DIY Kitchens - HONEST REVIEW!
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- Опубліковано 10 жов 2022
- It’s time for a quick review of DIY Kitchens. This video is NOT SPONSORED. They didn’t know I was reviewing them at the time as I’d rather get an honest appraisal of the product and customer service. How did they get on? Did they get the Gosforth Handyman seal of approval??
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#Kitchen #DIY #Kitchens - Навчання та стиль
On the DIY kitchens website their "accessories" section has moisture barriers for plinths sold in 2.5m lengths. Thanks for your video, I shall be adding this to my order!
Kitchen designer here - based in a showroom on the other side of the river from you Andy! With corner larder units, if adjacent to another larder unit, I always provide an end panel (or an edged filler/blanking panel) to go in between them. Whilst it only provides an extra 1-2mm clearance depending on the range, it's enough for the diagonal angle not to impinge on door swing. In this kitchen's case, it would also provide symmetry and a 'frame' to the corner larder. Hope this helps - found your video insightful too, thank you.
if he were honest he'd say, 'thanks, but this is a paid placement and i'm just taking the money'
I thought your add was helpful, in any case 👍
note add, not ad - not misspelled lol
The corner larder unit is hinged opposite to your 3D image. Could this be the problem?
An absolutely genuine and honest review. Thanks for this.
I fitted my own DIY kitchen in 2017 and it still looks as good today as when I finished it.
We had a DIY kitchen 2 years ago and i would go straight back if we needed another. Despite getting a couple pieces of our order wrong they rectified it very quickly. The team on the backend managing issues were very good.
Used DIY Kitchens several times, for ourselves and friends. The last one I fitted 18 months ago. Just about to start our last ever renovation and we will use DIY Kitchens again. The fact that we will be using them again gives you a clue to how I rate them.
I have fitted DIY kitchens for my own kitchen and was so impressed fitted one for my daughter, then two of my sisters also purchased DIY kitchens. I fitted mine in 2011 and it still looks and performs like new. I visited the factory and showroom in Pontefract and the customer service was excellent. No hesitation in recommending DIY kitchens
For me, as a home owner not a fitter, the best thing about DIYkitchens is their configuration tool. It is great for creating a design and hopping and changing bits yourself and seeing how things will look. Unfortunately the delivery time when I was looking was too long so I ended up taking my design to Howdens but I was impressed by the online tool.
Woohoo an extra video. About to order a DIY kitchens one for my parents. Really appreciate all the hard work you put into all these videos. 😊
No worries - enjoy!
I fitted my kitchen from them over 10 years ago now. It looks as good as new. They also had a huge showroom next to the factory, which you can also tour. It's highly automated with some amazing robotic machines. Great value as well.
Mines been in 8 years now, agreed still looks great, good quality kitchens.
I've never fitted a DIY kitchen, but on Howdens Belfast sink units, sometimes you've got to put a packer between the carcass and the end panel, due to variability in the sink casting. I'd probably do something like that on the tall unit to make the gap a bit bigger and get the door over a bit!
I have just installed our DIY Kitchen and have been really overwhelmed with the quality. Makes it a treat to fit and the finished product looks amazing. We visited their factory, toured the showroom and spent many months in the planner and in dialogue with their ‘design’ staff on the chat module. Fantastic all round. Cannot recommend more highly.
The not-glued top cupboard could either have been a genuine factory oversight (e.g. shift change over), where it was assumed to be glued and wasn't, or it's to allow for easy disassembly to cut the cabinet width down. Overhead bridging units can frequently need cutting to get the base cabinet spacing to match as there are more end panels to fit in if you change from wall unit to bridging unit.
And if you ever need spare blum hinges, then the cheapest source I have found is Ikea. Their standard kitchen cabinet hinges (utrusta) are all blum hinges - with the soft close version selling at £8/2pack, so £4 per hinge.
A year or so later and I've just finished fitting DIY Kitchens units in my youngest son's utility room. Must say, I was impressed with the quality. There was one cock up with one of the doors (it was a non-standard fitment) but this was sorted without fuss. Will be using them for my utility room re-fit.
Our DIY Kitchens kitchen is now 7 years old (nearly!) And has been brilliant. Similarly, we have a custom painted solid door setup. Delivery and customer service was brilliant. We also had a QC issue on a panel but they sent it along in addition to another one as an extra for offcuts as it was a custom colour which was a nice touch. We visited the showroom and that was really good to get a proper look at things.
Quality wise it has been great and is standing up well against 2 young boys and 2 dogs. The only slight issue is the one you pointed out about the points not being bound so we have some water ingress under the sink but nothing major. Was suggested later by someone to run a bead of silicone along the high risk areas like sink and dishwasher.
Will definitely use them again, they were brilliant 😁
I’ve fitted my own kitchen in my last 3 houses, as well as lots of kitchen units at work for a work areas. The first kitchen I fitted was a Wickes off the shelf kitchen which was a bit rubbish, and since then have gone with IKEA kitchen units (especially at work as we have about 40 800mm units so ikea worked out much cheaper).
Then a friend of mine bought a diy kitchens kitchen and I was blown away with the quality, so much so, that when our purchase of our project house completes, we will be ordering a diy kitchens kitchen :)
Brilliant, I’ve been considering buying a B&Q or Wickes kitchen but this has really changed my mind and perception. My kitchen is a single wall and a larder on the opposite side, I may also box in my stand alone fridge freezer like to one here, but I’m trying to keep the cost down. Thank you so much for this. Mike
I've fitted quite a few of them over the years. I always recommend them to the customer. So much easier than dealing with Howdens and Magnets etc. regards the design and I feel the quality is better
I've just finished fitting a DIY kitchen and overall I am impressed with the quality and the customer service.
I had the same issue as you with all the wall units. They were only partially glued. The top right and bottom left were not glued so they were not actually square. DIY kitchens offered to replace them but I took the easier route and sorted them out myself. The tall larder unit was a real pain to get square as it had very little internal bracing and moved around quite a lot. But once I fastened to the wall everything was ok.
When we received the kitchen two of the units had the incorrect doors fitted but a phone call to customer service and new doors were dispatched reasonably quickly. ( They had to be manufactured as they were not off the shelf items.)
Like I said at the beginning though, overall I am very impressed with the quality and the customer service and all our friends have commented on how good it looks.
I have fitted an IKEA kitchen and a Wickes kitchen in the past and without doubt the DIY kitchen is streets ahead in terms of quality.
I've just about finished fitting our DIY kitchen and have been equally impressed with the quality. I had a bit of an issue with my 3 corner units, after adding them from my design to my basket and even after the plan was checked by them, all 3 units came as right hand blanks instead of left hand blanks. Fortunately I was able to flip 2 units but the third needed to be replaced. I had a little bit of back and forth with their CS, because I couldn't understand how such an issue could happen especially as they signed off my plan. Anyway the service was great and we agreed to split the cost of a new unit which was sent out a week later. All in all very impressed.
I've had a couple of missed bits, and damaged bits. But, the essence of a company is how they deal with the issues, and DIY always responded quickly, and resolved all my issues... I'd happily buy from them again should the opportunity arise.
I have a diy kitchen, designed and fitted by me, having no kitchen experience but reasonable diy experience. We have the big corner unit and when we assembled and tried to move it the sides dropped down destroying the base, as the only thing holding them to the base was natty IKEA style cam connectors leaving about 5mm of chip to support all the weight. We ended up putting a load of brackets on and it getting it back together and it has been fine ever since (3 years). I hope they have sorted that design flaw though! We have panels on both sides of the corner unit and this prevents any door binding, but as you say the plinth won't fit after. I ended up cutting it in half and then gluing and painting over in situ. Would definitely use them again. Cheers for the review, love the channel.
Our kitchen which I fitted myself (DIY skills only) has a similar large corner larder. The kitchen was bought from Magnet and they did the plan with end panels either side and the doors don't catch. You're correct that you can't fit the plinth once the cupboard is up, so you've got to put this in place during the cupboard build and it can't be removed thereafter. Looks like you're stuck with catching doors unless you want a lot of extra work now.
Thank you for the video. I've been looking at DIY kitchens to supply and your vid adds extra confidence to the purchase.
Interesting video. We bought a DIY Kitchen on the basis of many good reviews. Or builder (not a kitchen fitter) installed it and it's been solid for the past two years.
The only "issues" are the dishwasher door came off and it was a nightmare to fit the replacement. And over time I've noticed the panel gaps are awful.
But these issues I attribute to our builder and his shoddy work rather than DIY Kitchens.
Beauiful kitchens, fitted a few DIY kitchens over the years,no complaints,wide choice of units,great quailty,very impressed.Have recommend DIY kitchens to many people.
I have just taken delivery of the exact same type - Clayton Sage set of units from DIY kitchens for my Utility Room replacement. They are fantastic. Having paid through the nose for a large Howdens kitchen and paid to have it fitted without much change from 30k, I refused to be ripped off again. On time delivery, no damage and nothing missing for a 1/4 of the price. If only I had found them earlier...
Howdens units are 18mm, DIY K's are 22mm. The quality is second to none.
But never mind that, I found your post very informative and helpful. I'm no expert, no handyman either. So thank you for the insight. 👍🇬🇧
You can adjust the ‘weighting’ on that top box so the door closes a bit quicker. Dry assembly would have just been an error in the factory, everything is glued unless you specifically ask for dry assembly, I sometimes do on units such as boiler cupboards etc. that corner cupboard, I’d put a couple of packers in between the panel and the carcass (only a few mm) and the caulk the small gap with colour matching silicone.
Another great vlog Andy 👍🏻 looking forward to seeing the finished Kitchen
Cheers Peter!
We have a DIY Kitchen that we designed and installed back in 2015, it still looks as it did when we fitted it. Our experience matched yours regards customer service and quality. I am a designer by profession, so sorting my own design was OK, and we self installed the units to receive a mix of solid wood and granite worktops, with no surprises or problems. Our only difficulty was getting the 3 corner base units through the door.
When it comes to larger units you have to judge the entrance and then decide if you want to assemble and glue the carcass in the room.
When it comes to large complex jobs you are better doing it on site.
Hi currently fitting a diy kitchen for a customer (3rd diy kitchen in the past year ) the units are in just finishing touches to do. Great quality kitchen, supplied very well packaged (minimum chance of transit damage ) which i have had from other suppliers over the years. Have fitted kitchens from most of the big names over the past 30 plus years and i have to say i would rate diy kitchens as one of the best. A great range of unit sizes to chose from unlike some of the off the shelf suppliers. I few niggles similar to those mentioned in the video, door clearances can be tight between units with end panels on both ends. The gap between the two doors on tall units is bigger than i would normally leave. Would be nice if they supplied the plastic strip for the bottom of the plinth, as without it the mdf will definitely take up moisture when the floor is mopped. I’ve also had issues with dry joints on units too. Overall would highly recommend diy kitchens, also had a trip to their showroom at the factory earlier this year, without a doubt one of the best show rooms I’ve ever visited. Ohh and the Yorkshire tea and flapjack in with the delivery is a nice touch.
I said it on a previous kitchen video but I used some (left over) 18mm fascia board for plinths with the short side on the ground. I did each run in a single piece including ends by marking the corner positions on the rear of the fascia’s, cutting the foam away at the rear but leaving the front skin intact then bending to the required angles followed by glueing the joints. These worked perfectly and are still good years later, plus NO moisture problems.
You can use anything for a kicker/plinths as long as you like the look of it. You can even use natural wood if you so desire.
I noticed on the ordering page a dry assembly box and I wondered if you might have selected it accidentally hence one of your units not coming complete and falling apart when you tried to fit it. Great video btw!
Fitted two DIY kitchens in my kitchen and utility in my extension completed in 2020. Company is quite local to me and did get to the showroom. Brilliant company to deal with - had a few issues / mishaps (mainly my fault) but they really helped out! Kitchens look great - had solid surfaces fitted the company that they used were first class! I’ve now been commandeered to fit the in laws a new kitchen and sister in laws too - both being currently bought from DIY Kitchens. Cant recommend them highly enough!
For anyone considering adding the plinth sealing strip, just make sure it will fit your plinth as some plinths are 19mm thick. The sealing strip only fits the 18mm ones I think.
I fitted the same kitchen about 12 months ago. Been very happy with mine. I saved some cash by making all the fillers and plinths myself from MRMDF and getting a couple of litres of colour matched paint made up. I wanted more fancy end panels than standard so made my own.
I did the same with my DIY Kitchen, all end panels in T+G MDF painted in colour matched Farrow and Ball, saved me £100's, but cost me my time.
Looks quality, will look into them for the utility room in my extension
Thanks for the detailed video. I see a lot of builders preferring Symphony Kitchens, also from Yorkshire, now. Not sure how they compare with DIY kitchens but they certainly seem expensive.
We've done ours in the summer 2022. I can't say anything wrong about the quality of the unit material however we've struggled a lot with our order. As you mention, there is an issue with quality control so a few of the issues and tips:
- the FIRST thing you need to do is to check everything when it arrives. DIY kitches gives you only week to confirm if all units arrived and if you are happy with the quality. If you're not able to confirm it within a week, call them up and ask for this period to be extended.
- Many of our units came damaged during transport. Yes, they will replace it but it may take up to two weeks
- They've shipped the wrong direction corner post. Unless you are a professional kitchen fitter (or a very smart chap) you are not going to notice it before you actually start installation. In our case it caused a week's delay.
- Please double-check if all the colours are right. We've ordered our kitchen in a 2 different colours (The island is Graphite and the rest is grey) and they have managed to mix those colours. Even the label stuck to the unit saying "Graphite" and the unit was grey. The driver was very confused when he saw that. - of course, another 2 weeks of delay.
- Some of the fronts of the doors were damaged (chipped).
Your experience with the customer service was really bad. They have lied to use multiple times saying that missing/replacement units will be delivered on a particular day and they were not.
The CS' response was - We don't know Why and WHEN. We are sorry and here is your £20 compensation.
In that particular case, we waited over 2 weeks for the missing parts to be delivered. That is not what you would expect when you are in the middle of your installation.
Overall, our kitchen was delayed by 6 weeks.
just a bit of constructive criticism from a full time kitchen fitter, when scribing your fillers and end panels you should add an additional 2 -2.5 mm to allow for the buffers on your doors, otherwise your doors and drawers are going to be further forward than the front edge of your end panels or fillers.
Love the video ending, made me chuckle and great bit of editing on the music :D
Looks good Andy and seems reasonable price wise for sure.
For your plinths you can get a clear plastic extrusion which the plinth sits in. Comes in a role. Keeps the water away.
When I helped my sister install her kitchen it was cheaper to buy 20mm solid rustic oak from a local wood yard than the plinths mdf oak faced. Madness
👍👍
Thank you for your review. It's a lovely kitchen.
No worries - cheers!
We would recommend DIY kitchens to anyone & have. Cannot fault them. Our joiner was so impressed, said the best he's ever fitted. We had no snags & nothing missing. Our units r dark blue & are perfect. We've had so many fantastic comments on our beautiful kitchen.
I did a DIY Kitchen admittedly my first kitchen and although I consider myself fairly handy with the patience of a nat it was all very easy and seemed good quality
The pots on the touch up paint are not terribly air tight, at least not for the highly volatile solvents in there. Keep an eye on your paint as over a course of a few months it will thicken quite considerably.
I keep my pot in a cool place and give a shake every now and then, when it starts to sound a bit thick I add a little cellulose thinners to thin it back out and stop it drying. So far it has survived perfectly well for about 5 years doing this and still does it's job of touching up perfectly when needed.
Thank you for this insightful video. Loved the snag list and the in depth review.
No worries!
I fitted one of these five years ago. There was a major cockup and that was they had got the colour wrong, After turning down a large discount they provided and delivered a new set of door and draw fronts within two weeks. Top marks to DIY Kitchens. Five years on it's still looking good. With regard to plinths I fitted aluminium ones so moisture is not a problem. I really don't know why these are not offered on the website.
I always recommend DIY kitchens to people I've been very impressed by the quality. The carcasses are made from Egger MFC which I would use for any bespoke stuff I make . Only thing I spotted which is odd is that they seem to be still using those horrible clip on softclose where most companies have been using the built in softclose Blum's for years 🤔
I've fitted three diy kitchens, the 1st one a few years ago, which I was really impressed with, on this I recommended them to two more customers. I have done these two since then recently, there standards seem to me to be slipping a bit mainly to do with the fabrication/production process, ie cabinets out of square, really awkward to level up especially with tall units, unit bases not aliening with sides, some center posts on wide units not fully cramped together and then glued, I think they need to calibrate some of there machinery a bit more often, touch up paint not matching, on the last two I did. I also have had a hand recently in fitting a Howden kitchen, I've got to say I was more impressed with the way that was put together, accuracy of construction was better.
Post pandemic because of supply and production backlogs quality has really taken a nosedive but I also noticed it pre pandemic as well due to inflation pressures on production
Floor still looking good! With regards to the hinges, I really dislike the piston soft close Blum hinge, always buy my Blum hinges from trade hinges with a built in soft closer which you can turn off if the weight of door doesn't need it. Like others I get a plastic foot for the plinths from Howdens which gives you the confidence that no moisture should be soaked up. Saw a grohe tap in one of the drawers, did you not fancy a boiling water tap? Makes tea much quicker.
Not a kitchen fitter, but just had a new kitchen installed, and we have one of those corner units. Not sure if it's the right way to do it or not, but the way ours has been done is an end panel on both sides of it, then the plinth is screwed to the bottom of the door so it opens with it.
From where I'm at you've done a fine job.
Now for the corner unit, we offset it from the adjacent ones by 3/8", but we build them differently. We use a 135 degree hinge which allows better access.
The plinths aren't banded on all edges to make for easy scribing. You could apply a urethane finish for water resistance.
Now for the last thing, The hinges. Blum offers a hinge with soft close built-in.
For me as a company I'd rather save money on a different brand then offer a lesser value alternative like the bulky attachment.
For example: Salice, Blum and, Gräss all make amazing hinges but Salice is more affordable.
I don't know if I may be more picky than the consumer. 🤔🤣
Not a kitchen fitter, just diy. I've now fitted 3 DIY Kitchens and they have been superb. Quality is 1st class. Also had quartz and standard worktops fitted and they have had no issues on deliveries. Bit of a pain if you live on an island as they won't deliver and you have to arrange to have it dropped at a 3rd party premises, but that is just a quirk. Agree entirely with the plinth sealing, I got around that by buying a plastic trim that fits under it.. Good review and very fair.
To fix your corner issue with the doors, I would place a shim/spacer between the cabinet and end panel. Use tape, and layer if needed. This will give you more adjustment on the doors.
mainly fit kitchens, mostly howdens but been more than impressed on a few diy kitchen installs just like your corner larder I've had an issue with a rounded base cab and plinth but not something I couldn't get around.
re-corner larder even with other kitchens like local manufacturers there's always issues with the doors and clashes, seen myself squeezing in packers on the decor ends or the connection to other units to give that little bit of extra room as I'm sure the client or yourself wouldn't mind a 2-3mm gap from carcass to end panel rather than a door clashing with that panels or doors and that should just give you that extra nudge needed.
Hi Andy, regarding your issue with the doors. I have the exact same DIY kitchens corner larder and I can confirm you do actually need an end panel on both sides of the corner larder unit. To solve the issue with the plinth you simply install the plinth before you attach one of the end panels. Granted, you'll never get it out again... So don't put anything behind there that you need access to OR if you can't help it, you can cut a section of the end panel away, behind the plinth, so you do have some access.
Hope this helps!
Yup, I would concur. End panel both sides. Wish they'd mentioned this! 👍
My hints and tips on DIY kitchens
I choose a painted colour to match the unit carcasses, then I didnt need to order expensive painted end panels and plinths.
On the diagonal corner unit, I fitted spacer panels to allow room for door opening.
On the plinths, I used lower cost pieces coloured as the units carcasses, but added DIY kitchens transparent plastic edging, sealing strip to seal from water on the floor
The major work was cutting planing and joining the solid oak worktops on my own.. You definately need a hydraulic lift table to move the worktop pieces around without damaging the edges. Forget moving them into the garden for routing, too much risk of damage to a corner.
The curved units look fantastic to finish off a row of cupboards, but are really expensive.
Hi Andy, a great honest review. Surely you should go back to DIY Kitchens about the clearance issues with the corner units.
Ours came from Wickes, self assembly so easier for us to store, quality good. Their stock control must be poor as they sent us 2 of some things like drawers, doors and panels. We had a corner unit with double doors, one side can hit the corner of the worktop when opened, they are massive and we struggled to get it upright after assembly but they store so much and its accessible so include one if you can. 4 years on no problems. Think you need to be a competent diyer to fit a kitchen well, I had all the right tools but purchased a track saw for cutting down some panels. When I started DIY we only had electric drills, if you owned a jig saw you were a pro, mitres were cut by hand, circular saw was an attachment on the drill. The cheap cost of proper tools now makes life much easier. Great video enjoyed it.
My bugbear with most kitchens is the depth of the bridging units. In my opinion they should be the same depth as the other cupboards. I understand that the added weight may be a problem when fitting.
You can buy small plastic (see-through) strips for the plinths; you fit them at the bottom. they stop moisture getting to your plinths. But, I'm with you on the fact that this could have been done by the company selling the kitchen...cos those are really the weak spots of a kitchen cos they'll ALWAYS get wet.
Saw a tip video recently where yacht varnish was applied to all the chipboard edges. Instantly waterproof 👍
Hi been following your channel for some time , with regard to door catching why not put a chamfer on the edge or will this compromise the finish of the edge?
I have fitted their kitchen just two months ago. Designing, ordering and delivery went smoothly, except they forgot an end panel (delivery guys noticed it and then I went online to claim it - no phone calls required). The carcasses are of a OK quality but front doors are great. However for the glazed door, fit of the internal frame is far from good. Overall I am happy with our choice. And it will save you >50% if you fit it yourself.
I've just fitted my own small kitchen from DIY kitchens, the fact they are preassembled, packaged so well for delivery gave a good sense before it was even unwrapped. The last kitchen I installed was from MFI so that's a throw back, circa 2001 but I remember the tediousness of having to build from flat pack. Also all doors come in a protective film so you can keep it on until you've finished installation and not risk scratching it. You do have rhe option for a moisture barrier for the plinths, I added it to my order as it seemed a no brained fir the little extra cost but would help the longevity of the plinth. I didn't get touch up paint though, didn't notice that as an option. I chose a Petrol blue contemporary design, I did buy handles but decided against the ones I ordered and will source my own. Was amazed at the price you stated for all your units, was expecting you to say just over £5k to be honest. I'm pleased I saw this video and all the positive comments, I was happy with the service from DIY kitchens and the quality, would use them again, or recommend them, but well, I hope not to have to fit another kitchen in my lifetime 😀
I think price must have included appliances
Installed my DIY kitchen in 2014, still going strong, apart from the misses damaging the corner of a door against a pot - user error.. I was impressed so spec’ed a custom painted kitchen with corner larder in same config for my sister in law. We used end panels either side, but it didn’t fit perfectly. I think I would have used perhaps a thin sheet material just to ease the end panel slightly in hindsight.. Interiors were available in white when I ordered, and I also had the corner 1m shelf issue which from experience can confirm needs the extra support! I have to say customer support at DIY is exceptional - they even sent me new hinges for vertical bi-folds 8 years down the line…. In comparison my mum had a magnet kitchen and has bowed doors in the same timeframe, and all I can say is magnet after sales is approx 1% of DIY….
👍
Great video as always, I do a lot of kitchens and like the product, with the screws in the plinth clip that’s to stop the clips coming off, output the clip together then screw them on, so many times I’ve gone to fit the plinth and the clip has flicked off ! Really annoying
How do you get the screws in after the clip is slid on to the bracket?
Thanks Andy for another great Vid. Was the 3D planner you showed actually your plan as it seems to show the door on the diagonal unit hung on the opposite edge so that it is handle to handle with the adjacent unit? Would that make a difference to the opening geometry?
Cheers! I think it's a bug in the software as it was defo l/h hinge on the plan. 👍
Love the series Andy but really spooky when these kitchen videos started - we had a DIY Kitchen already in the shopping basket ready to buy, not only that it's Clayton Sage! Great taste, obviously. Glad your conclusion matches what we'd already heard elsewhere. It's arriving end of November so wish us luck - doesn't look like we'll need it though 😉
Cheers!
Ha, fantastic - enjoy yours!
Tom you've mad a good choice mate. Fitted a few kitchens from this company and seriously, hand on my heart, the quilty for the price is outstanding. You will get a few niggles, that's normal with kitchens, but DIY kitchens customer service is up there, spot on and they have always been good for me.
@@tilerman thanks! That's so good to hear!
@@tomwills918 No worries, and i meant made by the way, not 'mad'!
Looks great so far! Whats the plan for the top of the extractor hood?
All the doors in that corner area should be given a relief angle on the edge where they close, i.e. instead of the edge being cut 90degrees to the face they should have been cut at 85 or 80deg. That will give them a few mm of clearance on the back edge so they don't hit while closing, but the reveal around the face remains unchanged when they are closed. Looks like the doors on the corner unit are also a couple mm too wide overall.
Thanks for the info Andy, I am currently looking at a new kitchen and will certainly have a look at DIY Kitchens, ours is a pretty bog-standard kitchen and quite small so should be reasonably easy (famous last words) I like the quality aspect, not too keen on spending thousands and getting hardboard, so I'll take a look.
Great stuff - best of luck with yours!
I'd pack out the larder end panel with 3mm packers won't be seen only by the keen eye, only if ur cooker space allows it.
I've designed and I am fitting my kitchen myself and like you Andy, it takes me an age; however, I am glad that I am doing it myself because I know that I am doing it well. Little things that make a difference. All base cabinets and the tall cabinets are bolted into the concrete flooring. I purchased additional end panels and have channelled the wiring into the those for my under cabinet lighting. No wires are showing. Cabinets are built to the ceiling. Also, I have built housing for my fridge freezer and guess what.. my kitchen is Ikea.
Great attention into detail, the channel wiring sounds great
I am in the middle of designing my Kitchen using Kitchen DIY. Mine so fate is coming up at over 6k, that does included handles and worktops. I may upgrade the hinges to soft close that don't have those horrible piggy back pistons. I used Blum Hinges on a Bar that I built during lockdown that has small switches that turn the soft close on or off. We are going for the Stanbury Range. I have had hours of enjoyment using the online software. I'll be looking at your install video once again as I remember there was some very hand tips and gizmos that will make fitting the kitchen easier, than ones I have fitted in the past.
My partner has just bought the same Clayton in a creamy colour. For the corner cupboard / end panel,:
1) Could you scribe the end panel and set it back a couple of mm?Just so the corner of the door is a half hair proud of the end panel?
2) space off the end panel from the carcass by a washer width? You have aprrox 50mm of filler panel to the adjacent drawer that might need the equivalent planed off.
Either are compromises and you may have to make an equivalent compensation in the cornice to wrap around the corner. Only you would know and nobody else would notice
Put the plinth clips on first, then the screws, this will stop the clips sliding off during fitting as the heads act as end stops. With regards to the corner larder, we had this in the old house so I can't check anymore. We had it open the other way and in the corner, the whole larder cabinet was moved a plinth thickness in a particular direction that I can't recall and this still looked normal when closed, apart from the mitred joint in the kickboard plinth being 12mm out of line towards the larder unit which was not noticeable. Maybe also the top trim too. This was on the Luca Gloss range.
Fitted lots of diy kitchen kitchens and I always point customers to them quality is top notch especially like the feet more substantial than the thin cheapo one supplied by others. I do fit magnet howden and band q ( if I have to). But diy is fav
Done a few B&Q and they're OK but this defo trumps it on quality. 👍
On the larder door catching on the end panel: if it was me I would take off the end panel - realise thats a pain as its big and heavy, and then use the tracksaw to trim off a few mm next to the wall to pull it back a little bit. Clamp back in place and re-use the screw holes on the inside of the larder cupboard for securing. Fitted a Wren kitchen a few years ago - all of the gloss white end panels were oversize and had to be trimmed down.
We got our kitchen from them coming up to 5 years ago, got to say it has stood the test of time really well. All the doors and draws work as well as when we got it and we've not had any issues with moisture ingress on the plinths so I think you'll be fine there
When I got it they didn't have any software but that wasn't a problem as I've fitted lots of kitchens so I knew what I wanted, but it must of been in the pipeline as they asked me if I wanted to be a beta tester for it
With regards to the carcass I had the option of choosing any of their colours so we went for the same colour as what the doors where so that it all matched
We needed to touch up a small chip earlier this year and the paint they supplied had dried up, when we got in touch with them they sent out another pot.
👍👍
I always Shim the end panel on those diagnol carcasses, get some 1 mm spacers mitre fix onto back of end panel and fit as normal ,it will push it over just enough to clear ,
To fit the doors on the angle cupboard you need to add a filler between the corner cupboard and the cupboard beside the fridge . Then you will have the room for the door clearance on both
2mm packers on the unit front and back, top middle and bottom then fix your end panels on . When the door is on you can't see the gap and that would give you enough for door clearance. Also you can cut your tall end panels off at the height of the bottom of the base unit and back around 4" so your plinth will run through and not up to an end panel.
There's already quite a big gap when you look head on - wouldn't want it any bigger.
We installed a Wren kitchen around 1 year ago. Was cheaper than all quotes, including DIY kitchens and after watching this video, was actually higher quality too! Better quality hinges, proper softclose instead of ikea push on jobbies. Better wall spacers and fixings etc. The plinths even came with rubber sealant strips to make them all totally waterproof from the bottom!
The hinges supplied by DIY kitchens are Blum (as are the IKEA ones). I believe Wren use Grass hinges. They all do the same job. IKEA have actually switched to using the Blum blumotion hinges with integrated soft close which can be switched on or off. I’ve had the integrated and clip on soft close fail. Had to replace the hinge with the integrated failure, with the clip on, just that part.
DIY kitchens also have the option of the sealing strip (it is in kitchen terms trivial), but that is your choice. However if they are the clear type over time they can change colour and can make plinth look dirty. I prefer if the unit carcass is colour matched to the door, I prefer to use the carcass material edged with 2mm ABS.
Wren make a decent kitchens and there are some features that they have which others don’t but getting to the best price takes longer than it should in the showroom with their sales technique is reminiscent of MFI/Moben/Magnet. Glad you got the deal that worked for you.
Fitted a Wren kitchen a few years ago. After paying full price for a set of carcasses in our annexe, Google told me to negotiate hard on price for the full kitchen...I did....it worked. Biggest issue with the Wren carcasses was (a) great they cam pre-assembled, (b) not great they weren't all square, and I was past the 2 week return date. Took me ages to figure this out.
I’m a kitchen fitter who used to fit a lot of Ultima kitchens when they were sold through 3rd party retailers. They then started selling them themselves through DIY kitchens and in effect undercutting themselves. Ticked off all the independent retailers who were selling them so they all ditched ULTIMA.
Although the units were the same high quality they have taken a few years to get the systems in place for pain free ordering.
My one gripe as a fitter is their standard of ?97 doors as opposed to a German standard of ?96 or ?95 widths. Hence your issue of little to no adjustment on the angled corner unit. My solution was to space off the panels and units with 2mm packers and run a suitable coloured mastic at unit level down the gap.
That’s what 40 years of experience gets you.
Very true!
Although I dumped them when I realised they were buying in raw doors from PWS and painting in-house...rather badly!
Had a customer who's anthracite timber doors were easily chipping and showing white undercoat so looked terrible. They rang Second Nature to complain and PWS denied they were their doors because they wouldn't use white undercoat. Cue an angry customer telling me i'd sold them a different kitchen! Thankfully PWS stamp a horse logo on the bottom of the doors, so I could prove it was in fact a Second Nature kitchen, but DIY had painted it rather than buying in pre-painted in PWS colours.
Not used them in the 10 years since, but still one of the biggest complaints I see about DIY is their paint quality and chipping.
Hii I used to fit kitchens professionally and you should have fitted a filler piece on the hing side of the diagonal cabinet, set back to be line with the cabinets. That would have given you the room you needed to adjust the hinges. I personally would have fitted a filler at the corner fillets to prevent gaps rather than using plastic blocks, but over all you have made a decent job of the kitchen.
Cheers David!
I have one of their diagonal units in my basket ready to order and it does say somewhere (can’t remember where) that you need an end panel on each side, even if its butting up against another tall unit. I did wonder why but this explains it. It’s not easy to find that info and should have been picked up when they checked the plan and basket
Hi. I see ur video I decided to go for diy kitchen. I think on tall unit issue u mention. U should make the depth of whole end wall panel few mm shorter. I am confident it will resolve catching door on the panel.
Great video. I've only fitted one Crown Imperial and one Ikea kitchen to date. The latter was an experience as they're not packaged / labelled to suit DIY installation!
That corner unit maybe you could (in hindsight...) have fitted it an extra 5mm off the wall (pulled out towards where the fridge is). With the end panel where it is now touching the wall of course.
That might have given you the clearance and I think would have still looked as good.
I'm surprised by your Ikea kitchen experience. I built my own DIY Ikea kitchen. It was quite a big kitchen.
I found the instructions to be simple and easy to understand and definitely DIY friendly. I was so happy with the result.
I'm having a house built in the Caribbean currently. I'm going to be shipping quite a lot of things from America, and there will be an Ikea kitchen in there.
@@rabbit3212010 Whoops I meant the former! The IKEA was very straightforward!
Which particular hinge is on the larder? Different brands and even models will often have different pivot points, so the throw will change..
Hi Andy thanks for the review. Just joined the MZ the other day and it’s already been really helpful.
No worries and welcome on board the Member Zone!
Your computer animation shows the units set back from the big lader door. Your kitchen draw unit as fitted is flush with the door. I'm wondering if you have any bench overhang, will the door actually clear it?
With regards your issue for the tall larder unit end panel catching on the door, would a solution be to plane off just 2mm or so from the back edge of the end panel and refit? Just means the end panel sits back very slightly. You're taking off so little you probably wouldn't notice the difference, and would hopefully clear the door a little better?
Just an idea
I am almost ready to order my DIY Kitchen and have been picking up as many hints as possible before starting to fit . One question I would like to ask is , as an accessory do you think the lengths of moisture barrier for the plinths are worth adding to my order , would they serve their purpose ?
Thanks
Great review… I’m guessing the plinth clip screws are correct head size, as when the clip is slid on to the bracket and screwed on, there is no chance of the clip sliding off, which they very often do.. equally, still looks to be enough side to side movement to allow for slight inaccuracy of positioning?!
The doors in the corner unit could have perhaps done with having a slight back cut/bevel on them from the factory so that they didn’t catch on the end panel. Wouldn’t need to be anything other than a degree or two.
Fitted 4 DIY kitchens so far .
Surprisingly the only four kitchens I didn’t have to do a return visit because of parts not being delivered , yet I’ve been doing it for 15 years.
It’s so straight forward to install , I wonder why some people hire a kitchen fitter
Only thing I could pick on would be the gap between doors on tall units
People hire kitchen fitters for the worktop install. That is basically what you are paying for.
Are you a kitchen fitter , if you don’t mind me asking
Fitted a similar DIY kitchens myself 2 years ago. Generally happy. One door missing and took 4 attempts to deliver one correct and undamaged, but couldn't fault the customer service people. Can't get adjacent doors to fully align with the doors of a tall pull out larder which are factory fitted and not adjustable. Plinths have been fine. Some top drawer edges chipped but that's our fault. Don't like that the integrated double oven unit has a filler panel above it, which has to be cut down to size and therefore has an exposed edge which can only be hidden by bringing it down close to the top of the oven (they recommend 5mm gap!) Agree on the 1000mm shelves support - we have a 1000mm wide larder unit and the Mrs has massively overloaded the shelves to the point that I'm probably going to have to replace them all. Would use them again, but would check everything thoroughly before and during install.
We designed and fitted our own kitchen from them, we chose a farrow and ball colour traditional style, it saved us thousands and was and still is an amazing high quality kitchen, could have cost twice the price, always recommend them and would absolutely buy again 👍🏻
blum do a soft close hinge without the clip on damper which works better. They also have an on/off switch that lets you lock out the damper if the door is smaller.
👍
Can you scribe 2mm off the end panel and push it towards the wall to give a little more clearence for the door.