How to make the floor level before cabinets go can go in?

[Jobey]

Completed project

Hi All. New to workshop but really enjoying the posts and different ideas.

About to do a laundry reno. Old 70s house was partly renovated when I bought it, of course except for the wet areas. 

Laundry was very simple. Tub and washing machine. Space I have to play with is around 2.4m long. Plumber has been in to start moving pipes to become "hidden". I've removed the tiling and tub. When the plumber is ready to return I will cut away a lot of the plaster for him to do what he needs. (As you can see the plaster is past its use by date anyway) 

So have now noticed that the floors have previously been raised, I'm guessing so tiles can be laid throughout the house, hence leaving me with  2.5cm difference in floor height where the tub was. So question, Is this just a case of screeding to bring it up the same height as the rest of the floor?

Future plans are to install an 800mm kaboodle cabinet, washing machine, and 450mm flatpax linen chute. Cabinet doors will be simple in gloss white. I'll also replace the door on the chute to gloss white. Add an Abey 30L laundry trough and mixer tap. Love the look of the kaboodle 'smoked oak' benchtop. Will use wet area VJ panels instead of tiles to keep my budget down.

. . . 

[Jobey]

Hi @EricL I have decided to take the kitty litter house out of the equation (no pets were harmed in this reno)!. 

So now I'm back to the 800mm main cabinet,  450mm kaboodle cabinet to house the kaboodle laundry hamper, rather than the flatpax chute nd the Montgomery 400mm tall cupboard. Should all fit in there quite nicely I hope. 

[EricL]

Hello @Jobey

That's great to know that you've moved the kitty litter house to another location. You should have enough room to fit all the cabinets now. Any updates you can provide while building your project would be much appreciated. I'm sure our members are keen to see the finished look of your laundry.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Jobey]

Hi @EricL, @Adam_W, @MitchellMc  As I'm tackling this laundry on my own it is taking a little longer but I must admit I am really enjoying it and this site has been so helpful in the process. It actually hasn't been an inconvenience at all to have the laundry in disarray. I can still use the washing machine. 

So I have a couple of questions before I move on.

1. When and why are 'end panels' needed on the kaboodle cabinets?

2. As you can see Aqua check has been used to replace where the old plaster and tiles were removed at the old tub site. I don't plan on doing anything else below bench level (maybe a quick lick of paint) but will be using VJ panels above. Can I just use the standard panels and not the 'wet area' panels? I will be painting them in a bathroom type paint.

3. I have the 20kg bag of Dunlop Ardit floor leveller. I'm hopeless at working out m2. So do I need to use all of that bag or part of it to level the floor as per previous post?

[Adam_W]

Hi @Jobey  Glad to see things progressing so well!
1) - Do you mean the plain panels? I assume you mean what I would call the finishing panels. These are normally used to provide a screw-free finish where the ends will be visible. So you might use it at the end of a cabinet where it will be seen but probably not inside the cavity you slip the washing machine into. They can also be used when your cabinets end up a little short and a gap needs to be filled.
2) - If there is a risk of the area getting wet then you are best to use water resistant sheeting. For the sake of a small amount extra it gives you peace of mind.
3) - The maths of square metres and cubic (or fill metres) can be very confusing. The real trick is to stay with the most convenient measurement unit - stick with either mm, cm or m.
So, as an example... if you had an area that was 2m (200cm) side-to-side (length) by 1m (100cm) back-to-front (width) and it needed 50mm (5cm) of filling (height/depth) the calculations would be 2 x 1 = 2 This is your area, 2sq/m, remember this is surface area.
For volume we need to get into the 3rd dimension and here's where the important thing is getting the decimal point in the right place.
Your 5cm is .05 when using whole metres in your calculations as we did above. So 2 x .05 = 0.1 of a cu/m
Does that help?

[Jobey]

Perfect. Thank you so much @Adam_W . All making a bit more sense now.

[Jobey]

 HI All. Laundry is slowly getting there. Cabinets fit well. I actually had to exchange the 450mm cabinet for the 400mm, which will still accommodate the kaboodle laundry hamper( which currently seems to be unavailable anywhere in Victoria) Holes still need to be made in the back of the main cabinet to accommodate the taps and drain pipe. I haven't yet thrown screed in the uneven floor space and undecided whether I will or not. The cabinet is sitting in the space quite well so I may just glue some quad around the edges to block out any draughts.

The dilemma I'm currently having is with the Montgomery 1800 x 400 x 410 White 1 door Tall Cupboard 

Would it be wise to have an end panel 1800 x 600 against the tall cupboard to hide the odd 200mm gap at the back or does anyone have any other suggestions?

[MitchellMc]

Great work @Jobey!

If your cabinetry is positioned well at the moment, I wouldn't bother levelling the floor. Squirt a small amount of expanding foam in any of the gaps. That will seal them up fine. Once you've done that, put the kick panels on, and nobody will ever know.

The easiest and cheapest option might be to go with a Trade Essentials 1800 x 595mm 16mm White ABS Melamine Panel. That is only 5mm off what you need. Alternatively, you could cut a Kaboodle Gloss White Pantry End Panel to suit the 1800mm height.

I wonder if you could fit two of these Kaboodle 200mm Wall Cabinets on top of each other in the gap. They would give you some quite accessible storage space for laundry liquids, etc. However, you might not want to be able to see them, so in that case, a panel would be best.

Let me mention @EricL to see if he can think of any nifty uses for the space.

Mitchell

[EricL]

Hi @Jobey 

It's looking fantastic, I can already imagine how good it will look once you have everything in place. I agree with @MitchellMc's suggestion of putting in a Kaboodle 200mm Wall Cabinet. But perhaps just one instead of two. This will allow you to use that space as more storage for bottles and chemicals. With that cabinet in place, all you need to do is to cover the little gap at the bottom with a small piece of timber painted in white. 

However, if you wish to have a clean look then the easiest way to cover it is by using a Melamine panel as suggested by my colleague. I've placed a couple of sketches below. Please have a look and tell us what you think. 

Please keep sending those updates, we look forward to seeing your laundry renovated and working.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Jobey]

WOW @MitchellMc, @EricL fantastic ideas. 2 great options for that cupboard and I will definitely be grabbing a can of foam to seal up those gaps. Thank you both. Will hopefully be back soon with another update.

[MitchellMc]

@Jobey,

What I was actually envisaging for that space was a Kaboodle 200mm 2 Tier Soft Close Pullout Basket, but it's 450mm deep and won't fit. Now that would have been amazing!

Can't wait for your next update.

Mitchell