Kitchen plinth & unit heights

[Jen B]

We’ve just had a kitchen fitted professionally & have noticed he’s left a 15mm+ gap between the top of the plinth & the bottom of the units. It can be seen from the living room. The gap is 22mm on the breakfast island. The unit heights are now 910mm without worktops (coming this week) which will make them above average height & too tall for me at only 5ft - creating a real ergonomic problem.  We’ve challenged him & he says the gap is for ventilation & the height is correct. My own research contradicts this, also the Howdens manual he worked from (yet our Howdens designer apparently thinks what he did was right). We believe he needs to lower the units to correct the problem. Unfortunately to redo the island would mean having to potentially destroy the glued panels & purchase replacements. Please could any professional fitters out there give me their opinion/advice.

[Mr Punter]

910mm is quite tall to the top of the base units.  890mm is more common.  If you want it lower you will need to wind down the legs a bit and yes, you will need to take off any panels that go down to the floor and cut them down.  It would be unusual if they were glued but not impossible.

 

Don't rule out getting thin worktops.  Some go down to 12mm.  Make sure any external corners are radiused.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Mr Punter
Worktop info

[markc]

Common practice to set the units at the max height and allow a gap at the top of the kick board (allows for floor finishes to be laid without having to cut the kick board) and generally you never see this gap while using a kitchen

[Dudda]

13 minutes ago, markc said:

Common practice to set the units at the max height and allow a gap at the top of the kick board (allows for floor finishes to be laid without having to cut the kick board) and generally you never see this gap while using a kitchen

That's presuming floor finishes aren't laid. Can @Jen B confirm if the floor finishes are in yet?

[patp]

Following.

 

Just started on the "find a good kitchen planner/designer/fitter" route. I am, also, only 5ft tall. One tip I can give is to factor in an island or run of base cupboards that have the drawers removed and the worktop placed on at just cupboard height. We did this around a corner in our old kitchen and put the hob on it. I loved it! At last able to easily lift heavy pans. In this new kitchen I am going to ask for similar but maybe the island could be where we take out drawers and fit the worktop at a working height for me.

[ryder72]

Howdens units are 720mm high and the plinths should be 150mm (need to confirm but I am 99.9% sure I am right on this, making the height of the units without worktop 870mm (adjust this up or down based on plinth height but it should be thereabouts).

There will be some variation from this as kitchen floors are rarely perfectly flat and the fitters will usually start from the highest point in the room and sometimes allow an extra 5mm to allow for a small ventilation gap about the plinths. This is good practise as it allows any unexpected humidity under/behind units to dry out.

 

910mm is too high. Your designer should have factored this by offering your solution at the design stage, but its Howdens, so .....

 

I wouldnt be forced down the 12mm route. Too many problems.

 

The right thing would be to get the fitter to install the kitchen to the product specifications. If your floor is now down, he needs to allow for this. Any items requiring reordering should be to the fitters account.

 

 

[Jen B]

Many thanks for all the responses so far.

 

To clarify, the fitter had already tiled the floor including under the units. The 30ml granite worktops are due this week & our fitter was aware of this but our guess is he has not catered for them & when setting the unit height at 910mm.  If it wasn’t for the height issue, we would accept trim being added to the plinths to cover the gap but unfortunately height is an issue, particularly for me. The worktop height would not be ergonomic & the working height for me at our gas hob would be unsafe.

 

it is a big job to lower the very long run of units as it includes sink & dishwasher plumbing. However, as lowering the island (which was to be long awaited my main pastry/pasta/cake making worktop) would be more costly because of replacing the glued sides & back panel, we feel we have to insist on the lowering of the other units.

 

Interestingly the fitter claims he set his levels from the separate corner run of units where we have a double oven & yet the height there is 15mm lower than all the others.

 

If only he’d admitted the error, rather than make so many ridiculous justifications, the situation would be less tense.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Jen B

[patp]

Don't you just hate it when they try to cover up? Just own up and get on with rectifying it!

[markc]

If the floor was already tiled then no excuse, get him/her to put it right including the Island

[CC45]

I leave a 10mm gap for ventilation but 720 + 160 = 880mm.  910 is high.

 

 

[TonyT]

Common to have a gap when integrated appliances are used, let’s the dishwasher for example pull down and not have to notch the kick plate.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by TonyT

[Gus Potter]

1 minute ago, TonyT said:

Common to have a gap when integrated appliances are used, let’s the dishwasher for example pull down and not have to notch the kick plate.

 

 

Thanks TonyT for that tip.

 

On  a practical point if you have a really deep bowl sink then I have found that if the units are too low it can be (the sink) uncomfortable to use as you have to bend too much to rwach down to the bottom of the bowl.

 

Now with my pragmatic hat on @Jen B It may be that you can just get some comfy slippers with a thick sole like clogs.. If you have a deep sink bowl and spending time there, go bare foot and the sink will be more ergonomic. There are a good few variables. Also, what about the oven... too low and harder to see into?

 

I would look at it holistically as to what suits you before jumping one way or the other.

 

For me I want a gap between the top of the plinth and the underside of the cabinets as I have run the UF heating at increased spacing under the units on the outside walls, just to give some background heat. We have an island set up , as a late change, so want the heat from the UF to get out from under the Island, keep the feet warm so I want a gap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jen B]

Thanks all for your comments. I’m delighted to say our fitter returned & after some discussion worked until late into the evening lowering all the units. After some gentle persuasion he also lowered the island. He eventually conceded they were a bit high & although initially told me it would be difficult to cut the plinths down (really?), did so to achieve the correct height (both ergonomically & technically) & close the over-sized gap.  I’m very happy at the outcome although I could have done without the added stress but at least it was resolved amicably in the end.  I hope some of the responses above might be useful to others.