Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one. How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable kick-
board?

ta

misterroy wrote:
Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one. How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable
kick- board?

ta

The legs are usually adjustable, but you don't have a fantastic difference
between highest and lowest, only a few inches.

You can get fascias to fit any gap

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:49:02 -0800 (PST), misterroy
wrote:

Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one. How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable kick-
board?

ta

I'm not clear where your height comes into the equation, because surely it's
woman's work isn't it ? ;-)

Andy C

The top should be elbow height. I bet you can't get it that high.

Andy

misterroy wrote:

Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one.


Are you absolutely, 100% sure that you will never need to sell your
present home?

Kitchens (and bathrooms) are key selling points. A kitchen with
absurdly high worktops is not going to help you to sell the house to
buyer(s) of average height or less.

On Feb 23, 8:27*pm, Bruce wrote:
misterroy wrote:

Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one.

Are you absolutely, 100% sure that you will never need to sell your
present home? *

Kitchens (and bathrooms) are key selling points. *A kitchen with
absurdly high worktops is not going to help you to sell the house to
buyer(s) of average height or less.

Not likely to move, and willing to take the loss.
Andy the elbow theory sounds right, any "official" data to back it up?

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:27:53 +0000, Bruce wrote:

Kitchens (and bathrooms) are key selling points.

They didn't used to be. At one time it was said that they were the
least important, since a new owner will want to refit both as a matter
of course, to suit their own ideas.

--
Frank Erskine

misterroy wrote:
On Feb 23, 8:27*pm, Bruce wrote:
misterroy wrote:

Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one.

Are you absolutely, 100% sure that you will never need to sell your
present home? *

Kitchens (and bathrooms) are key selling points. *A kitchen with
absurdly high worktops is not going to help you to sell the house to
buyer(s) of average height or less.

Not likely to move, and willing to take the loss.
Andy the elbow theory sounds right, any "official" data to back it up?


A Google UK search on "kitchen worktop height" found 34,200 links.

On Feb 23, 8:54*pm, misterroy wrote:
On Feb 23, 8:27*pm, Bruce wrote:

misterroy wrote:

Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one.

Are you absolutely, 100% sure that you will never need to sell your
present home? *

Kitchens (and bathrooms) are key selling points. *A kitchen with
absurdly high worktops is not going to help you to sell the house to
buyer(s) of average height or less.

Not likely to move, and willing to take the loss.
Andy the elbow theory sounds right, any "official" data to back it up?

I had second thoughts about elbow height so found this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height

which has a female height of 1616 mm for the average wife, of course,
none of our wives are average, the worktop in the kitchen is 900 mm
high. So the conversion factor is 900/1616=0.557.

My height 1820x0.557 = my elbow height. The one spanner in the works,
my wife's elbows are about 45mm higher than mine, measured against the
fridge using magnets.

misterroy wrote:

I had second thoughts about elbow height so found this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height

which has a female height of 1616 mm for the average wife, of course,
none of our wives are average, the worktop in the kitchen is 900 mm
high. So the conversion factor is 900/1616=0.557.

My height 1820x0.557 = my elbow height. The one spanner in the works,
my wife's elbows are about 45mm higher than mine, measured against the
fridge using magnets.

If my kitchen counter were at the same height as my elbow, it would make
it awkward to use my chopping knife. The counter should be 2 - 3 inches
below elbow height.

At 5'10', I'm the shortest one in my family - my counters are 36' high,
and I'd prefer them closer to 39". Higher than that wouldn't be as
comfortable for me, but the rest of the family wouldn't mind.

For bread and pastry work, some people prefer to have a section of
counter several inches lower than the rest, to make kneading and rolling
easier.

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:52:43 +0000, Phil L wrote:

snip

The legs are usually adjustable, but you don't have a fantastic
difference between highest and lowest, only a few inches.



Ok. I've inspected the missus *very* carefully and I can't find and
height adjustment on her legs. For some unexplained reason they have been
made exactly the right length to fit between her body and the ground.
There doesn't seem to be any allowance made for worktop height at all...


;-)
--
Mick (Working in a M$-free zone!)
Web: http://www.nascom.info
Filtering everything posted from googlegroups to kill spam.

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:49:02 -0800 (PST) Misterroy wrote :
Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is
off to IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law
has clearly stated, aw well you wont need another one. How
high should our worktops be, how do we best raise them, will
IKEA sell a suitable kick-board?

Standard plinths won't be suitable. I did this on my first
kitchen (new one with a view to sale was standard) and raised
the worktop by putting a hardwood spacer rail (stained black and
varnished in my case) between the unit tops and worktop.

--
Tony Bryer, 'Software to build on' from Greentram
www.superbeam.co.uk www.superbeam.com www.greentram.com

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:24:33 +0000, Andy Champ wrote:

The top should be elbow height.

Naw, how on earth would you roll out pastry or knead dough?

I'm 6' as near as damn it and our worktops are a good 6" below my elbow
height. I don't find them too low and I can get some weight onto my hands
for rolling/kneading. The height is the same as the palm of my hands when
they are held palm down 90 deg to may arms and with arms straight down by
my sides.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article ,
Bruce wrote:
Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one.


Are you absolutely, 100% sure that you will never need to sell your
present home?

Kitchens (and bathrooms) are key selling points. A kitchen with
absurdly high worktops is not going to help you to sell the house to
buyer(s) of average height or less.

Seems to be just about the first thing people do after moving - rip them
out no matter how recent - and fit their own choice. Might be different
with starter homes, though.

--
*Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

misterroy wrote:
Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one. How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable
kick- board?

Why does your neighbour's height matter? Who's going to be doing most of
the work in your kitchen?

I'm 5'8" and most definitely *wouldn't* want my kitchen counter any higher
than "standard" (I do the cooking).

Tim

On 24 Feb, 08:27, "Tim Downie"
wrote:
misterroy wrote:
Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one. How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable
kick- board?

Why does your neighbour's height matter? *Who's going to be doing most of
the work in your kitchen?

I'm 5'8" and most definitely *wouldn't* want my kitchen counter any higher
than "standard" (I do the cooking).

Tim

Remember to omit the kick boards if the wife has particularly large
feet.

It helps then stand close to the sink



That also reminds me why women get married in white.

Aren't most domestic appliances that colour?

On Feb 23, 7:49*pm, misterroy wrote:
Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one. How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable kick-
board?


Tall people also need to consider how high to hang any wall-mounted
cupbards. I'm 6'2" and I need such cupbards to be unusually high so
that I can still see the back of the worktop when standing up against
the front edge of it. Yo udon't want to have to bend down to look
under the cupboards.

We have out tops at 900mm and they seem fine to me.

Also, I have a rule of thumb that I must be able to touch the bottom
of the sink without bending down.

Robert

On Feb 24, 12:18*am, Owain wrote:
mick wrote:
Ok. I've inspected the missus *very* carefully and I can't find and
height adjustment on her legs. For some unexplained reason they have been
made exactly the right length to fit between her body and the ground.
There doesn't seem to be any allowance made for worktop height at all....

Angle grinder.

Owain

The missus leg height adjustment is typically done using add-on heels
of various heights rather than by adjusting the legs themselves.
The worktop height should be chosen so that the missus can rest her
upper body on the worktop comfortably when heels are set to "highest".

Robert

In message , Tim Downie
writes
misterroy wrote:
Hi, my 6'2 neighbour has worktops at 980 mm high. My wife is off to
IKEA tomorrow to buy a kitchen, as the mother in law has clearly
stated, aw well you wont need another one. How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable
kick- board?

Why does your neighbour's height matter? Who's going to be doing most of
the work in your kitchen?

I'm 5'8" and most definitely *wouldn't* want my kitchen counter any higher
than "standard" (I do the cooking).

My wife is 5'1" so we compromised by having a *promontory* section, with
stone insert for pastry, lowered by 4".

regards

--
Tim Lamb

On 23/02/2009 19:49 misterroy wrote:

How high should our
worktops be, how do we best raise them, will IKEA sell a suitable kick-
board?

IKEA sell legs of different height (3?) which are adjustable. I used two
heights in our kitchen: 170mm for all units except the separate
oven/cupboard housing which needed 125mm to allow me to squeeze it in.

Do you need a full height plinth? I used IKEA's shallow aluminium plinth
that fixes to the top of the square section aluminium legs and leaves a
gap below it to the floor. Creates an 'open' less closed-in feeling to
the kitchen. YMMV.

--
F

On Feb 23, 8:54*pm, misterroy wrote:
Andy the elbow theory sounds right, any "official" data to back it up?

It's ********. Think about it.

MBQ

On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:32:08 +0000, F news@nowhere wrote:

Do you need a full height plinth? I used IKEA's shallow aluminium plinth
that fixes to the top of the square section aluminium legs and leaves a
gap below it to the floor. Creates an 'open' less closed-in feeling to
the kitchen. YMMV.

eh? a gap?

Is that a plinth or not?

If not then why bother?

--

RobertL wrote:

The missus leg height adjustment is typically done using add-on heels
of various heights rather than by adjusting the legs themselves.
The worktop height should be chosen so that the missus can rest her
upper body on the worktop comfortably when heels are set to "highest".


I almost expected you to say that the heel height should be chosen so
that the missus (or other suitable partner) can comfortably bend
forwards over the worktop and ...

Sorry. ;-)

On Feb 24, 1:14*pm, Bruce wrote:
RobertL wrote:

The missus leg height adjustment is typically done using add-on heels
of various heights rather than by adjusting the legs themselves.
The worktop height should be chosen so that the missus can rest her
upper body on the worktop comfortably when heels are set to "highest".

I almost expected you to say that the heel height should be chosen so
that the missus (or other suitable partner) can comfortably bend
forwards over the worktop and ...


My version was more subtle :-)

"Man at B&Q" wrote:
On Feb 23, 8:54*pm, misterroy wrote:
Andy the elbow theory sounds right, any "official" data to back it up?

It's ********.


Wouldn't that be a little too low for most people?

On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:36:16 +0000, Bruce wrote:

"Man at B&Q" wrote:
On Feb 23, 8:54*pm, misterroy wrote:
Andy the elbow theory sounds right, any "official" data to back it up?

It's ********.

Wouldn't that be a little too low for most people?

Too low for me - 36" inside leg, so most surfaces (at least on the corners)
are made of bollockhite.
--
Peter.
You don't understand Newton's Third Law of Motion?
It's not rocket science, you know.

When I could last bend my knees properly, some eight years ago,
I raised my kitchen units about 4" by placing lengths of two-by-three
on the floor and placing the units on them. I also raised the bathroom
basin by a good 9" by boxing in the pipework with 7" joists with 2"
floorboard over the top.

Whenever I use somebody else's kitchen or, even worse, somebody
else's basin, through the crippling pain I am amazed people have put
up with facilities so low for so long.

Installation instructions even show a picture of somebody somehow
holding their body in the shape of an upside-down L over the basin.

--
JGH

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:24:33 +0000, Andy Champ wrote:

The top should be elbow height.

Naw, how on earth would you roll out pastry or knead dough?

I'm 6' as near as damn it and our worktops are a good 6" below my elbow
height. I don't find them too low and I can get some weight onto my hands
for rolling/kneading. The height is the same as the palm of my hands when
they are held palm down 90 deg to may arms and with arms straight down by
my sides.


Our tops are 930, my elbows about 1050. If I stand up straight my hands
with straight arms reach about 1/3 of the way across the top; any
further and I have to bend. Do it for long, and my back starts to ache.

I must admit I don't do much rolling or kneading; it's definitely too
low for chopping.

Curiously although SWMBO is a head shorter than me her elbow height is
within 2cm of mine.

Andy

On 24/02/2009 13:04 Mike wrote:

eh? a gap?

Is that a plinth or not?

If not then why bother?

The 'plinth' is a 40mm deep strip of aluminium. It leaves the undersides
of the units 'open' but hides the (variable) gaps between the tops of
the legs and the undersides of the cabinets that are created when the
units are levelled.

"Numerar plinth rail aluminium" 2200mm x 40mm, 800-721-54, £15 each

--
F