Any ideas on securing a bowed worktop upstand to the wall?

[nick200]

Hi all,

We are fitting our new kitchen and we are reasonably competent and so far any problems have been solved by looking at the forum - cheers guys and girls!

But we now have hit a small wall in our proceedings and was wondering if anyone could help.

We have bought a kitchen from B & Q (Cooke and Lewis) and my question is about the upstands. I am not sure if it is the way it was left or just the timescale but they are bowed. We cut them all to fit (eight pieces) and tried to glue with gripfill but due to the bow they will not stick to the wall. Rather than spend hours trying we went to our local B & Q but it apears that they are all bowed and it is the way that they stack them (they said they will look into it). Instead they suggested that we drill holes into the upstand and screw it to the wall. Maybe it is me but I would rather not have screws/caps showing.

Does anyone know of a way to flatten them, so far we have tried heavy cook books and haynes manuals with the upstand supported so it bows in the opposite direction. Or better still a better way to secure it to the wall, do we need to seal the rear of the upstand, seal the wall etc etc

Here's hoping that someone can help.

Cheers

Nick

[marc1106]

are they "bowed" along theyre length or are they "cupped" across the width/height (depends on your view)
But i usually silicone the backs then remove doors and clamp 4X2 timbers to the worktops pushing the upstands to the wall and leave them over night. when it comes to external corners then i use mitrefast on those and pre assemble them before fitting! hope that helps
PS dont wet them to get them to bend!!!!!

[nick200]

Hi Marc,

They are bowed along their length and the longest is two metres.

I will see if I can get some bigger clamps and try securing them and clamping them to the wall. Thanks for your help.

We have an old piece of worktop and carcass outside and it is very interesting seeing what happens to it as it gets wet!!

Thanks for your help.

Nick

[marc1106]

it will EXPAAAAANNND by about 40%

like i said use the silicone and use battens across the worktop to push the upstand to the wall then clamp the battens down overnight!

[speed]

id use a high strength solvent grab adhesive over silicone. silicone will do the job tho

you only need 100mm max clamping capacity

[sparkydude]

If you have not got any clamps or the like, go to b+q and buy some dense concrete blocks from the building department. A couple of old towels on the worktop and then just use the blocks to apply the pressure to hold the upstand tight to the wall till the glue goes off.

Nick

[marc1106]

id use a high strength solvent grab adhesive over silicone. silicone will do the job tho

you only need 100mm max clamping capacity

i use silcone as you can run the overspill along the top and bottom edges and this SEALS the upstand at the same time! also its easier to remove the upstands once the missus says" i dont want them anymore"

[nick200]

Thanks for all your comments!

Yep, the old worktop and carcass in the rain is a lot bigger than when we put it out there! Infact I reckon it will crumble when we take it to the tip!! It is not until you do these jobs that you realise how delicate the worktops are if they mix with water!!

I have actually tried a mixture of the above over the weekend and think that silicone may be best, more so beause if I make a mistake (like I did with the no more nails) I can take it off easily! Doh!!

Right I have some clamps (borrowed from the father in law) and some long pieces of wood. I will clamp the wood against the upstand. I am not sure how to reach the far corners of the worktop yet but think the breeze block on the towel shoud do the trick there!

My dad has just mentioned that he used nails with small heads, drilled two small holes and then nailed and glued it to the wall. He then filled in the small nail hole with a colurfill. Does this sound feasible or is it best with the clamps/breeze block.

Cheers for all your help!

N

[sparkydude]

I personally would stick with the clamps/breeze blocks as then you will not have any nasty holes to fill . I dont know what it is with the older generation, they seem to think its fine to do these little 'bodges ' to get over minor problems. The father in law is he same, Near enough is good enough seems to be the attitude.

Nick

[nick200]

I know what you mean, I just want it to look as I picture in my mind which is perfect! Sadly due to inexperience I know there will always be areas that I am not happy with but thankfully no one else notices. With regards to the holes I would rather not have them as I will never be able to fill the hole and leave it looking as new. I do wonder if he suggested it as he knows my wife will divorce me if the kitchen is not fitted soon as he certainly would not do it in his kitchen!

I will stick with clamps and heavy items, thanks for your help.

Nick

[prem]

what i do is use no nails and silicone, mitre the internal cuts so they keep them selves in. where there are ends that spring out when left, i fix a screw into the wall just past the end and either use the head of the screw to keep the upstand in or put a bracket over it. next day take the screws out and fill the hole in the plaster.
if you have a splashback behind the hob i carefully wedge a block in between the back of the hob and b splash just enough to catch the upstand. sometimes have to knock a nail in above some ends to stop it rising as the b + q stuff is poor.
make sure you seal properly behind the sink.

[nick200]

Cheers Prem, and everyone else!

I now have nails, screws, silicone, no more nails and also some convrete blocks to keep these ruddy things in place whilst they stick. i will let you know how it went on Monday!

Cheers

[nick200]

Right, I have glued the upstands and also clamped and used concrete blocks. So far I have been too nervous about taking them off so will do that tonight!

i will attach photos later!

Cheers

[speed]

fingers crossed

[nick200]

Tell you what they are currently holding!! With the bow I was not sure if the glue or the plaster would give but it is holding.

Thanks a lot everyone!

Ps I will try and remember to put some photos on.