New kitchen

[manthing]

If you Google Howdens the first link that comes up is a comparison of wren and Howden which is misleading until you get to the bottom of the page. Maybe that's what team tractor has seen.

[Walker570]

Someone on one of my farms was having a new kitchen and had thrown out the old to be burned. NO! NO! NO! NO! terrible waste.

Result..........

A nice handy addition to my work area.

 

Picture shows it not quite complete, further overhead storage to go up as well.   A number of the narrow doors will be used as drop down window covers for my hunting blinds, sprayed green.

WASTE NOT WANT NOT

 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Nice one Nev, right place - right time!

[team tractor]

4 hours ago, phil123 said:

What do you mean same company?

Wren and Howdens are both mfi as was. Trade and public .

like wickes and benchmark 

[phil123]

Howdens were involved with MFI as the trade side many years ago but have never had any connection to Wren, I'm sure they wouldn't want tarring with the same brush!

[team tractor]

47 minutes ago, phil123 said:

Howdens were involved with MFI as the trade side many years ago but have never had any connection to Wren, I'm sure they wouldn't want tarring with the same brush!

Wren has always been know as the public side of mfi and a look into the history shows hygena is part of wren and mfi. I can only go off what I’m told. 

Working in the supply side, kitchen distribution we’ve always been informed wren was mfi and so was howdens. 

Personally I’m not bothered as it’s all junk. The construction of materials is poor , big spaces between particles to make it light but makes it weak, no balancers on tops . The plus selling side is pre assembled units . 

Ive installed benchmark/wickes and I’ve been really impressed but they’re made the same way as ours.

 

im just shocked at the quality of products and customer service.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by team tractor

[Hamster]

Having worked for MFI in a previous life I can tell you kitchen wise they owned Hygena which was a perfectly decent flat pack product with 16mm carcasses, failed parts such as draw runners were supplied free regardless of guarantee time, they bought the Schrieber "name" and started to manufacture and sell those with 18mm rigid carcasses and plastic legs/height adjusters instead of simple plastic shims, 2 market segments captured side by side. Howdens was established to penetrate the trade segment and the carcasses were borrowed from the rigid Schreiber range with some new and some old doors given new names to separate them from the regular stores. 

The Wren thing is simply one of the old owners of MFI buying up different companies and merging them etc, it had nothing to do with MFI itself. 

[marsh man]

2 hours ago, Hamster said:

Having worked for MFI in a previous life I can tell you kitchen wise they owned Hygena which was a perfectly decent flat pack product with 16mm carcasses, failed parts such as draw runners were supplied free regardless of guarantee time, they bought the Schrieber "name" and started to manufacture and sell those with 18mm rigid carcasses and plastic legs/height adjusters instead of simple plastic shims, 2 market segments captured side by side. Howdens was established to penetrate the trade segment and the carcasses were borrowed from the rigid Schreiber range with some new and some old doors given new names to separate them from the regular stores. 

The Wren thing is simply one of the old owners of MFI buying up different companies and merging them etc, it had nothing to do with MFI itself. 

Having read some of the earlier posts, the figures quoted for there new kitchen was something we never could , or never will be able to afford , in fact one of the quotes was twice as dear as our first house.

When M F I opened a store in Norwich many years ago we counted our pennies and bought a flat pack kitchen in either Hygena or Schreiber , I cant remember which but we found it a bit of a luxury , it was fairly easy to put together and the quality was pretty good for the money , over a number of years one or two of the drawer runners started to fail , by then we had a store in Yarmouth and I went to buy a couple of pairs , the chap went and got them and there was no charge as he said they had a lifetime guarantee , excellent service , then just before they packed up we renewed the drawer fronts and the doors , all easy to put on yourself and with new tiles on the walls we had what looked like a brand new kitchen which still looked good early last year when we sold the house and moved on .

No complaints by me for M F I quality and service. 

[Hamster]

2 hours ago, marsh man said:

Having read some of the earlier posts, the figures quoted for there new kitchen was something we never could , or never will be able to afford , in fact one of the quotes was twice as dear as our first house.

When M F I opened a store in Norwich many years ago we counted our pennies and bought a flat pack kitchen in either Hygena or Schreiber , I cant remember which but we found it a bit of a luxury , it was fairly easy to put together and the quality was pretty good for the money , over a number of years one or two of the drawer runners started to fail , by then we had a store in Yarmouth and I went to buy a couple of pairs , the chap went and got them and there was no charge as he said they had a lifetime guarantee , excellent service , then just before they packed up we renewed the drawer fronts and the doors , all easy to put on yourself and with new tiles on the walls we had what looked like a brand new kitchen which still looked good early last year when we sold the house and moved on .

No complaints by me for M F I quality and service. 

Absolutely , when I started there in the mid 80's the runners were like a pressed soft steel with bearings which did fail a bit but they were replaced by a much simpler round plastic gliders, there isn't much that can go wrong with carcasses whether 16 or 18mm rigid or flat back once assembled and screwed to walls and weighted down by the work tops. People always knocked MFI with jokes but their kitchens were fine once you had ALL your bits delivered. 

Today the main difference between the various makes is who you get to fit them. 

Edited April 3, 2018 by Hamster

[phil123]

18 hours ago, team tractor said:

Wren has always been know as the public side of mfi and a look into the history shows hygena is part of wren and mfi. I can only go off what I’m told. 

Working in the supply side, kitchen distribution we’ve always been informed wren was mfi and so was howdens. 

 

As Hamster has cleared up above 

6 hours ago, Hamster said:

MFI went into administration in 2008 and Wren was created in 2009

I have worked for Howdens for many years and just didn't want anybody to think we were connected with Wren in any way!

 

6 hours ago, Hamster said:

 

Today the main difference between the various makes is who you get to fit them. 

This is so true. 

[team tractor]

53 minutes ago, phil123 said:

As Hamster has cleared up above 

MFI went into administration in 2008 and Wren was created in 2009

I have worked for Howdens for many years and just didn't want anybody to think we were connected with Wren in any way!

 

This is so true. 

Far from true on the units. I’m a fabricator of units and installer. 

I personally make units using 18mm Mfmdf and a 2mm abs edging. It’s a unit that’ll last years. 

While I admit the fitter makes a massive difference I also know about the materials used. I’m trained in the construction of materials and cheap Mfc boards are terrible. The don’t cut properly , edge or seal from the wet. 

Ive 15mm cabinets in my own house and 12 years in they’re ok but it’s nothing like our latest stuff.

microban, moist resistant board, it really makes a big difference. 

Are howdens using a balancer yet on the tops ? Seriously not a Micky take. 

Kitchens have moved on the last few years and it’s hard to keep up. 

I’m  constantly having to go on courses about the materials of late and it’s unbelievable what’s happening in the kitchen world.

 

not a dig by any means TT 

Edited April 3, 2018 by team tractor

[winnie&bezza]

33 minutes ago, team tractor said:

Far from true on the units. I’m a fabricator of units and installer. 

I personally make units using 18mm Mfmdf and a 2mm abs edging. It’s a unit that’ll last years. 

While I admit the fitter makes a massive difference I also know about the materials used. I’m trained in the construction of materials and cheap Mfc boards are terrible. The don’t cut properly , edge or seal from the wet. 

Ive 15mm cabinets in my own house and 12 years in they’re ok but it’s nothing like our latest stuff.

microban, moist resistant board, it really makes a big difference. 

Are howdens using a balancer yet on the tops ? Seriously not a Micky take. 

Kitchens have moved on the last few years and it’s hard to keep up. 

I’m  constantly having to go on courses about the materials of late and it’s unbelievable what’s happening in the kitchen world.

 

not a dig by any means TT 

Mate stop waffling on and get back to the new baby ? congratulations ??

[team tractor]

1 minute ago, winnie&bezza said:

Mate stop waffling on and get back to the new baby ? congratulations ??

Lol cheers Nath  

[Cosd]

On 4/3/2018 at 18:46, team tractor said:

Far from true on the units. I’m a fabricator of units and installer. 

I personally make units using 18mm Mfmdf and a 2mm abs edging. It’s a unit that’ll last years. 

While I admit the fitter makes a massive difference I also know about the materials used. I’m trained in the construction of materials and cheap Mfc boards are terrible. The don’t cut properly , edge or seal from the wet. 

Ive 15mm cabinets in my own house and 12 years in they’re ok but it’s nothing like our latest stuff.

microban, moist resistant board, it really makes a big difference. 

Are howdens using a balancer yet on the tops ? Seriously not a Micky take. 

Kitchens have moved on the last few years and it’s hard to keep up. 

I’m  constantly having to go on courses about the materials of late and it’s unbelievable what’s happening in the kitchen world.

 

not a dig by any means TT 

 

I'm by no means an expert but am reasonable able working with wood (purely DIY) and have fitted a hand full of kitchens myself. This last one I fitted is a Howdens top end kitchen and my first time using them. I don't know if the quality differs across their range but I found the quality of the construction to be pretty solid with 18mm cabinets and 6mm MDF back boards.

 

I'm not quite sure what a "balancer" is, but if it has anything to do with their worktops then I have no idea as I used quartz through a specialist company.

 

Their service was excellent, their kitchen wasn't cheap when I compare it to (a very good) trade price I can get from Magnet, and their appliance prices I couldn't match anywhere on the internet; My biggest gripe with Howdens was the construction accuracy, and where the cabinets were not all completely square. On a 3.1m island made up of 4 cabinets they were out by 6mm in total which really isn't good enough in my books, especially when they brand themselves as joiners!! Other than that, I am pleased with the overall package including the hardware they provide which is excellent.

 

 

Cos