B & Q – Brighton

As the previous reviewers have pointed out, this B & Q is typical of any of the huge stores, one massive warehouse stocked floor to ceiling with everything you could ever need for DIY in the house or garden.
There’s a large outside area with plants, herbs and various decking, trellises, and pots, and inside you’ll find everything from power tools to wardrobes.
The prices vary, we saw a full bedroom furniture suite for £150 in the sale, although the one you would take home would be flat packed and no doubt a pain to assemble.
Good place for stocking up on pansies and soil for the garden.

It seems like B&Q is the hip and happenin’ hangout for couples and young families on a Sunday afternoon. The place was packed with duos spending their weekends on home improvements. Well done, folks.
At first, I enjoyed browsing — possibly because I started in the garden centre. A vast array of flowers, tall plants, bamboo and bonsai were ready to take home. Prices started at a very affordable 98p for the tiny pots, with slightly larger flowers on offer at 2 for £15. Also available were seeds, soil, pots and any tools necessary to start and maintain a garden.
The rest of the shop, though, was quite dull in comparison. I found myself dragging my feet through sections like lighting, paint, shelving, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, rugs, laminate flooring and tile. A woman asked her child, «Are you getting bored?» as I walked by, so perhaps I’m simply not mature enough to appreciate the wonder of home renovations.
My theory, though, is that every aisle brings to mind the hours of work that would accompany each purchase. I really can’t be bothered.

Basically B & Q, like Homebase is one of those shops which is brilliant because it sells everything under one roof, but also has a monopoly on the DIY market, so people don’t know any better anyway.
Recently helping my brother to turn his spare room into a baby haven meant going to B & Q just down the road to get paints mixed, and brushes bought. I had to wait an age for someone to come over to help me with the paint mixing, which I could have done myself if they’d allow me, but instead a grumpy old woman did. The brushes and the undercoat were also pretty expensive, and were in either too large or too bigger pot.
But…I don’t personally know of any little independent DIY places with all of this stuff here, so I’ll continue to go, and it will continue to provide a useful, but quite expensive service.

It doesn’t matter how many adverts we see for B&Q with couples happily buying new power tools and pots of paint. We all know that B&Q is more likely to make us fall out with our beloveds!
t’s not just the sheer volume of different shape and size paints, screws, door handles, light bulbs and wallpapers — it’s the mammoth size of B&Q itself. It’s like a mini IKEA with never ending aisles that look exactly the same. To make it worse, whatever time you go there’s always queues. The one thing it has going for it however, is the staff are friendly and helpful and it’s easy to return products if you change your mind.

good olfashined B&Q as we know itnothing more nothing lesscan be a lifesaver sometimes

The usual wide range of goods. The service is okay, but not great. I asked for advice on buying an angle grinder, and was passed on to a man who was supposed to know all about power tools. He tried to sell me a 750 watt version for £30, unknown brand, but next to it but one on the shelf was a Black and Decker 2000 watt version for only £5 more. I checked this out with him, and he presumed that because I was female, he thought I only wanted it for a half hour job. Not the worst, but not great.
The outdoor section, tho, is good: practical hardstanding, pots and planters, and a lot of plants, more than you’ll find in some modern garden centres. They sell them off regularly, so you can often find bargains too.