Under Stair Cupboards - Calculate the angle

[jonwestuk]

Hi All,

Looking for some advice on a project I am working on. I have removed the wall underneath my stairway (not the supporting beams, just the plasterboard). I want to build 3 cupboard doors across the area and need to get the angle of the doors exactly correct to ensure that I have an equal shadow gap around them.

I have tried various methods:
1. Cut templates
2. calculated the angle
3. used a protractor ruler

All of the methods are yielding very similar results, but my fear is that if I am out by just a small fraction then the whole thing runs the risk of looking pants as the gap might get larger or smaller towards one end. Does anyone have advice on how to get this type of project looking spot on?

I have also noticed that the wall to the left and right are not sqaure.....adding to my pain.

Thanks

Jon

 

[jonwestuk]

This is what I am trying to achieve. I have actually built 1 cupboard and 4 draws. hence the 4 boxes on the middle and right hand side.

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[endecotp]

what do you mean by "shadow gap"?
your diagram has all the dimensions shown. do you want to check that they are correct, or is there some other dimension that you need to calculate?

 

[jonwestuk]

As these are recessed doors they need to have a gap around them to allow for shrinkage, expansion etc. I am going to leave 3mm....this is what I am calling a shadow gap. Usually shadow gaps are larger so maybe I used the wrong term (https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/547328160938289557/).

Whilst I have all the dimensions I know that my walls are not completely straight and now I also know that my floor is not flat. So whilst those measurements are useful they assume that the floor does not have 9mm of incline from one end of the unit to the other and it also assumes that the two edges are at 90 degrees to the floor. I tried drawing this out on a template and cutting that and the results were rubbish.

You see with a 3mm gap between the cupboard door and the plasterboard edges of the unit (these draws are going to be flush with the wall) then a relatively small miscalculation would mean that I could have double the gap between the side of the draw and the plasterboard.

I am now caught in an infinite loop of measuring and cutting templates. What I need is a cunning person to tell me if there is a trade secret to making such units!

 

[endecotp]

Is the frame for the doors the existing studwork that used to support the plasterboard, or are you creating a new frame?

 

[jonwestuk]

Is the frame for the doors the existing studwork that used to support the plasterboard, or are you creating a new frame?

Truth be told, a mixture. I have the left, right and one of the centre supports from the original and a single new support (which is vertical).

I think I may have thought of an option to calculate this but I would appreciate your views on this approach.

1. Use a laser level to create a level line horizontally across the unit and vertically up each support beam and the left and right of the unit.
2. Measure the distances across and vertically up using the level lines.
3. Measure down from the level lines
-if all goes to plan, then I should be able to calculate all the angles I need for the draw fronts.

I think I will start by making all of the doors in a template and see how that goes. If they work, then I can use the templates to cut my doors.

 

[chappers]

get your framework up vertical and then just use a sliding bevel to take the angle off. make your doors a fairly tight fit with no margins(shadow gaps)
hang them and then mark the margins off and recut the doors and rehang.

 

[jonwestuk]

get your framework up vertical and then just use a sliding bevel to take the angle off. make your doors a fairly tight fit with no margins(shadow gaps)
hang them and then mark the margins off and recut the doors and rehang.

Top plan - I like the idea of hanging them and then marking off the gaps. Bit more effort, but worth it for a quality job!

 

[chappers]

To be fair it's just the same as hanging any doors, but obviously with the margins running into each other it's especially important to get them the same.
It's the method I have always used when pairing doors up.
I would hang all three of your doors first and then mark off common margins along all three with a straight edge.