Wardrobe 1-2mm too thick

[TD]

Even after removing skirting, my Ikea wardrobe is about a mm too thick for the space. It's going in there by hook or by crook. I've sanded the plaster as much as I can, and I can't do any more. I don't care about the look of the sides as they will be flush with the walls. Hence I've decided to try and remove some material from the side panel. It's very very close and I think

1mm will do, 2 at a push.

So, what do I use? It's the usual quality Ikea veneer with particleboard. I thought about using a plane or a belt sander, but my local DIY shop (this is my holiday home in the middle of nowhere) only had a random orbital. Will that do the job, or should I hold out for a plane or belt sander?

Pleased to hear any opinions, other than this is a complete bodge job. ;-) I will make it as tidy as possible under the circumstances. :-)

[F]

Wouldn't it be easier to remove more plaster? As in dig it out rather than sand it.

Whether you remove plaster or carcass, check that the door will still open. I've just looked at our IKEA Pax wardrobes and the doors have three-ish mm clearance between their face when open and the plane of the side of the carcass. YCMV.

[John Rumm]

You are focusing on the wrong bit IMHO. Take the side off, trim the edges of the shelves / top / bottom etc, then refit the side.

[F]

There may be problems in getting the doors to fit if the wardrobe is reduced in width.

[Nick Odell]

I had a bookcase that was supposed to fit but didn't. It turned out that, when I looked closely, nothing about the alcove was true: the front was narrower than the back; the top wider than the bottom. I got my bookcase in by lifting it up and more-or-less dropping it into the alcove. It got a bit squashed near the bottom but with the aid of gravity I got it in. I even got it out again when we moved.

Is yours an old place? Any chance that alcove was built without the aid of a plumb line?

Nick

[jgh]

I'd get a chisel knock off the plaster. Fit the wardrobe and retouch the join between the abutting wall and wardrobe. That's how I fitted by corner shelf units in my living room.

JGH

[Andy Dingley]

Dismantle it, saw 10mm from the edge of every top, bottom and back board (i.e. _internal_ joints of the wardrobe, not the exterior). Re- assemble. You might need to change to re-install some fittings, but not much. This is much easier than taking width off the outside surface.

If you need 1mm extra space, take off 10mm. Trust me.

[geoff]

This is where the inevitable ANGLE GRINDER post comes in

[The Medway Handyman]

You have a fair bit of play with the hinge adjustment. 3mm - 4mm at least.

I'd go with Johns advice. Even if trimming the edges of the shelves / top / bottom etc causes problems with the KD fittings, it could simply be screwed back as the screw heads would never be seen.

[The Medway Handyman]

10mm might cause a problem with the doors though?

[TD]

Thanks to all who responded so far. I of course thought about chopping the inside, but 1) the back panel is nailed on with 40 nails and 2) it will affect the fitting of interior accessories and possibly doors.

I can say that the walls aren't straight, and the too-narrow part is near the bottom of the walls. I have more or less removed as much plaster as I can, low down on one side, as you can see at

has helped it a little but I'm not there yet. My main question is should I seal the concrete now it's exposed?

I will remove some plaster on the other side, and see if it will help everything along. If not, I would still appreciate an answer to my OP - if I want to remove the veneer and a thin layer of the particleboard, should I use a plane, belt sander, or random orbital sander? (The thing being that only the random orbital is easily available in DIY shops near me.)

Grateful for any more input.

[Tim+]

This has helped it a little but I'm not there yet. My main question is should

Well if you hadn't already built the wardrobe running the panel through a thicknesser would be the obvious answer. An electric planner would probably do the job (but it wouldn't be pretty).

My worry though is will the door open properly? On my Ikea wardrobes, the doors overlap the full thickness of the carcass. If the end panel was reduced in thickness and hard up against a wall, my doors would bind. You might get away with it if you have sliding doors I suppose though...

Tim

[John Rumm]

If only talking about 1 or 2mm then it ought not be that much of a problem - the hinges usually have at least that much adjustment range.

[John Rumm]

The nails are unlikely to be a problem - you can probably tap the back free and reuse them. The doors may or may not be depending on the amount of play in the design. If needs be you can make a door narrower by cutting an edge off with a circular saw, then gluing the cut off bit back again (will lose the 3-4 mm kerf of the blade).

The only internal fitting likely to need cutting down would be a hanging rail.

This has helped it a little but I'm not there yet. My main question is should

That looks rather like the wall was rendered and then plaster skimmed. (assuming the whole place is not built from prefab concrete panels).

You could use a SDS drill to hack off the render - that would give you at least another 12mm.

An electric plane will take off the surface and make fairly rapid progress on the particle board. The result won't look pretty. The nest fastest would be a belt sander with a coarse belt. However that will make far more dust. Random orbit is less well suited to that job.

[geraldthehamster]

should

I see the problem - you have removed some of the skim, but also need to remove the render, up one side at least, for as high as the problem persists. Then make good the edge that can be seen alongside the wardrobe.

Otherwise I have no idea, other than to replace the vertical sides of the wardrobe completely with some narrower plywood.

Regards Richard

[GB]

Surely, if it were really only 1mm, the OP would have sent us a photo showing the wardrobe jammed in the gap and asking how to free it?

Anyway, the quickest way to deal with the problem is an angle grinder to remove some of the render. It will also make short work of reducing the carcass - possibly to a pile of splinters if the OP is not careful.

[chris French]

I had this sort of problem in the old house when fitting an MFI fitted wardrobe. IIRC the recess narrowed slighty towards the front and it wouldn't fit in. I chopped off the plaster (1930's lime plaster - an easy job) until it fitted. Made good along the edge using a bit of matching quadrant or somesuch. Looked absolutely fine once done (it was chimmeny breast recess and didn't go all the way in.

If removing the material I'd probably use a belt sander (or an electric plane), orbital would take a lot longer. If you can't get one locally, mail order will ahve you one the next day.