Kitchen units - Nolte, Sheraton, Hacker

[Midge]

Folks,

I've posted for some earlier advice on this but looking for a bit more if
any of you can help. In summary, trying to understand the proper price
differential between the makes Nolte, Sheraton, and Hacker when there
doesn't tend to be any openly published price lists. Also looking for any
experiences of the three makes (I already have some good feedback on the
Sheraton on my prev post).

Still undecided whether I do it myself or not but am clear I want to go a
bit upmarket as we're going to be in this house a good while and have done
the rest of it up to a good standard.

So far its looking like the following from a couple of quotes we've had.

Sheraton is maybe around twice as much as Magnet
Hacker seems to be around 10-20% more than Sheraton
We had a quote which put Nolte at THREE times as much as Sheraton, then
subsequently discounted to roughtly the same*

* Bit suspicious, see full explanation below.

TIA Midge.

Company A (several good personal recommendations, but one poor one around
fitting standard) quoted us £14K (ouch!) for the Nolte units alone as part
of a much larger quote for the fitting and appliances etc. For the
identical layout but using very similar kitchen units from Sheraton, their
price for the units was £4.8K. i.e. the Nolte units were more than THREE
times more than the Sheraton equiv.

Needless to say, we ruled the Nolte straight out - until out of the blue we
got a requote due to price reduction (apparently) where the Nolte units have
dropped to £5K, almost the same as the Sheraton. It has to be said that the
Nolte was the one we liked from the outset until the quote came through.
This company do supply-only as well as fit.

Company B (several recommendations all positive) sell the German make Hacker
which is nice, but their nearest equivalent isn't quite as nice as the Nolte
and their units work out around 5-6K. Don't think they do supply only. Not
too familiar with the make but the quality certainly looks good so any
experiences?

If it wasn't for the fact I'm a deeply suspicious sod, I'd probably go for
supply only of the Nolte and just get some extra labour in to help me out.
But a bit alarmed at the magnitute of the price drop and wondered if anyone
in the trade had an explanation. Seems to me it could be:

1. Company A or Nolte are struggling so discounting heavily (not necessarily
a good thing if either are in serious trouble)
2. Nolte was very overpriced and is now where it ought to be
3. Maybe its a genuine reduction as the range may be be on its way out or
something
4. An attempt was being made to make a juicy margin on the back of German
kitchen reputation to see if we bit at the higher price, and was reduced
when we didn't bite on either

[Stickems.]

Kitchen units probably all come out of the same factory in China. Try B & Q
or one of the other sheds. You can most likely fit out the averaged kitchen
for under £3,000.

"Midge" <mi...@somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:TfKdnfJtuo4l6gPU...@bt.com...

[Midge]

Ironically, it was a visit to the B&Q warehouse last week that finally made
me certain I wanted to pay more and get something better!

I dunno, maybe they have the same approach to fitting display kitchens as
they do to TV adds ("hey, how about we save on kitchen fitters, and use the
staff for that too?") but what was there was shockingly badly put together.

Thanks for the reply anyway!

Midge.

"Stickems." <Stickems.@last.invalid> wrote in message
news:mTAnl.10022$Ii4....@newsfe19.ams2...

[fred]

In article <6ZOdnUyHU4pwcwPU...@bt.com>, Midge
<mi...@somewhere.com> writes

>Ironically, it was a visit to the B&Q warehouse last week that finally made
>me certain I wanted to pay more and get something better!
>
>I dunno, maybe they have the same approach to fitting display kitchens as
>they do to TV adds ("hey, how about we save on kitchen fitters, and use the
>staff for that too?") but what was there was shockingly badly put together.
>
>Thanks for the reply anyway!
>

Sadly, if you ever have a leak they all turn to mush. No matter how much
you pay they're all made from non water resistant chip or MDF and will
suffer as a result of any leak.

I've been delaying my kitchen refurb for ages looking for a truly
durable cabinet but have yet to find it.

Sorry for the negative post, I try to avoid them, but I would suggest
going for the best looking shed or ikea cabinets for a good buy and
avoid the overpriced cardboard offerings.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs

[jbward...@gmail.com]

I have had Hacker recommended by a local fitter, however it's very difficult to find a supplier. The supplier I had recommended no longer deals with Hacker.
I did find another kitchen called Second Nature but apparently they just fit doors to other peoples cabinets, the same stuff you find in Wickes.

[Vir Campestris]

On 02/02/2016 16:45, jbward...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, 20 February 2009 09:28:22 UTC, Midge wrote:

<snip>

> I have had Hacker recommended by a local fitter, however it's very difficult to find a supplier. The supplier I had recommended no longer deals with Hacker.
> I did find another kitchen called Second Nature but apparently they just fit doors to other peoples cabinets, the same stuff you find in Wickes.
>

Note the date... it was almost 7 years ago he write that!

There's more life in uk.d-i-y, although quite a lot isn't relevant.

Andy