New kitchen project

[Paul Chapman]

Also, Sean, if you are using any dowels or biscuits, or setting backs into grooves, the extra thickness is always better. With 15mm you always seem to be on the limit.

What ever you decide to use, I hope it goes well :wink:

Paul

 

[jasonB]

You will also find that the 18mm board is a lot denser - smaller chips packed more tightly together.

A lot of the kitchen wirework & draw boxes are designed to fit into nominal 600,500,400 & 300 units with 18mm carcase thickness, if using the 15mm conti you may have to pack out the fittings.

Consealed hinges are generally also designed for 18mm carcases, if using standard crusiform mounting plates on 15mm board it puts your 35mm hole very close to the edge of the door, you can get round this by using mounting plates with a +3mm spacing

Use 3.5x16mm screws for your hardware if using 18mm board except the draw runners which are better with the short stubby 5.0mm draw screws, no risk of the heads fouling the runner.

Jason

 

[RogerS]

Services at the back of carcasses need a 50mm space - the largest waste you'll normally see is a 40mm so 50mm space gives you room to manouvre.
Scrit

Just installed a kitchen with a built-in washer/dryer and it was a pig to fit under the worktop. They really push the boundary. If I was doing it again I'd opt for a larger gap for services ...nearer 60mm or even 75mm....and the upside is you get more work surface area...

 

[engineer one]

yes but where do you get the wider worktop?????????

otherwise, you end up with shorter drawers which are really boring.

paul :wink:

 

[RogerS]

Paul

In an earlier kitchen and faced with a similar problem, we used a breakfasr bar sized laminated top which is wider than normal worktop. Or with natural material such as granite it's not a problem.

 

[JPEC]

Paul

In an earlier kitchen and faced with a similar problem, we used a breakfasr bar sized laminated top which is wider than normal worktop.

Pricey though and you would have to cut off the second post formed edge.
Also doesn't bb come in shorter lengths, ie straight joints :shock:

I suppose you could offset the cost by fitting the offcut as ' chunky' upstand as an extra :lol:

Sorry, don't have an alternative solution

 

[JPEC]

P.S. I agree with you about the service gap, have fitted many kitchens and 75mm makes life a lot easier. A 40mm waste pipe in a clip sits about 55mm total from the wall.
Never use ikea units :x no gap at all!
Not that any of us would dream of using factory cabs for the basis of a 'hand built kitchen' [-(

Julian

 

[tim]

I think the 'service gap' can be a real prob.

Its no biggie to make the sink cabinet shallower to allow for pipes esp if the dw/ wm are sited close by so that all these pipes run behind two or three cabinets..... but then if you have a wide and deep sink, it can happily interfere with the back of the shallower cabinet :x


I would never use a 600mm worktop if I could avoid it and use a minimum of 650mm or 750mm cut down if poss.


Cheers

Tim

 

[engineer one]

actually i am still concerned that after all this time we all still have not figured a way to make the sink cabinet a useful and workable space.

not having a go, but almost every sink cabinet i have tried to
retro fit storage on is such a mess. often even the b****y waste bin
is often so close the edges. and for flat dwellers now the introduction
of re-cycling bins is a really difficult storage problem.

i quite liked the idea of that straight trap, but i guess you have to check
with the local council to ensure that it is acceptable?

paul :wink:

 

[Scrit]

Services at the back of carcasses need a 50mm space - the largest waste you'll normally see is a 40mm so 50mm space gives you room to manouvre.

Just installed a kitchen with a built-in washer/dryer and it was a pig to fit under the worktop. They really push the boundary. If I was doing it again I'd opt for a larger gap for services ...nearer 60mm or even 75mm....and the upside is you get more work surface area...

Should have said that was the bare minimum. I always tell the sparks to put the sockets in behind the carcass next door to the washer/dish washer/oven and if I put in the plumbing (again, normal) the waste and water both go in next door and not behind the cabs. The modern wastes which plumb-in through a solid connection/Jubilee clip at the sink are far and away better than the old style S-trap and tube up wall approach.

yes but where do you get the wider worktop?????????

You buy a 670mm or wider breakfast bar piece and rip one edge off. Remember to seal the back, though.

P.S. I agree with you about the service gap, have fitted many kitchens and 75mm makes life a lot easier. A 40mm waste pipe in a clip sits about 55mm total from the wall.

Yes, but who says you need a full skim of plasterwork behind the units? :wink: Also grout and tiling give another 10 to 12mm to play with. Tight, but not impossible if you don't insist on running the services 1/2 mile to where they go through the wall! I always try to keep my wastes as low as possible - maybe there is a point in having 32mm wastes after all......

Its no biggie to make the sink cabinet shallower to allow for pipes esp if the dw/ wm are sited close by so that all these pipes run behind two or three cabinets..... but then if you have a wide and deep sink, it can happily interfere with the back of the shallower cabinet

It's for that reason that I advocate making both the front and rear stretchers/nailers in a sink base unit vertically orientated rather than the conventional horizontal - gives you something to hang the drawer fronts on in a drawer line kitchen, too, and won't be weakened as much when you do the top cut-outs for the sink, although it does mean that bracketing the stretcher to the top is a good idea.

Scrit

 

[sean_in_limerick]

Hi All - as a trial run i am in the middle of building a few 'kitchen-like' units for my garage - which i will make into a fixed platform for my compound-mitre saw. I have used 15mm MFC for the individual units (2 single and one double size) with an oak face frame. Just a couple of points.

The 15mm is not thick enough - thanks for everyone for pointing this out, i will be using the 18mm stuff for the kitchen.
I used pocket-screws to connect the face frame together and to attach the ff to the cabinets - these worked flawlessly.
I can't work out how to size the drawers for using the Blum tandem slides - i am leaving this until i have hung the doors and fitted drawers with less exotic slides.
Had trouble getting the units square (my table-saw could be better) - how do you guys adjust for square if it's slightly out?
I attached the adjustable feet to the bases but can't work out how i would adjust the legs that are at the back of the units - potentially just out of reach - how do you guys manage this?

Sean

Sean

 

[nickson71]

I must have longer arms


sorry about the lack of help on that one

 

[George_N]

Had trouble getting the units square (my table-saw could be better) - how do you guys adjust for square if it's slightly out?
I attached the adjustable feet to the bases but can't work out how i would adjust the legs that are at the back of the units - potentially just out of reach - how do you guys manage this?

Sean

Sean

I have a sliding extension table for my Triton workcentre which is great for this sort of thing. I've also just built a cross-cut sled which runs on the inner rail of the extension table, for when it's not convenient to set up the full table (it takes up a lot of space).
Adjusting rear feet on cabinets usually entails lying on the floor and stretching under the units...not easy if you have short arms, I suppose.

 

[engineer one]

now you know why people specify those metal legs which you can
access through a hole drilled above where the adjuster is.
you close it off with a bung.

the other thing to do is to adjust them before you push the
unit back in. but we never remember to do that do we??? :lol:

paul :wink:

 

[sean_in_limerick]

i have to be honest and admit i don't have the longest arms- but there seems to be a threaded insert to the top of the adjustable feet but nothing to actually put in there - i was wondering if they could be adjusted from above by drilling a hole through the bottom of the cabinet - and if so what do i need to do the adjusting?

 

[Scrit]

I attached the adjustable feet to the bases but can't work out how i would adjust the legs that are at the back of the units - potentially just out of reach - how do you guys manage this?

Lie on the floor on your side and stretch. Helps if you add add units one at a time, then you only have one leg to grovel for. Being hung like a gorilla (having long arms) does help, though.

Another solution is to fix a 3 x 2 stud to the wall (level, of course) then sit the rear of the carcasses on this "ledge" (no need for back feet then). This method does mean you need to bracket or otherwise fix the carcass to the wall.

......but there seems to be a threaded insert to the top of the adjustable feet but nothing to actually put in there - I was wondering if they could be adjusted from above by drilling a hole through the bottom of the cabinet - and if so what do i need to do the adjusting?

About the only feet I've seen which do this are supplied by PWS in the UK and they're aluminium, not plastic. They are adjusted by a screwdriver and you need to put a "bung" in the hole - which then means you don't have a flat bottom shelf. Never rains, does it? :roll:

The other thing about the bottom-adjuster feet (as opposed to top adjuster) is that they have generally got a "lip" at the top - this should overlap the bottom edge of the sides and gives the carcass a bit more strength at the side/bottom joint.

Scrit

 

[Scrit]

I would never use a 600mm worktop if I could avoid it and use a minimum of 650mm or 750mm cut down if poss.

The problems of going to 700mm worktops are (at least) threefold - they rob a lot of space from smaller kitchens, the rear is difficult to reach at a standard height of c. 910mm if you are under 5 ft 6in high (and many women are 5ft 3in ir thereabouts) and they tend to look a bit odd as almost all sinks are designed to fit into 600mm tops.....

Scrit

 

[sean_in_limerick]

Hi everyone,
I bought some blum suspension cabinet fittings for hanging the upper units - my thinking being that this would save me a lot of time levelling everything because they can be adjusted in three directions - has anyone used these and if so, what do i need to do to the back of the cabinet to allow enough room for them. There is a technical drawing on the isaac lord website but i'm not used to reading these things and i can't decode it - can anyone help?

http://www.isaaclord.co.uk/prodList.asp?searchText=suspension+fitting&Searchmode=all

 

[Scrit]

Basically you need a small rectangular cut-ouy on both the lft and right side of the back at the top to accommodate the suspension claw. When the cab is assembled push the fitting into place, poke the claw thtough the cut-out and screw onto the side. Simple

Scrit

 

[sean_in_limerick]

thanks Scrit, how much should i inset the back of the cabinet? Does insetting the back make the placement of the wall plates critical?