Removing Kitchen Plinths...

biv

Hi all,

I'm about to have a integrated washing machine inspected for repair, but problem is, it seems impossible to pull out because there is continuous floor plinths across the length of the kitchen!

Can anyone advise if these can be removed without dismantling the kitchen?

The floor has been tiled in front of the plinths, and although the plinths feel loose (with a couple of mm of movement), It doesn't look like I can pull them up and forward to remove. I heard they may be attached to the legs of the units with spring clips, but I can't work out how to get at them!

Thanks in advance.

wallbash

may be attached to the legs of the units with spring clips

Or even just plastic ones. A determined pull normally works.
But its easier if you can start at one end. You could try sliding a screwdriver into the vertical crack on a corner.
Have you got another much shorter piece to practice on. !!

When you see the idea , you will be more confident.

Mikeyorks

biv wrote: »

Can anyone advise if these can be removed without dismantling the kitchen?

They will have been the last items to be fitted so - yes. They should also have been fitted with the tiling running under them ... but no guarantee there.

The plinths will have either been screwed at the very top (hands and knees job to see them) .... or with a clip screwed to the back of the plinth and that goes around the leg of the units (bottom right on this picture) :-

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/36145/Kitchens/Kitchen-Fittings/Cabinet-Fittings/Kitchen-Plinth-Feet-Set-Pack-of-40

Get a soft duster and, as previous post, push a scraper or similar broad blade into the duster and into an external joint. And gently lever towards the top of the plinth. Hopefully all should be revealed?

jennifernil

If the plinth has been "tiled in" then you may have to wreck the plinth to get it off, this happened to my daughter.

The previous owner (obviously a first time DIYer) had tiled both the kitchen and bathroom floors without thinking that it might ever be necessary to remove the plinth or the bath panel. Her dad had to wreck the plinth to get it off, then he put down an extra strip of tiles and fitted a new plinth in a suitable colour (Ikea is good for plinths) on top of the tiles.

Unless you find some way of getting hold of the top edge of the plinth to pull forward, wrecking it is probably the only way.

Another problem you may find is that the tiles also make getting the machine out difficult. If you have space above it below the worktop, you may be able to lift it enough to get the feet up onto the tiles. If not, the other way is to screw up the front feet, ease it up and forward and hope you can reach the back feet and screw them up too.

Before you replace it, put some ply or hardboard in the space to raise the floor level flush with the tiles, then you will not have a problem next time.

If the machine is a tight fit heightwise you may have great difficulty getting it out. With our daughter's diswasher (which we were fortunately replacing) her dad had to destroy the feet to get it out.

I suggest you sort out getting it out before the repair man arrives!

biv

Thanks everyone for help, much appreciated. It feels like the plinths are attached by the clips linked to in Mikeyorks's post.

Unfortunately no luck getting them off. The problem isn't so much the tiles in front, it's that the skirting boards have also been attached to the walls in front of the plinths, which seems to be why they just won't come off. If I pull any harder, the plinth board is going to crack in half.

The only thing I can do is to try get a small saw blade in there and cut about 1cm off the end, but I really shouldn't do this because the property is rented. Would be happy to replace the plinth but this seems like another effort.

So, I dunno what to do at the moment. Probably have to put the repair man on hold tomorrow.

The thread isn't complete without me naming and shaming Barratts - In the same block of apartments, they're also responsible for crossed meters, mis-wired phone extensions, mis-aligned shower cubicles, leaky boilers, and dodgy plumbing... thank god I'm renting!

wallbash

One way or another the Plinth has too go !
I don't think they are that expensive, Its only a straight forward laminated chip board.

Go to the centre of the plinth, and give an almighty slow tug!:D
If the ends are only held because of the skirting board, I would have thought a length of plinth would bend that far.

27col

If you can't pull them off, then you will have to break or cut them up. Easy enough to replace. Bit of a drag, but hey! that's life. There is no accounting for other peoples weird DIY decisions. Once you have accepted the fact that they will have to be destroyed then you use anything that you have to hand, to get them off.

jennifernil

As you are renting, get the landlord to send someone to remove the plinth and machine, and level up the floor under the machine and replace the plinth to allow access in future. An integrated WM is surely their responsibility.