Updating kitchen on a budget - cabinet doors only?
Discussion
Gtom said:
I don't really get the fuss about the hinges being in different places!
If you think it's any issue or are struggling you really aren't up to doing it, best leave it to someone who knows what they are doing.
I think that's the nub of it! If you are capable of doing it, you probably oughtn't to need it explained in detail (even tho I tried to do so earlier in the thread). If you think it's any issue or are struggling you really aren't up to doing it, best leave it to someone who knows what they are doing.
There's no great drama to the task, just measure and mark accurately.
eliot said:
Assuming the existing hinges are ok, i would make some sort of jig that transfers the location of the existing holes on the doors onto the new doors, rather than trying to pickup the locations from the carcass.
Or you could just put the old door on top of the new door and drill through it 
I expect they are exactly the same size.
Jimmyarm said:
eliot said:
Assuming the existing hinges are ok, i would make some sort of jig that transfers the location of the existing holes on the doors onto the new doors, rather than trying to pickup the locations from the carcass.
Or you could just put the old door on top of the new door and drill through it I expect they are exactly the same size.
There, you've made me shout. On Sunday morning & all.
(PS: Welshbeef, are you (a) still drinking, (b) still drunk, (c) both or (d) did someone move all the keys around on your keyboard?)
CAPP0 said:
YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO (AND MUST NOT) DRILL THE DOORS!
There, you've made me shout. On Sunday morning & all.
(PS: Welshbeef, are you (a) still drinking, (b) still drunk, (c) both or (d) did someone move all the keys around on your keyboard?)
Well done, so if the new doors are supplied undrilled?There, you've made me shout. On Sunday morning & all.
(PS: Welshbeef, are you (a) still drinking, (b) still drunk, (c) both or (d) did someone move all the keys around on your keyboard?)
I am pretty sure the OP can handle the simple use of the jig shown previously, a tape measure and the requisite cutter in a cordless
Or should he pay an extra charge per door to have this done for him, thus increasing his small budget?
From the example door in store, the large hinge holes (35mm?) were already there. Any drilling would have to be in the cabinet if the door holes are in different position in the old and new doors.
The scope of the job will become more clear when the doors arrive and I can compare them to the old ones.
Now, getting the handles on straight will be a whole new matter!
The scope of the job will become more clear when the doors arrive and I can compare them to the old ones.
Now, getting the handles on straight will be a whole new matter!
DrDeAtH said:
Well done, so if the new doors are supplied undrilled?
I am pretty sure the OP can handle the simple use of the jig shown previously, a tape measure and the requisite cutter in a cordless
Or should he pay an extra charge per door to have this done for him, thus increasing his small budget?
He's bought the doors from B&Q. The doors will be pre-drilled. They will have one pair of 35mm holes, each with a pair of pilot holes (possibly more if it's a larder door). Unless he has lied to us and has in fact walked through one of the display wardrobes in the store, landed up in some cosmic equivalent of Narnia, and ordered chrome-finish kite-shaped unobtanium doors from a little green man called Ulzog Moonjockey, I would stake my house on this :roll eyes:I am pretty sure the OP can handle the simple use of the jig shown previously, a tape measure and the requisite cutter in a cordless
Or should he pay an extra charge per door to have this done for him, thus increasing his small budget?
When did you or anyone else last buy undrilled doors from any mainstream vendor? Do you think the monkeys B&Q send out to fit kitchens (a) have the time and/or (b) have the inclination to be setting out each individual cabinet door they fit, and routing them all out one by one?
This is such a simple job and yet half the people responding on here are suggesting it's more akin to designing and single-handedly building a bridge from London to New York. Overnight.
CAPP0 said:
This is such a simple job and yet half the people responding on here are suggesting it's more akin to designing and single-handedly building a bridge from London to New York. Overnight.
I'm guessing that's exaggeration. Am I right?Calm down.
Whether the job is a simple or a difficult one isn't something any of us can say, because it's not any of us who is doing it, it's the OP. To you it's simple, but you aren't the OP. I know plenty of people who would not be able to tackle a job like this and get an acceptable result on the first attempt.
So pointing out that there are difficulties in getting it right and what those difficulties are is entirely valid.
Edited by singlecoil on Monday 4th April 06:06
singlecoil said:
I'm guessing that's exaggeration. Am I right?
Calm down.
Whether the job is a simple or a difficult one isn't something any of us can say, because it's not any of us who is doing it, it's the OP. To you it's simple, but you aren't the OP. I know plenty of people who would not be able to tackle a job like this and get an acceptable result on the first attempt.
So pointing out that there are difficulties in getting it right and what those difficulties are is entirely valid.
All fair points well made. However, suggestions like "the doors won't be drilled" are simply being posted to wind the OP up and put him off, and they're not even remotely helpful.Calm down.
Whether the job is a simple or a difficult one isn't something any of us can say, because it's not any of us who is doing it, it's the OP. To you it's simple, but you aren't the OP. I know plenty of people who would not be able to tackle a job like this and get an acceptable result on the first attempt.
So pointing out that there are difficulties in getting it right and what those difficulties are is entirely valid.
Edited by singlecoil on Monday 4th April 06:06
CAPP0 said:
This is such a simple job and yet half the people responding on here are suggesting it's more akin to designing and single-handedly building a bridge from London to New York. Overnight.
I dunno, I've seen some people's attempts at screwing together a flatpack chest of drawers and I think that their chances of replacing doors on a kitchen unit are indeed akin to my chances of knocking up a bridge between London and NYC.The only gotcha I can think of is if the predrilled cutouts differ between manufacurers and you end up trying to screw one to another. Whenever I've done it it has been MFI carcass to MFI front and Ikea/Ikea, and it's a piece of cake and difficult to get wrong. One to another might turn a simple screwdriver job to a painstaking task that you don't want to fluff. I'd want to check before I bought the whole roomful.
Advice please guys...
The handle suggestion on the B&Q is as pictured
Those long handles are quite expensive, but I can find shorter handles in my budget.
My problem areas are where draws are above doors, as the handles would ideally offer purchase in the moddle of a drawer but near the edge furthest from the door hinge.
The main options are in the following pic.
Before I order the handles, would shorter ones work in any of these configurations? Which one?
The handle suggestion on the B&Q is as pictured
Those long handles are quite expensive, but I can find shorter handles in my budget.
My problem areas are where draws are above doors, as the handles would ideally offer purchase in the moddle of a drawer but near the edge furthest from the door hinge.
The main options are in the following pic.
Before I order the handles, would shorter ones work in any of these configurations? Which one?
FreeLitres said:
Yep - holes in the new doors don't line up with the new ones, so all the hinges in the cabinets have to be moved.
Lets the games begin!
Have you bought new hinges as well? If so it should be relatively easy to find out where to place the hinge plates on the carcas, and once you have the exact measurements it will be a doddle. Lets the games begin!
Draw fronts are probably the hardest bits to get right.
Something like this
http://www.axminster.co.uk/fisher-150mm-6-combinat...
will help if you are going to mark the positions by hand/eye. The hinge plate holes will normally be 37mm in from the front edge of the cabinet, and 32mm apart (16mm above and 16mm below the centreline of the hole in door.
Make sure the door is level with the bottom of the cabinet before drawing the position of the hinge centre lines onto the cabinet. Mechanical pencil is best, 0.3mm lead.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/fisher-150mm-6-combinat...
will help if you are going to mark the positions by hand/eye. The hinge plate holes will normally be 37mm in from the front edge of the cabinet, and 32mm apart (16mm above and 16mm below the centreline of the hole in door.
Make sure the door is level with the bottom of the cabinet before drawing the position of the hinge centre lines onto the cabinet. Mechanical pencil is best, 0.3mm lead.
I've got a hinge drill jig in the post.
I've already got the handles on the draw fronts using a jig and finally got them mounted on the drawer. The clips on the dummy drawer under the sink just shattered though as they are so old, so I'll have to order some new ones. The drawers and handles looks very straight so far!
Really want to get the doors on, but better wait until that jig arrives. Looks tricky to get the measurements right.
I've already got the handles on the draw fronts using a jig and finally got them mounted on the drawer. The clips on the dummy drawer under the sink just shattered though as they are so old, so I'll have to order some new ones. The drawers and handles looks very straight so far!
Really want to get the doors on, but better wait until that jig arrives. Looks tricky to get the measurements right.
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