What kind of material can I buy custom-cut to size, and where?
March 17, 2022 8:18 PM
I want a piece of material with these dimensions: 2-3"D x 161"L x 1-1.75"H. (Or, it can be two pieces with an 80.5"L.) I don't care if it's wood, plywood, MDF, or something else, as long as it's rigid and can bear weight. Ideally it will be paintable. Where can I buy this exact thing?
Long explanation: there's a room in my house with a built-in cabinet along one wall. I want to install a full wall of Ikea Kallaxes on top of the cabinet. But the countertop has built-in electrical outlets (like, horizontally, flat on the countertop but not flush, raised a few mm) that I would like to be able to keep using. So the purpose of this material is to lift the Kallaxes up a few inches, so I can put a flat extension cord thing into the outlet, so I can keep using it.
I cannot lift the Kallaxes more than 1.75": 2" is the ceiling.
I have no tools and no ability (or desire!) to cut the material myself.
If there's a better way to keep the outlet accessible, please tell me. Or, please tell me the easiest way to get any appropriate material in the dimensions I need. Thank you :)
Long explanation: there's a room in my house with a built-in cabinet along one wall. I want to install a full wall of Ikea Kallaxes on top of the cabinet. But the countertop has built-in electrical outlets (like, horizontally, flat on the countertop but not flush, raised a few mm) that I would like to be able to keep using. So the purpose of this material is to lift the Kallaxes up a few inches, so I can put a flat extension cord thing into the outlet, so I can keep using it.
I cannot lift the Kallaxes more than 1.75": 2" is the ceiling.
I have no tools and no ability (or desire!) to cut the material myself.
If there's a better way to keep the outlet accessible, please tell me. Or, please tell me the easiest way to get any appropriate material in the dimensions I need. Thank you :)
You definitely can't support those units just at the back (or front), so would need two rows as per mekily's comment.
You can buy timber of the dimensions you state at any big hardware or a timber supply place, although you may have to accept a different size in one dimension. Given you have some range in what you need, there will no doubt be something that suits. They should cut it exactly to length for you if you ask nicely and go at a quiet time (eg not Saturday morning).
But there may be another (neater) way to maintain access to the power outlets. You would likely be able to remove the outlets and re-install them in the bottom of the Ikea units themselves, as long as they're fixed to the top of the cabinet. I appreciate you clearly noted you don't have ability or desire to cut things, but an electrican could do this if you have the units assembled ready to go so they can remove the outlets, help you lift the cabinets up and screw them down, then reinstall the outlets in the bottom of the Ikea units. This does, of course, compromise small parts of the storage potential, but would be a more practical and aesthetic result and may not cost much more than buying the timber.
posted by dg at 9:09 PM on March 17, 2022
You can buy timber of the dimensions you state at any big hardware or a timber supply place, although you may have to accept a different size in one dimension. Given you have some range in what you need, there will no doubt be something that suits. They should cut it exactly to length for you if you ask nicely and go at a quiet time (eg not Saturday morning).
But there may be another (neater) way to maintain access to the power outlets. You would likely be able to remove the outlets and re-install them in the bottom of the Ikea units themselves, as long as they're fixed to the top of the cabinet. I appreciate you clearly noted you don't have ability or desire to cut things, but an electrican could do this if you have the units assembled ready to go so they can remove the outlets, help you lift the cabinets up and screw them down, then reinstall the outlets in the bottom of the Ikea units. This does, of course, compromise small parts of the storage potential, but would be a more practical and aesthetic result and may not cost much more than buying the timber.
posted by dg at 9:09 PM on March 17, 2022
Have you considered things like Unistrut or 8020 extrusions? There are a variety of possible dimensions, but while most are paintable they may lack a certain savoir-faire.
posted by aramaic at 10:40 PM on March 17, 2022
posted by aramaic at 10:40 PM on March 17, 2022
A 2"x4" standard piece of wood is only 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". I would imagine that you only *have* to support the vertical parts of the Ikea things, but I'd go ahead and put some under horizontal bits of the bottom just for sanity. You could bet a few 2x4s, get the shop to cut them to the depth of the Ikea thing, then put 15" lengths of the 2x4 under the verticals and horizontals. You can get 6 15" lengths of 2x4 out of an 8' length of 2x4. So Big box, a couple of 2x4 cut into 15" lengths. Then if you want to be fancy, find a thin piece of wood moulding that's 1 1/2" tall, have it cut to that there's a hole where the outlet goes, then just nail that to the 2x4s holding things up to give you a nice flat front without any holes.
Or as others have mentioned you could get more 2x4 and cut more carefully (it all depends on where the outlet is, a 2x4 is usually 8' (96")) and have one running lengthwise across the back, one across the middle and one across the front. Or maybe just back and front and use the leftover bits to put under the verticals and horizontals .
You might even be able to get away with just a 2x4 cut into say 3 1/3" squares and put one square at each front/back of the verticals and then one right in the middle of the horizontal bits.
You don't even have to move the outlet into the Ikea, you just need to cut a hole above the outlet so you can still plug in. Over Engineering 'R' Us.
posted by zengargoyle at 11:16 PM on March 17, 2022
Or as others have mentioned you could get more 2x4 and cut more carefully (it all depends on where the outlet is, a 2x4 is usually 8' (96")) and have one running lengthwise across the back, one across the middle and one across the front. Or maybe just back and front and use the leftover bits to put under the verticals and horizontals .
You might even be able to get away with just a 2x4 cut into say 3 1/3" squares and put one square at each front/back of the verticals and then one right in the middle of the horizontal bits.
You don't even have to move the outlet into the Ikea, you just need to cut a hole above the outlet so you can still plug in. Over Engineering 'R' Us.
posted by zengargoyle at 11:16 PM on March 17, 2022
1.75” isn’t a standard thickness for much of anything, but 2x3 (actually 1.5” x 2.5”) dimensional lumber in 8’ lengths is fairly common in big-box home improvement stores. You’ll have to pick through a pile of them to find some that are reasonably straight, but they’ll bear the weight well and can easily be cut to length. One running continuously along the back, plus shorter pieces between outlets at the front, will do the job as long as the main left/right sides of the Ikea units don’t fall directly over any of the outlets.
posted by jon1270 at 11:21 PM on March 17, 2022
posted by jon1270 at 11:21 PM on March 17, 2022
If the countertop has built-in electricals, they are probably mounted inside the cabinet, underneath the countertop.
It should be very easy to unscrew those, so the outlet is inside the cabinet, and no longer pointing upwards on the countertop.
That way you could have your extension cords inside the cabinet, and have much more control over where the outlets end up. That would give you a flat surface on your countertop to add the kallax without messing with extra wood pannels.
If you don't want to look at it yourself, that should be a very easy job for any handyman to do.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 12:27 AM on March 18, 2022
It should be very easy to unscrew those, so the outlet is inside the cabinet, and no longer pointing upwards on the countertop.
That way you could have your extension cords inside the cabinet, and have much more control over where the outlets end up. That would give you a flat surface on your countertop to add the kallax without messing with extra wood pannels.
If you don't want to look at it yourself, that should be a very easy job for any handyman to do.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 12:27 AM on March 18, 2022
Have you looked at adding feet to the kallax? That might be easier than trying to manufacture something to lift it. Then you would just need to cover the gap between the shelf and the counter.
I bought a flush mount power strip with USB ports, dropped it into a 1”x3” long board and attached it to the wall at sofa back height to eliminate having to move the sofa to plug things in. I think the same thing could work for you but flipped vertically to give you full outlet access running along the front of your cabinet.
posted by August Fury at 6:55 AM on March 18, 2022
I bought a flush mount power strip with USB ports, dropped it into a 1”x3” long board and attached it to the wall at sofa back height to eliminate having to move the sofa to plug things in. I think the same thing could work for you but flipped vertically to give you full outlet access running along the front of your cabinet.
posted by August Fury at 6:55 AM on March 18, 2022
I think it would work better to have "cleats" running back to front rather than a single lengthwise strip, presumably sitting at the back of the Kallax cabinets? For 4x4 Kallaxes you would want one on each end and one in the middle, but the adjacent units could share a single strip. 2x2 dimensional lumber will actually measure 1.5 x 1.5 inches. Buy a couple of 8 ft lengths of 2x2s (but get the "select" grade and not furring strip grade) and at any Big Box home improvement store they can cut them to the exact depth of the Kallax units.
posted by drlith at 7:27 AM on March 18, 2022
posted by drlith at 7:27 AM on March 18, 2022
OMG I love you all so much. Some of what you're saying here is I think stuff many people already know, but I totally do not. And I'm especially loving the ideas about more elegant solutions. I'd be happy to rustle up an electrician or handyman if the end result is better.
These replies are great, thank you, and I will welcome more if there are more :)
posted by Susan PG at 11:53 AM on March 18, 2022
These replies are great, thank you, and I will welcome more if there are more :)
posted by Susan PG at 11:53 AM on March 18, 2022
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My suggestion is to go to your closest big-box hardware store and buy several 1x12in (or 2x12in) pine boards. These are usually about 6ft long but most hardware stores will cut them to shorter lengths for you. It won’t be a super precise cut, but for this purpose it doesn’t really matter. Plan to have a length of board spanning the entire underside of the Kallax, except for small gaps to allow access to the outlets. So you just need to measure out what board lengths you need to cover the spans between outlets and between the outlets and the wall.
Heck, if they have boards that are 14 inches wide, that would be even better, but that’s less common.
Also — note that the “real” dimensions of lumber are always slightly less than the stated dimensions. So a plank that’s “2 inches” thick is actually only about 1-7/8 inches thick and might actually work for your purposes — bring a tape measure with you to verify.
posted by mekily at 8:50 PM on March 17, 2022