We’ve all been there. You wake up on a Saturday morning with a sudden urge to turn an old wooden crate into a planter, or build a shelf for the spice bottles rolling around in your drawer.
If you caught the DIY bug during lockdown, or there are just a million things you need to fix around your house, you’ll want to know the opening times for B&Q.
We spoke to Opening Times about when B&Q is open, how long it is open for during the weeks and weekend, the current Covid rules for shopping safely in B&Q, and how to get an online delivery or showroom appointment at B&Q.
Let’s dive right in, and look at the opening times for B&Q.
What are B&Q’s opening times?
According to Opening Times, the opening times for most B&Q stores are Monday to Friday 7am-9pm, on Saturday 7am-8pm and on Sunday 10am-4pm.
These may change depending on your local store, though, and you can check the specific opening hours for each B&Q branch through the Opening Times branch locator.
Is B&Q open during lockdown?
Yes, B&Q is open during lockdown. In the first national lockdown, announced in March 2020, B&Q initially closed its stores. While B&Q was closed, it worked on introducing social distancing measures in-store to contain the spread of Covid-19. These changes involve perspex screens in checkouts, to stop the transmission of Covid-19 between staff and customers, and 2 metre markers for shoppers to distance from each-other. B&Q then reopened on the 23rd April 2020, and has remained open during both the 2nd and 3rd national lockdown.
Why is B&Q open during lockdown?
B&Q is open during lockdown because it is on the government’s list of ‘essential’ retailers that can remain open. B&Q sells home repair items, which means it is a vital store. Imagine if your lightbulb broke and you couldn’t find another, or something went wrong with your washing machine? You may not have the money to hire a professional to fix your home repair issues, and rather than put up with dirty clothes and no light, you’d need to head to a hardware store like B&Q to get the tools you need to fix your problems.
Not only this, but research by Dickies Work Wear shows a huge boom in our interest in home repair and improvement since the Covid-19 pandemic, which makes sense, as we’re stuck at home all the time. You can hardly help noticing the cracked walls of your living room, when you spend all day trying to homeschool your kids in it, or your leaky roof, when you spend all day working under it. According to Dickies Work Wear, there was a 1241% increase in garden DIY phrases being searched on google.
DIY can provide us with a welcome distraction from the stress of living through a pandemic, so it’s unsurprising that stores like B&Q are popular during lockdown, and people are relieved that they’re staying open.
Even if you’re just drilling a few screws into the wall, or hammering a cute coat-hanger up in your child’s bedroom, DIY can be a really creative activity. Creativity has amazing results for our mental health, and studies show that it can decrease the risk of dementia.
However, make sure you only go to B&Q to shop for essential repair-related products, or for items to help you move home, as you can shop for all non-essentials online.
What are the current rules for shopping in B&Q stores?
When you are shopping in B&Q stores, the following rules apply:
- Wear a face covering at all times while you’re shopping in-store, unless you are exempt.
- Only shop for essential items, and purchase all non-essential items online.
- Keep two metres apart from other shoppers and staff at all times. B&Q have 2 metre floor markers to remind everyone how much distance to keep.
- When you are waiting to enter the store, queue in the designated queueing area outside, unless there is no queue.
- Make your payments via card or other contactless methods, if you can.
- Sanitise your hands as you enter the store using the hand sanitiser at the entrance to the store. Other hand sanitiser stations are at the paint mixing desk, and other parts of your B&Q store. You can sanitise your trolley using cleaning materials at the store entrance.
- Bring a list of the items you require, and get this ready before you enter the store. At the B&Q entrance, staff will ask you what you need and direct you to your items.
- Limit the groups you shop in. B&Q’s recommended group size is no more than 2, although children under 16 are allowed at the manager’s discreiton.
Can I order online from B&Q?
You can certainly order online from B&Q, and this is preferable to shopping in-store, as you will help keep yourself and others safe from Covid-19. There are no restrictions on what you order from B&Q for home delivery, so you should be able to find most items that you need, except for certain bulk buy items, or items too large for delivery.
How do I order online at B&Q?
Here’s three simple steps to ordering online at B&Q
- Go onto the B&Q website, and click the ‘search’ bar at the top of the screen to search for the products you want. Alternatively, you can click on ‘menu’ to find the department name, for example, ‘Home & Bathroom’ or ‘Kitchen & Bedroom”, to narrow down your search. There are several search filters you can use to find exactly what you’re looking for.
- When you’ve found the product you’re looking for and you want to buy it, you’ll see a tool underneath the item description that allows you to put the quantity of item you want (it is automatically set to 1, so if you want just 1 item, you don’t need to do anything). Once you’ve chosen your item quantity, choose either ‘Home Delivery’ if you want the item delivered to your home or “Find your local store’ if you want to reserve the item for B&Q’s click+collect service, which allows you to pick up items you order online in-store.
- Once you’ve chosen your item quantity, click the orange bar underneath that says ‘add to basket’. Then click on the shopping basket icon at the top right hand side of the page. Your items will appear, and you can click on the secure checkout button and fill in your details for payment. If you wish to remove an item from your shopping basket, simply click on the rubbish bin icon on the right hand side of your item, which will remove the item.
How much is home delivery from B&Q?
B&Q has a range of different prices and options for home delivery. Let’s look at them now:
- For Next Day Delivery, B&Q charge £5 for a standard delivery, free for orders over £50. If you want your item delivered on Sunday, this is an extra £5.
- For Named Day Delivery. B&Q charge £5 for a standard delivery, free for orders over £50. For a large delivery, the fees are £10 and free delivery for orders over £250.
- For Bulk Delivery: B&Q charge £30 for a bulk delivery, free for orders over £350.
If you are ordering more than one item, you need to know that they may not be delivered together. If you’re ordering multiple items, B&Q will give you a delivery date that matches the product with the longest delivery timescale, and will likely deliver all your items together as a single delivery.
If your order contains both large and standard delivery items, you’ll be charged for large delivery. Similarly, if your order contains bulk delivery items, as well as standard or large items, you’ll be charged for bulk delivery.
Can I do click and collect for B&Q during lockdown?
Yes, you can buy using Click+Collect at B&Q during lockdown. Go to the B&Q website, and search for the product you want. Then, after you’ve selected the quantity you want, click ‘Find your local store’. Once you’ve selected your local store and your item is in stock, it will be available within an hour. If you select your item 1 hour before store closing time, your item will be availabel the next day.
Click+Collect is another great way to stay safe during the Covid-19 lockdown. You minimise the amount of time you spent in-store, as your item is ready and waiting for you. To collect your order in-store at B&Q you will need:
- A copy of your order confirmation, on your phone or printed out
- The payment card that you used to pay for the order, or one of the following up-to-date pieces of photographic ID – a current photographic driver’s license, a passport, or a PASS accredited proof of age card. B&Q won’t be able to give you your items without seeing proof of identity, so make sure you bring one of the above.
You can collect your order from the Click+Collect point in the B&Q branch you’ve selected.
If you change your mind on a product you’ve ordered for B&Q click and collect, you can get a refund. However, you can’t return the item. If you haven’t picked up your item in 7 days, B&Q will return it to the store and refund you automatically, so if you’ve changed your mind, just leave the item where it is.
Is B&Q still open for showroom appointments?
B&Q is still running showroom appointments, but these are happening online to mitigate the risks of Covid-19. Visit B&Q’s online planning appointment page to book your appointments.
B&Q’s showroom appointments offer you guidance from B&Q’s advisors if you are planning to renovate, upscale or build a new kitchen, bathroom or bedroom, for example.
If you’ve pre-booked for an in-store showroom appointment, B&Q will reschedule this.
What will happen during my online planning appointment?
During your B&Q planning appointment, you’ll get a full quote on the work you want done on a specific room, as well as a full price breakdown, so you can plan exactly how to manage the costs of a build or renovation. You’ll also get an expert 3D design of your potential new room, based on your style preferences.
3-D showrooms
It doesn’t matter if you can’t visit a B&Q kitchen showroom in-store, as you can view B&Q’s GoodHome kitchen ranges in 3-D online. Just zoom in to get a closer look at the kitchen products and utilities which catch your eye.
Online tools
B&Q also offers online tools to help you visualise the kitchen or other room that you’re thinking of building or recreating. B&Q’s Kitchen visualiser, which you can find via B&Q’s online planning appointment page, helps you match cupboard doors with tiles and worktops so you can find a product that works with your style. The Preparation guide gives you good advice to prepare for your online B&Q planning appointment, and the Room visualiser helps you visually explore flooring and paint options for your room build or renovation.
What is the quietest time to shop at B&Q?
The quietest time to shop at B&Q is in the morning and late afternoon. B&Q suggest that if you want to avoid queueing and too many people, which is the best way to stay safe during the lockdown, try coming earlier in the day, as peak hours are likely to be around the middle of the day.
B&Q are open from 7am during the week and on Saturdays, so if you are a real early bird, you could get all your home repairs sorted before 9am, and avoid the crowds. If you’re more of a night owl, after 7pm is probably your best bet for avoiding too many people and queues during the week and on Saturdays. On Sundays, B&Q opens from 10am-4pm, so stick to just after 10am, or just before 4pm.
So, now that you know the opening times for B&Q, how to access opening times for your local B&Q branch, and how to organise a home delivery from B&Q, we wish you the best of luck with your home repairs and a lot of DIY-related fun.