Kitchen Renovation - Total novices!

[M0rningview]

Hi All,

My husband and I are currently sulking in the living room as the plans we had for the kitchen don't seem to be going to plan now we've started putting the units together! I would be so grateful for your help and advice, I already think we have made some MAJOR rookie errors, oh dear.

Our new kitchen plan is here:

and I am talking about the two cupboards on the far left.

Our current kitchen and our planned kitchen are both L shapes. The new kitchen is to be relocated pretty much the same as our old kitchen, apart from the cupboard we have assembled which unexpectedly, does not seem to fit in the space provided.

In a fit of enthusiasm, my husband and I decided to install the wall cupboards last weekend and now, we are having trouble fitting an almost floor to ceiling unit in the space to the left of one wall cupboard. (Tall cupboard furthest to the left) You can see the boiler and expansion tank (which we have already knocked) here:

Here is a picture of the wall cupboard we have installed, the cupboard that doesn't fit, sits to the left of this.

The wall cupboard sits as the last cupboard on the wall. This is due to the fact there is a boiler expansion tank on the wall which sticks out about 2cm too far. It hadn't even occurred to me that this even needed to be thought about. If we hadn't already installed the other wall cupboard then we wouldn't have the problem. But, now we have, my husband has informed me that moving the wall cupboard over to the right means that we are getting too close to an electrical wire so that doesn't seem to be an option either.

My solution is to pay for a plumber to move the expansion tank up towards the ceiling, above the height of the cupboard. Will this cause problems, does the expansion pack need to be at a certain height? If not, how long do you think this job would take?

All views, gratefully received, we are both feeling so downhearted and only have evenings and weekends to work on the kitchen.

Thanks,

Jenni

 

[JohnD]

tell us more about this electrical cable problem.

you can pencil its position on the wall and photograph it.

if he means the screw for the hanging bracket, there is an alternative and better solution.

 

[M0rningview]

tell us more about this electrical cable problem.

you can pencil its position on the wall and photograph it.

if he means the screw for the hanging bracket, there is an alternative and better solution.

Thank you for the reply, do you mean pencil the position of the wall cabinet we already have up?


We're not sure what the wire is, it's just picked up by the detector. We haven't tried to rehang it yet as it's currently full of stuff! And yes, I did mean that my husband thinks moving the cupboard over to the right, means the hanging bracket is in line with a wire.

We can't take a picture at the moment as the cabinet is still on the wall. I hope what I've said makes sense! What is the other option for hanging it?

 

[JohnD]

chip the plaster away so you can see the cable. Identify if it is a live one or left over from 80 years ago.

you can fit Hanging Rail which is like the hanging brackets but in long strips with a hole every inch, so you put up a length of it with screws where they are safe. it is very strong and you can lift the cabinet up and down and move it along the strip at whim.

the pressure vessel can go anywhere, it does not even need to be next to the boiler. But it must be accessible for servicing. It might have been fitted because the one inside the boiler casing went faulty and a separate one was cheaper, or because the house was extended and now has more radiators than the internal one can cope with.

 

[JohnD]

this sort of thing
http://www.locksonline.com/acatalog/cabinet-hanger-wall-rail-6152.html

http://comptools.co.uk/store/hafele-cabinet-hanger-wall-rail-p-20667.html

I used to get mine from Woodfit but they have just gone bust. It comes in 2 or 3 metre lengths. You can paint it to match the wall. Screwfix annoyingly do not sell it

I think it used to be about £30 a length but has come down a lot. I think it's great, you can fix it all round you kitchen and hang the units later. No difficulty getting the screws on studs and between pipes or cables. You have to notch the back edge of the cabinet to fit over the rail.

 

[M0rningview]

Thanks so much, those look perfect. Thankfully I managed to convince him to take the cupboard down and we managed to find enough space to squeeze in some screws. We still have some more to do so those may be just the tickets.

Thanks again, for now we are sorted!