Editorial 4: A quick guide to installing your new kitchen
The fourth of five editorial articles covers what happens when your new kitchen has arrived and is sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. What are the first steps? You'll see, it's quite easy, and when you're done you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself.
As you know, myKitchen.uk.com kitchen cabinets arrive pre-assembled, so you don't have to waste time assembling flat-pack cabinets, and you know they are square and rigid.
At this point all your building work, damp-proofing, plastering, electrical and plumbing work should be complete, and your floor should be as you want it.
Some measurements
For reference we provide below three sets of diagrams showing normal kitchen cabinet dimensions and standard heights, plus an overview diagram. Choose the first row if you have purchased standard units, the second if you have tall units, and the third if you have reduced depth base units. The final overview may help clarify anything that remains unclear.
If you click on any of these images you'll receive a PDF file which you can easily print, you might find that more readable than reading a small image onscreen. Also the PDF format allows you to zoom in to any part of the image you need to inspect closely. The largest PDF file is almost 500kb in size which could take just over a minute to download. You'll need the Adobe Reader to view these images.
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| Click and print these two images if you have ordered standard wall cabinets. | |
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| Click and print these two images if you have ordered tall wall units. | |
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| Click and print this single image if you have ordered reduced depth base units. | |
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| Click and print this single image to get an overview of unit and door sizes. |
Fitting your floor units
The first step is to install the base units, that's because dresser units come down to the kitchen worktop, so you'll need to know where the worktop will be.
This bit's really easy. Put the legs on the cabinets, put them in place in your kitchen, then fasten them together, to the wall, or both using the brackets provided.
How high should your wall cabinets be?
Worktops are generally mounted to form a surface 910mm from the floor. Your wall-mounted units and shelves should be 485mm higher than the kitchen surface, or they begin to obscure your view of the rear of the worktop. Obviously over a cooker hob everything needs to be higher, but it's usual to fit an extractor hood there to remove steam and cooking smells.
At the other extreme the highest shelf over a kitchen worktop that an adult can reach is typically 1.05m higher than the worktop. If not over a worktop the highest shelf is 1.8m to 2m from the floor. Ideally the top shelves of your cabinets shouldn't be higher than this.
The optimum height for a shelf above a kitchen worktop is 900mm. Here's where frequently used objects should be stored. Eye level is usually 1.5m to 1.7m from the floor. This is the height for things that you might frequently scan, such as books or CDs.
Of course, these are just guidelines. If everyone in the house is unusually tall or short, or you have lots to store, little room, and are willing to use a stepping stool, then maybe these rules may be broken. Bear in mind how that will affect the value of your kitchen when you come to sell it and always keep health and safety in mind .. no leaning over cooker hobs, nothing too close to hot surfaces, nothing just out of reach.
Fit your wall units
Once you've decided where your wall units will go and at what height, installation is simple. Use a spirit level and pencil to draw a level line on the wall at the right height so the units will hang where you want them. Fit the brackets (supplied) to the wall, hang your units, adjust their position, and tighten them into position. It's that simple.
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| Adjusting the concealed wall unit hangers (this image doesn't click to print). |
To finish off, fit the kitchen worktop. All your appliances go in next according to the manufacturer's instructions. Finally, fit the doors. Then you can sit back and write the invitations to your kitchen warming party.
