Kitchen Doors - Replacing/Refurb Query

Status
Not open for further replies.

Buckster

Buckster

Buckster

Soldato
Joined
20 Aug 2006
Posts
9,774
Wonder if anyone can help please - as I'm quite confused - and I gave up waiting for someone at B&Q earlier to help me !!

basically we want to "freshen" up our old kitchen - can't afford a full kitchen - but can afford to replace all the fronts/drawer fronts etc

we had 2 quotes locally - one reasonable - £900 all in -the other a bit out of our price range £2200

so we thought we'd have a crack at doing it ourselves

the doors are all standard 500/600mm width etc.

Went B&Q ealier - and all AOK except where the door-hinges are on the doors (ie the sunken circle + holes) - is obviously fixed - but in those locations it won't line up with the position of the brackets on the carcasses

there're aren't any holes above/below the hinges on the carcasses to move the hinges - and I don't really want to faff about re-drilling/moving hinges if I can avoid it

Now all the doors we could see - flatpack - seemed to be "wrong" for our current kitchen - the 2 screws for the hinges were 10mm (may have been 11) and 15mm from top/bottom - with the circle in between for the sunken hinge

Ours - the 2 screws for hinges are at 6mm and 11mm from top/bottom ie nearer the top/bottom edge - with the sunken part inbetween

I guessed it was just as our kitchen was old and non-standard

but I then took a look at the "show" built kitchens in B&Q - and about 60-70% of them were as per the flat-packs 11/15mm hole spacing - but about 30% of them matched perfectly our current hinge positions

none of the "packed" doors have anything on them to note the position of the hinges - so either the'yre all the same or I have no idea how to distinguish which are which

any ideas please?

we could have custom doors made online cheaply - but if we can buy and collect its a lot easier

thanks for any help,

Buckster

6 x 11
 
There's no point in keeping hinge positions the same otherwise everyone will just change fronts and tops

That's why local authorities insist on howdens as they stay the same and they can buy spares, I think the only option is drilling your own but as you said it won't be easy as you can't use a normal drill bit as it'll break through , or get custom ones made.

Have you thought about painting, new tops and new handles
 
FACT: B&Q hinges are all in the same place on the door.
Only the framed doors are different as they require a different type of hinge
 
easiest option would be to get new doors and relocate the hinges on the carcase.
you'd only need to drill two pilot holes for each hinge, you can even get a hinge template so you dont have to mark any thing out.
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/brand/blum/hinge-mounting-plate-jig/C3501/hinge-mounting-plate-jig

only down side is your'll see the old hinge screw holes, which will most likely freckle as you take the screws out showing the chip board beneath. you might be lucky and patch them up with a bit of filler.

You can get doors with no holes at all so you can drill your own which you will need a forstner drill bit. Or a router with plum hinge cutter.
but this will involve a lot more work and a higher potential to **** things up.
 
maccapacca said:
You can't really drill them, you need a mill as they only leave a few mm of material left
Click to expand...

Drill with a depth stop. Simples.

Practice a few times with some old board thats the same depth and get the depth perfect.

As said you may get some unsightly holes left over but some filler will do the trick. If they are really manky inside you can always paint the insides. Spray paint would be best although it will probably take a fair bit.

Drilling the cabinets to relocate the hinges will be 10x easier than buying doors that you need to modify.

Check the drawer fronts some you make a drawer and attach a front, others the front is part of the drawer. Again you may face similar issues to the doors but unlikely to unsurmountable.
 
Don't alter the doors as folks have said, just relocate the screws on the carcass. The holes from the previous screws can easily be covered up by using little stick on caps the same colour as your carcass and will be virtually unnoticeable.
 
Just had a thought, I put together some units a while ago that had a hole in the carcass as well as the door, I guess this was for more support.
You may want to just check that you do not have these types of hinges, if so you may want to look for some that do not recess into the cabinet.
(This is pretty unusual though I think)

Oh by the way Screwfix do some pretty nice replacement doors etc as well

eg

http://www.screwfix.com/p/kitchen-c... Cabinet White Gloss Slab Door for 300mm Unit
 
Last edited:
I know you mentioned that you checked the widts on your replacement doors but did you also check the heights?

While widhsa are all commong between manufacturers 300mm, 400mm, 60mm etc heigts are not.

From memory B&Q doors are 720mm tall, Homebase are 702mm, Wickes and MFI were 715mm, Magnet are 702mm.

On top of that you have differences in wall unit door heights. Homebase for instance use 702mm for wall and base units whereas MFI, B&Q, Wicks and a number of others sometimes use different heights for wall unit doors.

As for your question about the difference in hole spacing on the B&Q units their IT range (flatpack) use different, and inferior, carcases to their premium Cooke and Lewis ranges whiich also have different hole spacings. They usually have their premium carcases on display instore for obvious reasons. Their carcases are interchangeable however and they will sometimes supply the cheaper carcases with Cooke and Lewis door fronts to keep costs down.

As mentioned above dont worry about the holes on the existing carcases. Locate the hinges on the doors and drill new holes as required.

/Salsa
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom