Howdens Kitchen Fitting Twelve Minutes From Aberdare

The sloping floor is the standard starting point in Aberaman, Cwmbach and Cwmaman. It is normal to find a fall of a good part of an inch across a three metre run, so Howdens base units are levelled individually on their legs and packed where they need it, and the plinth is scribed down to follow the floor so the gap never shows. Get that wrong and the worktop joint gives it away immediately. If you have chosen a Howdens in frame range this becomes the whole job, because the margins around in frame doors are visible and only stay even if every carcass underneath is dead level and square. We would rather spend the extra half day setting out than hand over a run where the door gaps taper.

Access is the other Aberdare constant, and it usually works in your favour. Most of these terraces have a rear lane, and carrying rigid Howdens units in through a back gate beats threading them past the front room and up a narrow hall. What we confirm at the survey is whether the lane is passable, whether the gate is wide enough for a 1000mm unit and whether there are steps up into the yard. Because we book the delivery slot ourselves as the account holder, we can time it to suit that route rather than accepting whatever lands. Older properties around Trecynon and Gadlys often add a bricked up chimney breast or a redundant back boiler recess to the mix, which either eats into the run or gives you a useful alcove for a range if it is opened out correctly.

Being local changes the after care as much as the fit. If something is faulty or missing on a Howdens delivery we raise it with the depot directly, which is generally quicker than a homeowner chasing it from outside, and if a snag appears after the job we can usually be back within a day or two. Newer housing around Hirwaun and the estates off the bypass behaves far more predictably, plasterboard on block and a much faster fit. Across all of CF44 the arrangement is the same, fit only, a fixed written price after the home survey, gas by a Gas Safe registered engineer and electrics by a qualified electrician, and no travel charge anywhere in the Cynon valley.

What is included

• Full Howdens range experience
• Trade depot coordination
• Precision unit fitting
• Integrated appliance setup

Fitting Howdens kitchens

Howdens sell trade only, so the account and the depot relationship sit with the fitter rather than the homeowner. That makes the depot coordination part of the job, from checking the plan and lead times to arranging the delivery slot and sorting any replacement parts. Howdens units come rigid and their ranges change, so we work from the current catalogue rather than assumptions.