DIY Kitchens - HONEST REVIEW!

Come review my kitchens, bedrooms and custom cabinets. Get tailor made hand crafted cabinets from RPM CUSTOM CABINET'S LTD in Horbury, West Yorkshire. 18mm backs. ABS EDGED all round. Soft close everything. Pre assembled. Made from the full egger or kronospan colour range 😎👍

Late comment but did you ever solve the issue with the tall cupboard door rubbing? Looks to me like the end panel to the right of the drawers is flush with the front of the drawers and the tall one is several mm proud. I would have either spaced the corner unit a fraction off the wall but you could also have lost a fraction and scribed the tall panel further back. Impressed with those units. Will definitely check them out for my next kitchen. You can get clear plastic plinth sealing strips that can look nice and will protect the bottom edge if you ever have any spills or use wet mops on your floor (for those with ceramic tiles).

What colour is that please?

Hey - what made you choose painted MDF over solid wood? Thanks.

The screws for the plinth clips are supposed to be proud so clip stays located. They should clip on and need to be slid on.. when I install them I use one screw then pop on the clip then finish the screw…. Very fast.

Price quite good, I had a kitchen makeover from the well known telly advert about the same amount of units plus top cupboards which was all units replaced from solid wood reconfiguared to give a better flow in grey solid wood £10.000 then had a local Co do the same worktops as you with full sized splash backs in same. For another£12000 which included inset lighting ceiling inset lighting and changed my light switches to suit,, my only gripe with your kitchen is, my OCD would have a problem,getting round how far your beautiful fridge/freezer sticks out

Hi I don’t see the problem with another end panel as you have separate units with separate end panels just cut your plinth down accordingly

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.

Could you set the end panel off the unit just 1mm

I suspect the thinking is that not all floors are level and straight so there's a chance the plinths will need scribing to follow the floor. This would remove any sealed edge, so the solution is to arrach the clear flexible seal which is available.

Looks like the corner larder door will hit worktop when fitted, think it should have been right hand hinge

Purchased mine in 2011 it's as good as new.

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.

Hi there watched you for a while. Find you down to earth and logical. As regards your tall comer unit end panel, could you place a spacer (a washer or two) at every screw point between the cupboard and the end panel. It would give you a tiny gap but I’m sure it would’nt be in-noticeable.

Plinths should have come with some clear rubber moisture strips to go I see the plinths when installing, really good they are and finish them off well if there are any imperfections in the kitchen floor.
That corner unit problem, the small end panel should have been set back 2-4mm or as much as is needed to prevent the door catching it when closing. As it’s a small end panel below a worktop and only on that corner unit it wouldn’t be noticeable at all when complete.
DIYK are nice kitchen, really good, a lot of kitchen gutters are making a lot of money from companies like these. Mainly smaller ones that are starting up and doing CNC kitchens at slightly cheaper prices, especially if they’re willing to assemble the units too, you can buy the boards, pay to get the parts cut and assemble it yourself and get a kitchen like that for £2k and build it all up adding a day onto the job but fit it for £10k - £12k so the profit is there to be made.

Really appreciated this review.

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.

You've laid direct onto the laminate?? There is some debate about whether to lay direct to the solid floor and then laminate after under the plinth?? Any advice welcome

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

You need to shorten the end panel depth or rather the corner cabinet needs to sit 5 mm away from the wall

Really helpful video which bears out the internet reputation for these kitchens. Personally it would turn on price as they seem on a par with Howdens

soft close hinges are ancient , No base or end panel extension shoes , Tall angled larder units on 180 hinges fail all day/ bad gaps + width fails as doors are to big on width 598 / should be 594. , Doors will scratch as easily as the plinths , This is old school .

The plinth could be tricoya MDF which has a high water resistance. But I am making a wild guess here. It seems strange that DIY Kitchens makes such a good job of sealing the other edges, so tricoya is all I can think of.

DIY kitchens seem well priced & reasonable quality. Are there any similar places for bathrooms you would recommend?

The kick board or plinth should be sealed to the floor with sealant like chalking a skirting board after painting. This stops and thing going under the plinth and seals it from fluids like when mopping the floor.

“I do always fit my own kitchens”. Ha! How often do you have to fit your own kitchen? Is it because you keep doing it wrong and have to start again? 😋

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.

Im just measuring up for one of these right now.. Visited their showroom a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed. NO HASSLE BY SALESMEN!! (Take note Wren...) I'll be buying when I get completion on my next property. One question - do you fit the new flooring before the units so the kick panels sit on the new floor? 😊👍

Honest? Excellent quality?🤣🤣🤣 You read their negative comments, as positives are fake. It's exactly what 100s of others have said. Paint chips off and is easily damaged,
chemical reaction with substrate causing hardening and poor adhesion. You won't be able to cut down without chips everywhere. 3m long worktops all scratched and corners damaged, good 50% of rest arrives damaged, replacement arrives scratched damaged and hinges drilled not as original panel. Waiting time 2-3 weeks to get replacement. Some panels have different length, some carcass panels are different length so the whole thing is not square, large unit shelves not supported all sagging under its own weight, shit . Units ordered as flat oack arrived glued. It's rubbish you've been warned.

Hi, we're looking to do a kitchen, and considering the MDF/MFC sort as in DIY Kitchens. We've also looked briefly at solid wood kitchens, including those made of plywood. We want a kitchen that will look good after many years, but the typical costs for solid wood or birch ply units is on the range of 5x+ as much.

As someone who knows woodworking, carpentry, and repair, can you say a few words about the decade-long longetivity of your DIY Kitchen? With wrapped/veneered MDF/MFC, I guess once it gets damaged, your options for repair are very limited. I know that DIY kitchen also do a painted MDF/solid timber variety. I guess with the painted sort, there is the option of repairing the wood and repainting in a decade.

It's also hard to know whether we should even think of several decade-long timescales. I've heard of people swapping out doors for a refresh. It's hard to swallow a £4k estimate vs. £20k hardwood estimate when you can just replace the doors if anything happens for a fraction of the price.

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 :)

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.

No mention off anyone that there units are 30mm shallower than most other manufacturers so installing intergrated appliances, washing machines diahwashers etc is a nightmare unless pipework is buried in wall other than that its decent quality and staff at factory do everytging they can to help if theres a problem

My review as a kitchen fitter. I have just installed my Howdens kitchen which was satisfactory. Recently my friend asked me to install a kitchen from DIY kitchen, I couldn't believe the difference in quality was on a different leave than Howdens. I would Highly recommend DIY KITCHEN TO EVERYBODY

aND REMEMBER, comments make him prizes. biG Google dollar prizes

Are the units just glued with the dowels? Are there any visible or hidden screw fixings for safety reasons? If not, how many dowels are there per side and bottom panel connection? This worries me a little, since the kitchen is always in an area with variable temperature and humidity, and all that constant door banging can cause a little wear on these adhesive joints (if you can call them that).

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!

A lot of professional kitchen cabinetmaker's will use factory made kitchens that they then will do a custom fit on.
The only way you will get a better kitchen would be if a cabinetmaker makes the kitchen from beginning to end using plywood, natural woods and other materials and that comes down to the cabinetmakers skills and the price.

Mate, high end kitchens are 30k plus and they most certainly don’t have foil anywhere near them they are hand made out of wood

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.

For the diagonal unit side panel you could maybe just offset the angle a little bit which will bring back the fouling edge of the side panel. Otherwise just shim or similar to create a standoff. All you can do really.

What colour is that? Is it bespoke or the sage, thanks…

the wooden floor will be more worn than the kitchen in 5 years

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.

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.