Speccing Kitchens
What designers need to consider when planning a kitchen.
By Ines Hanl
Kitchens are the most complex and intricate part of a house, and a successful design requires a combination of both creative and analytical skills. Each and every job will expose you to appliances you haven't worked with before, and their spec sheets are your most important source of technical information. Never start a job without them!
With all this state-of-the-art equipment, we designers need to know how to deal with them. Due to inconsistencies in specifications, all the cabinetmakers I work with now request to have the actual appliances in their workshop before they begin work on the cabinetry. This is a request that will have an impact on the timing of a kitchen remodel, so make sure to allow for appliance ETAs in your work schedule.
Ideally, I talk to clients about their wish list of appliances before they purchase them, as their choices will have an impact on the positioning of the workstations in the kitchen. This has nothing to do with personal preferences of brands-the technical and functional considerations will have an effect on the design and use of space, and vice versa. As a designer, I want to make sure the clients understand the consequences.
Refrigerator Depths
On my very first job, I noticed that the standard industry size for a fridge gable, 26 inches, was falling short of the typical 28 inches of carcass depth on a fridge. The specs will give you a variety of different depth measurements, one for the carcass only, another for the carcass with closed doors, and another one including the handle. If you want to cover the full carcass of the refrigerator, you can take a number of approaches.
One approach is to order a deeper, custom gable. This adds to the cost, however, and "big box" manufacturers are resistant to this, as customization is contrary to their standardized business approach. Modification can also lead to ordering or manufacturing mistakes quite easily. If you use a deeper gable, you would also have to adjust the depth of the upper cabinet, should you have one, as it would have to either be built out from the wall to be flush with the gable front, or you would have to order yet another customized, deeper cabinet.
Usually, a better way to spare a few inches is to move the refrigerator back into the wall. This is an easy step if you're dealing with typical construction that uses wood studs and drywall. You have to remove the drywall behind the refrigerator area, cut the two or three studs in that area back by about half their thickness, and install a quart-inch backer panel. This process allows the refrigerator to recess two inches into the wall. I advise against this method, however, if you're dealing with an old home that uses lathe and plaster construction. The vibrating of the cutting action on the studs will loosen the brittle plaster, thus resulting in cracks, especially on the other side of the wall. Be sure to never undertake this step without prior approval of the homeowner-they're the ones who will have to pick up the bill if there are repairs that have to be made.
In new construction or on bigger renovations, I generally create a niche for the refrigerator. The 2x4 studs in that location are being turned sideways or completely left out, and the back will receive a plywood backer panel for stability. All those measures result in 1½ to 4 inches of saved depth. That might not sound like much, but in most cases, the extra few inches is just what you need.
Don't forget to also consider the position of the refrigerator receptacle. If you have a receptacle right behind the refrigerator, the standard electrical plug will add one inch to the refrigerator's overall depth. You could have the plug changed to a flatter unit or move the receptacle out of the way, either further up or off to one side.
Refrigerator Heights
For a reason that is beyond me, manufacturers can't or don't want to agree on one or two standard heights. If you're dealing with a big box manufacturer, they'll have a standard height for a cabinet above the refrigerator, which results usually in a rather large gap between the cabinet and the refrigerator top. Again, you can either specify a custom cabinet that's slightly taller or you can use a face frame strip to fill that gap.
Another refrigerator-related issue is the side clearance. In order to get the crispers out, modern refrigerators require a 90-degree opening of the doors. If you have a refrigerator positioned against a perpendicular wall or cabinetry, you'll have to allow for the thickness of the refrigerator door, plus a possible door panel, in addition to the handle. This can result in a required space of 2 3/8 inches to more than 4 inches! If the specs are unclear about this-and they often are-go to the dealer to have a look at the refrigerator. You can't ever assume that a refrigerator will fit between your cabinetry.
 |
| A decorative post, like the one drawn beside the built-in refrigerator on the far right, provides an attractive way for a refrigerator door to swing a full 90 degrees against a wall. |
Even if you order custom cabinetry, you'll still run into issues. Cabinetry that's supposed to sit closely above an appliance can easily be too tight. This has usually to do with floors and ceilings that are out of level. On one of my jobs, the overall height was set, but then the floor was off by a half-inch across the 36-inch stretch where the refrigerator was supposed to go. I realized that even if we dropped the refrigerator down to its lowest level, the hinges would still be an eighth of an inch too high! Luck was on my side with a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy on site who had previously worked as a delivery person for an appliance company. He carved out the plastic cover plate of that hinge just a tiny bit-it worked! Ever since then, I make sure to request about a half-inch of extra clearance for the refrigerator height-you can always raise the appliance to make up for that.
Regarding refrigerator door panels, many experienced designers have run across the problem of panel weight. Many refrigerators are being sold as "panel-ready," but once you read further, you notice that the hinges can only handle a quarter-inch flat panel in the cabinetry finish that sits inside a metal frame. I have some news for the manufacturers-in my book, and in those of my clients, this is not what my clients and I are looking for!
A raised panel wood door the size of a refrigerator door is really heavy, and the hinges on the refrigerator have to be able to support that extra weight without sagging. You might have to find out how much your particular door weighs, and then discuss this with your clients.
"Built-In" Appliances
A pet peeve of mine is with the so-called "built-in" appliances. Typically, this phrase relates to refrigerators, compactors, dishwashers, and warming drawers. The most important fact every kitchen designer should know about this type of appliance is that "built-in" does not mean that the door panel will necessarily be flush with the cabinet doors. If a client is truly looking for an appliance that sits flush with the rest of the cabinetry, they have to look for-and pay for-integrated models.
A better option is to adjust the overall depth of the base cabinets in order to accommodate the extra inch or so that built-in compactors, dishwashers, and warming drawers need. You can either pull the base cabinets away from the wall, or simply order deeper ones. Remember, this means your countertops will need to be deeper, as well. Again, for big box companies, this would require modifications, as you would have to adjust gables, and you would have to make sure your installer is in on that, too.
To this very day, I'm haunted by the memory of my first encounter with this built-in issue. I designed a very elegant kitchen, with a long wall of tall units that included the refrigerator. The client had purchased an appliance package with a rather expensive model of a built-in refrigerator before they talked to me about cabinetry, and I had simply followed the instructions for the door panels per the manufacturer's specifications.
 |
| Refrigerators, including built-in units like the on the right, will need to protrude past the cabinets in order to provide enough room for the door to swing open. To avoid this, specify an integrated model. |
With refrigerators, however, there's nothing you can do-at least not with standard models. That side of the door will need to protrude past the cabinets (to what degree depends on the model); otherwise, you won't be able to open the door. If your clients really don't want to see the refrigerator at all, they'll either have to spend the money on an integrated model or they'll have to consider buying a European refrigerator, like the Liebherr models, that can sit inside a cabinet. Make sure to discuss those issues with your client up front.
The kitchen turned out beautifully, with many special details, but the refrigerator door stuck out ever so slightly, which spoiled it all-and I was blamed for not pointing it out to the client in the first place. She would have rather spent $12,000 on a different refrigerator than have that door stick out! You can bet that I never got a referral from this client.
Ovens & Cooktops
Designers have a fairly wide range of cooking appliances that can be incorporated into kitchen layouts. In addition to wall ovens, ranges, rangetops, cooktops, and microwaves. For cooktops alone, you can choose from among electric, induction, or gas, as well as individual heating elements or clean ceramic and glass surfaces, in addition to cooking elements like griddles and woks.
Slide-in ovens tend to be fairly straightforward, although you should determine how far back you can actually push the unit, especially when templating for the countertop. The best way of dealing with these ovens is to allow for a filler on either side of the stove. Depending on the model, a convection oven needs this side clearance due to the extreme heat they create in the self-cleaning process, which can singe the sides of the cabinetry. Allowing for a minimum of three quarters of an inch of air space is mandatory for some of them, and if the clients ever wanted to exchange the model, you're better of allowing space for that clearance from the get-go.
The advantage of a slide-in wall oven over a freestanding range is cleanliness. Freestanding units always allow some amount of debris to fall between gaps separated each side of the stove from the cabinets. In addition, the control panel in the back will always take away from any decorative backsplash idea that you or your client may have.
As with ranges, there will also be always a tiny gap between the counter and each side of a rangetop-no matter how clean the counters are, this will be a gathering place for crumbs. Note, too, that a gas rangetop should sit about three eighths of an inch above the countertop level. Be certain that the client understands this; otherwise they might think it's a planning mistake!
Also, be sure to understand how far those range panels protrude from the counter edge- especially the models with the very sought-after big knobs. The knobs might obstruct the opening of perpendicular cabinetry parts like drawers.
 |
| A beautiful frosted glass panel in a stainless steel frame makes the bottom of these wall cabinets non combustible, allowing them to be placed closer to the rangetop. |
Note that a concern with gas burners is the required clearance to combustible surfaces on the sides and above a gas cooktop. Make sure to perform due diligence on this, as building inspectors are quick to cite even the smallest clearance infringements. In one kitchen design, I had very confidently allowed the typical 36-inch clearance to combustible surfaces overhead, only to be reminded by a very attentive cabinetmaker that we were dealing with sealed burners that required 42 inches of clearance. With the cabinetry only going up to 84 inches, this would have resulted in an available, and rather unusable, upper cabinet height of 6 inches.
The solution is to make these surfaces non-combustible. This can be done with tile, glass, stainless steel, concrete board, drywall, or laminate, among other options. I designed a panel made of a stainless steel frame and an insert of backlit frosted glass as a bottom for those upper cabinets.
Venting Options
Venting is either up or down. You can use a downdraft system, which pulls odors and fumes away at the source and vents them either directly outside or down into a duct and out through the floor joists.
Updraft systems give you a range of design options-sleek and contemporary stainless steel and glass hood fans, ultra sleek versions mounted underneath an upper cabinet, microwave/hood fan combinations, and so-called power packs that sit inside a decorative hood fan made from cast stone, metal or wood.
Pop-up vents are a very interesting approach. I'm not talking about the integrated downdrafts on a stove surface-I've found that clients either love or hate those. Instead, I mean the models that look like a flush band of 1½ inches wide stainless steel behind the cooktop, and at the touch of a button rise up about 8 inches from the countertop level.
This type of vent is a great option for various scenarios, either in an island location where you don't want to install an island hood, on an outside wall where your clients want to look out the window in front of them, or if you can't go through the roof with a duct. But be aware that those pop-ups typically take up about half the space of the cabinet beneath! You can use these vents with an exterior blower, which reduces the noise a bit while also giving you slightly more storage space inside the cabinet, but you have to make sure that this exterior blower is in a suitable location, away from a sitting area and high enough off the ground.
Unfortunately, pop-up vents don't work very well with gas cooktops; the air movement is so strong that it deflects the flames, thus taking away the sought-after evenness of cooking with gas! Having said that, I just recently had to combine a gas rangetop with a downdraft vent, as the client simply could not have an exhaust flue going up through a spectacularly curved ceiling.
 |
| Combining pop-up downdraft ventilation with a gas cooktop must be done carefully, as the airflow can easily be so strong that it deflects the flames, resulting in uneven cooking. |
This particular application caused even more issues. We had to route the ducting through the floor joists into the basement. As the duct had to be located in a predetermined location under the fan inside the cabinet, I had to find out the exact location of the floor joists and position the cabinet in such a way that the duct would clear that joist. It resulted in a 30-inch deep base cabinet, which had an impact on the two other sides of this U-shaped design.
Determining the right amount of airflow is critical. The typical hood fan might have a rating of about 350 CFM, but a power pack can easily go up to 1200 CFM. The appliance specialists I deal with usually recommend at least 900 CFM for a powerful gas rangetop, but there are two things to consider with higher rated exhausts: noise and make-up air.
Noise can be dealt with in form of the exterior blower mentioned earlier. This is a box-shaped device mounted either on an exterior wall or on the roof. The effort to deal with make-up air depends very much on your local building inspector and your particular jobsite. In older homes, which are drafty and not very well sealed to begin with, you might be able to get away with drilling a few additional holes with a radius of about four inches somewhere in the basement to allow for additional air intake. This won't work in new construction, though. You'll have to discuss this issue with the contractor and a mechanical engineer, as you may have to integrate a furnace into the system or heat up the incoming replacement air in another way.
Microwaves
In smaller kitchens, where space is at a premium, an over the range microwave/hood combination is a very convenient product. However, the one thing that bugs my designer's eye when dealing with them is that they usually have a carcass depth of more than 13 inches. This is in addition to the thickness of the appliance door, which has to be left alone, as it usually houses the venting grilles. This makes the microwave protrude from standard sized upper cabinetry by up to an inch.
 |
| Through the use of decorative trim, the only part of this microwave that protrudes from the upper cabinets is the door, not the carcass. |
If you're looking for a sleek European look without end gables you'll have to increase the depth of the upper cabinets, but if you're adding end gables, make sure to order them oversized to account for the additional depth. You should also include a solid bottom panel, as well, to cover the gap in the back.
Alternative locations for conventional microwaves depend on the lifestyle of the clients. Some clients with school-aged children seem to like the under-the-counter location, so that the little ones can warm up their milk or make popcorn by themselves. Parents with toddlers usually opt for a higher position right above the countertop level, though.
For all those clients who like the idea of the undercounter location, the new microwave drawers are a really good option. They work exactly like a drawer, and the controls are on a subtly slanted front panel, saving the client from bending down when setting the controls. This is very lower-back-friendly, and has been well received by my customers.
For those clients who want to hide the microwave behind a special lift-up door, designer beware! You couldn't take that approach in my municipality. Hard-wired appliances behind closed doors are illegal, and you can't have a small appliance plugged in within an appliance garage without a receptacle interrupter that is connected to the door mechanism. From an insurance point of view, this makes sense; think about a coffeemaker on a timer that starts to heat up without being filled or a toaster that the client forgot to unplug. Before I began using this interrupter, I would connect the plug to a safety switch with a pilot light outside the cabinet. This would make the homeowner aware of the active status of the receptacle, but even that is not accepted any more where I work.
I wish magazines would point out such legal and technical issues when they feature fabulous space-saving ideas in their kitchen renovation specials. My first hour with new clients is often spent discussing all the things they can't have.
Ines Hanl is an NKBA member and the principal of the Architectural Interior Design Studio "The Sky is the Limit" in Victoria, Canada. She's a residential and commercial designer who's passionate about custom cabinet design. She loves a good challenge, and kitchen appliances certainly provide that.