Strongest fixing for 'flyover' kitchen unit?

aliasojo

I need to fix a 900mm wide by 370mm high kitchen wall unit to the tall larder units that stand either side of my f/f. The flyover wall unit is not as deep as the larder units so it cant get fixed to the wall, only to the units either side of it.

So it will look like this..

l l

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l l
l l

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l l
l l............. l l
l l............. l l
l l............. l l


Kind of.


As my f/f is 920mm wide, I need to put a piece of wood between each larder unit and the wall unit as a spacer so that the space between larders is big enough for the f/f to fit into and there is enough finger space either side to pull it out if need be. I have plenty decor trim left to hide the spacers so the end result will look fine.

With me so far?

Question is....would I be better to screw larder unit/wood spacer/wall unit together.....or would some sort of joining bolts be stronger? I'm not sure what you call them but you drill a hole big enough to accept the female part of the bolt and then the male part screws through the other unit into it. That said, I don't know if they come in various lengths or if they are a standard size, which would obviously be too short for this situation.

I'm not planning on storing anything very heavy in the unit but I do want as strong a fixing as possible.

olias

Bolted straight through is stronger, and yes you can get pretty much any length/diameter you need. Just go to your nearest hardware/diy place and have a look at the range available.

At the risk of stating the obvious, don't get any too long, as they will obviously protrude into the unit and get in the way if you get ones too long, and make sure you get washers if they don't come with the bolts, to spread the load when tightening them up and avoid them 'chewing' into the units surface

Also beware when drilling a largeish holes that the laminate on the otherside will split/blow out when the drill bit comes through, so clamp an offcut of wood to the other side to avoid this happening when drilling

Olias

aliasojo

Thanks Olias.

I think we might be talking at cross purposes a little.....I was talking about these things....




....and since you mention them protruding into the unit, I'm assuming you are talking about bolts that have nut fastenings?

premkit

make the unit the size you need make sure the back board is solid and screwed into the top and bottom rails. this will help with the saging as 900 length will bow.

the bolts you have are ok 4 in each side will do. i have made lots of these for bookcases, the only issue is there is not enough hight for the big cook books to fit in.

good luck

olias

aliasojo wrote: »

Thanks Olias.

I think we might be talking at cross purposes a little.....I was talking about these things....




....and since you mention them protruding into the unit, I'm assuming you are talking about bolts that have nut fastenings?

Hi, yes I was talking about regular type bolts, I am not sure you will get the type in your photos of sufficient length as they are designed to join two units together, and with your spacer, it may be too wide. I think you really need to have a trawl through the fixings in your local DIY place or even kitchen fitters to see if they do them in longer lengths to take into account your spacer. If not, then I think you will be stuck with nuts and bolts as your best bet.

Olias

Fred_Bear_2

aliasojo - The cabinet connectors you are referring to need to be at least 18+18+20 = 56mm long, but the longest I have seen is 42mm, so I think you will need to use bolts (at least 70mm to allow for washers and nut). Also I would fix the spacer to the wall unit with screws first, otherwise the wall unit will tend drop a little as the bolt 'gives'. Also I agree with premkit that you need to stop the unit sagging.

Fred

aliasojo

Thanks very much everyone, I'm clearer on the fixings now. As Fred said, I had searched previously and the longest connector I had found was 42mm so they're out.

If I screw 2 lengths of 2" x 1" to the underside of the unit, would that be enough to stop it sagging, or will that just add to the weight and serve little purpose? I have enough clearance under the unit to fix these and I have some pelmet left that will hide the wood. The unit back is 15mm thick and the whole unit does seem very solid.

olias

TBH, unless you plan on keeping a lot of very heavy items in the unit, I don't see you will have a problem with sagging. If you wanted to make it bomb proof, however, then you could always use an angle bracket placed at the rear of the pelmet to attach the pelmet to the side units therefore meaning the pelmet is acting as a brace for the unit above and will take some of its weight. Similarly if you decide to use a piece of 2x1 then attach it to the side units with angle brackets and it will then take some of the weight and act as further bracing.

Olias

booty40uk

Hi
I would use the joining bolts as suggested...4 each side. For extra support you could span 2 x 1 timbers (2 of) from larder unit to larder unit extending about 300mm over them and then screw the top of your bridging unit into these as well.
You can also screw through from the inside of each larder unit into the bottom panel of the bridging unit using something like 3" x 8 wood screws for even more support. HtH

Andy

aliasojo

Ah, I never thought of putting timber over the top of the units too. I did that when I made a flyover piece at the cooker hood.

Thanks again all.....the suggestions are helpful.