New Kitchen

[Mahseer]

Promise to the wife to do this in the new year so here goes.

I live in a condo with a small kitchen area (12sq mts) and everything needs replacing top to bottom. Are there any recommendations out there for companies that take on such jobs (i.e. measure up /design /install appliances and cabinets)? I know Homepro can do but I'm not their biggest fan so looking for other options.

Thanks

[Mahseer]

Maybe I can answer my own question. Hunting on the web eventually came across an outfit that may fit the bill. Has anyone had any dealings with these folks?

www.homikitch.com/

[SamSipEt]

I would advise against the HomePro franchises. The one that I choose (sorry forget the name) came and measured up for my kitchen but on delivery they couldn’t install the dish washer correctly and the some of their own measurements were wrong. Bodged around it all but not as a good a result as could have been achieved.

A couple of friends have used Homikitch and are happy with the results. Can’t remember the name of the road where they are based but if you drive down Changklan Road, turn right at the lights by Pantip Plaza they are about 2/3s of the way to the moat on the left hand side.

[Mahseer]

Thanks SamSipEt, they are on Sri Donchai and will have a look on Monday. Good to hear thay have satisfied customers out there.

Cheers

[JuniorExPat]

Thanks SamSipEt, they are on Sri Donchai and will have a look on Monday. Good to hear thay have satisfied customers out there.

Cheers

Mahseer,

I made a similar rash promise! How did your visit on Monday go?

JxP

[Mahseer]

JXP, so far so good.

Visited the showroom which is located as described by SSE and they are set back from the road so parking is available in front of the shop. They have maybe a dozen kitchens set up of various design and cost but options are endless as Ek the manager pointed out and catalogues are on hand. I have Ek coming around at 2 to measure up and hopefully advise as to best use as my kitchen is small. Once we agree on lay out we will return to the shop to select materials / review pricing and put down a deposit if all is well.

Two words of advise from what I have seen: Take a very close look if you go for laminates (if you visit the showroom there is a laminated counter top that looks like sh*t and its never seen water). Best to avoid if budget allows. Secondly if you opt for the pseudo granite (immediately to the right as you enter the shop) be aware as it can splinter if mildly abused and Ek to his credit did point this out during discussion.

As a guideline Ek advised that a 'normal' sized full refit would take 3 weeks to fabricate and 3 days to install which indicates some fabrication will take place on site but I have not got into that yet.

[JuniorExPat]

Sounds promising, thanks for the report.

If you have a chance, keep this thread updated on progress, I'm sure others will also find it useful for reference.

BTW - are you going for a western kitchen, oven et al? I haven't had an oven for several years and do miss it but I haven't been brave enough to get out and check on what's available at what cost.

Good luck.

JxP

[Mahseer]

JXP, I will keep it going through to order then will disappear for 5 weeks to go to work and will only install when I return.

Yes I am going for full refit as kitchen is 13 years old and appliances clearly show this. Regarding ovens there are some funky multi discipline ones out there which are ovens/microwave/grill all in one which is excellent for those like me with limited space but I am far from an expert here. One I am looking at is just shy of 30k and made by Teka and is maybe 2/3 the height of a usual sized oven but there are obviously larger out there.

Cheers

[Mahseer]

The lads from homikitch visited as scheduled and we agreed a basic design and new appliances (me funky oven just shot up from 27k to 46, bloody women!). Lads measured and will put all into a 3D program that will allow you to 'walk through' your new lay out but it takes time to draw up and enter so will have to wait 3 days to view.

One point. They will tear out the old kitchen for a fee but prefer if someone else does the work.

[BlissfullyIgnorant]

Have done this twice, here's my 2c:

Index (Index Living Mall, level 2) - cheaper end of town, the quality of their demo kitchens turns me off but still worth the effort if only for providing a comparative base. Discount available if fitting to a Land & Houses built home. Design crew speak zero English. Don't like you asking why the melamine is peeling off thier demos either

Modernform (super highway near Tesco) - upper end of town, proper fitted western kitchens with all the trimmings. Some very nice designs here. Design team are OK but slow, designs are only hand-dawn (roughly too!). Push them for a discount - 20-30% off their sticker prices makes them quite reasonable. Beware of exhorbinate fitting fees for your extras though (e.g. 3000B each to fit a hood, oven, sink etc). Also beware not to specifiy a composite benchtop - it'll cost as much as the kitchen itself..

SB Furniture (at Chiangmai Isaan Ban House on Aom Muang rd near the Ping river bridge, also @ HomePro) . The design consultant @ HomePro is excellent, not so much so @ Isaan. Speak to the owner of Isaan and you will get the best price no doubt, however even @ HomePro you'll manage 20%+ off sticker when pushed, and their consultant will work hard to make your kitchen fit your budget. If buying @ HomePro you'll probably get a bunch of freebies associated with HomePro "sticker" promotions as well. Installation crews come ex BKK and are thoroughly professional.

Starmark (HomePro) - upper end of town but with better sticker prices than Modernform. Some really nice & unique fittings/designs/finishes. Consultants are only so-so, so you'd better knoiw what you want. Big discount (40% ish) if you're fitting to a Land & Houses built home.

Homikitch (you know where it is) - lower to middle end of town. Incredibly expensive for what they are. Design team is OK, but slow as a wet week. Their more stylish designs are apparently not actually made in house - they come from another firm in BKK. Only reasonable if shopping for basic/cheap IMHO - their more desirable designs are at least 50-100% more expensive than any others listed here, in my experience.

Thai Contractors (Ban Tawai is a start, they're everywhere though) - IMHO, great if you want a full teak wood kitchen only. Quality varies, prices are usually reasonable. Do not expect the accessories, fit nor finish af the specialist places listed above. Their Western style designs (i.e. not teak) leave much to be desired on all fronts - cheap and nasty comes to mind here.

I think that is somewhat definitive - I'd be quite surprised if I've missed someone

Edit:

Both Starmark and the HomePro SB Furniture will fit your appliances for free if they've been purchased at Homepro, otherwise they will charge an additional 1000B per appliance (quite reasonable as this includes electrical wiring/plumbing as necessary).

30K Baht is a ridiculously expensive oven, 40K+ is just insane. My 10.5K Baht stainless steel fan-forced Fagor cooks a mean Lasagne - what else do you need?

Edited January 8, 2008 by BlissfullyIgnorant

[Mahseer]

Tremendous information BI. Thanks very much for taking the time to put this together.

I am still at design stage with Homikitch so from information given I need to go talk to SB or Moderform and get them to quote which I'll take care of today.

Thanks once more and will post who ends up doing my work.

PS For now the wife has all her dream pieces included for design purposes but absolutely no guarantee they'll stay there once I get a quote.

[slapout]

Agree about Homekitch not building inhouse. Used them in past and when repair time came, the counter tops are outsourced in Bangkok and replacement must come from there. (could not repair formica counter top) Also their suport for appliance repair leaves a little to be desired.

[BlissfullyIgnorant]

Agree about Homekitch not building inhouse. Used them in past and when repair time came, the counter tops are outsourced in Bangkok and replacement must come from there. (could not repair formica counter top) Also their suport for appliance repair leaves a little to be desired.

We spent a lot of time talking to Homikitch when building our most recent house, and they were quite upfront about which designs they could do in-house and which they couldn't. Mind you, we were trying to get them to make something similar to Modernform's/SB's designs (their own just lacked style for our eyes), so custom cabinets/shelves were necessary. In the end the only finishes they could offer us were those they made themselves, and their price came out at 300K vs. Modernform and SB's 160K. Ouch. They did call us back after we had already committed elsewhere with a price of 230K, better but still way off the mark. I suppose if you were only using their standard pre-made cabinet designs/sizes your mileage with them could vary though, so don't write them off on my account.

In the end we went with Khun Tan (pronounced "Darn") from SB @ HomePro however. They dont' have any kitchens on actual display there (I did go to BKK to view their fit/finish in person however) so you'll have to go up to the fitted closets section to find him. He was the only consultant that truly understood where we were coming from - no struggle there at all (for a change), and he managed to get the price down from 240K to 160K through discounts and creatively massaging the design.

It was however a very close race between Modernform and SB - we quite literally didn't make our final decsision until the 11th hour. In the end SB won because they did a great job on our closet built-ins previously, wouldn't charge us any extra for fitting applicnaces, and because we fell in love with their African Zebrano wood veneer. Modernform was a more modern/stylish design, but they wanted an extra 12K for appliance fitting, and also had a little less character about it.. For reference, Starmark came in at 220K after discounts.

Anyways, here's some links for those interested:

http://www.modernform.com/

http://www.sb-furniture.com/

http://www.homikitch.com/

http://www.indexlivingmall.com/

http://www.starmark.co.th/

[CLASBYCLAN]

Hi

I am thinking of renting a house that I would need to install a new kitchen in. Can you tell me if you had your kitchen fitted by Homikitch and if you are pleased with the results?

Thanks

[CLASBYCLAN]

In the end we went with Khun Tan (pronounced "Darn") from SB @ HomePro however. They dont' have any kitchens on actual display there (I did go to BKK to view their fit/finish in person however) so you'll have to go up to the fitted closets section to find him. He was the only consultant that truly understood where we were coming from - no struggle there at all (for a change), and he managed to get the price down from 240K to 160K through discounts and creatively massaging the design.

Hi

How do I get in contact with Khun Tan , SB @ Homepro, do you have contact details or are they based at Homepro? Also, are you pleased with your kitchen?

Thanks!

[Mahseer]

Hi

I am thinking of renting a house that I would need to install a new kitchen in. Can you tell me if you had your kitchen fitted by Homikitch and if you are pleased with the results?

Thanks

No still debating but quote received from Homikitch was within 10% of SB but they seem tied as indicated to basic components as I requested they quote on an additional piece that falls outside of their 'standard line' and they couldn't do it. One other difference that came with the quote was that SB wanted 3 days to install and Homikitch 5 but no big deal. I am only just back in town so plan on visiting Modernform before I make the final decision.

Quoted time to fabricate was 3-4 weeks from both.

Edited March 4, 2008 by Mahseer

[chiangmaibruce]

OK, and now something for the cheap-charlies with a little bit of time and some do-it-yourself ability ...

We renovated our cottage sometime back but all we did in the kitchen was a concrete bench-top with tiles on top. We got a cooktop and sinks from Home-Mart. We have been making doing with storage boxes etc under the bench with a long-standing promise that I would organise cupboards/shelves. Budget precludes using a kitchen specialist (we looked though), and we got quotes from local village 'tradesmen' but I was not confident about the quality of the end product (one was talking about using plywood).

To cut a long story short I ended up getting a set of drawers and some wooden louvre cupboard doors (on special at HomePro) and second hand timber from a demolished house next door. The timber looked good after sanding and I used 'Cuprinol' over everything when the job was finished.

I looked at building a wooden framework but the degree of precision would be difficult with my carpentry skills and tools - plus we could not alter anything after it was finished (like shelf heights). To complicate things a little, the benchtop was deeper at one end than the other (and higher too).

In the end I used that steel shelving material which is about 100bt per 3m length and put the thing together like a giant mechano set. You can get rubber 'socks' for the bases of the uprights (in the event that there is ever water on the floor). This construction material meant that we could alter our design as we put it together (and can make some adjustments in the future). I got all the screws, bolts and similar at a great shop on the road b/w Narawat bridge and the railway station.

Total cost of project? 10,000 baht

[JuniorExPat]

OK, and now something for the cheap-charlies with a little bit of time and some do-it-yourself ability ...

We renovated our cottage sometime back but all we did in the kitchen was a concrete bench-top with tiles on top. We got a cooktop and sinks from Home-Mart. We have been making doing with storage boxes etc under the bench with a long-standing promise that I would organise cupboards/shelves. Budget precludes using a kitchen specialist (we looked though), and we got quotes from local village 'tradesmen' but I was not confident about the quality of the end product (one was talking about using plywood).

To cut a long story short I ended up getting a set of drawers and some wooden louvre cupboard doors (on special at HomePro) and second hand timber from a demolished house next door. The timber looked good after sanding and I used 'Cuprinol' over everything when the job was finished.

I looked at building a wooden framework but the degree of precision would be difficult with my carpentry skills and tools - plus we could not alter anything after it was finished (like shelf heights). To complicate things a little, the benchtop was deeper at one end than the other (and higher too).

In the end I used that steel shelving material which is about 100bt per 3m length and put the thing together like a giant mechano set. You can get rubber 'socks' for the bases of the uprights (in the event that there is ever water on the floor). This construction material meant that we could alter our design as we put it together (and can make some adjustments in the future). I got all the screws, bolts and similar at a great shop on the road b/w Narawat bridge and the railway station.

Total cost of project? 10,000 baht

You're hired!!

JxP

[mobile69]

Adding a granite worktop rather than tiling or fake granite laminate not so pricey. We spent about 14,000 on 7m of worktop.

Good ranges of cupboard doors, draws & above counter wall cupboards now available at Noppodom Panich(?) & Global House. Fairly easy to fit these yourself.

[elnagtegaal]

Adding a granite worktop rather than tiling or fake granite laminate not so pricey. We spent about 14,000 on 7m of worktop.

Good ranges of cupboard doors, draws & above counter wall cupboards now available at Noppodom Panich(?) & Global House. Fairly easy to fit these yourself.

Hello Mobile69

Could you tell me where I can find this guy how is making an granite worktop for 14.000 baht for 7 m worktop?

I´m looking for a new kitchen, but the top we like will cost arround 8000 baht a meter what I find a little bit to much :-)

So I look for an alternative.

If you can tell me were I can find the shop or if you have an telephone number would be great.

Looking forwards at your reaction.

Eric

[Rasseru]

Starmark (HomePro) - upper end of town but with better sticker prices than Modernform. Some really nice & unique fittings/designs/finishes. Consultants are only so-so, so you'd better knoiw what you want.

With your help, for which thanks, and that of a number of other people, my wife and I are looking for someone to build us a new kitchen. Last week we visited the Starmark folks at Homepro, and I would just like to mention here that they have been extremely responsive, helpful and pleasant so far. They visited us at home the same day we made our first visit to them, to check and measure our kitchen space. They had a very nice design ready for us the next day, with some ideas that none of the other places we had visited had thought of. We had some suggestions on their design, which they incorporated and showed us the following day. Language is an issue (their command of English is a close match for ours of Thai), but they have been pulling in people from elsewhere at Homepro to help, and that plus a lot of sign language has worked well so far. Their quotation is slightly over half the quotation we got from Homikitch (albeit for a different design).

[elnagtegaal]

With your help, for which thanks, and that of a number of other people, my wife and I are looking for someone to build us a new kitchen. Last week we visited the Starmark folks at Homepro, and I would just like to mention here that they have been extremely responsive, helpful and pleasant so far. They visited us at home the same day we made our first visit to them, to check and measure our kitchen space. They had a very nice design ready for us the next day, with some ideas that none of the other places we had visited had thought of. We had some suggestions on their design, which they incorporated and showed us the following day. Language is an issue (their command of English is a close match for ours of Thai), but they have been pulling in people from elsewhere at Homepro to help, and that plus a lot of sign language has worked well so far. Their quotation is slightly over half the quotation we got from Homikitch (albeit for a different design).

ABOUT HOME PRO.

We have been to Home pro, Homikitch and Index.

Index was one big dissapointment. :-(

4 weeks ago we visit Index saw a nice kitchen and wanted to have an quot.

Next week we will have the price for it, NO price sorry there are 2 other people who need a price so next week ready, NO the designer was in Bangkok they will call you NO.

So this means that we will not buy by Index living mall NO WAY bad service.

Homikitch

We have seen a very nice kitchen by Homikitch but a bit out of my price range.

We have an Indoor Kitchen, Thai Kitchen and I need a bar for upstairs.

So I need to watch the money.

As we are an Farang couple we need to pay everything cash, no mortgage no loan :-(

Anyway

We visit Home Pro, the new one south of the airport by the new big c.

We walked in, my wife saw a nice kitchen and in 1 hour we had a price of our inside kitchen :-)

Later that week I have been back again for our outside kitchen.

And yesterday the guy visit the show house to look what we want exactly, and took the details for the bar.

Today I had the complete price.

I think very good for the quality and the units what they will sell to us.

30% discount this month, I bad I will have some more off.

The only very expensive part was the Top of the kichen.

6000THB for 1meter .

So this I will not buy there.

I found an supplier ONLY 2.100THB a m2 NOT 1 m no m2 this means arround 1300THB for 1 meter included the double front.

So that it look thicker.

If you are interested let me know.

For sure this company will install all the granit what I need.

Home pro.

If you want the kitchen designed ask for

Saksit Garagate

Sales Designer Home Pro (Hang Dong)

Regards,

Eric

[scorecard]

Would appreciate any updates CM members might like to offer about kitchens.

We have new home in the Urbanna development, need to get serious about kitchen coming soon, any information about any known deals for kitchens in this development would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[lingnoi1977]

Homikitch - the best around but certainly not the people to use for a budget job. If you want a cheap job go to Homepro. Depending on the configuration of the space, it is usually cheaper to buy the kits but variations to the kits become expensive.

[Pearlgirl]

Maybe I can answer my own question. Hunting on the web eventually came across an outfit that may fit the bill. Has anyone had any dealings with these folks?

www.homikitch.com/

Our kitchen was designed and fitted by Homikitch. We were very happy with the results. They will sit down with you and take the time and help design the kitchen, top to bottom. They have all the fittings as well.

[slapout]

I will conform what Pearlgirl says.

[scorecard]

Any members gone the route of cement frame, nicely tiled, then modern doors fitted, and perhaps marble or granite top?

Comments / experiences appreciated.

[slapout]

scorecard we did what you ask about in one of the houses we built. The quality of marbel is knid of hit and miss, but a granite top should work nicely. We had a time getting the wall to top border installed but there are more shops available now with the expertise to handle it.