Measure seven times or How to calculate a sliding wardrobe?

When buying a new home, moving, remodeling, or just wanting to update the design of an apartment, we always think about what furniture to choose so that it is comfortable, beautiful, and functional. Of course, when considering options, we also rely on the dimensions of the future sofa, table, or shelf. Everyone wants the furniture in the apartment to take up as little space as possible, especially if the area of ​​the room does not allow you to buy exactly what you like visually.

A wardrobe for clothes, linen, personal belongings is very necessary in any room. It is suitable for storing everything that is used daily or periodically, saving items from dust, contamination with household liquids. For many of us, when we hear the word wardrobe, the first thing that comes to mind is the familiar design with mezzanines, glass doors and drawers. Such furniture can be quickly bought in a store, simply by telling the seller the dimensions, choosing the color, as well as the type of product. As practice shows, suitable products are not always sold.

A new product has appeared on the furniture market relatively recently, which has won the love of buyers, devoid of many of the disadvantages of a conventional wardrobe equipped with hinged doors that block the exit, entrance or space when they are opened. A sliding wardrobe can be built into a niche, which is provided for in the construction of many apartments and often causes confusion about how to use it without spoiling the integral image of the living space.

Such a cabinet can be installed in the bathroom, bedroom, living room, kitchen, hallway, visually increasing the space due to, for example, mirrored doors. Its huge advantage is the unlimited size (length, width, depth and height). Below we will consider the rules for the correct calculation of this type of cabinets.

Where to start?

Having chosen the installation location and having sketched it out by hand, we begin to calculate and draw the initial design of the structure. All objects in close proximity or in contact with the structure are taken into account, distances, thickness of materials are measured, and unevenness of walls is taken into account. A mandatory condition for successful installation of the cabinet is measuring the angles. There must be 100% certainty that they are straight (90%).

A standard sliding wardrobe consists of a roof, sides, partitions, bottom, ceiling, base, doors, back wall and internal filling (shelves, modules with drawers, belt holders, pull-out baskets, hangers, shoe racks, etc.). The dimensions of all parts must be taken into account when preparing the product design.

Calculating the dimensions of the cabinet

1. Height. The main rule to follow is not to rely only on the parameters of the walls. Why? Contact with the ceiling will not allow the sliding wardrobe to stand in the desired position. This is a fairly massive structure, which is usually assembled horizontally and installed vertically. Therefore, the most important value for calculating the correct size is its diagonal, the length of which is usually about 10 cm less than the height of the back wall. Here it is better to use the formula √(a²-b²) = x. For example: 2700 (distance from floor to ceiling 2700 mm) x 27 = 72900 (a2); 50 (depth of the wardrobe 50 mm) x 50 = 2500 (b2); 72900 – 2500 = 70,400. We extract the square root (use the online calculator) from 70,400, we get 265.32. We round up to 265. In total, the height of our product is 2650 mm.
2. Depth. It is worth mentioning right away that it is better to make this parameter no less than 550 mm, and better 650 mm or more, since the standard length of the rod for hangers is 450 mm, so your clothes, especially voluminous down jackets and fur coats should feel comfortable in such cramped conditions. It is worth clarifying that the depth is chosen absolutely differently, based on your preferences and the dimensions of the room.
3. Width. Everything is much simpler here. We measure the internal dimensions of the opening, subtract 16 mm (chipboard thickness) from this size, and we get the installed values ​​of the opening.

Calculating the size of the doors

In this case, the main thing is to avoid the mistakes that are made when installing a sliding wardrobe on your own.

1. The parameters of one sash should not exceed 2800 x 1200 mm.
2. You shouldn't make doors very narrow.
3. It is important to take into account the overlap of the canvases.

Calculating the width. When determining the length of the door leaf, subtract 40-45 mm from the height of the opening (the required distance for hanging). Add the overlap length in millimeters to the width of the opening and divide by the number of doors. For example, 1584 mm + 26 mm / 2 = 805 mm (the width of one leaf).

Calculating the size of the boxes

Drawers are a very important and practical filling of the cabinet. To determine the boundaries of the drawer, it is necessary to take into account the data of all its parts: the front, bottom, side, back wall and guide.

1. Facade. The opening size should be 4 mm larger than the width of the facade. The height is chosen arbitrarily. Be sure to leave a groove in the facade for attaching the handle.
2. Bottom. When determining the dimensions of the bottom of the cabinet, it is necessary to determine whether it will be nailed or inserted into the grooves. Using the latter method, it is important to take into account the thickness of the material and the depth of the groove.
3. Sidewalls. Their length is a multiple of or slightly longer than the guide length. The height of the side walls and the back wall of the drawer is equal to or 40-50 mm less than the height of the facade.

Methodology for calculating materials and components

A table is always compiled, which indicates a list of all the parts of the outer box and internal filling (fittings, fasteners, handles) with their dimensions and quantity. There are several dozen or even hundreds of such parts, depending on the cabinet configuration. The edge thickness is always taken into account, and the name of the material for each part is also indicated. You can use this data later, calculating the cost of the cabinet.

To cut chipboard, all you need is a list of parts with dimensions, which you take to the cutting shop, select the material there and order the production of blanks for your cabinet.

When calculating materials and components, gaps and indents cannot be neglected.

1. The height of the base can be up to 100 mm.
2. The gap on each side of the drawer front is 1.5 mm.
3. The internal filling of the product should be approximately 10 cm smaller than the outer casing.

Calculation of the cost of the cabinet

Having a table with a list and quantity of all necessary parts and materials, in the last column we write the cost of each item, focusing on the price in the store. Here it is necessary to pay special attention to the cutting of parts in the chipboard sheet (its structure, cutting width, overall values, which should be taken 20 mm less than the required parameters).

Sheet metal parts, various inserts, such as mirrors, are calculated per square meter. For clarity, let's take the bottom of the structure, made of chipboard. We take as a basis the cost of a sheet per square meter, the required width and length of the bottom (chipboard: 1100 rubles/m²; bottom: 1.5 m x 2 m = 3 m² x 1100 rubles = 3300 rubles). Long materials, such as skirting boards, are calculated per linear meter and do not cause any particular difficulties in evaluation. Handles, latches, fasteners are calculated individually.

So, having analyzed the information that you have just read, you can begin to independently calculate the sliding wardrobe.

Video: Sliding wardrobe. Correct dimensions and calculation

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