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Silestone worktops from DIY Kitchens (or elsewhere?)


MJNewton

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Given the near ubiquitous recommendation for DIY Kitchens I have been busy planning our new kitchen layout with their online planner[1] which is automatically providing a seemingly-reasonable quote for the supply and fit of some Silestone quartz composite worktops that we like the look of.

 

I understand that the worktops will be measured, templated and cut once our base units are already in however I was wondering if there are any benefits (or indeed drawbacks?) of us sourcing the worktops elsewhere e.g. enabling us to leave the decision about exact colour, thickness etc until after our units are in (and the room will have been plastered and painted by then), and perhaps even cost savings too? Perhaps DIY Kitchens would allow me to do that anyway given that the measuring/installation fee is separate to the unit delivery charge.

 

What have others done? And if you have had a Silestone worktop through DIY Kitchens did they sub-contract it out to a local fabricator? In case anyone wants to make a personal recommendation I am based in North Wiltshire

 

[1] The online planner has incidentally been great - hardly any units spinning themselves the wrong way or preventing me from sliding them into gaps that I know are big enough. Or at least it was until yesterday when it no longer seems able to 3D render my model (shows a black screen halfway through). I called them and it seems like a known issue but a frustrating one as the 3D view has been really helpful even if it is not quite as aesthetically inspiring as other outlet’s kitchen planning tools. Has anyone else seen this before and had it fixed? (They are looking into it for me now)
 

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Our experience was that our kitchen supplier contracted out the templating and fitting of the Silestone.  Talking to the stone fitters, I got the feeling they worked for several different kitchen companies.  We went back directly to the stone company to get some matching Silestone internal window cills and they seemed a fair bit cheaper, so I suspect there is a significant markup applied.  The company that supplied, cut and fitted our Silestone was New Forest Stone: https://newforeststone.co.uk/  and I'd definitely recommend them, they did a really good job.

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Thanks Jeremy, I did think you'd had a Silestone worktop installed (pleased with it?).

 

I got a quote for comparison (from a place in Bath) and found it to be around 10% above that for DIY Kitchens and I've just read of someone else (on another forum) finding similar so it made me think maybe the DIY Kitchens markup isn't that great at all. The same person said he believed that DIY Kitchens use Natural Stone Surfaces in Derbyshire for the whole of the UK (they were in Scotland) and so I suppose if the business is all going one way it may mean there's no need for a big markup if the quantities are fuelling the profit instead.

 

I will give New Forest Stone a call based on your recommendation, and whilst I am not necessarily looking for the cheapest I do want to be confident that I am not unnecessarily paying over the odds if I were to stick with DIY Kitchens for convenience.

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We're really pleased with ours.  New Forest did a very good job of fitting it, and it looks as good as new, despite me having used part of it as a plumbing workbench during the build!

 

Silestone doesn't seem to stain at all, the only thing that leaves any sort of mark is anything greasy, but a wipe over with kitchen cleaner removes any marks.  We are careful not to put hot pans directly on it, not sure how well it deals with very hot stuff, but it seems very scratch resistant.  All our cookware is pretty heavy, cast iron stuff, and we've knocked it against the sink cut out a few times, but it's never left a mark.  We have the dark grey Silestone, with a polished finish.

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Thanks - that's really helpful. I think we'll end up with some light (we're on Classic White at the moment thanks to a sample we were sent).

 

Our house renovation/remodelling has been bewildering with the number of choices and decisions required, and the kitchen is obviously no exception. I was dreading having to settle on a specific worktop (material in particular) but I don't think I've heard a bad word said about Silestone. Sure, we'll be spending far more than I thought we would (but far less overall given how competitive DIY Kitchens seem to be for the units/doors) but as things stand I am taking the  worktop costs as being 'reassuringly expensive' if you know what I mean!

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That's great to hear - thank you. If only the route to every purchase went like this! (Integrated dishwashers being my latest nightmare - I don't think I've found a single one that is anywhere near universally praised, but perhaps I am just not looking high enough up the cost scale)

Edited by MJNewton
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46 minutes ago, MJNewton said:

Given the near ubiquitous recommendation for DIY Kitchens I have been busy planning our new kitchen layout with their online planner[1] which is automatically providing a seemingly-reasonable quote for the supply and fit of some Silestone quartz composite worktops that we like the look of.

 

I understand that the worktops will be measured, templated and cut once our base units are already in however I was wondering if there are any benefits (or indeed drawbacks?) of us sourcing the worktops elsewhere e.g. enabling us to leave the decision about exact colour, thickness etc until after our units are in (and the room will have been plastered and painted by then), and perhaps even cost savings too? Perhaps DIY Kitchens would allow me to do that anyway given that the measuring/installation fee is separate to the unit delivery charge.

 

What have others done? And if you have had a Silestone worktop through DIY Kitchens did they sub-contract it out to a local fabricator? In case anyone wants to make a personal recommendation I am based in North Wiltshire

 

[1] The online planner has incidentally been great - hardly any units spinning themselves the wrong way or preventing me from sliding them into gaps that I know are big enough. Or at least it was until yesterday when it no longer seems able to 3D render my model (shows a black screen halfway through). I called them and it seems like a known issue but a frustrating one as the 3D view has been really helpful even if it is not quite as aesthetically inspiring as other outlet’s kitchen planning tools. Has anyone else seen this before and had it fixed? (They are looking into it for me now)
 

Not sure about DIY kitchens But they all subcontract natural stone quarts etc worktops 

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Just heard back from Natural Stone Surfaces in Derbyshire as I sent a quote request to them. My layout plan had the DIY Kitchens URL on it, which they spotted, and they advised [...]

 

Edit: I won't paraphrase; here's what they said verbatim:

 

Quote

I've noticed that the plan you have provided is from D.I.Y Kitchens.

They are our biggest customer so it would be cheaper for you to go through them as the discount that we provide them follows on to the customer.

 

Nice to hear such honesty!

Edited by MJNewton
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Just now, nod said:

We have the largest player on our doorstep 

I direct approach would have cost me an extra 20%
Same reason as you 

We spent nearly 6 k on appliances 

The company that Supplied our Nolte Kitchen beat all the online companies and didn’t seem to care that I was fitting the kitchen myself 

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