What are kitchen corner posts and why are they needed?

DIY Kitchens

11 years ago

When constructing a kitchen, you can never butt up units that meet in a corner, right up to each other, as you will have problems opening doors or with doors hitting handles and getting damaged. That’s where corner post comes into effect.

The solution to this issue is to fit corner posts in each corner where the units go off at right angles. For example, if you had an L shape kitchen then you would have just the one corner post, if you had a U shape kitchen then you would have 2 corners posts, as shown in the diagrams below.

How big should the corner posts be?

We recommend that your corner post should be at least 40mm x 40mm, although this can increase or decrease depending on the kitchen that you choose to fit. Considerations that will affect the size of the corner posts are:

The size of the handles and how far the protrude from the doors
Appliance doors that open downwards
Door thicknesses

All the corner posts that we sell come in 2 sizes:

720mm high by 100mm wide (Cabinet Material)
715mm high by 70mm wide (Door Material)

to be cut down as necessary to exactly fit the gap that is left between the units. You can see an example of a base corner post here.

Here is an example of a corner post being fitted. Corner posts can also be constructed from leftover door material, as used in this example.

As you can see in the image above, enough clearance has been given so that when the door is opened, the handle will not collide with the approaching door.

Moving the blanking panel on the corner unit

If you are buying all the pieces required (unit & corner post) then the blanking panel on the corner unit would need “moving” backwards. This is done by undoing the 4 screws that hold the blanking panel on and moving it back as required. (See above image and you can see why a service void is needed to accommodate this as the end of the panel goes into the free space).

Read What is a kitchen unit service void for more information on service voids.

Once the blanking panel has been moved backwards, this allows you to fit in a corner post like the one shown on the page below (Some of these corner posts do come as 2 separate pieces of material that are fitted together to create the right angled corner post).

When you have the units and corner post in position, you then butt the blanking panel back up to the corner post and screw it back in.

Remember, corner units have the blanking panel attached from the inside with 4 screws. This panel is removed and refitted once the corner post is in position.

How not to fit a corner post

The image below shows a corner post that has been fitted but only 1 side of it has been done. Although the door on the left opens, there is only a small 2mm gap between the door and the front of the door on the right. This corner post causes your kitchen to lose symmetry as well as the possibility of trapping your fingers as the door is closed and banging your knees as you have to stand out of the way to actually open this cupboard.

Ideally the handle on this door should really be placed on the other side to allow for easier access.

Straight Corner Base Unit Planning Tips

This is a short kitchen planning video, which explains how to plan your kitchen with a straight corner unit. The video also covers corner posts and service voids, which are essential in the planning of your kitchen, as they all take up space in your kitchen run.

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