FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You can purchase our paintgrade and staingrade wood cabinetry both prefinished and unfinished. We supply our cabinetry unfinished so that you can apply your desired chosen finish to them. You will find that all the high end manufacturers such as Clive Christian and Smallbone do this. In order to achieve the very best finish, cabinetry should ideally be hand painted after installation due to the processes required during this phase. Many of our customers choose to paint their own kitchen and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing they did it, but local professional painters are always available if you need someone else to do it for you. We have a list of cabinet finishers available to you upon request. For those that want their cabinetry totally finished in our workshop, we offer a prefinished interior with either a painted exterior on our paintgrade cabinets, or a clear/pigmented finish on our staingrade wood species. We provide you with a complimentary touchup kit when we finish the cabinetry for you.
Do you install the cabinetry?
No, we are a supply only company. Some of our clients choose to save money by installing the cabinetry themselves as the cabinets are supplied fully rigid built. We are always happy to provide any installation help or tips gained from our over 30 years of cabinet installations in the UK and abroad. There are always local kitchen installers available that you can hire that are freelance or work for kitchen companies such as Wren or B&Q, or we may be able to provide a name of a fitter depending on where you live in the UK or abroad.
What materials are your cabinets made from?
Our carcasses are typically made with a real wood veneer finish and then the frames and doors out of 25mm thick hardwood of your choice. You can see the specifications on our How We Make Our Cabinets page and also on our downloadable Specification sheet.
Are your cabinets supplied in a flat-pack form?
No, our cabinets come fully assembled, unless you request certain cabinetry to be supplied unassembled because of access restrictions into the home.
- The payment of a non-refundable £350 deposit will secure current pricing and also confirm a position within our manufacturing and delivery schedule.
- An additional £650, at least 12 weeks before delivery, prior to the start of the design process.
- Once you are completely happy with your design, sign off your new kitchen design and list of cabinetry along with any accessories and pay the deposit of 50% of your total cost, minus the £1000 initial holding deposit that you made. This needs to be 12 weeks before the requested delivery date to ensure enough production time is allowed.
- The final balance in cleared funds, 4 weeks before delivery.
The deposit can be paid by credit card, debit card or bank transfer.
Please note that no delivery will be made without payment in full with cleared funds.
Do you accept credit cards?
Yes.
Yes, once the full deposit has been paid, we will schedule the free design service with you either at the factory showroom or via a Google Meet or Zoom meeting online.
What is the cost of delivery?
Delivery is usually by our own Luton bodied 3.5 ton vans, with our own 2 man delivery team. We offer the choice of 2 levels of delivery :-
Green Coloured Delivery Areas :-
Standard Delivery. This is £450 to the green areas of the map, for each van load, subject to it’s volume and weight limitations. For all other destinations, a quote will be provided in all cases. You will be given an approximate date of delivery upon your order being confirmed. Because we are combining 2 or more deliveries in the vehicle, the day or time of delivery that week cannot be picked. If you need to be able to pick an exact day and approximate time, please see our Special Delivery service below. If your cabinetry needs to be delivered in a smaller vehicle because of site access restrictions or weight limit/width limitations on roads, you will be charged as per the Special Delivery service below.
Special Delivery. This is £595 to the green areas of the map, for each van load, subject to it’s volume and weight limitations. For all other destinations a quote will be provided in all cases. You will be given an approximate date of delivery upon your order being confirmed. We will then contact you before delivery to agree a date and whether you would like a morning or afternoon delivery if that is a feasible option. This option gives you more flexibility to decide the delivery date and the timing of the delivery within reason.
Red Coloured Delivery Areas :-
Extended and Super Extended Delivery Areas. There is a lower frequency of deliveries to these areas which usually dictates that we cannot combine multiple deliveries on one vehicle. This means we will quote you for delivery based on your distance from our Workshop in Lancashire.
Which areas do you deliver to?
We deliver to the whole of the mainland UK. For deliveries to the rest of Europe or even further afield, please contact us. We are very experienced in arranging exports to other countries as we have done this for many years.
Will I have to help unload the delivery vehicle?
No, we always have our own experienced 2 man delivery team that delivers the cabinetry safely to your home.
Do you deliver to first floors or higher?
Unfortunately, due to our insurance restrictions, we are only able to deliver to a ground floor area with good access. If you need to get items up to higher floors, this will need to be arranged for locally in advance.
Do you deliver to building sites?
Yes, this is no problem. We only request good access for our vehicle and also our delivery team. Having to walk along planks or jumping ditches with our furniture which is very heavy is obviously not safe for your cabinetry or our delivery team.
Our standard is 870mm, which is the recognised standard for kitchen cabinetry and we recommend sticking to this height to ensure correct appliance fitment under the worktops. Some of our base cabinets can be manufactured at any height between 400mm and 900mm, for situations where no appliances are involved or other areas such as window seating boxes or a dresser feature area.
What depth are your base cabinets?
Standard depth is typically 600mm to accommodate standard appliances , but as our cabinets are bespoke made to measure, you can have any depth you desire within our necessary manufacturing limits.
Do your base cabinets have a service gap at the back?
Yes, our normal recess is 50mm to the rear of the solid back panel, but as our cabinets are bespoke made to measure, you can have any service recess depth you require, subject to a minimum depth of 20mm. Certain cabinets with interior fitments require a differing service recess.
Do your base cabinets have adjustable feet?
Yes, we provide heavy duty adjustable feet for every base cabinet if you would like to use them. However, our cabinets do have full gable ends that go down to the floor for maximum support if you do not wish to use them.
Do your base cabinets come with a shelf?
Yes, most base cabinets come with 1 shelf and adjustable shelf hole sockets and supports in a choice of either nickel or brass coloured. The oversize supports are 7mm in diameter and have a massive 100kg weight rating.
What height is your plinth normally?
95mm
Can you provide customised cut outs for support pillars / columns, plumbing pipes, etc.?
Yes, as all our cabinets are precision cut on our CNC, just let us have the dimensions of the cut out that you require during the design stages. Alternatively, we can always provide a cabinet that can be easily disassembled on site upon request if you do not know the exact cut out dimensions you require. This cabinet would be only dry assembled in the workshop for your own adaptations on site. This needs to be requested upon ordering.
What runners do your drawers use?
Just like the high end manufacturers, we use top quality European made runners by Hettich in Germany. The fully extending runners have soft close as standard and are concealed under the drawer with a quick release mechanism for removing the drawer to enable easy cleaning. These have a massive 40kg weight limit, with the option to increase this to 70kg if required. They also have 5D adjustability to ensure your drawer always fits in the frame perfectly.
How are your drawers manufactured?
Our drawers are made of solid hardwood sides that are 15mm thick and are dovetail jointed front and back. They also have a matching veneered drawer bottom that is 10mm thick. You can have the drawers made out of White Oak as standard, or you can choose American Black Walnut or Hard Maple as an option.
Any height you desire as our cabinets are bespoke made to measure, subject to our necessary minimum and maximum dimensions. In the UK, small cabinets are typically 575mm high, medium height cabinets are typically 720mm high and tall cabinets are typically 900mm high. We also manufacture to other countries standards as well.
What depth are your wall cabinets?
Our standard is a deep 350mm, but as your cabinets are bespoke made to measure, you can have any depth you require right up to 450mm. Top boxes over American Refrigerators can be deeper if supported by necessary end panels.
Do your wall cabinets have a service gap at the back?
Yes, we provide a 20mm recess as standard so that you can scribe your wall cabinets to an uneven wall surface. We also provide this recess so that you can install a French Cleat for hanging your cabinets on the wall. This is the strongest way of attaching heavy wall cabinets to a wall due to its ability to have multiple fastening locations, unlike a European hanging bracket that is typically used.
Do your wall cabinets have a bottom recess underneath for lighting?
Yes, there is a 20mm recess underneath for lighting. We can also supply a separate light pelmet moulding if you require.
Your dishwasher will come with a fixing kit and we typically attach your appliance door to its frame in the workshop so it becomes one piece. This facilitates easy opening and removal if maintenance is required on your dishwasher. This is also the same process for a built under cooling appliance as well.
Do I need to purchase a cabinet for an integrated dishwasher or a built under refrigerator/freezer?
Your integrated dishwasher sits on the floor and so does not require a cabinet. This is normally the same for a built under cooling appliance as well. There are only certain dishwasher drawer systems that sit on a cabinet.
Can you make a cabinet for an integrated tall fridge freezer?
Yes. We can manufacture a cabinet designed for almost every model of integrated fridge freezer available.
The minimum height for a fridge freezer housing is normally 2005mm including plinth and cornice. This can be taller if you have the ceiling height to stand it up. We make use of any extra height available by putting a shelf above the fridge freezer. This would only be visible or accessible when the door is open.
You will need to allow 676mm in width for a standard 600mm appliance due to the width of the cabinet frame either side of the appliance.
Can you build around my huge American style fridge freezer?
Yes, we have multiple options available in order to achieve this look, which can be discussed during your design consultation or by speaking to our sales staff. Some solutions would include tall end panels either side, framing the appliance with larders or pull out larders either side, combined with a top box over the appliance to give that built in look.
Can I put a fridge freezer up against a wall?
You need to be careful that you leave enough space to open the door fully and are able to open any interior drawers within the appliance. Usually the manufacturer will provide a minimum distance from a wall for full safe operation.
Can you build in a regular freestanding microwave?
Yes. We manufacture a larder top that doesn’t have a base shelf in it which is normally referred to as an Appliance Garage. This means when you open the doors, the microwave is sitting on your worktop ready to be used and then when you’re finished, you can just close the doors. You need to make sure of any ventilation requirements the microwave manufacturer recommends.
What are your options regarding oven housing cabinets?
You can have a single oven under the worktop, to suit either standard 600mm oven widths, or even wider versions depending upon oven manufacturer. We also offer a side by side oven housing for 2 x 600mm ovens.
For a double oven under the worktop, you don’t always need a cabinet as they will typically sit on the floor or attach to brackets fastened to the cabinets either side.
You also have a mid height oven housing for single built in ovens, double ovens, microwaves, steam ovens or even a coffee machine.
Finally, there are tall oven housings custom designed for any combination you desire of oven, microwave, coffee machine, warming drawer, etc.
The oven housings are normally supplied at 676mm wide. This will fit all standard 600mm integrated appliances and allow for our 38mm frame each side.
We can also build custom oven housings to suit American size appliances such as Wolf where they are typically either 27”(686mm) wide, 30”(762mm) wide, or 36”(915mm) wide. With our face frames, all these appliance housings would be an extra 76mm wide on top of the appliance width.
Can I have my microwave built in to a wall unit?
You can, but only if it’s a true integrated microwave designed to go into a wall cupboard. The microwave housing for a wall unit will be 676mm wide.
Can my tall oven housing extend all the way up to the ceiling?
Not normally, because you won’t be able to stand the cabinet up in the kitchen. This is because the diagonal measurement as you slowly stand it up would be longer than the actual height. However, if this is absolutely necessary, there are some tweaks the installers can achieve such as building up a support platform on site and then sitting the cabinet on this platform. This would involve trimming the gable ends of the oven housing on site.
Do I have to stick to certain oven manufacturers to fit your different housings?
Most integrated appliance manufacturers stick to a common size, typically European sizing or American sizing, therefore we would build your cabinets to fit the appliances you have chosen. Most European appliances are 600mm wide and then vary in height depending on what the actual appliance is.