Fit cornice or pelmet to kitchen units — HomeGraft

Fit cornice and pelmet to kitchen wall units, mitring corners neatly and adding pelmet lighting, finished in one session.

CP-01Prepare the kitchen and check your toolsClear the worktop under the units and lay a dust sheet to catch offcuts and adhesive drips. Unpack the cornice and pelmet lengths and stand them in the room for a few hours so they settle to room temperature. Check you have a mitre saw or mitre block, tape measure, spirit level, cordless drill and a caulking gun ready. If you're fitting pelmet lighting later, switch off the kitchen lighting circuit at the consumer unit now, and turn off any sockets under the units at the wall.

1 each · Dust sheet

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1 roll · Masking tape

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CP-02Measure the run and plan your jointsMeasure along the top of the wall units for cornice, and along the bottom edge for pelmet, going round every corner. Mark on the units where each length will start and finish, and try to land straight joints over a unit rather than in a gap between units. Note which corners are external and which are internal, and buy about 10% extra length to cover cutting mistakes.

3 length · Kitchen cornice, 2.4m length

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3 length · Kitchen pelmet, 2.4m length

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CP-03Cut the mitres and dry-fitUse the mitre-cutting method you already know for coving and skirting to cut 45° mitres at each corner. Dry-fit every piece along the run without glue or screws first, checking each corner closes up tightly with no gap. Trim high spots with a sanding block or block plane, and pencil-label each piece on the back so you know where it goes.

1 each · Sanding block

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CP-04Work out what's behind the wall before you fix anything to itIf your run finishes against a wall rather than butting into another unit, you'll need to fix a small end bracket or scribe piece to that wall, and how you do it depends on what's behind it. Tap the wall: a dull thud is solid brick or block, a hollow sound is plasterboard on studs, and a hollow sound with a slight flex is usually dot-and-dab over masonry. Run a stud detector or magnet up and down for a line of screw heads — timber studs are normally 400mm or 600mm apart. Drill a small pilot hole: pale dust means timber, fine grey swarf means a metal stud, and instant hard resistance with brick dust means masonry. Cables and pipes can run almost anywhere in a kitchen wall, especially near sockets and the sink, so use a cable and pipe detector first, but still treat the wall as live until you prove otherwise. Find your stopcock now, usually under the kitchen sink, and check it turns freely. If you're in any doubt, isolate the circuit at the consumer unit before drilling, and turn the water off at the stopcock before cutting into anything that could carry water.

1 each · Cable, pipe and stud detector

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CP-05Fix the end of the run to the wallInto solid brick or block, drill a 6mm hole to 40mm depth, insert a red or brown wall plug and drive in a 40mm screw. Into a timber stud, drive a 40mm wood screw straight into the centre of the stud, not into the plasterboard either side. Into a metal stud, use a self-drilling metal-stud fixing or a toggle-type hollow-wall anchor rated for the load — never a plain wall plug or a wood screw, which strips straight through 0.5mm steel. Through dot-and-dab plasterboard, use a fixing long enough to pass through the board and adhesive dabs into the masonry behind, typically 50-60mm. Into lath and plaster, screws can crack the brittle lath, so use a spring or self-drilling toggle fixing, or find the timber behind and screw into that instead.

1 pack · Wall plugs (red/brown), pack of 10

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1 pack · Self-drilling metal-stud fixings, pack of 10

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1 box · Screws, 40mm, box of 100

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CP-06Fix the cornice to the tops of the unitsApply a bead of grab adhesive or coving adhesive to the back of each length, then press it onto the top edge of the units, checking level as you go. From inside the cabinet, drill small pilot holes up through the top panel and drive short screws up into the base of the cornice to hold it while the adhesive cures, keeping them short enough not to poke through the front face. Wipe off any squeezed-out adhesive straight away with a damp cloth.

1 tube · Coving/mitre adhesive

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1 box · Screws, 25mm, box of 100

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CP-07Join the corners and fit the last piecesAt each mitred corner, run a thin bead of adhesive into the joint and hold it with masking tape while it sets, or pin it with a fine panel pin if the material allows. Fit any filler pieces or scribe strips last, trimming them on site to close small gaps against the wall. Stand back and check the whole run is level and the corners are tight before moving on.

1 pack · Panel pins, 20mm, pack

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1 roll · Masking tape

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CP-08Fit the pelmet under the unitsFit pelmet the same way as cornice, but along the underside of the wall units, set back enough to hide any under-cabinet lighting. Screw up through the pelmet's fixing lip into the base of the unit, checking the screw length against the unit base thickness so it doesn't poke through into the cupboard. Leave a small gap where a lighting cable will pass through if you're fitting under-cabinet lights.

1 box · Screws, 20mm, box of 100

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CP-09Fit and connect pelmet lightingClip the LED strip or link lights along the underside of the units behind the pelmet, following the maker's spacing. If you're plugging the lights into a socket through a small plug-in transformer, this is straightforward DIY work. If you're hard-wiring the lighting into your fixed electrics rather than plugging it in, get a registered electrician to do it or check it.

RULES

1 kit · LED under-cabinet lighting kit with plug-in transformer

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KNOW THE RULES

Hard-wiring new lighting into the fixed electrics is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations in England. A plug-in, transformer-fed lighting kit is not notifiable.

CP-10Fill, caulk and finishFill any nail or screw holes with fine wood filler and sand smooth once dry. Run a thin bead of decorator's caulk along the joint where the cornice or pelmet meets the wall or ceiling, and smooth it with a wet finger. Let the caulk skin over before touching it, then touch up with matching paint once fully cured.

1 tube · Decorator's caulk

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1 tub · Wood filler

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1 tin · Touch-up paint

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CP-11Tidy up and restore powerSweep up offcuts and dust, and wipe down worktops and units. If you switched off the lighting circuit or a socket earlier, turn it back on now and test the pelmet lighting works. Check the stopcock is back on if you turned it off, and run a tap to confirm normal water flow.

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