Modular Kitchen Buying Guide: Comparing Prices And Features With Godrej Kitchen

As the Godrej Modular Kitchen is known to be a quality product. There is a general perception that Godrej Modular Kitchens are costly.

But is it costly? We will analyze this topic here and compare the price and features of different kinds of kitchens here.

We surveyed the market and collected data. For imported kitchens, we surveyed physically where possible and took the data by phone, through e-mail and the internet, where we couldn’t do physically.

We compared the kitchens on the following parameters:

Carcass used for kitchen cabinets
Shutters options
Hardware options
Warranty offered
Price for the same size of kitchen with the same kind of fittings

We will discuss all the above aspects here except the shutters. As for shutters, each vendor offered too many choices, so the comparison was becoming too complicated.

We have categorized the kitchen market into three segments as below for the convenience of understanding:

Table of Contents

Carpenter-made-Kitchen:

These are the kitchen furniture offered by interior designers, civil contractors, and carpenters. We clubbed these under a Carpenter-made kitchen as all of them were made by local carpenters buying locally available materials. They all charged the price on sft.(Square feet) basis

Branded Kitchen:

The kitchen is supplied by dealers of kitchen manufacturers. They are of two kinds: Regional and National Branded manufacturers.

Imported Kitchens:

Mostly imported European Kitchens come under this category.

Here are the results of the market survey:

Carpenter-made Kitchen:

CARCASS: The Carpenters make the carcass with either the block board or PVC Board.
Block Boards: consists of a core made of wooden strips or blocks, placed edge to edge between two layers of plywood, which are then glued together under high pressure. There are various kinds of block boards, those made of softwood like Deodar, Cedar, pinewood etc. and, those made by mixed hardwoods.
The Block Boards are stiffer and less prone to bending, unlike plywood. Blockboard is more prone to water damage as it is known to retain moisture. It is stiffer than plywood and less prone to bending. It is dimensionally stable and can withstand cracking.
The PVC Boards are good for water and moisture resistance, but they are load-bearing capacity is low, and their torque-bearing capacity is also low, so the screws that will be tightened on it will enlarge the hole making the screws all with the usage of the drawers.
Plywood: The doors were made of Plywood. Plywood is less susceptible to damage by water and is resistant to cracking. It is uniform throughout its length and breadth and can be easily lacquered, painted, veneered and laminated. However, plywood tends to bend at the centre, and also splinter badly when cut. good quality kitchens are made from marine plywood, which they call waterproof ply. It is made of BWR Ply. The ply has the
The Kitchen boxes were joined together by one common 19 mm Block Board/PVC Board. Hence these kitchens can’t be dismantled later on and are not modular in nature.
To give it a better look the Sunmica of 1 mm on the doors and 0.8 mm inside was pasted manually.
Due to the manual process of pasting the chances of the Sunmica pasted peeling off with time was high.
The hardware used varied from local, Godrej hardware fittings, Hettich and Hafele make.
The warranties provided were not well defined and non-committal types.
The designs were finalized by verbal discussion and making 2D drawings.
The Price: They were found to be around 10% to 20% cheaper compared to the Godrej modular kitchen of the same size and design.

Branded Kitchens:

The quality of regional brands was found to be lower than that of national brands with lower price points.
CARCASS: Depending on the brand we found the carcass to be made of BWR/BWP Marine Ply for bottom units and MDF/BWP Marine Ply being used for upper units. Some were giving MDF/HDF carcasses also.
We found the stainless steel accessories used to make drawers of the kitchen be made from 304 as well as 202 Grade..
MDF boards swell and de-shapes, if water seeps into them, and are not recommended for Modular Kitchens. 202 Grade Stainless steel is of inferior quality and not suitable for the kitchen.
The Hardware used varied from supplier to supplier using local hardware to Hafele and Hettich hardware.
The warranties were found to be 5 years to 10 years, with a non-committal warranty for one regional brand.
PRICE: The regional brands were found to be almost at par with (0% to 5% cheaper) Godrej modular furniture.
The national brand furniture was found to be 5% to 15% costlier compared to Godrej Modular kitchens.
Examples of these brands were Kutchina, Sleek, space wood and Hometown.

Imported Kitchen:

They had good aesthetics, and looked pretty, with soft closing hardware of Haffele, or Hettich.
The carcass was found to be made mostly of MDF/HDF board. MDF boards are not good for Indian kitchens because of our high usage of water in the kitchen. They are used in imported kitchens perhaps due to the fact that little water is used in European countries.
The kitchen tops were mostly found to be made of attractive Quartz tops, and acrylic tops. These tops look very attractive but they have the following drawbacks: oils, acids, and dyes can cause discolouration if not wiped up promptly. It gets scratched by abrasive materials and sharp objects. They are not UV resistant and get discoloured with the passage of time.
The height of the kitchen was found to be higher than the ideal height of an Indian woman. Ergonomics of the kitchen are very important as they can result in health issues, fatigue, backache, knee joint pains, shoulder joint pains etc. This could be due to the fact that the average Indian woman’s height is smaller than the average European woman’s height.
The warranties for most were 5 years.
Price: They were found to be 50% to 100% costlier than Godrej modular kitchens.
Examples of Imported Kitchen Brands are Arancia, Wurfel, Beth,Nolte, Blau etc.

Godrej Modular Kitchen:

They come with two kinds of carcass: Galvanized Steel and BWP Marine Ply.
The stainless steel drawers are made of 304-grade stainless steel with 0.1 mm nickel coating
The hardware choices are: own Godrej make, Hafele, and Hettich make.
The doors are having several choices: Galvanized steel, Laminated Marine Ply, PU coated Marine Ply, Acrylic layers on Marine Ply etc.
The warranty provided is for 15 years on most parts.

Here, are some useful factors that should also be born in mind when deciding on a modular kitchen.

Production methods:

The production methods used by Godrej Interio is highly advanced and efficient.
The products are manufactured on automated plants, to minimise human errors, provide a better finish and provide consistent quality of the product.
The interior decorators get it made by local carpenters.

Quality of materials:

Godrej Interio uses high-quality materials for its modular kitchens, Each component goes through stringent quality tests.
The local interior decorators get it made by carpenters by using locally available materials.

Design expertise:

Godrej Interio has a team of experienced designers and engineers who can provide expert guidance and advice throughout the entire design and installation process, which can contribute to the higher cost.
They make and show the 3D design and then install exactly as shown.
The Independent interior decorators may have less specialized expertise in kitchen design.

After-sales support:

Godrej Interio offers more extensive after-sales support and warranties than independent interior decorators, which can increase the overall cost.

Brand value and reputation:

Godrej Interio is a well-established brand with a reputation for high-quality products and services. The brand value and reputation may contribute to the higher cost of Godrej modular kitchens.

To conclude, Godrej Modular is expensive depends on the way you look at it and with whom you compare with.

In general, Godrej modular kitchen are reasonably priced and quite price competitive with most of the other brands.

Surely, if you give weightage to the quality, benefit, long life and after sales support then the Godrej Modular Kitchen will perhaps be the front runner for No. 1 position for best value for money.