excl apppliances and fitting. Went to Ikea yesterday and price is in region of €7k incl appliances. Quality seems fine but just wondering if anyone has an Ikea kitchen - did it work out ok? Any reason why we shouldn't consider one?

Thanks!!

Hi op
Got an ikea kitchen there last month. The cabinets and the doors are very solid and good quality. It's MDF but it's not just any old chipboard, it's dense and similar to wood. The doors and drawers are also very solid.

It's not the same as a real wood kitchen obviously. But i wouldn't think it would give you problems either as regards build quality. It also looks very well and we didn't go for the most expensive one.
We assembled the cabinets ourselves - it's not too hard and the fitter has less to do (less time they spend the better:)

murphaph

paddy147 wrote: »

Thats the 1 bad thing that I dont like about Ikea.

They are very very slow to actually get an item out of stock,where you have to pay for it in advance.

I had to wait 40 minutes just for a bloody sink strainer and sink plug.:(


They could take a leaf out of Argos,es book on how to get things out of storage fast and get it to a customer who is waiting at the desk.;)


Glad to hear it worked out for you,in the end.:D

Sounds like an IKEA Ireland problem. I bought a kitchen from an IKEA in Germany and had it in about 20 mins.

I also dislike the lack of void space behind IKEA kitchens. I've also installed 2 B&Q kitchens and I feel the quality is very similar-it is after all just flat pack chip board for the most part and this has been pretty much perfected now.

I have to say I was very surprised at the lack of a void having installed B&Q ones before, I just assumed IKEA would have this too. Our dishwasher pipes have to come in from the adjacent unit and you see them. It's done to save a few mm in smaller continental apartments IMO.

colm_mcm

I'm gonna throw a few of the carcasses together today, I did one the other evening and it all seems straightforward.
Must throw up a print screen of what it's supposed to look like.

Went with a sink unit from ikea too, weird non standard drain pipe too. Can an adaptor be got for these I wonder?

paddy147

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'm gonna throw a few of the carcasses together today, I did one the other evening and it all seems straightforward.
Must throw up a print screen of what it's supposed to look like.

Went with a sink unit from ikea too, weird non standard drain pipe too. Can an adaptor be got for these I wonder?

Should be able to get some adaptor pieces.

CDV Plumbing Supplies in Coolmine Ind Estate,Davies bathroom/plumbing centre in Harmanstown,or any good builders providers should be able to help you.

Jast make sure you have a U-Trap there under the sink,to prevent foul smells comming back up out of the sink and half sink bowl too.;)

paddy147

murphaph wrote: »

Sounds like an IKEA Ireland problem. I bought a kitchen from an IKEA in Germany and had it in about 20 mins.

I also dislike the lack of void space behind IKEA kitchens. I've also installed 2 B&Q kitchens and I feel the quality is very similar-it is after all just flat pack chip board for the most part and this has been pretty much perfected now.

I have to say I was very surprised at the lack of a void having installed B&Q ones before, I just assumed IKEA would have this too. Our dishwasher pipes have to come in from the adjacent unit and you see them. It's done to save a few mm in smaller continental apartments IMO.

I avoided B&Q as I was told a 6-8 week waiting tome for the kitchen,from time of order/purchase.

No use to me,when I wanted the kitchen within 2 weeks,due to builder and carpenter on a tight timescle.;)

I went with In House for my kitchen.Paid for the kitchen on a Tuesday afternoon,and it was all delievered very next morning.
Now that is service.

I got all my appliences from a factory warehouse clearence sale.

Saved a fortune this way.:)

colm_mcm

paddy147 wrote: »

Should be able to get some adaptor pieces.

CDV Plumbing Supplies in Coolmine Ind Estate,Davies bathroom/plumbing centre in Harmanstown,or any good builders providers should be able to help you.

Jast make sure you have a U-Trap there under the sink,to prevent foul smells comming back up out of the sink and half sink bowl too.;)

This is what I got

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/20215523/

paddy147

colm_mcm wrote: »

This is what I got

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/20215523/

The large grey plastic tub part is the U-Trap.:)


You may need a reducer/adapter to mate the flexi pipe up to standard 40mm white waste water pipe.


I bought an Ikea bathroom sink trap kit,and it was to much fcuking around with it to get it work on a normal bathroom sink and 32mm waste pipe.

I just used a normal adjustable U-Trap instead.

colm_mcm

It should work out handy enough. The dishwasher is to the left of the sink, went for one that isn't nearly as deep as the ikea one so it'll just mean running the waste out the side of the cabinet and no need for much hacking.

Got a carousel for the corner unit. It's a serious bit of heavy duty engineering.

paddy147

colm_mcm wrote: »

It should work out handy enough. The dishwasher is to the left of the sink, went for one that isn't nearly as deep as the ikea one so it'll just mean running the waste out the side of the cabinet and no need for much hacking.

Got a carousel for the corner unit. It's a serious bit of heavy duty engineering.

Does the waste outlet from the dishwasher plumb into that Ikea under sink trap system??

colm_mcm

paddy147 wrote: »

Does the waste outlet from the dishwasher plumb into that Ikea under sink trap system??

Apparently so. There's a PDF in the link there. Not sure if that will work in my case but it would be handy if it did. It'll take a dishwasher and a washing machine (no washing machine in this case), not sure if the waste pipes on an irish spec machine are compatible with those connections. PDF suggests they have rubber hoses with jubilee clips. I'll have to wing it and see what happens.

If all else fails I'll just do the dishwasher the old fashioned way (shove the hose down the waste pipe)

paddy147

colm_mcm wrote: »

Apparently so. There's a PDF in the link there. Not sure if that will work in my case but it would be handy if it did. It'll take a dishwasher and a washing machine (no washing machine in this case), not sure if the waste pipes on an irish spec machine are compatible with those connections. PDF suggests they have rubber hoses with jubilee clips. I'll have to wing it and see what happens.

If all else fails I'll just do the dishwasher the old fashioned way (shove the hose down the waste pipe)

Yep,my dishwasher waste outlet pipe has a flexi rubber house and fit on with a jubilee clip.:)

I would be surprised if the Ikea unit didnt work with a dishwasher outlet pipe...in this modern day and age.;)

colm_mcm

Ah sure it probably will fit just fine, I'll let future colm figure that one out.

Gaspode

colm_mcm wrote: »

This is what I got

http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/20215523/

The reducer/adaptor for the drain is in the top right of that picture, so you shouldn't need anything else.

colm_mcm

The lovely girl in ikea said I needed to buy an adaptor though and that they don't sell them.

Gaspode

Hmmm, I know I was worried for a while as the house I was putting the kitchen into had really old plumbing in odd non-metric sizes, but it worked out in the end without buying anything extra. My memory is not great, but I'm pretty sure that's the reducer alright.

Mind you, the design has sod all going for it and it was tricky enough to figure out what went where.

paddy147

Gaspode wrote: »

Hmmm, I know I was worried for a while as the house I was putting the kitchen into had really old plumbing in odd non-metric sizes, but it worked out in the end without buying anything extra. My memory is not great, but I'm pretty sure that's the reducer alright.

Mind you, the design has sod all going for it and it was tricky enough to figure out what went where.

You would need a solvent weld or compression adaptor to fit onto the existing kitchen wate pipe.

I would never just slot on a pipe and hope that it stays in place.

Kat1170

Also when putting your carcases together use wood adhesive on ALL joins. Don't rely on the supplied screws - joiners alone. ;)

Did this with B&Q kitchen carcases when I put my kitchen in about 7 years ago and nothing has come apart / sagged so far.