Our (hopefully soon to be) new house, has kitchen units with a 60cm gap for a cooker, then some cupboards, then a gap under the counter for a dishwasher. We kind of want to fit in a 90cm cooker.
Now, assuming we don't want a dishwasher (we don't), how hard is it likely to be to:
1)Shorten the counter
2)Move the cupboards along.
Also, what about eye level cupboards, how hard are they to move? They are just bog standard kitchen units as far as I can tell.
Do these things just unscrew off the wall, or is it going to be a complete nightmare? Is it the sort of thing your average handyman could do in a day or two?
cheers,
Joe
1) Depends on how the worktop is fixed and if it is joined to another run. If it can't come out, it can be cut insitu by hand and covered over with a specific metal end-strip which is a fairly painless job and if it's up to a cooker you won't see it anyway. To edge it properly with matching laminate you are likely to need the worktop out completely to get a saw or router to run along the full depth.
2) Providing you can get access to the fixings then quite easy. If you can't get access then you need to drill the odd 35mm hole (35mm can be filled with a bog standard plastic hinge-hole cap to keep things neat afterwards) here and there through the top corners of the back to locate where it's been fixed back to the wall. It's also likely to be screwed up into the underside of the worktop.
You also need to make good 300mm by the sounds of it. You could buy an open fronted 300mm unit in matching material and create a tray-space if you can't get a match for the doors.
Wall units are usually fixed to each other and are hung on the wall on brackets, again in the top corners at the back. Once free from it's neighbour it should simply lift off. Easy to do but you may need to alter the cornice and light pelmet if its been fitted.
Use a skilled joiner or kitchen-fitter and it would be done in under a day.
What he said - it's always going to be possible - the cost depends on how solidly everything is attached.
I take it the worktop is laminate? If its resin (thinks thats the right name...often looks like granite) or granite it'll be a much bigger job!
(this is 'mr_'spooky_b329 btw!)
Should be straightforward enough.
Assuming you don't want to remove / un-seal the work-surface, remove all the drawers, doors etc. Remove the small brackets securing work-surface to each unit & units to wall, then slide along & re-fix. If the top cabinets have top & bottom cornice this will need cutting & making good. Hanging the top cabinets is easy enough.
Biggest pain will be the 300mm gap where the dishwasher once lived.
Can you not track down a 300mm cabinet to fit in ?
Cool, thanks for all the comments - it's a laminate worktop, so that should be okay.
In terms of the dishwasher gap, I think it is a 45cm gap - so I was figuring on just moving the units the whole 45cm, and leaving a gap on one side of the cooker (or both).
Good to know it's possible anyway. Sounds like compared to the cost of the fancy cooker*, it shouldn't be a massive hit to move some cupboards around. Phew.
Joe
*which to be fair to is way less than my piano was, and will be way more useful.