Kitchen: Wife's whims vs static design requirements

[MortarThePoint]

Every time I discuss the kitchen with my wife she has a different idea. I asked her to do a design, which she did but it still doesn't seem to have finalised things in her mind. The main difficulty for me is how to manage the services (water and electric).

 

Water is easier as I presume it can get routed through when the units layout is finalised (?). The walls are blockwork so the pipes would need to be wall mounted. Is there normally a gap behind units for this? I'm clearly not an experience kitchen fitter. There are no water connections downstream of the kitchen, so it doesn't affect anything else.

 

The electrics are more complicated as they get chased into the wall. We are tiling the whole floor (inc. under units) and is it normal to plaster behind kitchen units? Either way, as there needs to be plastered wall above the units, any cable drops need to be finalised before plastering. Under counter sockets are pretty easy, but the countertop ones are more difficult. since they need to be the correct distances from things like the sink and cooker. I don't know what tiles we'll be using for the kitchen splashback so hard to get the height of the sockets spot on for that. Any tips?

[PeterW]

  On 20/03/2022 at 21:37, MortarThePoint said:

Any tips?

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Divorce may be easier …

[Onoff]

  On 20/03/2022 at 22:18, PeterW said:

Divorce may be easier …

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New patio might be cheaper... 😉

[MikeSharp01]

  On 20/03/2022 at 22:18, PeterW said:

Divorce may be easier …

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Yes because you will only get (be able to afford) half a kitchen.

[MikeSharp01]

Best thing is to start at the outside and work in with some questions:

• What appliances are we contemplating.
• Which way do you (or you for that matter) want to be looking when preparing food.
• Are we having an Island and if so what might you want on it.

In the end you only need to chase out the above worktop sockets, from below the worktop, as everything else can be run in the service void behind the cabinets (not IKEA as they don't have much of one.)  The real crunchers are getting the triangle right and the orientation. 

[Bonner]

  On 20/03/2022 at 21:37, MortarThePoint said:

The main difficulty for me is how to manage the services (water and electric).

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Don’t forget the drainage, this can be more difficult than water and electric. Again, pipe work can run behind units but you need to make sure there is enough fall. If you are having an island, run all the services to it, whether you think you need it or not ...

[MortarThePoint]

Howdens have a pretty generous service void behind (some with 72mm) so routing pipes etc should be easy there. Some others have little or no service void (Ikea have none).

 

I might plan to have the electrics go down in the permitted zone in the corner of the room and then go along in the red circled area then popping up in chases where needed. That can all be done when the kitchen is finalised (scoff) and about to be installed.

 

[MortarThePoint]

Is it normal to plaster the whole wall behind kitchen cabinets (including base cabinets) or is it usually left as bare blockwork?

[joe90]

  On 21/03/2022 at 08:07, MortarThePoint said:

Is it normal to plaster the whole wall behind kitchen cabinets (including base cabinets) or is it usually left as bare blockwork?

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I always plaster all the way, makes fitting the kitchen units easier, you could always tell the plasterer to make it flat there but not polished!!!

[MortarThePoint]

The architect has shown about 5m of extractor ducting to where it then exits the house. Two questions:

1. Is there no maximum ducting length between hood and final exit?
2. I have a soil pipe to get behind, can I use the rectangular ducting with it's longer edge vertical, rather than horizontal as shown below?

 

[PeterW]

  On 21/03/2022 at 08:21, MortarThePoint said:

Is there no maximum ducting length between hood and final exit?

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Yes and it becomes less efficient so you have to size accordingly. Some manufacturers also give you the maximum run from the hood and every elbow adds something like 0.5m effective length. 
 

  On 21/03/2022 at 08:21, MortarThePoint said:

can I use the rectangular ducting with it's longer edge vertical,

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Yes but you’ll need to somehow convert back to round / airbrick when you get to the wall but not an issue however long runs can collect grease so make sure you have decent filters at the extractor end. 

[SimonD]

  On 20/03/2022 at 21:37, MortarThePoint said:

Any tips?

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Has she been watching youtubes? It could be a good thing. I've recently found some helpful stuff on there for kitchen design which has changed my design. What I also found really helped for my wife was to buy in a few of the bits like fridge/freezer, sink, dishwasher, place them out where they're going to be and then mark out the floor where the cupboards etc, are going to go. This helped her to visualise it all enough for us to finalise the design. Phew, and I didn't have to get the digger out to prep that new patio

[joe90]

  On 21/03/2022 at 08:21, MortarThePoint said:

I have a soil pipe to get behind, can I use the rectangular ducting with it's longer edge vertical, rather than horizontal as shown below?

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Yes, all available in Screwfix 👍

[MortarThePoint]

Typically, how long are appliance cables for non-fitted appliances? Most importantly drier and washer? A bit of a 'how long is a piece of string question' I know but allows me to establish zones.

[Dudda]

The cables aren't an issue, nor is the water feeds. The issue will be the waste pipe. Having fitted them about 4 months ago the electrical cable was the longest (2.5 meters at a guess ), then the water feed with the waste pipe the shortest. It's fairly easy to extend the electrical and water feed.

 

Edit:

I've just checked the booklet for our washing machine. Cable is 2.0m. Water hose inlet 1.6m, Drain hose 1.5m. 

It also states for the drain hose "If required, the hose can be extended to a length of up to 5 m. Accessories are available from Miele or from your Miele dealer."

Wasn't aware until now you could extend the drain hose that easily.

[MortarThePoint]

Thank you for checking, very kind

[cherryfountain]

Get the kitchen designed using 650 deep worktops saves a lot of hassle as it gives you an extra 50mm behind integrated appliances for pipes and wiring

[JohnMo]

Go and visit a couple of kitchen places get designs done, they will give 3D images of their planned kitchen layout, so you can see what does or doesn't work for you.

 

Go tomorrow you'll have designs next week. There will likely be changes you need to do.  If have different ideas use a third party (kitchen designer) to sort your ideas.

 

Our best kitchen, we had a clear idea of what we wanted, the designer told us it was rubbish and he could do better, and he did.

[Pocster]

What does your mistress think ?

[MortarThePoint]

  On 22/03/2022 at 17:29, pocster said:

What does your mistress think ?

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If only 🙂 She'd be more interested in the bedroom than the kitchen though

[MortarThePoint]

  On 22/03/2022 at 17:20, JohnMo said:

Go and visit a couple of kitchen places get designs done, they will give 3D images of their planned kitchen layout, so you can see what does or doesn't work for you.

 

Go tomorrow you'll have designs next week. There will likely be changes you need to do.  If have different ideas use a third party (kitchen designer) to sort your ideas.

 

Our best kitchen, we had a clear idea of what we wanted, the designer told us it was rubbish and he could do better, and he did.

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Good advice, it's what we would have done months ago if it wasn't for Covid

[Pocster]

  On 23/03/2022 at 15:06, MortarThePoint said:

 

If only 🙂 She'd be more interested in the bedroom than the kitchen though

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Yeah ; mine also .

[Roundtuit]

  On 22/03/2022 at 11:00, Dudda said:

The cables aren't an issue, nor is the water feeds. The issue will be the waste pipe.

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Yes; think about this early.  Some appliances are too deep to run a waste pipe behind them, so they'll stick out if you try.  Depending on how your waste runs, it might dictate which side of the sink the dishwasher goes, and what else can fit in the same run.