Upstands. All the way rpound?

by **stevem21** on Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:37 pm

Fitting a new kitchen. Decided on using an upstand rather than tiling. Plan is to have a stainless steel or glass splashback behind the hob area.

Need 2 bits of advice. Firstly, what generally looks better, continuing the upstand behind the hob and then continuing up to the extractor with the splashback or installing the splashback from the worktop surface upwards (ie with a break in the upstand).

The other problem I have regards the window area. The upstand is about 85mm in height. The window ledge is currently tiled (orange and green, so they have to come off!) but there is only 40mm from the worktop to the top of the sill, so if the upstand is continued around it will create a well. Ideas are to cut the upstand to size around the sill (solid wood so should be ok), stop the upstand where the sill starts and tile/plaster it then restart the upstand after the sill or to continue the upstand, create the well and then attempt to raise the height of the sill to compensate (although this will probably be higher than the top of the UPVC frame so may not be possible).

Any advice/help appreciated

Steve

by **timfoley** on Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:30 pm

Steve,
Welcome to our forum and I hope you find it useful in your project.
Behind the hob - A full height splashback would be my preference for aesthetical reasons and to avoid what would become a grease trap in the area most likely to harbour one. A hob splashback appears much neater if it is slightly proud of the upstand so if your upstand depth is 20mm then the splashback should be greater than 20mm. This can be achieved with Stainless Steel by using a appropriately sized substrate on which the sheet can be formed.

As for the window ledge, the neatest finish can be achived by utilising the same upstand material to create the sill and to sit this on top of the upstand, assuming the upstand is 20mm deep, this then leaves two window sill returns sides of 25mm high.which is a little smaller than you would want but the best option open to you I believe.

Tim

by **Majjie** on Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:38 am

Hi Steve,

Just thought you might like a second opinion. I don't entirely agree with Tim about the splashback behind the hob (I'm sure he'll cope!). I'd go for a glass splashback and sit it on top of your little timber upstand. It gives a better line around the kitchen. I know it creates a join ... but there would be a join anyway - just lower down - and I think stainless steel splashbacks are a nightmare to keep clean.

I'd entirely agree about the sill, though. Use your upstand material for that and then just shape the corners of the upstand either side where they're higher.

By the way Tim, your RSS feed doesn't seem to be working properly. It took a week to tell me there was a new post here and then informed that such a post didn't exist! I had to search Steve out for myself.

by **timfoley** on Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:03 pm

No worries Majjie, I can cut it - you having a different opinion but we have clearance regulations to comply with when fitting timber upstands behind a hob hence my previous recommendations. Toughened glass is an alternative to Stainless Steel here but compliance with manufacturers instructions overules the fitting of any combustible material behind a hob.
Thanks for the update on our RSS Majjie and I have our web guy working on this as we speak so that you are able to disagree with me more speedily next time

BTW - Baby Oil for cleaning Stainless Steel - a tip many years ago from a Stainless Steel fabricator that seems to work well

Tim

by **Majjie** on Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:44 pm

Yes - that's true, of course - we don't want the kitchen to go up in flames. Although, if Steve wanted to, he could just make his worktop deep enough to allow for the clearance ... the distance varies a bit depending on the type of hob.

Actually, I used to use baby oil quite a lot (for cleaning stainless steel!) ... in the olden days when I worked in a showroom ... but it seemed to get superceded by microfibre cloths. Glass, I think is easier to keep clean.

I shall look forward to pontificating more promptly in future.

by **paulcourtyard** on Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:57 pm

Have you thought about Coloured Glass for the Sill and the upstand?

by **timfoley** on Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:28 pm

Paul,
I've edited your post to remove the link. We have a policy here that requires a substantial contribution to posts before we consider links. If we allowed everyone to link to websites without first providing their expertise to forum members, then the site would just become devalued.
Tim

Upstands. All the way rpound?

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