How do I fit or refit a kitchen plinth?

The plinth is the most-kicked, most-mopped, most-removed component in the kitchen, and it is also the one that most often ends up water damaged, because it is a chipboard or MDF board standing on a floor that gets wet with an unsealed bottom edge.

What you'll need

• Plinth board
• Plinth clips, two per unit
• Fine-tooth saw or a jigsaw with a downcut blade
• Tape measure and a square
• Compasses or a scribing block, if the floor is uneven (optional)
• Clear sealant or edging tape, for the cut edges

Step by step

1. Take the old plinth off and look behind it.It pulls straight off the clips with a firm tug from the bottom edge. While it is off, look at the floor, the legs and the underside of the units — this is the only time you ever see under a kitchen, and it is where leaks show first.
2. Measure and cut to length.Measure the run, and cut with the finished face upward if using a hand saw, downward if using a jigsaw, so the breakout happens on the hidden face. A downcut jigsaw blade cuts cleanly through laminate faces.
3. Fit the clips to the plinth, not the legs.The spring clips screw to the back of the plinth board at the height and position of the legs, and then clip over the legs. Position them by measuring the leg positions and transferring those to the board.
4. Use two clips per unit, near each leg.One clip in the middle of a long plinth lets the ends bow away from the units. Match the clip positions to the legs so the plinth is supported where it is held.
5. Cut around obstructions rather than shortening the run.Dishwasher and washing machine feet, waste pipes and heating pipes often intrude. Cut a notch in the back of the board rather than stopping the plinth short, so the run reads as continuous.
6. Scribe the bottom edge to an uneven floor.Set compasses to the largest gap, run the point along the floor with the pencil marking the board, and cut to that line. It takes twenty minutes and is the difference between a fitted kitchen and a wavy dark line along the bottom.
7. Seal every cut edge.The bottom edge and both ends are raw core. On a floor that ever gets mopped or that sits next to a dishwasher, that edge will wick water and swell. Clear sealant, edging tape or even a coat of paint on the raw edge makes the difference.
8. Fit plinth seal on a tiled or stone floor.A flexible plastic or rubber strip that clips to the bottom edge of the plinth, closes the last few millimetres and keeps mop water out. It is cheap and it doubles the life of the plinth.
9. Mitre external corners, butt internal ones.At an external corner where two runs meet, a mitre reads far better than a butt joint. Internal corners can simply butt, because the joint sits in shadow.
10. Push it home and check it sits tight to the floor.Press each clip on until it seats. A plinth that stands proud at one end has a clip missing its leg, not a cutting error.

Tips

• Cut a small removable section in front of any isolating valve, stopcock or appliance foot that you may want to reach. It is far better than taking a 3m plinth off twice a year.
• If the plinth keeps popping off, the clips are worn or they are not sitting square on the legs. Replacement clips cost pennies.
• Keep the offcuts. A short piece of matching plinth is exactly what you want in five years when the dishwasher leaks and one section swells.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the bottom edge unsealed — It is a raw chipboard or MDF edge standing on a floor that gets mopped. It swells, the laminate lifts, and the plinth is finished. Sealing takes five minutes.
• Screwing the plinth to the legs instead of clipping it — You lose the ability to take it off, which you need for leaks, for appliance servicing and for the stopcock. The clip system exists for a reason.
• Leaving a gap under a plinth on an uneven floor — It collects everything that is swept and mopped towards it, and it is a route for mice into the base of the kitchen. Scribe it or fit a plinth seal.

Questions people ask