Help! Worktop Join

There you have it, Coaker - Snezz is our resident kitchen expert. (Amongst others.)

 

If there are units under the right hand section then I can understand it or the fitter was told it was a wooden worktop so didn't take his router and jig, dunno.

 

Most of the wooden tops I fit from the big sheds specifically state in the fitting instructions not to do a hockey stick mitre.
They also say not to do a 45deg join - but I do them for the look anyway

 

I also agree with phils drawing but don't agree a full mitre would let the grain "flow" no matter which way you cut it at some point the grain turns through 90 degrees.

 

Everyone has their own way of doing things, but in my opinion, it looks far better having the grains meet at a 45 degree angle than just butting up at 90 degrees.

The down side to this is the extra cost and wastage of the wood, as you end up cutting off 2 triangular sections from one end of both tops.

Over the years, I have fitted wooden tops using all the methods discussed above, and ultimately it all comes down to factors on site (quantity of materials supplied, position of pillars, customers budget etc, etc).

In this instance, all the fitter needed to do was to talk the client through what he was planning regarding the joint and then cut it accordingly. He obviously didn't explain it very well or the client wouldn't be on here now moaning about a joint that is acceptable, just not as they had hoped or expected.

Snezza.

 

"all the fitter needed to do was to talk the client through what he was planning regarding the joint"

And I suspect that is the nub of the matter here, tho' I obviously don't know.

But, it's that age-old chestnut - tradespeeps come across an 'issue' that needs a different solution to that normally undertaken, and which could raise the eyebrows of the customer. But, instead of doing what they should do - talk it through - they carry on in a way that suits them.

The reasons can be many; perhaps the customer is out for the day and they can't hold off from the work that long, or perhaps they know that the customer will insist on a more time-intensive or costly solution, or perhaps they simply think they know best - and that they'll 'get away' with it.

If these kitchen fitters really said to Coakers that 'this was the only way it could be done', then I suspect very strongly they told porkies and deserve a good kicking.

If.

 

I think the fitter could have used a wider fillet between the units along the wall and the units forming the breakfast bar. I can see why he's angled the cut to accommodate the overhang on the b/b units though, and possibly he's just gone of the plan measurements. It is usual for solid worktops to just butt up to each other. I'm not entirely sure a 45 degree mitre would have worked here though, with the pillar being where it is.

 

Stunning kitchen, Coaker.

A pause for thought - do you think you notice that join now because you now know it's like that, or do you notice because it is 'unusual'?!

Has anyone else come in to see your kitchen and commented on it spontaneously?

(Ie: can you live with it...?)

 

Right then. I was all for the fitters when looking at it from above.
Where did you buy the work tops from? I fit kitchens for Wickes and have not come across that top before.
The problem here is that the base corner post is missing. Look at the curved piece in between the doors in the other corner. There should be one to match. That would have brought the top along enough for a straight butt join.
Either the designer missed it off the plan, but the fitter should have noticed on survey and requested one. Or the fitter cocked up the top and did a quick rework to get away with it.
Due to the missing post you have a pretty good argument to have it re done.
What branch of Wickes did you use?

 

All I can say is,, You've got better eyesight than me. Honestly can't tell anything from the photo showing the opposite corner.

 

Looking at the pics a full 45° wouldn't have worked due to the pillars position, the amount of timber from pillar to angle cut wouldn't have been enough from a strength point of view.

In pic 2, looking at the area from a bigger prospective, I don't feel that the angle of the cut stands out as much as it did in a close up shot and if left I'm sure you would soon forget about it, as you have said the rest of the fit looks a very good job.

 

Haha. Hope they fitted that corner post!
As I said, I fit for Wickes. Fitted that range many times.
Another thought, it may be that that is the full length of the worktop and the units below were bodged to suit.
Personally I would have put in the corner post or had a disclaimer on the plan that the client did not want one.

 

Out of interest, how have they cut the other end.

 

There is definitely a corner post missing from the cabinet below this joint......!!!! Those 2 doors should be spaced further apart.

With regard to the 90 degree joint or 45 degree joint, I would still have cut it at 45 degrees, even if there were a slight loss of strength of the overall joint. I just think it would have looked better...!

From what I can tell from the photos, the job looks ok, apart from the missing corner post

Snezza.

 

Feel sorry for the fitter come Monday morning.

 

Snezza, Looking at both photo's from either side of the breakfast bar, it's a fair bet that the doors on the breakfast bar , are just being used as panels and don't open at all, as the opposite side view shows the open shelves of the carcase. From the size of the photos, I can't see the detail at the other end clearly enough to say whether a corner post has been used at that end.

 

As you say JJ, it is difficult to be exact, but looking at the depth of the cabinets that are back to back on the peninsular/breakfast bar area, my guess would be that the cabinets are 300mm ish deep. That would make the peninsular top approximately 630/640mm deep. That being the case, the doors in the working side of the kitchen do open! Otherwise, there would be 300mm of dead, inaccessible space!

As you say, the pictures do make it difficult to see the far end of the kitchen and the corner post, but I'm pretty sure there is a "Proper" corner post fitted.

Had the fitter not fitted a corner post at that end, then the chances are that when either of the 2 top drawers were opened, the drawer fronts would clash and hit the handle on the other drawer front.......if that makes sense....!!!!!????

Snezza.

 

Dunno Snezza, the photo showing the open shelves looks as though they are at least 3/4 of the depth of the breakfast bar. So I'm assuming these are just ordinary base units. Point taken about the drawers at the other end though.

 

Missing corner post or no, with these runs of units remaining exactly as they are, why couldn't the worktops be joined using a 'shallow' Mason? Ie - pretty much as it is now, except not squint?!

I suspect that long worktop was at its maximum length - and there was a wee bash in the RH end which they trimmed off at the joint angle...