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Tips

Many years of experience are needed to be a true kitchen fitter. They all have there own unique styles of fitting and adaptation of carcases for odd shaped kitchens and reveals. The most important is the function of the way the kitchen is constructed. Here are some tips and tricks for fitting from some of the country's top fitters hints and tips note books - thanks lads...

Stanley, the fitters best workmate.

Use a Stanley knife to score foil cornice and pelmet before you cut it with a saw, you can see your cut and the surface material with not blister with the rough saw.

Flip it over 1st.

Cut laminate work surfaces "face down". The saw will then spin with the cutting/work edge pressing onto the surface and not blister the laminate where you want to cut it.

Run Out

When fitting your base units keep a close eye on the distance between the floor and the bottom on the base unit. You can find that some floors can run out quite considerably, ie gap at the first unit 155mm end of run can be 190mm +. Therefore it’s best to find a happy medium and lower the units accordingly. Nothing worse than looking through from the lounge to see a gap. If you find legs are being screwed out near the end of the thread, use blocks of wood under the legs. The same with integrated appliances, don’t forget to have them level with the top of the unit and again block their legs up rather than having them on the maximum thread.

After thought.

When adjusting your legs, allow for the height of the finished flooring.

Panels

Ask suppliers sizes of worktop support panels breakfast bar panels etc. It is always handier if they are over sized ie 900 high instead of 870 .

Worktops Joints

If your not sure of doing a butt/scribe yourself enlist a local joiner to do it for you. Its always worth paying someone for a typical L shape kitchen and he will talk you through jointing them together. Also if he messes ups cutting those expensive tops he has to replace them. Or check out our worktop cutting and mitre service.

Your tool

Make sure you get the right tools for the job, ie, downward cutting blade for jigsaws, circular saw with laminate cutting blade not a rip saw. The more teeth the better.

Play 1st

Order a couple extra end panels etc and have a play at cutting cornice etc first make sure your doing it right, Make sure mitre saw cuts true.

Cornice/pelmet

When fitting cornice pelmet use modesty blocks or L brackets, don’t screw through the cupboards top and bottom. Use mitre bond or equivalent to glue mitred joints but be aware you only get one chance as it sticks fast. Watch those fingers though!

It won't fit !

Do not put larder and tall oven units together then expect them to roll up into position. Some have to be made up, standing up, as the distance from corner to corner is greater than the height of some ceilings.

Nice legs, look after them.

When placing the bosses for the legs on the bottom of the carcase, do not hit the centre punch hole that fires into the carcase to keep it in place directly with a hammer. Always have a piece of wood (not one of the shelves !) in between the pin and the hammer so the pin doesn't fire into the wood and blister the carcase internally.

"L"

Make sure, when you order the kitchen you ask them for "L" brackets to fix the base units to the wall so they don't move. If the supplier tries to charge you for them ask them to remember how much your paying for it all.

Don't get annoyed.

Fit the hinge plates to the carcase sides before you put the unit together. Trying to reach in with a battery drill to fit them when the carcase is put together can cause frustration compared to doing it before you make them up.

Too late

Put the shelf in "L" corner base units while you put it together not afterwards, as it may not be possible to insert it when it is made up.

Electrics

If you do not know what Part P is, and do not have Part P because your not an electrician - ring one now ! - Do not touch electrics as you can kill yourself or your family or burn the house down. All electrical works have to be carried out by a competent electrician and signed off. You may struggle to sell your house at a later date if you have added to the installation and not had it signed off.

Gas

You have to be correctly trained to install gas pipe work, and Corgi registered to inspect and issue a test on it - ring a gas fitter before you do anything - Do not touch the gas as you can kill yourself & your family or burn the house down after as a result of the spark from your wiring !

Wall unit height.

The wall units are dictated by the height of any tall larder, oven units or dresser & shutter units. The top of the wall units has to be level with the tall unit's top section so the cornice will seamlessly join between the units. If you do not have any tall units, why not place them at a clever height so that you do not have to cut any tiles (don't forget the worktop thickness)

Rubbish.

If you intend to have a skip outside your house, give the skip company plenty of notice so they can apply for a permit from your local council for the skip to be placed on the public highway. If you intend to hire a tipper truck or van to remove the waste and take it to a land fill site you need a waste carriers licence to be able to tip at this facility.

Silicone

When cutting out holes in laminate worktops for sink and hob, seal the cut out with silicone as this helps to stop the worktop blowing if there is any water penetration at a later date.

Screwing

When screwing adjacent units together in run of units, screw where hinge plate or door stop is going before you fix the item, as it gives a neat finish as it is underneath the plate or stop an not visible from inside the carcase.