Plinth for heavy ikea wardrobe

[martinz]

Very inexperienced in this line, I need to make a sturdy plinth to allow an Ikea Pax wardrobe to sit flush against the back wall in spite of a 13 cm skirting which contains central heating pipes.

I have mockup up what it will look like - see attached image.

Any advice would be much appreciated - hopefully something basic as all round skills not well developed.

Thanks.
Martin

 

[toysandboats]

I have a couple of Pax wardrobes and used a different solution. At the top of the wardrobe there are two screws which fix into the wall to stop the thing tipping over in use. I used a block the same thickness as the skirting board as a "spacer" which the wall screws went through.
David

 

[Racers]

I made a plinth for a Ikea 5*5 expedit from 1/2” ply a solid bottom an front and vertical ribs , I needed clearance to run cables behind the plinth.
It doesn’t have to be a complicated construction some wood of the right size and screws filled and painted will work.

Spacer blocks are a good idea.

Pete

 

[custard]

Couple of things to consider,

-most Ikea stuff is cleverly designed with built-in levelling facilities to accommodate uneven floors and, specifically for wardrobes, allow the unit to slope very slightly backwards so that the doors stay shut and the unit doesn't feel like it's tipping forward even with open doors. Once you make a plinth you may lose these benefits.

-The plinth needs to match the unit or else it all looks a bit amateur hour. A lot of Ikea's construction materials are exclusive to them, but if you can find a reasonable match it might be something like melamine covered chipboard, which is tricky to cut cleanly with DIY tools.

 

[owen]

I would probably opt for a white painted finish to match the skirting. With the size you need I would just buy a length of 5"x2" timber, make a box with a couple of central supports, and then cover it in 1/2ply. You could always add some skirting detail to make it less box looking.

 

[toysandboats]

Custard is right, the Pax has levelling feet in the base. Any plinth you build would need a solid top - at least where the adjustable feet are - to be able to adjust the levels.
David

 

[martinz]

I have a couple of Pax wardrobes and used a different solution. At the top of the wardrobe there are two screws which fix into the wall to stop the thing tipping over in use. I used a block the same thickness as the skirting board as a "spacer" which the wall screws went through.
David

Thanks, David - given the width of this skirting, I don't want such a big gap...

 

[martinz]

I made a plinth for a Ikea 5*5 expedit from 1/2” ply a solid bottom an front and vertical ribs , I needed clearance to run cables behind the plinth.
It doesn’t have to be a complicated construction some wood of the right size and screws filled and painted will work.

Spacer blocks are a good idea.

Pete

Thanks, Pete.
The top of the box would be ply also [as well as the bottom and front]?

 

[martinz]

Couple of things to consider,

-most Ikea stuff is cleverly designed with built-in levelling facilities to accommodate uneven floors and, specifically for wardrobes, allow the unit to slope very slightly backwards so that the doors stay shut and the unit doesn't feel like it's tipping forward even with open doors. Once you make a plinth you may lose these benefits.

-The plinth needs to match the unit or else it all looks a bit amateur hour. A lot of Ikea's construction materials are exclusive to them, but if you can find a reasonable match it might be something like melamine covered chipboard, which is tricky to cut cleanly with DIY tools.

Thanks, Custard. I would like to apply the back tilt on top of the plinth. I don't think I will try to mach the plinth with the wardrobe material - it's the ikea high gloss finish, something that fits well and is brilliant also will do fine.

 

[martinz]

I would probably opt for a white painted finish to match the skirting. With the size you need I would just buy a length of 5"x2" timber, make a box with a couple of central supports, and then cover it in 1/2ply. You could always add some skirting detail to make it less box looking.

Thanks, Owen this is sounding like the way to go for me. Would you glue and screw or screw only? Any particular kind of screws?

 

[martinz]

Custard is right, the Pax has levelling feet in the base. Any plinth you build would need a solid top - at least where the adjustable feet are - to be able to adjust the levels.
David

Cheers, David - will go for a solid top to be able to adjust tilt.

 

[owen]

I would probably opt for a white painted finish to match the skirting. With the size you need I would just buy a length of 5"x2" timber, make a box with a couple of central supports, and then cover it in 1/2ply. You could always add some skirting detail to make it less box looking.

Thanks, Owen this is sounding like the way to go for me. Would you glue and screw or screw only? Any particular kind of screws?

I would just screw the frame, not much point gluing it, I would use something like 5.0 x 80mm woodscrews or maybe 5.0 x 100mm to screw the frame together. Then I would probably glue the ply on maybe with a few brads to hold it in place while the glue goes off.

 

[Racers]

I would glue and screw, but not use ply for the top just make sure the adjustable feet are supported with blocks which you could make from off cuts.

Pete

 

[pcb1962]

The top of the box would be ply also [as well as the bottom and front]?

Rather than ply for the front and sides of the plinth you could buy an extra double shelf in the same finish as the wardrobe (£10 iirc) and chop that up to use as cladding. You'll need a little bit of edge banding to finish it off as the shelf is only edge banded on one side.

 

[martinz]

Overkill, but pleased with result.
47 mill timber cut to make box [2 x 70 mill screws to secure].
Top and bottom from 18 mill MDF. Some hand sawing to mirror unsquare wall on left hand side. Primed then painted with gloss... Not quick, not that easy, but a good experience.

 

[owen]

Looks good