Help! How to access trap under kitchen island.

[JohnWasMyPapa]

Hi there

I was wondering whether any of the knowledgeable people here could possibly help.

I live in a semi built post war. Apparently due to wood shortages at the time the ground floor is concrete. The woman who owned the property before me had the trap to access the foundations under a kitchen unit. It was relatively easy to access by removing the floor of the fitted kitchen unit cupboard. Subsequent to this I had the wall between the kitchen and dining room removed and an kitchen island fitted where the trap was. My father organised everything at the time and I didn't give it much thought. All works which needed access had already finished their work prior to this. I also believe that a trademen required access and was able to do so post island but I am now beginning to question this as I would now like to figure out how to access the trap, particularly as I am having problems with my central heating pressure. Unlike the simple access before, the trap now lies mostly beneath a unit which houses three drawers (forming part of the larger island unit). When I remove the kick plate/skirting I can see that the unit is raised with various feet, some of which rest on top of the plywood? with the trap underneath. I have removed the kick plate and the drawers, unscrewing all the screws either side and the unit won't budge. There are no screws on the left of this unit which would secure it to the unit holding the oven. I am at a loss as to how to access the trap and if it is even possible. A joiner suggested creating a hole in the floor of this unit, but I don't know if this will weaken the structure. Also, feet are distributed throughout this base which hold up the island. My father said that a trademan was able to access the trap as he had been a kitchen fitter previously, but I am now beginning to question this. Of course if I had had my time again I would have been much more involved in the planning, even fitting the island beyond the trap. As you can appreciate it is important that I do have access. My dining kitchen is still pretty new and I don't want to incur huge costs with a radical solution like having to move the island as I would need to redecorate and get more flooring which was expensive. Also an additional trap is also problematic due to it being concrete. I include photos to give you an idea.

[Grendel]

I think your joiner is about right to create an access via the floor of the unit. As it's a drawer unit the hole won't be visible with the drawers in place. If you are worried about strength it should be possible to fix a piece of ply or metal strapping in place afterwards. The only other real option is taking the whole thing apart which could cause more damage.

[dewaltdisney]

Would it be possible to build a new alternate access say in front of the patio doors (?) Careful removal of a section of laminate to create a hatch under the mat. The cover could be covered with laminate to disguise the opening somewhat but the mat would do it best.

DWD

[JohnWasMyPapa]

Would it be possible to build a new alternate access say in front of the patio doors (?) Careful removal of a section of laminate to create a hatch under the mat. The cover could be covered with laminate to disguise the opening somewhat but the mat would do it best.

DWD

The ideal solution would be to create a new access but the problem is the floor is concrete.

[JohnWasMyPapa]

I think your joiner is about right to create an access via the floor of the unit. As it's a drawer unit the hole won't be visible with the drawers in place. If you are worried about strength it should be possible to fix a piece of ply or metal strapping in place afterwards. The only other real option is taking the whole thing apart which could cause more damage.

Thanks for your reply. What also makes it difficult is that the feet supporting the unit rest on top of the the plywood(?) which covers the hole. The feet would probably have to be repositioned if that would at all be possible, but again it probably wouldn't be ideal due to weight distribution.

[Grendel]

As it's a drawer unit you could always put in additional fixings into the adjacent units , the weight is taken more by the sides anyway. There'd also be nothing stopping you simply putting the legs back in place. It may mean cutting off the lug that goes into the unit normally and not actually putting any screws in but as it's all in compression it will still do the job.

[JohnWasMyPapa]

I've been able to raise all of the legs apart from one due to whatever the layer of my Karndean used under the flooring (it's a bit like concrete). The screw at the bottom of this particular leg has been gummed in position due to this substance. Another leg was similar but I was able to shift it by using a screwdriver to get in below it and prize it off this substance. This one has proven more difficult. I'll perservere, but I was wondering if there might be something which would soften this material? I know nothing of how kitchen units are fitted. If I am able to raise all the legs and unscrew the body from either side, should I be able to slide this unit out, or is it not as simple as that? If it isn't then the hole in the base looks like the only option.

[Grendel]

There's always the possibility that the whole thing will just slide out , I wouldn't guarantee it though . Last island I did we ended up with some metal brackets attaching both sides of the island together that is back to back of the carcasses if that makes sense. If you are having trouble with the legs I'd frankly not bother faffing around and just saw them in half to remove them . They're easy and cheap enough to pick up replacements.
I thik the question to ask is how often do you think you'll need access. If it's more than once in a blue moon I'd go for cutting an access hole as it seems a much bigger job to have to remove the whole unit each time.

[wine~o]

I would now like to figure out how to access the trap, particularly as I am having problems with my central heating pressure

I can assure you that boiler pressure problems have nothing to do with your waste. perhaps a seperate post in central heatimg and boilers ?

[JohnWasMyPapa]

I would now like to figure out how to access the trap, particularly as I am having problems with my central heating pressure

I can assure you that boiler pressure problems have nothing to do with your waste. perhaps a seperate post in central heatimg and boilers ?

By trap I meant the trap door to access the central heating pipes.

[JohnWasMyPapa]

There's always the possibility that the whole thing will just slide out , I wouldn't guarantee it though . Last island I did we ended up with some metal brackets attaching both sides of the island together that is back to back of the carcasses if that makes sense. If you are having trouble with the legs I'd frankly not bother faffing around and just saw them in half to remove them . They're easy and cheap enough to pick up replacements.
I thik the question to ask is how often do you think you'll need access. If it's more than once in a blue moon I'd go for cutting an access hole as it seems a much bigger job to have to remove the whole unit each time.

I'm reluctant to cut off one of the legs in case I'm subsequently unable to get the unit out and as such would not be able to replace due to the restricted access and would also lose support to one of the corners of the end unit. I've tried using acetone around the bottom of the leg and it has helped dissolve the adhesive, but I suspect that I've not managed to reach all the affected parts. I've also tried to prize the bottom of the leg with a screwdriver and sprayed WD40 on the thread. The only other thing I can think of is using a wrench which might give the neccessarily strength to loosen the leg. I'll need to source one however as I don't have one big enough. I envision a rummage through my dad's toolbox.

[Grendel]

To be fair I can understand how you are reluctant to just go in and destroy the leg as it's your own kitchen. Working for someone else the old adage of time being money comes into play and it's often more cost effective to just rag it out and replace a leg as the bit of plastic is cheaper than labour to faff around for an hour. You mentioned a wrench . I'd use a pair of stilsons ( this sort of thing for reference but buy from someone decent https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toolzone-250mm ... 9127&psc=1 ) It can sometimes help to try a tighten it first , it only needs to move a little , before going full on undoing .

[dewaltdisney]

Bang a garden spade under, the foot will break free or the leg will.

DWD

[JohnWasMyPapa]

The nightmare continues...

Thanks to @Grendel I purchased stilsons pliers which did the trick, so I removed the kick plate, the drawers, all the screws I could find within the unit itself, raised the feet, and still the unit wouldn't budge. What it has done however is it has dropped and there is now a gap between the worktop and the unit and the oven is now at a slight angle in the adjacent unit. It has also dropped enough that I am unable to get the kickplate back under the unit. The only options I can see are to tighten the feet enough to slowly raise the unit (if this is possible) and to use extra long screws (there are two at the top of the unit which I removed, probably foolishly) to try and draw the unit towards the worktop. As it looks like I will need a joiner to look at creating a hole in the base unit to access the trap door (I don't want to do this myself) I may just leave it to them to figure out as I don't want to cause any more damage. I just hope that the unit can be raised back into place without too much fuss, or that it is possible. The other thing is I'm also unable to remove the thick bit of plywood covering the hole as the feet don't go up enough to allow it to be removed. I want to see exactly where the hole is as I fear that part of it may be more to the left of the unit where the oven is. As the plywood can't be removed at the moment I thought that a joiner could access the plywood via the gap at the bottom and saw it away to see exactly where the hole is and hope that there is enough access via the unit to allow someone to get underneath. If not I really don't know what I'm going to do as I really don't want to eff up my kitchen. The only other option I see is to make another hole for access, but since it's concrete it won't be fun.

[dewaltdisney]

You could try your car jack under the unit to push it back up. Failing that a length of wood over a can used as a fulcrum to lever it up.

DWD