The problems with plinth installation.

I'll just say that so far, all of the problems with the plinth are on the island. To be honest, that's probably because that's all I've finished so far.

The first problem is with the legs. Because I turned the sink cabinet end of the island 90*, the legs are not in line with the rest of the base cabinets legs. This means that when you try to line up the plinth with the legs you'll be attaching it to later, it just won't fit. I had to notch out a hole on both the west and east side of the island plinth to accommodate for the legs being rotated.

Here's what I mean.... this picture is taken from under the rotated base (sink cabinet) end. At the top of the picture, you can see the black plastic part of the leg that sticks out to the right. The other legs further on down are turned sideways and don't have that bump out.












On the other side, I had even more trouble... there were electrical wires coming up from the floor that we forgot to adjust for the plinth, so on this side I had to cut out for the sideways turned leg AND the metal wire casing. (Or I could have just re-wired the cabinet, cut new holes, and moved them... but I decided this was was easier... and again, no one would ever see it.












So I cut the plinth so it would fit.












Then it was just a matter of tapping in the wedges into the back of the plinth where the legs lined up, and sliding on the clips that attach to the legs. So far so good....












Ah, but wait... after I cut the west piece (above) to fit, I then measured and cut the south (short, non-sink) end.... and promptly cut it 1/8" too short.












Notice the awful gap. >;-(












The good news is that in the plinth package, Ikea supplies you with a lot of extra side trim pieces. They are actually wider than the plinth is thick, so you've got some leeway.












I cut a piece to the height of the board, set it into the gap right on top of the other edging, then trimmed off any extra on the left side with a straight edge razor.












Then I set a hot iron to it in several places to hold it so it would be flush against the floor and the abutting board, pulled it out from under the base cabinets and ironed it in place. When the adhesive is hot, it will slide around, so I had to try a couple of times to get it right before it cooled.

Viola, it's fixed.










OK, on to the plastic footer trim-like-stuff that comes in the box. It comes in the same lengths as the plinth, has a channel to snap the plinth into, and a little 'flange' on one side, I'm guessing to keep moisture away from the bottom edge of the plinth. Below, I'm actually holding it upside down.












As I mentioned before, I could still go either way, but I just think it looks... glossy, and a little goofy.












Maybe it's just the lighting in the kitchen, but I think it reflects light and draws attention to itself. Not what I'm looking for at all. I'm putting my vote in on the no-plastic trim side.












We'll see. We may end up spray painting it brown to match the wood grain (colour) and to get rid of the glossy finish of the plastic. We can always install it later.

Right now, I just need to sweep and mop the floor!