Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Dec 18, 2010 12:24 pm Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and hoping someone can give me some advice on shadowlines. We had our new kitchen installed 2 weeks ago and the kitchen company has made 2 major errors with the installation as well as a few minor things that need to be fixed. Firstly the cupboards are too low for our kitchen space by about 20mm. We dont have our stone benchtops on yet but I realised with the stone benchtops on top the benchtops would sit about 20mm under our window which was not what was agreed on. They have suggested creating a shadowline which will bring the benchtops up by about 20mm. Our stone benchtops are 30mm thick and our kitchen cupboards are vinyl wrap. The kickboards match our kitchen cupboards and are already quite high if they were to make them any higher and wind the kitchen up I think they would look too high. We have an installer coming out to the house on 29/12 to hopefully fix other problems but in the meantime have no kitchen to use, appliances not installed and no running water in kitchen. They have told us they will get us photos of shadowlines to consider these but as yet have not received any. The kitchen was installed on 3/12 but due to problems all work has stopped. Any advice would be appreciated. Thankyou Re: kitchen bench shadowline 2Dec 18, 2010 12:50 pm 20mm is quite a large gap for a shadow line - too large in my mind. Another solution that will hurt the supplier more but (I think) would be a nicer result would be to add a 20mm apron to the existing stone tops to give you a 50mm edge - nice and chunky. I know what a serious hassle it is to be without a functioning kitchen for any period of time, BUT if you have a set of dimensioned drawings or specifications which were signed off on then I would be insisting on getting what you signed off on, even if they have to take it all out and redo the doors for higher carcasses. If I get something wrong or something goes wrong that I am responsible for then I fix it and wear the cost, but then again, I always give my clients a full set of detailed plans and elevations to sign before the job starts, and what they are promised is what they get. If you don't have any signed agreements however you don't really have much leverage. Just remember that the temporary pain is soon forgotten once the finished result is being enjoyed and if you think the "fixes" they are recommending are acceptable then go for it. If these issues bother you then bite the bullet and live without the kitchen for as long as it takes. Cheers, Earl Re: kitchen bench shadowline 3Dec 19, 2010 12:16 am Thanks Earl, I have remeasured and found the stone would sit 15mm under our window so I guess the shadow line would be about that but it sounds like this is still too high for a shadow line. Our kick boards are already 185mm which I think is high enough so if we opt to have the kitchen wound up instead of the shadow line our kickboards would be about 200mm. The other problem we have is they have made our pantry kick boards only 165mm which doesnt line up with the other cupboards including the cupboard right next to it. The kitchen companies solution is to cut part of the top pantry cupboard off as it needs to be flushed up to a bulkhead and raise the cupboards to 185mm. Now if they do that and we opt to have the others wound up they will need to cut 35mm off pantry cupboard so it will be the same height as the other cupboards. I also have another question someone may be able to answer. When the installer installed the cupboards he left the plastic covering on many of the panels that sit in between drawers and cupboards. The problem with this is the plastic has already started peeling in places and is impossible to peel off properly so we have bits of plastic wrap peeling from the sides of some cupboards. We havent started using the kitchen yet and this is already happening. Can anyone tell me if it is the norm to leave this plastic wrap on? I would appreciate any feedback at all and any ideas on good sites where I might find photos of shadow lines? Thanks in advance. Re: kitchen bench shadowline 4Dec 19, 2010 10:43 pm Just to give you some ideas.... I've just measured the 'shadow line' (which is actually our handle, which sits on the carcas) and ist is 30mm. our bench is 20mm ceasar stone. Our kickboards are about 135mm, I think they were 150mm before the tiles were installed. I would definitley want all the kicks to be the same height.. In my kitchen all the kicks and drawers needed to line up exactly or it would have driven me mad. if you don't like the shadow, and don't mind a chunky bench then a heavery bench may be the answer, and probably cheaper for the cabinet maker to pay for. I agreed you need to hold out for what was agreed. do you have drawings, are the measurements correct? Pis in my sig. Recently moved to a 60's home in need of some improvement! http://s797.photobucket.com/user/leenii ... ch%20House Old house: http://s797.photobucket.com/albums/yy25 ... loo/House/ Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 12662 Building Standards; Getting It Right! These can be easily filled and repaired and it doesn't cost them much to do. Id get the builder to do this first and if the repair is not suitable then a replacement is… 12 32044 Thanks Ardo, they are sort of semi concealed. I think it is only a few millimetres. I see if they can adjust the hinges. 4 4364 |