How to prep wall for new kitchen

Warren1989

Here is the kitchen at the moment:


I will rip out the plasterboard to reveal all the concrete and electrics tomorrow. Then an electrician is coming to make some changes to the wiring to prepare for all the appliances and make-good the sockets in the bottom left on the floor.

This is the kitchen I have bought, shown in the space:


So the far wall will have 4 cupboards, a microwave and the 50-50 fridge freezer tall cupboards on it.


I was thinking:

1. Put new batons up using screws and plugs into the concrete
2. Nail and glue the plasterboard onto batons
3. Cut holes for the electrics
4. Have it skimmed by a plasterer
5. Hang the kitchen units

My questions are, should I use a layer of 18mm plywood behind the plasterboard to give the wall more strength to hold the kitchen units?

Or maybe I can try and place horizontal batons in the right locations so I can drill through to the baton when hanging the kitchen units?

Or do I just hang onto the plasterboard and plaster with hollow wall anchors and hope for the best?

Any other thoughts/opinions welcome please.

FreeBear

Do you know for sure how the wall behind the wall units is constructed ?

If it is stud & plasterboard, you may be lucky enough that the existing timbers line up where the new units are fixed.

As for fixing the other sheets of plasterboard, you could use a no-nails type adhesive, but I wouldn't bother with nails. Use proper drywall screws (32mm or 38mm), and drive the heads in far enough to be flush with the surface, then a quarter turn more. Be careful not to tear the facing paper or get too close to the edge of the boards. 12mm from the edge, and a screw every 200mm or so.

Warren1989

FreeBear wrote: »

Do you know for sure how the wall behind the wall units is constructed ?

If it is stud & plasterboard, you may be lucky enough that the existing timbers line up where the new units are fixed.

Here it is:


I don't have any idea how high the new cabinets will be, not sure that was provided by the kitchen suppliers, so I guess I can try and work it out to use the existing horizontal baton...

Once the plasterboard and plaster is on, I'm not sure if I will be able to find the batons though. Will a magnet work to find the screws through plaster + plasterboard?

As for fixing the other sheets of plasterboard, you could use a no-nails type adhesive, but I wouldn't bother with nails. Use proper drywall screws (32mm or 38mm), and drive the heads in far enough to be flush with the surface, then a quarter turn more. Be careful not to tear the facing paper or get too close to the edge of the boards. 12mm from the edge, and a screw every 200mm or so.

Okey doke. Sounds good!

FreeBear

Warren1989 wrote: »

I don't have any idea how high the new cabinets will be, not sure that was provided by the kitchen suppliers, so I guess I can try and work it out to use the existing horizontal baton...

Assuming the new wall units are attached to the walls the same way as the old ones (plate on the wall, adjustable hook on the cabinets), you just need to decide how high you want to mount them - They are (generally) all of a standard height, 720mm being the most common, although you can get short (575mm) and tall (900mm). From your render, it looks like the units are 720mm and a 575mm over the hob.

Fix some 3x2 battens to the wall with heavy duty fixings - Arrange it so that the cabinet fixings are in the middle of the battens. Make a note of the distance between the ceiling and the timbers. Fix a second batten to the wall some 700mm lower so that the bottom of the wall units have something to give a bit of support. Would also suggest a third batten at around 850mm from the floor so that you have something to fix the base units to.