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Alternatives to Blum for kitchen?

M

meccarroll

Nordic Pine
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Hi all my daughter is thinking about replacing her existing kitchen units and dad might be the one called upon to make the kitchen and fit it. We don't have a design yet as I have to take the kitchen measurement and think about a design but in the meantime I'd like to start thinking about costings.

The budget is £2500 in total so not huge but doable if I can be careful on purchases. I know Blum are absolutly fantastic and work really well but can anyone suggest alternatives that they have experience of please? When I made my kitchen I used those horrible metal box type ones from screwfix which have stood the test of time but all they do is open and close with a bang. I'd like to make my daughter experience of opening and closing the doors and draws of her new kitchen a nicer experience than we have.

I think my daughter may go for some deep draws on the lower units more than cupboards but with cupboards with doors above.

I have looked at Wicks Kitchens and their own brand draw runners etc are not a patch on Blum so just looking for suggestions please. Mark
 
Hafele* are a fair bit cheaper for drawer slides, but not as good IMO. Blum clip on hinges are quite reasonable in bulk packs and probably the best. If you already have Blum templates, personally I would spend a bit extra and get Blum soft close. Blum push to open and soft close are very good, but not worth the mechanism premium for the extra parts and rods. Wurth do a range of slides but never used them.

*Used Hafele when making my brother's kitchen units, and Blum in my own kitchen. Blum are a lot better as they are super easy to fit accurately and very easy to adjust.
 
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Mark, Salice are what the professionals use over here if the client is on a budget.
I’ve used there hinges, draw boxes and under-mount runners.
Not as good as Blum or Grass, but there ok.
Jonathan
 
AJB Temple said:
Hafele* are a fair bit cheaper for drawer slides, but not as good IMO. Blum clip on hinges are quite reasonable in bulk packs and probably the best. If you already have Blum templates, personally I would spend a bit extra and get Blum soft close. Blum push to open and soft close are very good, but not worth the mechanism premium for the extra parts and rods. Wurth do a range of slides but never used them.

*Used Hafele when making my brother's kitchen units, and Blum in my own kitchen. Blum are a lot better as they are super easy to fit accurately and very easy to adjust.
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It's going to be a case of what's in the budget but as I will be helping out and labour is a huge cost we might make be ok, I'm just trying to get an idea of overall cost at the moment then use the best possible.
 
Jonathan said:
Mark, Salice are what the professionals use over here if the client is on a budget.
I’ve used there hinges, draw boxes and under-mount runners.
Not as good as Blum or Grass, but there ok.
Jonathan
Click to expand...
Just took a quick look and they seem to have a comprehensive list of components so will look further, but not had the chance to compare pricing yet. Thank you for the heads up. Mark
 
I've just built some kitchen units using Blum full extension drawer slides, and although they were eye-wateringly expensive, they work beautifully, they're rated to carry huge weights (40kg from memory) and they seem to be built like tanks. I think they'll last forever.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again.
 
eezageeza said:
I've just built some kitchen units using Blum full extension drawer slides, and although they were eye-wateringly expensive, they work beautifully, they're rated to carry huge weights (40kg from memory) and they seem to be built like tanks. I think they'll last forever.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again.
Click to expand...
The budget is not huge at £2,500 but then neither is the kitchen space (app 4m x 3.5m). Once we have measured up the kitchen and got a preliminary design we can then look at how to allocate the budget. I have used Blum and think it's mainly fantastic but it can work out expensive for a small budget hence the reason for finding out what people think of alternatives.
 
Hettich runners, drawer boxes and hinges are good.
I recently used some random ebay 4 way adjustable drawer runners that I think came form Poland, they have been absolutley fine in my kitchen - Oak drawers. No idea though on the complete metal drawer box packages.
 
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