Why Buy From Us?
Are Think Smart Kitchen Units Any Good?
- All cabinets are manufactured using iso certified MFC board .
- Base units are 18mm with the sides, base, rails and back all in 18mm thickness .
- Base & Tall units are complete with adjustable legs and soft close hinges .
- Wall units come complete with all hanging brackets and hidden adjustable fixings .
- All units are complete with internal shelves. 1 for base and 2 for wall units .
- All internal shelves in the base and wall units are fully edged .
- Special clips to hold shelves into place. User friendly to take out and refit .
- All kitchens come with doors drilled to suit kitchen floor plan .
- Soft close hinges with clip on / off function .
- Anthracite twin wall full extension drawers .
- Extra deep pan drawers with high sides as standard .
- Appliances doors have no hinge holes in them .
- Easy & fast assembl .
Why Should you buy from Think Smart Kitchens?
- Family run business .
- 30 years in the kitchen industry .
- All kitchens are made to order specially for you .
- 25 year guarantee on all hardware used .
- Choose from Rigid fully assembled or Flat packed to help with your budget ..
- Huge selection of kitchen doors to suit all budgets without the compromising any quality .
- All kitchen orders are checked against the measurements to make sure the kitchen fits .
- Assistance with a cutting list for trims to minimise wastage and excessive spending .
- Utility floor plans for electrical , water, & gas upon request ( after signing kitchen with TSK) .
How do we compare to other Kitchen companies?
I’ll try to be as honest as , which is why I have gone and purchased units from B&Q, Ikea, and Howdens. All kitchens are flat packed and single base units. I decided to video all units being built up, how long each one took, and examine what was included for the price. All units were weighed. Why? To see the quality of MFC board used. A touch and feel test is important. I compared what came in the box for the price paid. How easy was the purchase? Does the quality and price agree with what I was expecting?
Think Smart Kitchens
Firstly, the box is a lot heavier than it looks, so I would recommend a 2 person lift. Opening the box was a bit of a mission, but once in you will find everything packaged very neatly and tight. In a separate box, there are all the fittings, adjustable legs, leg holders, plinth clips, bag of fixings, assembly instructions, and all panels for the unit. As an experienced fitter, its always best to familiarise yourself with all the parts, ie sides, base, etc. In the box there are 2 sides, 1 back, 1 front rail, 1 base and a fully edged internal shelf. It’s pretty easy to recognise each part as there as no excess holes to confuse you. In my video, it shows how the assembly went and how long it takes. Worth a watch even if you forward tap 10 secs at a time! Assembly was swift and easy, no real drama and I was able to add additional screws into the back (from the sides) for additional strength as it was 18mm thick.
Rating
- 9/10 for ease of assembly.
- 9/10 for quality of materials.
- 9/10 for rigidity of unit.
- 10/10 for packaging being 98% cardboard.
- Weight of cabinet 16.9Kg ( excluding shelf).
Issues
Need to make 5mm holes for the hinge plates, although there is a 2.5mm pre drilled hole on both sides of the gable.
Ikea
Considerable lighter box, and opening from a light use of my utility knife (not recommended). The fittings , metal rails and more fittings kept on coming, while I was expecting more panels, 2 sides, 1 base and a flimsy back with some instructions. There were no adjustable legs, no leg holders, and no internal shelves! Whilst I’m no stranger to flat packed , this unit tested my patience. The back is really poor, only 2.5mm thick. Constructing the cabinet gave me no assurance of the rigidity of it. It took the most time to assemble, but I guess there weren’t really a lot of parts with the cabinet as they didn’t come with the unit. You need to purchase everything separately. The quality of the materials was a let down.
Not happy with the metal rails, L brackets and covers for another metal rail ( not provided) , no legs, no hinges and no shelves, shelf pins, or hinges.
Rating
- 6/10 for ease of assembly.
- 3/10 for quality of materials.
- 3/10 for rigidity of unit.
- 10/10 for packaging being 98% cardboard.
- Weight of cabinet 14.1Kg ( excluding shelf).
Issues
No shelves, hinges, legs were in the box. Cabinet was riddled with holes. Quality of the surface
inside was inferior and felt like paper. I felt the cabinets has been over engineered but cost cutting
was more important than an overall quality for the end user. The back was as good as not being
there. In my video, a slight tap and it was already punctured.
B&Q
This was lighter than TSK’s box. Easier to handle but would still recommend 2 person lift. Again, they don’t make these boxes easy to open. This unit came with the adjustable legs, plinth clips, fittings, metal plate and all the panels. The fittings were similar to TSK, but the wooden dowels are shorter, and the cam and dowel system was also the shorter one. Again this is all down to costs. As with the IKEA cabinet, an accountant has decided that this is an ok compromise to cut costs. Assembly was good. Again the back was a let down, but an improvement to IKEAs but only 3mm thick. I noticed that the unseen edges on the cabinet was a paper edging not PVC. There was no room for increasing the rigidity of the unit as the back being only 3mm thick.
Rating
- 7/10 for ease of assembly.
- 5/10 for quality of materials.
- 5/10 for rigidity for unit.
- 10/10 for packaging being 98% cardboard.
- Weight of cabinet 14.4Kg ( excluding shelf).
Issues
Too many holes in the cabinet. Internal shelf has only the front edge sealed, leaving all 3 sides naked. MFC board used is better than IKEA, and has a thicker texture to it, not as thick as TSK.
Hinges are not included in the box. Back is too thin thin and compromises the rigidity of the cabinet. There is no room for improvement to secure the back from the side of the cabinet.
Howdens
As like the others, box requires 2 person lift. Well packaged and all panels and fittings. I did like the fact that hinges and back plates including screws, L brackets are all in the box. Assembly was the easiest from all the cabinets. Putting the nails in the back was a real pain! In the era of power tools why such a basic and time consuming method? Just like B&Q, all unseen edges are covered with the cheapest of paper edging. The back was 6mm thick, much better than B&Q, and IKEA. but still no room for improvement. I did have a concern with the adjustable leg holders. Over the last 30 years, the majority of leg holders cover the side panel, so weight above is transferred from worktop to side gables and then from leg holders to the legs and then to the floor. These holders only kissed the side panel. I understand that there were many dowels between the base and side gable but in case you were considering quartz or granite it may be worth to pay for another set of legs that I feel are fit for purpose. A very easy assembly, well thought out unit, and material used comes in a good second.
Rating
- 8/10 for ease of assembly.
- 7/10 for quality of materials.
- 7/10 for rigidity of unit.
- 10/10 for packaging being 98% cardboard.
- Weight of cabinet 14.9Kg ( excluding shelf).
Issues
A lot of holes in the unit. Quality is good but still not as good as TSK. The legs are a concern for the longevity of the cabinet. I’m sure these have been tested, but in my experience the transfer of the weight from the worktops to the floor is only some wooden dowels.
Bespoke Range (TSK factory)
These cabinets are all pre assembled from the factory. The cabinets are only 18mm throughout. Great cabinet but come with a price tag! This cabinet is for the luxury consumer whom I still offer. Upgraded hinges and upgraded drawer system.
Rating
- 10/10 – No assembly required.
- 10/10 for quality of materials.
- 10/10 for rigidity of units.
- 7/10 for waste being shrink wrap. No cardboard used.
Issues
Only issue I have is where to put everything when it arrives at your house. All pre assembled and ready to install. Cabinets are available in a wide range of colours so which one to pick? Is that an issue? Price is the other factor. These are more expensive than our simple range.
SMASH TEST & CONCLUSION
WOW! I have invested my own time and personal money to do a test of the quality of these units. I tried to keep it as fair and standard as possible. Letting the smash hammer fall freely from a height of 1500mm to the base, back, and finally smashing the sides to see how good the board used for the construction of the cabinet is.
IKEA- not a good cabinet! Using my mash hammer, 4 very mild strikes and it was through. The cabinet material had very little glue and it just crumbled away.
B&Q- the back gave away first, being only 3mm thick. The sides took the same amount of strikes, 4 mild -strong strikes. The cabinet material was better than IKEA, it held together much better.
HOWDENS- I actually liked this cabinet. The back was better than the IKEA and B&Q. 4 strong strikes. Upon inspection the material was well compacted and felt it was better than the other two.
TSK- I had to hit this very hard to go through it. 8 very strong strikes with the hammer. The material was well constructed and difficult to pull apart.
Rankings:
1- TSK cabinets tick most of the boxes. Materials used, overall quality, and value for money.
2- Bespoke Range (TSK factory) is worth it if your budget allows. High quality and spoilt for choice for both colours and sizes.
3- Howdens are a good cabinet but longevity because of the legs and shelves not being fully edged will help with the early demise of this kitchen cabinet.
4- B&Q are ok. If the budget is tight and you don’t expect more than 3-4 years it will do the job.
5- IKEA. I personally would not buy this cabinet. I do not rate the quality of materials, time to construct with all those nails, parts needed to complete. Money saved to time invested?? Is it worth the stress & headache? No, not in my opinion.