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OT: Fitting a solid wood worktop

Irony - 7/1/13 at 10:45 AM

I have had to put the build on hold to get some peace from the SWMBO. We are having a new boiler, new electrics and a new kitchen.

I am fitting the kitchen myself (IKEA) and I am pretty confident (reasonable chippy). The only thing I am mildly worried about is the solid wood worktops. I can cut it at work on the huge wall saw but how do you join solid wood and allow for movement in the timber?

Anyone do this sort of thing for a living?

Cheers

Irony - 7/1/13 at 10:47 AM

It's probably going to be a Walnut worktop made from 40mm staves

bi22le - 7/1/13 at 12:22 PM

Not my profession but when I did not work top (not solid wood) I read you needed a special router template and tool. These cost Ł70.

Luckily my uncle is a DIY pro and has one of these. I would of thought it would NOT allow for expansion though as the end result is clamping the 2 parts of setion together to make the L.

The finish we got was top notch and nooks as good as the a pro fitter.

On another note, I searched everywhere for the right kitchen for us. We found that Ikea used really strange sized cabinets and dimensions meaning under counter white goods did not fit.

Just an observation.

Good luck with the build (regardless of whish room its in!)

Irony - 7/1/13 at 01:17 PM

Most cabinets are apparently about 580mm in depth and leave a gap at the back for services. For some reason the people at IKEA think it's far superior to disregard this convention and make their cabinets 600. This means if you have a 600mm worktop they look a bit daft.

This is what a bit of internet searching got me anyway.

Smoking Frog - 7/1/13 at 02:13 PM

A biscuit joint works well. You don't need a jig if the edges are square. To allow for movement fix the top at the front but not at the back, the rear edge is held down by the upstand.

Eddie

Proby - 7/1/13 at 02:32 PM

As above, when I did mine the rear is held down by a 25mm upstand glued to the wall. At the nearside edge, I used penny repair washers with screws and oversized holes in the cabinet. That then allowed for any expansion without distortion. Put them in 6 years ago and still mighty fine. Mine are staved oak.

Fizzer - 7/1/13 at 02:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
Most cabinets are apparently about 580mm in depth and leave a gap at the back for services. For some reason the people at IKEA think it's far superior to disregard this convention and make their cabinets 600. This means if you have a 600mm worktop they look a bit daft.

This is what a bit of internet searching got me anyway.

I know a few people who hate Ikea's kitchen design, I have both fitted an now used an ikea kitchen and the extra space you get in the drawers and cupboards is really noticable.

Mind you, we had to rip out the existing services anyway - I can see it would be frustrating if you had services (water/waste/gas) already in place and had to move the whole lot to the bottom 6 inches of the wall

Mark2 - 13/1/13 at 10:24 PM

I fit kitchens for my living, and the above is spot on with penny washers and the upstand to hold down the rear.... The most important thing is to get a few good coats of sealant on both sides of the tops prior to install....not a massive fan of Ikea kitchens, they seem to be different to any other kitchen from a fitting point of view, but once installed they last for years....
Cheers Mark