Fitted wardrobe question

TKK

I need to get wardrobes fitted in two rooms in the house. I've priced up Cash & Carry Kitchens and Kitchenworld and both are coming in around the €2k mark.

I can see that the construction of all the wardrobes we've been looking at is essentially laminated (or whatever it's called) chipboard boxes with decent doors hung and the various fittings (hinges, handles, rails, shelves, support legs etc.).

I am wondering if it would be worth it to buy the stuff and make them myself? I'm fairly handy and was planning on fitting whatever we went with anyway.

Where would be the best place to source the fittings and doors in the Kildare/ west Dublin areas?

Any thoughts?

wasim21k

well i found for myself in b&q sliding one. (i got quota from sliding wardrobe about month before 2200) now i bought and did everything myself was very easy and i think if you are not fancy of sliding one other type of door are easy. and guess what
i spend under 600 job done.

bauderline

Have a look at www.in-house.ie, they are based on the long mile road and sell the both foil wrapped and solid frame doors you speak of. The also do the flat packs that allow you to construct the carcass for the units. I was down looking at this stuff about a year ago and the quality of their stuff appears to be as good as anywhere else.

To be honest, unless you go for a high end custom made kitchen / bedroom all kitchen / robes seem to be of similar quality. Flat pack carcass construction with either foil wrapped or solid frame / veneer door.

The stuff is esy enough to construct, but you need to plan it well and take the time to finish it off properly to make it look like a professional job.

The sliding doors they sell in B&Q are made by Stanley and the quality is okay, but these things need to be fitted carefully or else you will have all sorts of issues with the doors sticking. The quality is not to the same standard as sliderobes. The quality of sliderobes doors in my opinion is second to none, they are nice, REAL nice !

However I will caveat that by saying the back end to the sliderobes is run of the mill stuff, veneered mdf, nothing special about it all. Bit of a kick in the teeth for something you will pay 5 - 6k for...

I am considering using sliderobes again in my new house, but this time I will get the builder to recess the robes into the wall and then just get sliderobes to supply and fit the doors and nothing else. I believe I could get a chippy to knock up the interior at a fraction of the cost... Have to see how much sliderobes want for the doors though....

Well that's my Firday's ramblings done with....

Good luck ! Baud.

TKK

I'm not going high end and I've been noticing that the carcasses are all veneered MDF/chipboard as you say.

What I'm thinking is - why should I even pay extra for flat pack carcasses when all they're only 3-sided boxes that I could easily put together with sheets of veneered MDF/chipboard and a few screws myself? It's hardly rocket science and, albeit without cost details at the moment, has to be a cheaper alternative.

I must check with in-house though for doors, handles, rails, etc.

Corkey123

Agree with wasim21k, I got the doors from B and Q (they also sell some in Woodies) and they did the trick. I have had these doors (in different rooms) since 95 and never stuck once and remain as fluid in movement as they were when I got them initially. As suggested you can buy the carcasses from in-house and other places. This is the most economical route also you get to do it yourself.

bauderline

Tall Units (H&W) 2250mm x 500mm is 195 euro for a flat pack from in-house.

I am no carpenter but I would imagine cutting straight lines in large sheets of mdf with home DIY tools without chipping the crap out of it is not as easy as you might think.

Those flat packs may look simple but you try to knock one up at home, I think you might get a bit of shock... not trying to put you off, but its worthwhile to sound a note of caution !

baud.

TKK

Thing is if you buy the proper sizes you don't need to do a whole lot of cutting.

I was thinking of getting sheets 2400*600 for the sides, top and base. That would mean I'd only have to cut them to length and I'm fairly accurate with the circular saw. Screw these together and voila! For the backing you wouldn't need quite as strong of stuff and it could be nailed/screwed on.

I've calculated up the price of the flat packs I'd need from in-house's website and, having rang my local builders providers, I reckon there's a saving of at least €600 over the cheapest quote I've gotten for the lot.