Step by Step
A skirting board - or plinth- is an elongated decorative piece whose function is to cover the legs and prevent dirt from accumulating under the furniture.
IKEA has designed its system with the baseboards set back 12 cm. This design allows the feet to slide under the cabinet more easily, bringing the hips closer to the worktop and making it easier to work on the horizontal surface, resulting in a more comfortable experience during extended periods of work.
Important: If your washing machine OR dishwasher is not from IKEA, it may not allow the baseboard to be placed 12 cm from the cabinet. In this case, you would have to move all the legs forward so that the baseboard is continuous, losing a few cm of setback. Consult us if you have any doubts.
Dimensions
Our standard skirting boards, like IKEA's, come in single pieces:
- ↔ 2400 or ↔ 1200 mm long
- ↕ 75 mm high
- Machined with ventilation grill in case of integrated induction cooktop and/or refrigerator.
These dimensions allow for wide sections of the kitchen to be covered with minimal joints, making installation cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing.
The ↕75 mm height is specifically designed to be compatible with IKEA’s METOD legs, which are ↕80 mm tall: we always manufacture our skirting boards 5 mm shorter to compensate for the slight unevenness often found in household floors.
This 5 mm margin is not visually noticeable when the legs are adjusted to 80 mm, but it provides a helpful buffer during installation, since IKEA legs can be adjusted between 75 and 95 mm in height.
If you're using a different type of leg, please let us know so we can manufacture the skirting board at the appropriate height.
Before Installation
Keep in mind:
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The ventilation grille are always placed on one side of the skirting board to make cutting easier during installation. This grille is essential for proper ventilation of integrated appliances and should be positioned under the cooktop and under the integrated fridge, if present.
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Skirting board pieces must be cut and joined according to the detailed instructions below to ensure a seamless and functional finish.
Needed Tools
- Circular saw with cutting guide
- Sandpaper
- Screwdriver
- Screws no longer than 1.5 cm
- METOD legs from IKEA
- UTRUSTA fittings or any hardware store connection plate
Instructions
1. Measurement
Measure the length of the wall to determine how much plinth you need.
Remember that the ventilation grille should be placed under the fridge and the cooktop.
2. Cutting
Plinths should be installed so that the joints between pieces align with the cabinet joints.
3. Joining
To connect two plinth pieces, use a connection fitting. Screw it in, joining both fronts from the hidden side of the plinth.
4. Attaching to the Legs
To attach the plinth to the legs, screw in the clips included in the METOD leg kit. This plastic piece has no hole, so you will need to drill through it. The plastic clips should be positioned at the mid-height of the plinth.
Once the clips are in place, snap the plinth onto the cabinet legs for a secure fit.
Mounting cases
- Panel meeting with skirting board: its placement will be normal and the skirting board will end against the side panels.
- Corner: there will be a 90º meeting of the 2 skirting boards. One of them, will be topped off 12cm, and may be left over inside the corner. And the other skirting board will die against the first skirting board placed, entering 10cm inwards.
- With island: its placement will be in the same way as if it were a normal kitchen front. The skirting board will end against the side panels.
Do PAX cabinets have a skirting board?
Unlike the METOD system, PAX has no free-standing baseboards, offering a cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing design and a different approach to baseboards:
- Integrated plinth: Instead of having free-standing baseboards, PAX cabinets have a plinth that is an integral part of the cabinet base. This plinth is permanently fixed and cannot be removed.
- Doors to the floor: PAX cabinet doors are usually longer than the cabinet body and reach all the way to the floor. This ensures that the integrated plinth is completely covered, providing a visually cleaner and more continuous design, as well as preventing dust from entering under the cabinet.