Design ideas for hot water tank cupboard

[LarryS.]

Hi all,

We moved into our house 4 years ago and had quite a lot of work done in renovation. One bit we’ve since thought we’d want to improve is the door / cover for the hot water tank cupboard.

Currently the bottom two thirds is a piece of 18mm MDF, the top piece is an MDF triangle with badly fitted butt hinges.

I’m planning to build cabinets and a built in alcove in the rest of the house, and wife is looking at this cupboard as my “test piece”. Aka if I can’t make this look good she won’t trust me with anything else !

I’ve got a table saw, track saw, domino etc etc all ready to do this sort of work.

So what I’m lacking is design ideas, of how to make this more functional (so the door isn’t hanging off) and more aesthetically pleasing.
The bottom piece needs to be removable for maintenance and the door needs to open for regular access to heating controls.

So any ideas on a style and]construction method I could use ? Any help appreciated !
Thanks


Paul

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[Phil Pascoe]

When I did mine I did one thing I was glad of - I stuck all the shelving in with hot melt glue. If you have a rethink afterwards or find you've made a bit of plumbing inaccessible it can be knocked apart without difficulty. Sometimes things aren't obvious until you've finishd everything and it's actually in use.
Not particularly relevant to the door, of course.

 

[LarryS.]

Thanks Phil, looks like my photos didn’t work first time around but as you can see no space for any shelves ! Good tip on the glue gun shelving though, thanks




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[Phil Pascoe]

You'd be surprised what you could get in there.

 

[Geoff_S]

You mentioned building other cabinets. To the right there appears to be a freestanding wardrobe. Have you considered built in cabinets/wardrobes across that whole wall and "blend in" the water tank doors to match? Would that work?

 

[sunnybob]

That tank is very old and has no insulation. it must be costing you a lot of money in lost heat. Whats the rest of the system? If thats also the same age I recommend you upgrade to a condensing combi boiler and you can throw every thing in that cupboard away and turn the space in to the main room.

 

[sunnybob]

Looking more closely at that tank I'm thinking it might be galvanised iron. Does a magnet stick to it?
if so then you really need to replace or remove that asap as its most likely either rusted though or completely furred up.

 

[deema]

If there is a loft above, which I believe there will be for the expansion / filler tank, I personally would move the tank into the loft. A new combined tank that has the expansion / filler tank combined into it aren’t that expensive. There will only be a little to do with the pipes and you add a lot if valuable room to a bedroom as well as getting rid of the tank noise.

I moved one in about 3 hrs into the loft. The longest job is emptying out the tanks!

 

[LarryS.]

Looking more closely at that tank I'm thinking it might be galvanised iron. Does a magnet stick to it?
if so then you really need to replace or remove that asap as its most likely either rusted though or completely furred up.

Hi Sunny,

The photo is a bit deceiving, it’s a fully insulated tank about 7yrs old

 

[LarryS.]

If there is a loft above, which I believe there will be for the expansion / filler tank, I personally would move the tank into the loft. A new combined tank that has the expansion / filler tank combined into it aren’t that expensive. There will only be a little to do with the pipes and you add a lot if valuable room to a bedroom as well as getting rid of the tank noise.

I moved one in about 3 hrs into the loft. The longest job is emptying out the tanks!

Hi Deena,

I’m not sure if that’s an option for us as all the left space is above bedrooms so I’d be reticent to put hot water above any of them in case of a leak

 

[LarryS.]

You mentioned building other cabinets. To the right there appears to be a freestanding wardrobe. Have you considered built in cabinets/wardrobes across that whole wall and "blend in" the water tank doors to match? Would that work?

The wardrobe to the right is the only quality one we have that’s not an ikea job so the only one I wasn’t going to replace unfortunately

 

[sunnybob]

That IS very deceiving, but its not fully insulated which is why I thought it was iron. you need a jacket around the top half at least (heat rises, remember) to fully cover the top of the element and the expansion pipe. By the way, is that another deception, or is there white insulating tape around that expansion pipe? It might just be white paint on old pipe though.

Wise not to put a hot tank above a bed. I knew the family of a little child that died horribly when a hot tank exploded over its cot.

OK, back to the door :roll: .
I wouldnt make a door as such, it will eat into the room to allow it to swing open. I would just make a one piece flat panel (decorated to your taste) that could just be lifted off and removed for repairs. Then the bed could be moved right up to it to use it as a headboard.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Bob, it's moulded on polyurethane insulation - I suspect thats all you can buy nowadays. The pipes could do with insulating, though. I've a mains pressure tank (which is obviously a lot stronger) in the roof space, but I believe building regs won't allow them to be put over a bedroom.

 

[Rorschach]

I would make a light weight door from MDF with ribs inside to keep it nice and flat and then I would attach it with magnets.

 

[LarryS.]

I would make a light weight door from MDF with ribs inside to keep it nice and flat and then I would attach it with magnets.

Thanks I’m thinking that the bottom piece I’d replicate but attached with magnets (for infrequent access) but not sure how to make it “pretty”.
Also the top door I’m not sure if perhaps a panelled door would look better (maybe 18mm mdf with panels glued on) ?


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[Rorschach]

Yes you could certainly make it a panel style door, you might even be able to buy a cheap hollow core door and modify that. As long as it is lightweight you can use the magnets.

We have a cupboard door in the corner of a utility that was awful to access (poor planning by the fitter). I took it off the hinges, added some battens and used magnets, much better now.