+/- 4mm on a custom kitchen worktop…

Bought a kitchen from IKEA and went for custom cut and finished worktops to simply (hopefully..) just fit together, rather than cutting lengths myself..

As I went to fit the first bit (a simple 1200×600 piece) it actually measures 1196×600 so there is a gap either side (tall oven and tall fridge cover panels either side) that I will now have to fill somehow (probably silicone) but won’t look great.

I asked IKEA about this and they explained that the manufacturer in Germany have a tolerance of +/- 4mm… Does that seem large to anyone? I can’t find any reference to this 4mm in any of the paperwork I signed and I’m wondering whether I should tell them to get me a 1200 wide piece!

Seems pretty poor, I could cut you a piece of worktop to +/- 0.5mm and I’m a rank amateur…..

Remeasure it. Are you sure it isn’t closer to 1195? 🙂

4mm is probably the saw blade width which is why they use that number.

I’d have a moan about it if it were me.

Assuming you’ve not done anything to it you could take it back and ask for a refund then buy another hoping it’s the right length.

Or centre it and drill into it, through the upright panels, to draw them in a bit.

4mm does seem very large. A modern machine shop would be able to produce to tolerances in the tenths of a mm sort of range.

couple of points here –

the worktop will expand/contract slightly over the course of the year as temperatures/humidity changes.
If it is too tight between the two taller units, it might bow/deform as the extra material needs to go somewhere.

is it going on top of a 1200mm unit? have you measured the unit? is it exactly 1200mm?

If you worktop was exactly 1200mm (the same size as your gap)would it be possible to drop it into place without scratching the side panels either side??

to be honest, as an ex-kitchen fitter +/- 4mm doesn’t sound too horrific.
However, your piece of worktop may have been cut on some sort of CNC machine, which can cut to less than 1mm tolerance – so I reckon the 1196 size is deliberate.

I can’t find any reference to this 4mm in any of the paperwork

Sale of Goods Act, goods not as described. If they’d told you up front it’d be a different story. Even if that’s normal acceptable tolerance (and I have no idea whether it is), I’d argue that it’s reasonable to expect that they’d have told you beforehand.

That said, I’d have thought you’d want some sort of silicon bead or edging strip around the edges anyway, to make it watertight. 4mm is only 2mm either side.

what are the other bits like?

There is every chance that another will be 1204mm – which you could easily trim to fit. I’d reject the current piece and try for another being oversize.

What’s the tolerance of your tape measure over 1200mm!? 😉

You could be +/- 2mm out!

And are you trying to get an exact fit? Surely you’d need to leave a few mm either end to allow for expansion and contraction?

you were going to fit a worktop snug to a unit without any sealant ? – sounds like a recipe for water to get in to the end grain and fester where it cant get out .

“that I will now have to fill somehow (probably silicone) but won’t look great”

not if the sealant is applied properly and finished correctly it wont.

As above, I’d go with 2mm either side myself.

Also, where is the gap 1200? Worktop height? Front and back? Floor level? High level? Kitchen is unlikely totally square and level.

2mm either end to seal against the cover panels sounds ok to me, you’d be sealing it anyway, you weren’t going to just butt it up dry were you? And if it was exactly on 1200 it’d be a tit to get in there.

Just give it back & ask for a refund. Ikea are usually very good at sorting refunds out. I should know from all the crap my girlfriend has taken back.

Thanks for the pointers everyone. First ever kitchen fit and rank amateur with silicone gun, so yes I was just going to butt it up to the cover panels and secure it… Sounds like the consensus is just to stick with the piece I have make up the gap with silcone.

Here is a picture of the offending worktop (under the black cabinets on the right). There is another coverpanel (identical to the grey one on the left) to go to the right of the worktop.

Cheers!

[/url]
Worktop[/url] by VeeeDubStar[/url], on Flickr

Also – the rest of the worktops are bob on the lengths/widths they are supposed to be so the 1196 may be deliberate for the gap I need to get it in..

I’d live with the gap myself and use a clear/opaque silicone (not a white/grey one) to seal the gap. Have a practice with the silicone gun first on a angle made with scrap to get the hang of it…cut a smaller hole in the nozzle than you think you need at first, you can always make it bigger if you need to. A joint made with one quick smooth movement is much tidier than over-applying and having to make good with a damp finger. Make sure there’s no dust in the air when you do it.

Incidentally, the two pieces on the left hand side? How are they joined?

I’ll give that a go, cheers for the advice.

Two pieces on the left aren’t joined yet but I’m led to believe the box of bits and pre-cut holes will allow me to “biscuit join” them… Whatever that means!

Two pieces on the left aren’t joined yet but I’m led to believe the box of bits and pre-cut holes will allow me to “biscuit join” them… Whatever that means!

Ah, ok, I see. I didn’t realise they were pre-jointed as well.

Biscuits are these, so I assume there are pre-routered grooves to take them.

a 2mm gap either side with silicone is perfect no?

Make sure you do a couple of test runs with the silicone gun first if you havent done it before…

edit: beaten to it..

Two pieces on the left aren’t joined yet but I’m led to believe the box of bits and pre-cut holes will allow me to “biscuit join” them… Whatever that means!

Just shove some custard creams in the gap and water liberally….

Hang on, they wood, the wood topped laminate or laminate?

If they’re wood, and there wasn’t a gap, expansion/contraction would lead to something splitting/breaking. In fact, I’d be a little worried about “only” 4mm over that length when the ends are constrained. Especially as by the plugged in heater there it looks like it might be cold in there just now and things could warm up?

And is that a sink cabinet at the end there with no cutout for the sink in the top, nor pipes at the back? Looks like a cut-out sink back on it?

EDIT spotted the cable on the wall, cooker going there maybe?

You could be +/- 2mm out!

Bob on for a scaffolders tape then! 8)

Also given this has the magic K word in the thread title, closure early tomorrow when the spammers strike.

Expansion along the length would be pretty negligible I reckon. And given that it’s a load of narrow staves glued together, there won’t be a lot front to back either – which is kinda why they’re made that way.

Worktops are laminate not solid wood.

Yep – induction hob and extractor hood going on back wall next to door. Cutting the hole for the hob is the only damage I should have to do to the worktop.. I’m hoping there is a healthy lip on the hob underside to hide any dodgy cuts.. Any advice on cutting the hole for the hob anyone?

Any advice on cutting the hole for the hob anyone?

Normally they come with a template sheet so you can use that to mark the hole. Then borrow a decent jigsaw or router and take your time. I melted my Dad’s jigsaw doing a sink cut out in solid wood – it was smoking by the time I finished!

Bosch do some nice laminate jigsaw blades (cut downward) so you can cut through the surface without splintering it. I found blade speed/feed speed to be a bit of a balance. Once you’ve cut part of it, you can get some clamps on it to hold the offcut in place so when you get near to finishing it doesn’t try and drop out – the off cut will be heavy!

I’ve only jigsawed one sink hole, but it went ok.

The one and only time I cut a worktop with a jigsaw, the top looked ok but the underside was all over the place due to flex in the blade.

I’d either cut it slightly under with a jigsaw and then use a router to square it up or use a plunge saw for the straight edges.

just make sure you fit it right ways up cougar ?

Plungisaurus would be good for the straight cuts – but not everybody has access to the kind of one that’s safe for doing this kind of cut. I’m not keen on using circular saws for plunge cuts. A powerful jigsaw with a long sturdy blade would be good. Check how much there is between edge of hob and the cut. If it’s only a few mm, then you’ll need to be clean and accurate. If you’ve got an inch or so, then a few chips at the edge of the cut won’t ever be seen.

does taping the cut and cutting down the tape with a fine blade not work with the jigsaw like it does on laminate flooring ?

It sounds to me from your posts, that you are after a spot-on finish. I’d get a kitchen fitter in just to do the worktops. Without the right tools it’s very easy to make a balls-up of it.

I wouldn’t know trail rat 😀

haha – that wasnt a dig deadly – its just a trick i use when doing my own laminate cuts – flooring and otherwise. – also works with ceramic tiles.

more so – id be looking to see worktop clamps on that joint with the biscuits – do you have em ?

Is 1196 the new standard, and 1200 is obsolete now? Like 1196 makes the kitchen come alive or something?