# Ikea Kitchen Door Size Problem



## LynnJ (12 Jul 2012)

I have been helping my son fit an Ikea kitchen.

The original plan included a 600mm wide integrated dishwasher. We knew that space on the run of cupboards including the dishwasher would be tight and depended on how much we could regain from removing a box around a 110mm drain pipe in the corner. As it turned out we were short by over 50mm. So plan B was to use a 450mm dishwasher.

We have now almost completed the kitchen and all was well until my son went back to Ikea to swap the 600mm door for a 450mm one. He was told “we only do a 450mm door in stainless steel, you will have to use a 500mm door “.  
Had we known that before we could have left a 500mm space but that is now impossible without redoing half of the kitchen.

The door is foil (vinyl?) wrapped Abstrakt glossy black (it’s plain with slightly rounded edges). 

Some of the options we have considered to get around this problem are:

1)	Try and get a custom door made – a number of companies offer this service but I suspect I’d struggle to match the colour exactly– or am I wrong?
2)	Cut down an IKea 500mm door and somehow making the cut edge blend in the best we can. At least the dishwasher is in a run of units so the edge is not fully exposed. 

As I am not sure that painting the edge would be very successful, I thought of using a router to machine the door to 450mm by forming a groove from the back, removing all of the MDF but leaving the foil edge intact and wrap it around the newly cut door edge afterwards, perhaps with a narrow strip of wood inserted to give the required edge radius.

I have a few questions on this and any comments would be appreciated:

Is there is sufficient foil thickness to give it a chance of working?
Has anyone tried this before and if so what was the outcome?
How does foil react to being ‘cold formed’? 
Would some gentle heat help (hairdryer)?
What is the best glue to use?

As there is 50mm ‘spare’ foil it could be wrapped around the back of the door as well, thereby making it less likely to become unglued.


----------



## jasonB (12 Jul 2012)

Forget trying to cut the door and form it, the stuff is just too thin.

J


----------



## RogerBoyle (12 Jul 2012)

http://www.tkcomponents.co.uk/
Try the above link first as the range of doors that they do is unbelievable. All of the door ranges include a 450 size
I'd be surprised if they couldn't supply it
http://www.marpatt.co.uk/index.html
I dont think these guys do a foil wrapped door but you can always ask

HTH

Roger


----------



## petermillard (12 Jul 2012)

If you end up cutting the door down, then cut both edges and use the centre portion so at least both edges match. Perhaps then a *black gloss edging strip* would finish things off tidily?


----------



## redmoorphil (12 Jul 2012)

Or . . . you could make a feature of the door by cutting the excess out of the centre of the door - leaving two equally sized halfs, each with their edging intact, and use something like an H shaped stainless steel or black joining strip where you join the two halfs together. Or biscuit joint the two halfs together and run a thin strip of edging tape down the join. We did something similar in our first flat and used a contrasting colour and it worked fine.


----------



## Lons (12 Jul 2012)

redmoorphil":3hwk11ln said:


> Or . . . you could make a feature of the door by cutting the excess out of the centre of the door - leaving two equally sized halfs, each with their edging intact, and use something like an H shaped stainless steel or black joining strip where you join the two halfs together. Or biscuit joint the two halfs together and run a thin strip of edging tape down the join. We did something similar in our first flat and used a contrasting colour and it worked fine.



It is possible to do it without the edging strips.

I did it years ago with a gloss cream door. (It was a slab style with a deep chamfered edge so impossible to disguise cut edges). I cut a std 600, 18mm thk MDF door to fit a custom made cupboard of 480mm. Cut each side 15mm oversize on a tablesaw then then carefully routed to give a clean edge each side 240mm. biscuit joined glued and clamped and the joint was barely discernable.

It's probably worth the cost of a door if you get it wrong. probably cheap in relation to the overall job.

I have a photo somewhere in the archives if I can find it.

You'll find if you cut the door that the foil is possibly white just under the surface. A good dodge is to run a black permanent marker down that before glueing up.

Bob


----------



## LynnJ (12 Jul 2012)

Thanks all for your helpful replies.

I think I'll try and source a matching door first.

If I have no luck there I'll take the material out of the centre as advised. Hopefully it will be almost invisible, if not I'll add edging strip or a feature.

Lynn


----------



## Lons (13 Jul 2012)

LynnJ":3328x1pj said:


> Thanks all for your helpful replies.
> 
> I think I'll try and source a matching door first.
> 
> ...



Hi Lynn

Browns 2000 do gloss black and a range of door styles manufactured to size. I use the company occasionally though I always collect but I think they do a courier delivery. I have a current price list if you need an approximate cost but without checking I think they list prices on the site.

http://www.browns2000.co.uk/door-creato ... ens/styles

The door creator allows you to choose a style then a colour but worth ringing them if you need specific answers.


----------

