After recommendations from here I've had a Howdens kitchen fitted in a bungalow for rental as I thought the precision needed was beyond me.

But the corner wall cabinet is on a slope,
only 7mm but as its next to a window it looks bad to me
(146mm from window at bottom, 139mm at top, 750mm high)

Am I being over finickerty or will it bug me and others forever?

The fitter said he was in a hurry and had another job to go to.
He said the plaster was thicker at the top than at the bottom
(he had chosen the plasterers)
He said if he battoned it it would look worse.
Howdens refused to come and inspect it,
they said the wall wasn't plastered when they measured it
and its between me and the fitter.
Howdens said I should trust the fitter.
I did trust him before he installed it on the ****!

How do Howdens cabs come apart, could I fix it myself.
Would it go back together again?
Maybe an angle grinder and flapdisc to grind the plaster down?

George

Cutting the plaster back depends on the design of the cabinets back. Chiseling is probably the best way to do it if possible, the angle grinder or flap wheel will produce one helluva lot of dust. I am assuming you are saying the cabinet is out of vertical, in that case packing out is probably easier..

http://www.screwfix.com/c/screws-nai...hims/cat840018

If there are adjoining cabinets that need pulling in line with the corner cabinet make the packing pieces extend out so as the back edge of the next cabinet is packed out the same as the first. An alternative to ready made packers is to use strips of self adhesive vinyl tiles, sticking strips on top of one another produces different thicknesses of packer and once the correct thickness is achieved it can be stuck to the wall making it easy to hold in place. The only downside to this method is you can only work to an accuracy dependant on tile thickness.

Richard

In article ,
DICEGEORGE writes:
After recommendations from here I've had a Howdens kitchen fitted in a bungalow for rental as I thought the precision needed was beyond me.

But the corner wall cabinet is on a slope,
only 7mm but as its next to a window it looks bad to me
(146mm from window at bottom, 139mm at top, 750mm high)

Am I being over finickerty or will it bug me and others forever?

The fitter said he was in a hurry and had another job to go to.
He said the plaster was thicker at the top than at the bottom
(he had chosen the plasterers)
He said if he battoned it it would look worse.
Howdens refused to come and inspect it,
they said the wall wasn't plastered when they measured it
and its between me and the fitter.
Howdens said I should trust the fitter.
I did trust him before he installed it on the ****!

How do Howdens cabs come apart, could I fix it myself.
Would it go back together again?
Maybe an angle grinder and flapdisc to grind the plaster down?

I had a similar situation when I did my kitchen. One wall cupboard
was going on a wall where a chimney had been removed decades before,
and the surface of the wall sloped back irregularly. I battened
the cuboard so it was true on the wall, and bought decorative end
panels for the deeper base units which I cut down at the back to
fit the profile of the wall. It doesn't show now, unless you stand
side-on and look specifically at the rear edge of the side panel.
In my case, the decorative panels are plain - if you had panels
with a pattern or square frames molded in, it might not work quite
as well.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 07/06/2015 09:08, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
DICEGEORGE writes:
After recommendations from here I've had a Howdens kitchen fitted in a bungalow for rental as I thought the precision needed was beyond me.

But the corner wall cabinet is on a slope,
only 7mm but as its next to a window it looks bad to me
(146mm from window at bottom, 139mm at top, 750mm high)

Am I being over finickerty or will it bug me and others forever?

The fitter said he was in a hurry and had another job to go to.
He said the plaster was thicker at the top than at the bottom
(he had chosen the plasterers)
He said if he battoned it it would look worse.
Howdens refused to come and inspect it,
they said the wall wasn't plastered when they measured it
and its between me and the fitter.
Howdens said I should trust the fitter.
I did trust him before he installed it on the ****!

How do Howdens cabs come apart, could I fix it myself.
Would it go back together again?
Maybe an angle grinder and flapdisc to grind the plaster down?

I had a similar situation when I did my kitchen. One wall cupboard
was going on a wall where a chimney had been removed decades before,
and the surface of the wall sloped back irregularly. I battened
the cuboard so it was true on the wall, and bought decorative end
panels for the deeper base units which I cut down at the back to
fit the profile of the wall. It doesn't show now, unless you stand
side-on and look specifically at the rear edge of the side panel.
In my case, the decorative panels are plain - if you had panels
with a pattern or square frames molded in, it might not work quite
as well.

An uncle of mine, who was a cabinet make purchased a house. I went down
to help him sort it. While I did the plumbing he fitted the kitchen.
When he came to place the work top on the units he found the wall was
not straight. He simply took it into the garden, placed it on a trestle
and sawed away. To my absolute amazement when he returned to the kitchen
with it it fitted perfectly. So if your fitter had been a skilled
tradesman I am sure there would not have been a problem.

In article ,
Broadback writes:
On 07/06/2015 09:08, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
DICEGEORGE writes:
After recommendations from here I've had a Howdens kitchen fitted in a bungalow for rental as I thought the precision needed was beyond me.

But the corner wall cabinet is on a slope,
only 7mm but as its next to a window it looks bad to me
(146mm from window at bottom, 139mm at top, 750mm high)

Am I being over finickerty or will it bug me and others forever?

The fitter said he was in a hurry and had another job to go to.
He said the plaster was thicker at the top than at the bottom
(he had chosen the plasterers)
He said if he battoned it it would look worse.
Howdens refused to come and inspect it,
they said the wall wasn't plastered when they measured it
and its between me and the fitter.
Howdens said I should trust the fitter.
I did trust him before he installed it on the ****!

How do Howdens cabs come apart, could I fix it myself.
Would it go back together again?
Maybe an angle grinder and flapdisc to grind the plaster down?

I had a similar situation when I did my kitchen. One wall cupboard
was going on a wall where a chimney had been removed decades before,
and the surface of the wall sloped back irregularly. I battened
the cuboard so it was true on the wall, and bought decorative end
panels for the deeper base units which I cut down at the back to
fit the profile of the wall. It doesn't show now, unless you stand
side-on and look specifically at the rear edge of the side panel.
In my case, the decorative panels are plain - if you had panels
with a pattern or square frames molded in, it might not work quite
as well.

An uncle of mine, who was a cabinet make purchased a house. I went down
to help him sort it. While I did the plumbing he fitted the kitchen.
When he came to place the work top on the units he found the wall was
not straight. He simply took it into the garden, placed it on a trestle
and sawed away. To my absolute amazement when he returned to the kitchen
with it it fitted perfectly. So if your fitter had been a skilled
tradesman I am sure there would not have been a problem.

This is quite easy to do. Offer the edge up to the wall until it hits
the part sticking out most, and ensure it's square to it's final position.
Find the part with the biggest gap. Hold a pencil with length against the
wall and point on the edge of surface, tilting the pencil or spacing it
out away from the wall if the gap is too big. Then run the pencil along
the surface, transscribing the profile of the wall. Then take the piece
away from the wall and plane or saw to the pencil line. When you offer it
back up to the wall, you will have a perfect fit.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Sun, 07 Jun 2015 15:34:39 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

snip

This is quite easy to do.


snip


you hold the cabinet up with one hand and scribe with the other
sharpen the pencil first


steve

but the plaster is thicker higher up so the cabinets slope the wrong way to batten it - the battens would have to be at the bottom which would leave an unsightly gap. Howdens wall cabinets are prebuilt and glued.

Yes a flapdisk would makes lots of dust thinning down the plaster.
Maybe using a hand chisel is a better way?
Cutting out the edges of the areas to be thinned with my boschPMF with an old semicircular wood saw blade, andor a scraper blade, andor one of the rougher ones?

I don't know how to remove the wall cab to get a look at how its attached.
There are two plastic clips at the top corners with a horizontal and a vertical screw or bolt which may need a sonic screwdriver and maybe other unknown unknowns.

[g]

On Sun, 07 Jun 2015 11:37:47 -0700, DICEGEORGE wrote:

but the plaster is thicker higher up so the cabinets slope the wrong way
to batten it - the battens would have to be at the bottom which would
leave an unsightly gap. Howdens wall cabinets are prebuilt and glued.

Yes a flapdisk would makes lots of dust thinning down the plaster.
Maybe using a hand chisel is a better way?
Cutting out the edges of the areas to be thinned with my boschPMF with
an old semicircular wood saw blade, andor a scraper blade, andor one of
the rougher ones?

I don't know how to remove the wall cab to get a look at how its
attached.
There are two plastic clips at the top corners with a horizontal and a
vertical screw or bolt which may need a sonic screwdriver and maybe
other unknown unknowns.

[g]

use a no.2 ph screwdriver (not a power driver)
the horizontal screws tighten the cabinet back to the wall
the vertical screws are the height adjustment
to remove the cabinet unclip the doors. check if the cabinet is screwed
to any adjacent cabinet(screws may be hidden behind hinges) unscrew (anti
clock) the horizontal screws a few turns until the cabinet begins to tip
out at the top .you can now lift the cabinet off the hangers

hth

steve

On Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 5:32:17 PM UTC+1, DICEGEORGE wrote:
After recommendations from here I've had a Howdens kitchen fitted in a bungalow for rental as I thought the precision needed was beyond me.

But the corner wall cabinet is on a slope,
only 7mm but as its next to a window it looks bad to me
(146mm from window at bottom, 139mm at top, 750mm high)

Am I being over finickerty or will it bug me and others forever?

The fitter said he was in a hurry and had another job to go to.
He said the plaster was thicker at the top than at the bottom
(he had chosen the plasterers)
He said if he battoned it it would look worse.
Howdens refused to come and inspect it,
they said the wall wasn't plastered when they measured it
and its between me and the fitter.
Howdens said I should trust the fitter.
I did trust him before he installed it on the ****!

How do Howdens cabs come apart, could I fix it myself.
Would it go back together again?
Maybe an angle grinder and flapdisc to grind the plaster down?

George

Get the plasterer back to hack the plaster off and get it right. The cabinet fitter shouldn't have fitted the cabinet in the first place. In a hurry is no excuse for bad workmanship. Don't pay up till you are satisfied. If you try to rectify it yourself and it turns out worst, then you've got nothing to argue with.

Howdens at Fareham have given me an installation manual which clearly states on page 5 that the fitter should have checked for level and plumb .

They say it is not their problem, the fitter should have noticed the slope and returned 3 of the panels and swapped them for slightly bigger ones which could be cut to fit the plaster before screwing into them. Now they wont replace the holed panels without more money.

Their 'surveyor' who measured the kitchen says he had assumed the plaster would be 100% plumb.

Howdens fitters do not seem to be trained or tested by Howdens in any way, you just produce a card at the desk and they give you a trade account.

The fitter has given me the key back saying our working relationship is broken as I embarrassed him by complaining to Howdens and here on the internet (as I'd said I'd do if they didn't come a mile and inspect his work)

But he first embarrassed me by fitting the cabs on the ****, and claiming that that's how it happens.

He wedged a bit of plywood behind a cab, but didn't adjust the screws etc.
Maybe it can be fixed by tiling a lot thicker and only replacing one of the boards. I'm going back to do it myself.

Shame as he is quite a good builder and I trusted him.

[George]
On Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 5:32:17 PM UTC+1, DICEGEORGE wrote:
After recommendations from here I've had a Howdens kitchen fitted in a bungalow for rental as I thought the precision needed was beyond me.

But the corner wall cabinet is on a slope,
only 7mm but as its next to a window it looks bad to me
(146mm from window at bottom, 139mm at top, 750mm high)

Am I being over finickerty or will it bug me and others forever?

The fitter said he was in a hurry and had another job to go to.
He said the plaster was thicker at the top than at the bottom
(he had chosen the plasterers)
He said if he battoned it it would look worse.
Howdens refused to come and inspect it,
they said the wall wasn't plastered when they measured it
and its between me and the fitter.
Howdens said I should trust the fitter.
I did trust him before he installed it on the ****!

How do Howdens cabs come apart, could I fix it myself.
Would it go back together again?
Maybe an angle grinder and flapdisc to grind the plaster down?

George

On Mon, 15 Jun 2015 04:00:46 -0700, DICEGEORGE wrote:

Their 'surveyor' who measured the kitchen says he had assumed the
plaster would be 100% plumb.

Howdens fitters do not seem to be trained or tested by Howdens in any
way, you just produce a card at the desk and they give you a trade
account.

Hold on one minute...

Who is actually employed by Howdens here?

The surveyor?
The fitter?
Neither?

The surveyor

Jim K

The young Howdens surveyor said he's assumed the walls were plumb, and they are not responsible for the 'Howdens Fitter' installing the wallcabs on the ****. There is no training for Howdens Fitters, anyone 'in the trade' can buy and fit Howdens kitchens.

It could have been adjusted to be parallel to the window, even thought he plaster wasn't 100% flat in the corner. But the fitter told me three times that it was good enough as was. After a week of this I went to Howdens for advice, the fitter said this was breaking our 'working relationship'. So now I am spending hours and hours working out how to get it level.