Hello,
In order to measure and mount the cabinet panels (with lights) underneath, the fan needs to be in place. In our case, we need to install a 70 cm fan in a 60 cm cabinet, which has required us to drill extra holes in the fan itself.
Now, we need to cut a hole in the wall cabinet, and we are unsure how to proceed. The fan came with a template that fits the 60 cabinet on the underside, but it seems quite difficult to cut on the underside. It seems more reasonable to cut inside the cabinet, but there are 2 things that complicate this: 1. The tiles are not set yet, so we have to account for that (approximately 3 mm for adhesive and x mm for the tile) and the back wall is situated about 1 cm inside the IKEA cabinet.
Is it necessary to cut from underneath? How do you do it inside? Isn’t there a risk that the jigsaw is too large?
We would prefer not to disassemble the cabinet as it is mounted perfectly after much consideration.
This is the fan we bought:
http://www.electrolux.se/kitchen/cooking/cooker-hoods/traditional-hood/eft6566ox/
In order to measure and mount the cabinet panels (with lights) underneath, the fan needs to be in place. In our case, we need to install a 70 cm fan in a 60 cm cabinet, which has required us to drill extra holes in the fan itself.
Now, we need to cut a hole in the wall cabinet, and we are unsure how to proceed. The fan came with a template that fits the 60 cabinet on the underside, but it seems quite difficult to cut on the underside. It seems more reasonable to cut inside the cabinet, but there are 2 things that complicate this: 1. The tiles are not set yet, so we have to account for that (approximately 3 mm for adhesive and x mm for the tile) and the back wall is situated about 1 cm inside the IKEA cabinet.
Is it necessary to cut from underneath? How do you do it inside? Isn’t there a risk that the jigsaw is too large?
We would prefer not to disassemble the cabinet as it is mounted perfectly after much consideration.
This is the fan we bought:
http://www.electrolux.se/kitchen/cooking/cooker-hoods/traditional-hood/eft6566ox/
Depending on the fan model, you either remove the bottom part of the fan cabinet and attach the fan that way. Oftast medföljder det hakar i stål för det. Otherwise, you need to cut out for the fan BEFORE attaching it if you only have access to a jigsaw. If you have a multitool aka FEIN, you can use it afterward if that must be the solution.
Another option is to buy a hole saw in the size you need. Tyvätt får jag nog säga att plocka ner är erat enda laternativ om det inte är så att ni vet vad ni håller på med. The jigsaw will only make life difficult for you if you can't reach.
As I see it, it's just about doing it right. There are no shortcuts (unless you know the process steps in kitchen installation) in kitchen installation if you want a superb result. Look at it this way, an extra hour's work to get it perfect for a kitchen you will use for 20 years =) Definitely worth it.
Another option is to buy a hole saw in the size you need. Tyvätt får jag nog säga att plocka ner är erat enda laternativ om det inte är så att ni vet vad ni håller på med. The jigsaw will only make life difficult for you if you can't reach.
As I see it, it's just about doing it right. There are no shortcuts (unless you know the process steps in kitchen installation) in kitchen installation if you want a superb result. Look at it this way, an extra hour's work to get it perfect for a kitchen you will use for 20 years =) Definitely worth it.
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Aha, well in our case it's about 4 screws that need to be installed from underneath through the fan and straight up into the vertical chipboards in the frame. You can also attach it as you say, but then the fan must also fit the cabinet, which it doesn't in this case. The cabinet is 60 cm, while the fan is 70 cm, and the idea here is that the fan should stick out 5 cm on each side to capture a bit more of the smoke. This means that normally there are screw holes from underneath for a 70 cm frame, and in our case, we have had to drill new ones so that they fit a 60 cm frame. The drilled holes have been checked and look to fit well, so now it's time to cut out the actual motor.
I understand that a jigsaw can cause quite a bit of trouble here, especially if it grabs, so probably the multitool (Bosch in my case) is better, but it won't be easy to get it straight. One idea is to use the jigsaw as far as it can go and then use the multitool where the jigsaw can't reach.
Then there’s the actual hole; either you tape the template to the underside of the wall cabinet and saw up and down, or you trim the template further so that it fits inside the cabinet, and then you saw from inside the cabinet. The problem is, though, that you have to account for the fact that the inside extends a bit into the back.
What makes it more complicated is that the tiles are not in place yet, so we don't know exactly where the fan will end up. We can estimate it to be 11 mm with tiles and adhesive, but we also know that reality might very well shift by a couple of mm. So if we drill holes for the fan in the cabinets now, it will likely be at least a couple of mm too far from the tiles once they are set.
Our plan is first to install the cover boards that are to be mounted under the wall cabinets and then tile up to these cover boards. The problem is that it's difficult to know exactly how long these should be without the fan in place, so we thought we would install the fan, measure and set the cover boards, then take the fan down again and tile.
If we tile first, there's a fairly big risk that we'll have to cut all the cover boards under the base cabinets in length as well, which is not always easy.
I understand that a jigsaw can cause quite a bit of trouble here, especially if it grabs, so probably the multitool (Bosch in my case) is better, but it won't be easy to get it straight. One idea is to use the jigsaw as far as it can go and then use the multitool where the jigsaw can't reach.
Then there’s the actual hole; either you tape the template to the underside of the wall cabinet and saw up and down, or you trim the template further so that it fits inside the cabinet, and then you saw from inside the cabinet. The problem is, though, that you have to account for the fact that the inside extends a bit into the back.
What makes it more complicated is that the tiles are not in place yet, so we don't know exactly where the fan will end up. We can estimate it to be 11 mm with tiles and adhesive, but we also know that reality might very well shift by a couple of mm. So if we drill holes for the fan in the cabinets now, it will likely be at least a couple of mm too far from the tiles once they are set.
Our plan is first to install the cover boards that are to be mounted under the wall cabinets and then tile up to these cover boards. The problem is that it's difficult to know exactly how long these should be without the fan in place, so we thought we would install the fan, measure and set the cover boards, then take the fan down again and tile.
If we tile first, there's a fairly big risk that we'll have to cut all the cover boards under the base cabinets in length as well, which is not always easy.
Taking down the cabinet might not be such a bad idea, the thing is that there is some pressure on it, so the risk is that when you remove the cabinet, the other cabinets might realign and you won't be able to put the kitchen fan cabinet back again. I know from experience how difficult it can be to fit a kitchen cabinet back in place where it previously fit perfectly.
depends on how the fan looks and what comes with it. There are usually metal rails that you first screw onto the sides of the cabinet and then slide the fan into them. If it's not that kind of solution, you usually have a colleague hold up the fan while the other screws the fan into the bottom (end wood) of the side frame. It kind of depends on how the fan looks and how it is intended to function. In your case, it sounds like one should hold, and the other screws it in.