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Bit of a random one this - but we currently have a wardrobe in our bedroom that is a recess in the wall with a basic interior fitted and sliding doors on the front. So it doesn't have a carcass as such - the walls are the stud walls round it. I think to the right is the main hot water tank cupboard / behind it is the stud wall into the next bedroom. I don't think there are any exterior walls that it backs onto.
We're trying to get a new design - new doors on the front and a much better designed inside. This is proving either difficult on a budget or very expensive. My wife is extremely picky on finish and the one company who can do pretty much what we want (without charging the £4k that Sharps have quoted which is just stupid - this wardrobe is only 1690mm wise / 2390mm tall) haven't got a material finish she likes. Not that this is frustrating the hell out of me or anything.
I've found a company called 'Fittingly' who make a full wardrobe that could potentially slide into the recess if it's sized just right. The Sharps lady commented that if we did something like that without free air to circulate round the carcass it could end up with moisture / damp round it. Now thinking logically there are no external walls here for damp to come in - so it's just whether there would be condensation in the room / through the stud walls that could be a problem.
Any thoughts on this?
For reference Sharps wanted over £4k fitted / Fittingly are around the £2k ish mark / 'Glide and Slide' (ooer) are also around the £2k ish mark but don't have a suitable door finish.
I've tried Online Wardrobes but they say the arrangement I've designed won't work with their system for some reason - and again the finish is basic. I think I got another couple of quotes but to get the custom arrangement is either impossible or expensive.
We've asked some local joiners for quoted but have radio silence back so far - I suspect they'll be on the expensive side tbh.
I've post a few pictures shortly for illustration once I've popped them into PostImages.
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Make the 'doors' breathable, say a wood or aluminium frame, but with the 'panels' made from some sort of cloth, like speaker cover cloth, or some other super breathable fabric, thick enough to hide the clothes behind, but transparent enough to allow maximum airflow.
EDIT: or even rip to doors off totaly and fit a pull down cell blind along the lines of: https://www.amazon.co.uk/cellular-blinds/s?k=cellular+blinds
The doors can’t be breathable -
they will be wood. That’s not the issue though really - it’s that the wardrobe has a carcass (ie a back and sides and top / bottom) - so what will happen between those and the wall. Wondering if I take it so the top has a gap between the ceiling and the top panel and leave a 1cm ish gap behind and to both sides of the wardrobe whether that sorts air flow all around. Found the left hand side is an external wall but the back / right hand side is definitely internal. The house has a bit of a dog leg where our bedroom extends a few metres further forward than the bedroom the wardrobe backs onto.
Why can't the doors be breathable?
You will loose some storage space if you put a wardrobe within a recess, so that's also a factor.
Why the hell would you fit a blind for a wardrobe door. That sounds hellish to actually use.....
Why not just get new doors made up in what ever finish you want ...... I'd keep em sliding fwiw.....
Because (a) my wife wouldn’t be having any of that and (b) the manufacturer doesn’t make it like that.
Also (c) I don’t see how that would help as the back, sides and top aren’t breathable.
Ideally we’d have an interior without the carcass sliding into the space and doors on the front with a frame to hinge off. I’ve not found somewhere that will do that so far in budget.
So you just want a door front on a recess then?
I'm struggling to understand why you would want fitted sides and backs too.
Just make an air gap and allow some airflow via strategically drilled holes? On an internal stud wall I think it a non issue anyway . I have seen this done with a vent in the plinth and a vent in the top.
I have seen this done with a vent in the plinth and a vent in the top.
Exactly how they ventilate round an intergrated fridge freezer
Thanks TJ - it sounds like the air gap should do the job - particularly fed from the top gap. No plinth - it’s just got a flat bottom - thinking a small piece of plywood under the wardrobe should be enough to get the doors to clear the carpet.
Cheers Marty - yea ideally we don’t want the back / sides - just doors on the front of the recess - plus fittings to go inside it. The one company with a decent finish only supply a full carcass though. Hence the conundrum.
YOu need a plinth or the doors will catch on the slightest thing on the floor and / or you will need a big gap under the doors
but there won't be any airflow with your 'box-within a box' idea, unless the air comes via the door.
– plus fittings to go inside it. The one company with a decent finish only supply a full carcass though. Hence the conundrum.
Sorry I posted too late to see this. What you want is a jigsaw, or someone who can do carpentry, not a 'wardrobe designer', lol
"I’m struggling to understand why you would want fitted sides and backs too."
It's a lot easier to make a wardrobe carcass in the factory/workshop and fit it on site this way. It will lose a fair amount of space though as the alcove will not be square, but it should be easy enough to keep an airflow around the wardrobe, not inside the wardrobe, with hidden vents top and bottom. If you have any sort of damp problem you NEED this, whatever the missus likes or dislikes....
It shouldn't be hard for a local joiner to beat a Sharps quote. I was well pissed off when I realised I was only quoting half as much...
I don’t think we have any kind of damp problem - just trying to anticipate not creating one.
We had a local joiner make built in cabinets on our lounge - but it was just mdf with no finish on it and we had to prime / paint them. Massive ballsache but ok.
There is a local company called ‘Nook’ in Bristol that I need to give a ring for a ballpark price - we want somewhere that’ll get a really nice finish on it and their stuff on their website looks nice.
a local joiner make built in cabinets on our lounge – but it was just mdf
Are you sure it wasn't just a guy with a jigsaw and a packet of yellow plugs?? did he put dove tail jonts in it? lol!
When I say joiner I probably just mean carpenter. It’s quite a neat job and looks decent in the lounge, but it’s not finely crafted furniture!
I don’t think we have any kind of damp problem – just trying to anticipate not creating one.
Back in the 70s and 80s my dad installed fitted wardrobes/cupboards throughout the cottage I grew up in, quite a few in recesses.
He just put a frame in and fitted doors to the front. Never had a problem with damp, even with old wonky walls.
I've made and fitted quite a few built in wardrobes and alcove cabinets now.
The plinth isn't just to let doors clear the carpet. A plinth is put in to create a level base too. Virtually no floor is flat so I always have a plinth that I level up and fix in position so that I'm starting from level.
If you just plonk a cabinet onto a wonky floor, it'll tend to cause it to go rhombus-shaped and your doors won't fit any more.
I normally build the carcasses to have 40-50mm of space either side to fit a scribing strip, about 30mm gap behind and either an open top with a crown moulding or scribed to the ceiling in the same way as the sides.
This allows you to fit vents should you want to.
I had a client last year that was very keen on maintaining airflow in his alcove cabinets and so I made a plywood plinth with holes cut in all faces and then a lovely brass vent at the front. They were open up top so plenty of chance for ventilation.
Building a frame to the walls of a recess and then wanging doors on it is kind of an old-school diy way of doing it.
Nothing wrong with it Percy, but building pre-made carcasses in a workshop allows you to get a much better overall look and allows crisp fitting drawers, contrasting timber interiors etc, etc.