Need help re worktop height and cooker/hob etc

[myfavman]

Having work carried out in our council house by an outside well known large company they are using to upgrade everything.

Have been quite a few disasters so far that they need to fix...BUT...for the weekend thay have moved our new electric cooker with hob top back into the kichen to use as they have not finished with the job in hand. However all the work tops have been put in at 940 mm and therefore the cooker is below the work top area thay have set up. This looks dangerous to us and dosnt look right at all. Plus all the other work tops look odd as seen high...we have spoken to a local company who say the standard 900mm for work top heights and should be level with the top of the cooker/hob. They say standard height of cabinets should be 870 mm plus 30 mm for the work top. The company that have put this in say their standard is 940mm but looks off and of course seems dangerous as saucepans will knock the sides of the tops and could potentially cause a fire.

Can some one advise if there is a health and safetly issue and if the company have put these in too high.

Thanks for any feedback...need to sort this out as soon as possible.

 

[ColJack]

tried the adjusting feet on the cooker?
is the flooring down yet? ( though making up 40mm with flooring seems rediculous.. )
could be they intend to raise it on a platform?

 

[myfavman]

They fitted floor after putting up the cabinets and tops...they tell me that 940mm is the standard height...everywhere else seem to thing 900 is the standard and that would make it the same height as the hob/cooker.

Just not sure what to do next as they need to sort this out as it's dangerous.

 

[ColJack]

so the idiots put the tops of the units at 900, then put the 40mm worksurface on top...
geniuses..

put something 40mm thick under the cooker... a piece of worktop would do it..

 

[big-all]

is there a 20mm gap between the plinth and the units

 

[myfavman]

Yes..at least that amount of gap!

 

[maltaron]

900mm is the standard height allthough when I did my kitchen ! put the worktops at 940 mm. The extra 40 mm makes a huge difference to the wifes arm muscles, its a much more convenient height for rolling pastry and general baking work. Mine was easy to arrange as I have an oil fired range cooker which has to sit on a solid plinth due to its weight, so I arranged a 3' x 2' paving slab to finish 40mm above the finished floor level. So to the OP I would say, Yes the height is wrong but get the kitchen fitters to raise the cooker (a piece of worktop has been suggested) and you will have a much more convenient working height. As the wife said, 900mm was guessed by a man, a woman would have found the best height then measured it.

 

[ColJack]

being 6 foot 4 I'm thinking that raising the counter height might not be a bad idea..
washing up in the sink hurts my back..

 

[xerxes]

A friend of mine built his kitchen with the sink unit raised above the level of the worktops, so that the bottom of the bowl would come up to the correct working height. It looked strange, but worked (he told me) very well.

I don't go to such extremes, but as I do most of the cooking in our home I make sure the worktops are fixed at the right height for me.

 

[raydar]

Having a gap between plinth and unit is wrong, a gap that size is inviting
vermin and muck. I peronally could not stand looking at this kitchen bodge install it sounds like you have. As been said before raising the cooker and then fitting a bigger plinth will fix this bodge. Your cooker instructions probably (if its gas then most likely) state that your cooker should not be fitted in this manner and I also think it is unsafe/wrong.

 

[gregers]

iirc isnt there some kind of by law stating that the cooker must be level with the worktops?or am i just thinking this is just plain and simply helath and saftey.im pretty sure that plinths come in the size range of between 150mm -170mm and by the sounds of it youve got a right bunch of herberts doing your kitchen who maybe have realized there mistake and are hopeing(praying)you will not kick off about it,phone up the council and ask for the person/housing manager to pay you a visit.are they doing any more locally to you?if so go and have a bucthers at it,ill bet 5p it isnt the same as yours.

 

[conny]

Did my own kitchen about 4 years ago and never considered the height issue, just ordered the base units and worktops then put thm all together basically.
Just measured them and the top of the worktop is 930mm from the floor.

 

[foxhole]

Complain to council, the extra hight around the cooker is potentially a fire risk and should not be bodged.

 

[KSutton599]

Our lousy kitchen company did this to us as well. They put a piece of worktop under the cooker, which looked OK. However the oven door needs a good pull to open it, and the cooker slides forward when you pull open the oven door. The cooker also slides easily from side to side as well. So I'd advise you not to put a piece of work top under it. The paving slab idea sounds good, as the cooker wouldn't slide about on that. Trouble is our worktops and cooker are black; so the paving slab may look odd.