Kitchen Units

The carcass is the part of a kitchen unit nobody sees but everyone notices when it fails. Thickness, edgebanding, and whether the units arrive rigid or flat-packed drive most of the quality gap between a budget supplier and a mid-market one, and they also drive the time a fitter needs on site. Getting the carcass specification right at order stage avoids costly swaps once the kitchen is delivered.

These guides cover the carcass and everything that goes into or onto it: hinges and drawer runners, corner mechanisms, filler, end and plinth panels, cornice and pelmet, the sink and tap, and the specialist fixings a fitter uses to join units and worktops. Each page explains the spec to ask for, what a fitter expects to find in the box, and the details that separate a clean install from a kitchen with visible gaps.

Where to start

Read kitchen unit carcasses and soft-close hinges and drawer runners before you compare quotes, because these are where suppliers differ most. Then read kitchen sinks: the worktop is templated around the real sink, so it has to be chosen at specification stage and be on site before the templater arrives.

The guides, grouped by job

The cabinets. The carcass, the hinges and runners, and corner pull-out mechanisms for getting use out of corner units.

Panels and trim. Filler, end and plinth panels, which finish the run against walls and floors, and cornice and pelmet to cap the wall units.

Sink and tap. The sink, and a kitchen mixer tap, which normally fits a standard 35mm tap hole.

Fixings the fitter uses. Cabinet connectors to pull adjacent units into one rigid run, and worktop bolts to pull laminate worktop joints tight.

Where these fit in the build

Choosing who designs and supplies the kitchen is covered in designer vs self-source and sourcing units and worktops, and the plan itself in measuring and layout. The sink position feeds kitchen plumbing provisions, and the units go in at kitchen installation, ideally with a fitter found early through finding a kitchen fitter. For budgets, try the kitchen cost estimator, the kitchen fitting cost estimator and the kitchen layout dimensions checker.