Kitchen problem

[ThePinkPanther]

Hi

I am installing a new kitchen, which has a mixture of base units, tall units and wall units. All of the units and worktops are now in and we've noticed a bit of a problem and wondered what people on here would advise.

Without realising that there was a 'standard' height for worktops, I chose a height that would accomodate the kick boards without requiring any cutting. They are 16.5cm and sit on a plastic base. The height of the top of the worktop is now between 93.5cm and 94cm, a bit over the standard 91cm. I only realised that they were a bit high because the dishwasher and freezer (both integrated) which go under cannot quite reach the worktops with their legs at full height.

I think that at this stage, changing the height of the units is out. We could raise the floor by reboarding the floor but are wondering whether to bother since the wife and I both find the heigth OK (probably wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the appliances). At the mo I am tempted to just raise the height of the floor under the two appliances by a board thickness and leave everything else the same. Are there any other problems with having the worktops a bit on the high side that we haven't yet considered?

We plan to lay lino which will probably be around 3 to 5mm thickness but perhaps we can lay something underneath (underlay type stuff) to bring the floor up a bit more? (I have already over boarded the floor with 6mm ply in preparation for the lino).

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[foxhole]

You can raise appliances on a piece of ply but it makes moving appliances a little more difficult.

 

[ThePinkPanther]

Thanks for the swift reply foxhole.

Would you just raise the appliances then and leave the rest of the floor as it is?

Ta

 

[foxhole]

If budget allows over boarding with a thicker ply would improve situation, depends if this creates too large a threshold into kitchen.

 

[joinerjohn]

As the appliances are integrated, your best move would be to raise them on a piece of ply. Being integrated, they shouldn't want moving (at least, not until they require servicing or replacing)

I wouldn't overboard the whole floor as you'd then have to cut the kickboards/plinths to fit

 

[big-all]

you should look in the book off the appliances and see what clearance you need above and work to that

 

[ThePinkPanther]

Thanks for your replies.

I had hoped to avoid overboarding because of the threshold to the room (and expense!). So given that we find the height OK I think I'll proeed as joinerjohn suggested.

Since my last post I have checked with Howdens (who supplied the kitchen) and the Howdens fitter who cut my worktops (I didn't fancy taking that job on!). They both said that they recomend that the top of the base units be at 890mm, meaning worktop height of 930mm. Apparantely this allows for a 5mm gap between kickboards and cupboards to get them in easily without having to rip them down. It looks like after I have fitted some lino at ~5mm I'll be not far off this (between 930mm and 935mm). The kitchen fitter said that he always uses something to build up the floor under the built in appliances as far as possible (usually an offcut of worktop from the sink/hob cutout) since this way the legs are not at full extension and the unit is a bit sturdier.

So looks like I'll be much closer to the height that Howdens would have achieved if they'd fitted it than I had previously feared. Think I may go still for ply to build up the floor since it will react better to any lotential leaks etc.

Thanks again for advice.