Kitchen worktop upstands with splashback

tallac

There is a varying gap between the quartz kitchen worktop and the wall. Not sure how much of this is due to an uneven wall but the front edge of the worktop hasn't been installed completely level with the front of the cabinets (i.e. the front of the cabinets doesn't follow the edge of the worktop, it's slightly diagonal). This results in a gap between worktop and the wall of around 0 to 10mm. My thinking is a matching quartz upstand will hide most of this gap but I also wanted to get a splashback (quite keen on the Alusplash product).

My question is, should I get the splashback installed first and then the upstand would then to fixed to the splashback, or should the splashback be installed after the upstand?

Racky_Roo

First off, there shouldn't be any gaps with Quartz, they template the exact shape of the walls and cut to size, including wonky walls. If this is a newly installed worktop, i'd be getting the company back to rectify it.

With regards to the second question it's personal taste. I have upstands all the way round and then my splashback (a bit like pic 2). If you do the splashback all the way down to the worktop then it can look a bit weird as upstands are quite deep and splashbacks are usually pretty thin (like pic 1) 

Splashbacks don't get fixed to the upstands. They either rest on the top of them or there is a gap either side of the upstands to fit a splashback.

FreeBear

If the front of the worktop is not parallel with the base units, it needs to be taken out and the rear edge scribed to the wall. That may well reduce your 10mm gap - How much will depend on how out of parallel the front edge is.

My kitchen wall is far from straight - Something like 6mm variation across a 3.5m length. Scribed the worktop to match the wall, and the gap is a maximum of 1mm. A thin bead of silicone sealant was all that was required to hide the gap.

Sandtree

Upstand against the wall with splashback, where used, on top. No need for the extra depth of having the splashback going behind the upstands even if you are doing the whole wall.

Rosa_Damascena

Get the upstands at the same time as the worktops, because the additional costs will be minimal. My granite work surface cost about £4k, the upstands were only an additional £250 (this was a long length) and the rest of the walls were tiles, negating the need for expensive glass splashbacks.

Rdwill

Our walls were not straight. Got the work surface and upstands done first. Then the glass was templated to sit on top of the upstands  with the wonky wall hidden behind.

Rdwill

And the sink run, glass under the cupboards.  Note the walls are painted the same colour as the glass.

tallac

The worktop not being flush to the wall is a big problem as it's not water tight. If I get the worktop company back in to make it as flush as possible to the wall, then I'm guessing I will need to also get the splashback (full wall aluminium splashback) installed as well before that crevice is siliconed, right?

Racky_Roo

There shouldn't be any gaps between wall and worktop. They should have cut them to make sure they were flush with the wall whilst also maintaining a straight line at the front. There should only be the need for a small line of beading between the worktop and the wall. 

I would fit the splashback once this is sorted as you want to make sure it's all fully sealed and correct

tallac

Racky_Roo said:

There shouldn't be any gaps between wall and worktop. They should have cut them to make sure they were flush with the wall whilst also maintaining a straight line at the front. There should only be the need for a small line of beading between the worktop and the wall. 

I would fit the splashback once this is sorted as you want to make sure it's all fully sealed and correct

Cool, thanks. I guess the small bead of silicone is done after the splashback is installed.