15 kitchen terms explained
- Carcass (Cabinet Box)
- The structural box of a kitchen unit behind the doors and drawers, usually built from 18 mm moisture-resistant melamine-faced chipboard (MFC) or birch plywood.
- In-Frame vs Lay-On Shaker Door
- On a standard lay-on door the hinge sits inside the carcass and the door covers the front edge of the box; on an in-frame kitchen a solid timber frame is fixed to the front of the carcass and the door sits flush inside that frame.
- True Handleless (J-Pull vs Gola Rail)
- A J-pull door has a finger groove routed into the top edge of the door itself, while a true handleless Gola kitchen uses a continuous aluminium channel fixed to the carcass behind the top of the door.
- Two-Pack (2K Polyurethane / AC) Spray Finish
- A catalyst-hardened lacquer sprayed onto MDF or timber kitchen doors in a heated extraction booth, curing to a tough satin or matt finish.
- Laser Templating (Quartz & Stone)
- Digital measurement taken by the stonemason after the base cabinets are levelled and fixed, recording exact wall angles, tap holes and hob cut-outs before cutting the stone slabs.
- Engineered Quartz Worktop (20 mm / 30 mm)
- A non-porous slab made from roughly 90% crushed natural quartz bound with polymer resin and pigment, prized for stain resistance and clean mitred or pencil-round edges.
- Sintered Stone (Dekton / Neolith / Porcelain)
- Ultra-compact worktop slab fired under extreme heat and pressure with zero resin content, making it immune to UV fading and hot pans.
- Compact Grade Laminate (12 mm Solid Core)
- Slimline waterproof worktop with a solid black or colour-matched phenolic core that allows an undermount sink and drainer grooves without exposed chipboard.
- Undermount vs Inset Sink
- An undermount sink is bonded and clipped beneath a solid stone, quartz or compact laminate cut-out so crumbs wipe straight into the bowl; an inset sink drops in from above with a rim sitting on the worktop.
- Upstand & Full-Height Splashback
- An upstand is a 70 mm to 100 mm strip of matching worktop material bonded along the wall joint; a full-height splashback continues the slab all the way up behind the hob to the extractor.
- Soft-Close Blumotion Runner & Hinge
- Damped cabinet hardware (such as Blum Tandembox or Legrabox) that catches heavy pan drawers and doors over the final few centimetres so they close silently.
- Plinth (Kickboard), Pelmet & Cornice
- The removable board clipping onto the adjustable legs under the base units (plinth), the trim under wall cabinets hiding LED strip lights (pelmet), and the top moulding along the ceiling side of tall units (cornice).
- End Panel (Clad-On Panel)
- A door-matched finished panel fixed to the exposed side of a base, wall or tall appliance housing unit to conceal the carcass board and scribe neatly to an uneven wall.
- First-Fix Plumbing & Electrics
- Running new hot, cold and waste pipes, chasing twin-and-earth cables for the hob, ovens and sockets, and coring the external extractor vent after the old kitchen is ripped out and before the new units arrive.
- Dry Fit vs Wet Fit
- A dry fit covers assembling and levelling all kitchen carcasses, doors, worktops and trims only; a wet fit includes plumbing the sink, tap and dishwasher and connecting the electrical appliances.
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