How much does a bulthaup kitchen cost and why?
WHAT MAKES UP THE COST OF A TYPICAL LUXURY KITCHEN?
Are you thinking of purchasing a new high-end luxury bulthaup kitchen? In that case, a key consideration will undoubtedly be the cost. How much do you want, or need, to spend and which factors influence the price of a new bulthaup kitchen?
This in-depth article will provide you with a better understanding of what makes a bulthaup kitchen the very best money can buy.
A typical luxury kitchen will include the following criteria:
Furniture - cabinets, cupboards, drawers, tall units, larders
Worktops - laminate, composite stone, Corian, stainless steel
Appliances - from brands such as Siemens, Miele, Gaggenau, BORA, Quooker and Sub-Zero Wolf
If we were to design a bulthaup b3 or b1 kitchen using a selection of the components above, the price would start at around £60,000 incl. VAT. Your individual style choices wish list and must-haves can very quickly increase the budget scope. Like selecting all the options on your next new car, the sky is the limit.
At Hobson's Choice, our designers regularly deliver stunning bulthaup kitchens around the £60,000 mark. It is worth adding that our average bulthaup b3 kitchen cost is around £75,000 incl. VAT. So, clearly, we are also supplying some bulthaup b3 kitchens that are significantly more expensive than this.
how do the kitchen costs break down?
The best way to understand the cost of a bulthaup kitchen and its effect is to look at the main elements that make up a kitchen specification. In our experience these are Furniture, Appliances, Worktops and Installation.
As a very rough guide, you can expect your bulthaup kitchen furniture cost to account for around 50% of the overall cost. Your appliances represent another 30% and installation and worktops account for the final 20%.
what affects the cost of the bulthaup kitchen furniture?
The room's size will make a difference to this area of the project cost. The larger the room, the more cabinetry, storage, shelving, etc., is likely to be required. Our designers are not keen on simply filling a space with furniture, so there is a limit to how many units a kitchen should have.
Also, the size of the space does not tend to correspond to the appliance requirements either, not directly. For example, suppose we double the size of the kitchen. In that case, it does not typically mean we need twice the number of appliances. Therefore, the size of your kitchen may have less of an impact on the overall project cost than you think.
YOUR CHOICE OF SURFACE FINISH
The surface finishes selected for your bulthaup kitchen can have a dramatic effect on the cost. You will find most people refer to this as 'Front finishes', but the finish of your plinths, side panels, handles, grip rails etc., all can impact the price.
bulthaup categorise their surface finishes into Price Groups. A Price Group 1 finish would be less expensive than a Price Group 7 finish. As you ascend the price group scale, the price would increase accordingly from laminate or acrylic to lacquer or veneer.
The price difference is directly associated with production, hand-finishing, raw material costs and production complexity. For example, bulthaup's high gloss lacquers tend to be more expensive than matt lacquers as the fabrication of these doors and panels requires a more involved polishing process.
What does quality mean in a kitchen product?
The quality of the furniture; This isn't just about having a branded or unbranded kitchen product. We choose bulthaup kitchens because the quality of the product is, in our opinion, the best in the world.
In our view, quality relates to many different things.
Materials - how are they sourced, how are they manufactured, are they sustainable?
Production - the research and development, the design, the engineering, the construction, the testing. How reliable is the finished kitchen going to be? Will it last and fulfil our client's requirements?
Accuracy and detail - will the finished product be correct, exactly as specified by the client?
Customer Service - the warranty, the ease of repair, access to spares. Will any issues that arise be quickly fixed?
bulthaup, we believe, provides the very best quality in every one of these subjects.
BULTHAUP KITCHEN CABINET CARCASE MATERIAL
Material quality is critical. It might surprise you that bulthaup, a kitchen widely regarded by the industry as being of the highest quality in the world, has carcases (the kitchen units) manufactured using chipboard. But it's not just any chipboard; it's a very high quality, three-layer chipboard which is exceptionally dense.
bulthaup chipboard differs from the far less dense, 'airy' chipboards used within products positioned at lower price points. bulthaup could choose to use any material they wish to produce their carcases. They use this material because it has simply proven to be the best.
What your carcase is made of really matters. You can have the very best drawer runners or hinges, but if the surface you are fixing them to is not seriously dense and strong, it will be this connection that fails.
How many times have you seen kitchen doors that do not shut correctly, as hinges have dropped? Drawers that have needed a bit of a lift and a shove to get back in? Or cabinet doors that have parted company with the unit? The most likely cause will be a breakdown in fixing the hinge or running mechanisms to the carcase.
BULTHAUP SURFACE FINISHES
Differences with lacquers are generally seen within the level of perfection of the finish, i.e., is it perfect? I mean, really perfect? Can you see an orange peel effect within the paint? Are there minute chips or dents?
Stainless steel is another finish that can appear quite different from one manufacturer to another. The higher quality manufacturers use thicker stainless steel with a high degree of purity. There is a great deal of hand finishing involved with every panel and worktop.
The better the materials, the more exacting the production process and the greater the attention to detail - the more expensive a kitchen product will be. As bulthaup's CEO takes care to explain, 'The importance of the human touch and obsessive attention to detail, bulthaup starts where the machines finish.'
To keep your furniture cost down, it is worth trying to choose a front material for your kitchen in a low price group. For example, a good quality laminate may work well for the bulk of your kitchen. It is easy to clean and very hardwearing. You could choose to feature a more expensive finish such as a veneer or anodised aluminium on an area such as the tall units or the island. This choice will enable you to add colour, tone and texture to the design whilst still keeping an eye on cost.
WHAT APPLIANCES SHOULD I SELECT FOR MY BULTHAUP KITCHEN?
Some appliance brands are significantly more expensive than others. A top-end appliance will boast a superior build quality and performance compared to machines positioned at a lower price point.
We spend a lot of time with clients trying to establish precisely what they are looking for and what they need their appliances to do. It is very common for clients to begin by over-specifying the functionality they need or think they should have. In our opinion, this is a huge waste of budget. Why choose a device that offers 40 automatic functions and the ability to turn it on from a voice command in Waitrose if you know that you will never use these functions in reality?
Our advice is to keep it simple and buy quality that will last. By following this guidance, you will free up more of the budget to access the very best quality furniture you can afford. After all, this is the bit that will last you 25 years—outliving even the best kitchen appliances.
That said, some 'nice to haves' are slowly becoming 'hard to be without'. A Quooker boiling water tap springs to mind! If you want to know more about this, please see our dedicated article about Instant Boiling-Hot Water Taps.
WHAT WORKTOP SHOULD I SELECT FOR MY BULTHAUP KITCHEN?
Most of our bulthaup kitchens are sold with either Composite stone, Corian or laminate worktops. You will need to consider which material is suitable for you based upon details such as heat resistance, the appearance and requirement for joints, sink integration and the look.
We find that the cost of a Corian or Composite stone worktop for the same kitchen is relatively similar. As with furniture finishes, worktops are also categorised into price groups. It is worth discussing this with your designer to ensure you do not unwittingly happen upon a high price group material unnecessarily.
Sometimes increasing the length or width of an island just a little can significantly impact the worktop costs for a bulthaup kitchen. The extra size means that an additional slab of material is required, raising the price.
The process of templating and installing a stone or Corian material makes up quite a bit of the overall worktop cost. To achieve a flawless worktop finish, the fitting work is completed by highly trained tradesmen. These specialists work with a particular type of material. Therefore, if you chose to combine stone and Corian surfaces in the same kitchen, there would be a need for separate worktop fitting teams - increasing the overall cost.
Typically, worktop costs for a bulthaup kitchen project are around £5000 to £8,000 + VAT.
BULTHAUP KITCHEN INSTALLATION
The fitting team's care and precision during an installation can make or break the success of the bulthaup kitchen project. A first-class installation is critical to make the kitchen look good and ensure it stands the test of time.
Many kitchen companies quote the price of the kitchen without installation. As we rarely work on a supply only basis, we always provide costing guides based upon a full supply and fit scenario. Our teams fit every bulthaup kitchen that we supply. To benefit from the warranty offered by bulthaup, it is a prerequisite that a bulthaup certified installer installs the kitchen. Our bulthaup installers are trained at the bulthaup factory in Germany to ensure that we satisfy these criteria and provide the best service to our clients.
WHAT DOES AN INSTALLATION, OR FIT, ENTAIL?
You make come across the term 'Dry Fit'. A dry fit is the most common form of installation service offered by kitchen retailers. It means that the installers will fit the kitchen furniture, worktops and appliances into a 'Prepared' space. All the old furniture will have been removed and disposed of. In addition, any work to the floor, electrics, plumbing, plastering or surfaces would be complete. A plumber and electrician will be on-hand to wire in the new appliances and connect gas and water services. The kitchen fitters do not include this service, hence the term 'Dry fit'.
In essence, the cost of an installation is based on the amount of labour and fitting materials required. The bigger and more complex the installation, the longer it will take to install and the higher the cost. Our kitchens tend to take between 8 and 12 days to install, and a typical installation costs between £4,500 and £8,000 + VAT.
If we are working on a 'Dry fit' basis for a client, we know that whoever is carrying out the preparation works will need to know what services are required for the kitchen. You may have come across the term 'M&E' drawings. These are mechanical and electrical drawings that should lay out very clearly exactly what electrical and plumbing provisions are required. In most cases, these will need to be installed into the walls and above ceilings before plastering and decoration - so they must be right.
At Hobson's Choice, we produce detailed M&E drawings and issue these to all the relevant parties. We provide a dedicated point of contact within the business who knows all about the project, capable of answering any site queries. Our designers will often visit a live site to check that the services have been installed as per our specification before they are covered up and plastered over.
The alternative route is to work with a supplier who can provide a full-service installation. People often refer to this as a 'turn-key’ solution. Hobson's Choice has been offering this speciality service to clients for the last 40 years. Controlling the full scope of a project provides an extra layer of convenience to our clients, who are often very busy people and frequently spend time away from home. It also has the benefit of providing our team with the ability to keep control of timings.
Your designer (who is also your project manager) will schedule and control all the relevant trades. By doing so, your bulthaup kitchen project can progress as quickly as possible. At Hobson's Choice, we never hide from the fact that employing us to manage the full scope of works is likely to cost slightly more than you personally going about contracting an electrician, plumber, plasterer etc. However, it will most likely be a far more enjoyable experience and achieve better results. Most importantly, it will prevent you from having sleepless nights and taking up far less of your time.
For clarity, when we present a full scope of works projects to a client, we categorise costings into 'dry fit' and 'facilitating works' - all the other works required.
We will soon release videos that take you through the process of a 'Dry Fit' bulthaup kitchen installation. It will provide you with insight into the works required to transform a space to make it ready for the new furniture.
IN CONCLUSION
Within each of the main cost centres of a bulthaup kitchen project, there are opportunities to make decisions and choices that will influence the total project value. These need to be discussed with your design professional to ensure that you achieve the best value that suits you.
Best value, of course, often does not mean the cheapest. It is about making sure that every pound invested in the bulthaup kitchen project provides the most value to you, your family and your home.