# Suitable feet for a DIY stand?



## Ray (25 Feb 2008)

Do people have adjustable feet on thier stands?  I'm particularly interested what comes with commercially available stands like Juwel.  I have a natural stone tiled floor, which undulates a little and so is slightly uneven.  Stand is DIY 90cm for 200L aquarium, base is 22mm MDF (I will put up a thread with photo's on how to make this when I am finished).

Can't find any in my DIY store, and only limited selection online.  I'm wondering if something like this would work:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Layout-Basebo...ZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

- the weight is spread over a very small area of MDF base - and if so how many would I need to use?  I would prefer something lower profile.  If this is no good, what should I do to get things flat and level?

Thank you,

Ray


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## nickyc (25 Feb 2008)

I'm no DIY expert but my kitchen floor is quite wonky and we got adjustable feet from B&Q - there were some choices so you might find one that looks better.  Hope they work for you


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## Dan Crawford (25 Feb 2008)

They look like they would work although i'm not sure on how you would fit them?


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## Ray (25 Feb 2008)

Dan Crawford said:
			
		

> i'm not sure on how you would fit them?







You drill a hole in the base same diameter as the stem, then fit the 4 prong T nut to the hole and hammer it into place.  Screw foot through the thread in T nut.  

I think the weak point must be that all the weight is on the T nut - its not got a very large surface area - like someone in high heels standing on your MDF!  Its not that pretty either.


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## Ray (25 Feb 2008)

nickyc said:
			
		

> I'm no DIY expert but my kitchen floor is quite wonky and we got adjustable feet from B&Q - there were some choices so you might find one that looks better.  Hope they work for you



Thanks nickyc, I will keep looking for some nicer looking ones - did yours fit as described above?


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## Dan Crawford (25 Feb 2008)

Thats what i was worried about, it seems a very small area to support quite a lot of weight,


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## nickyc (25 Feb 2008)

They did fit as described and they work for the kitchen cupboards on the wonky floor, but I agree they're not pretty!  All depends if you can find something to fit them to that supports the weight and covers them up


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## Ed Seeley (25 Feb 2008)

You can get some more heavy duty adjustable feet that have a lip that supports the vertical board and then screws into it too.  They have a really high loading, but I can't find the link to some I had, sorry.


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## bugs (25 Feb 2008)

Hafele
They support 200kg but I'm guessing that pressure per foot so they could just do the trick if you fit 6. Reliant on a good fixing too, though. I would have a skirt around the base and use the adjustable feet to lift the cabinet just enough. If they fail, the cabinet will fall on to the skirt - hopefully without too much in the way of side-effects!


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## Ray (26 Feb 2008)

Fantastic link - thank you so much Bugs!

Looking at this site I can see that I should have built it with a plinth.  Too late now - I don't want to add to the height of the cabinet at this stage, so I need to do something with the existing 22mm MDF base.

I'm thinking either:

a)	Put 8 of these corner fitting, slot supported pieces in it, above the base (rather than below in a plinth) and shoot the feet down through small holes drilled in the base.  








OR

b)	Try to do keep it level on my stone tiles using either shims or felt feet of differeing thicknesses, or something.

Any thoughts anyone?  Anyone with experience of this?

Thank you,

Ray


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## bugs (26 Feb 2008)

I would stick with solid supports rather than felt - the latter will compress due to uneven weight distribution in the tank (e.g. rocks, decor etc) and then leave the tank leaning (rather than just smoothing out the undulations.

Tricky one... Is the floor just uneven from one tile to the next or do the tiles themselves have undulating surfaces?


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## Lisa_Perry75 (26 Feb 2008)

Can you not put a layer of polystyrene on the floor? So that compresses accordingly like clearseal advises for their tanks?


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## Ray (26 Feb 2008)

bugs said:
			
		

> Tricky one... Is the floor just uneven from one tile to the next or do the tiles themselves have undulating surfaces?



Yes, the tiles themselves have undulating surfaces, like slate, so only a mm or two variation but enough to cause a wobble.  There must also be very slight variation between the height of each tile, I need to put down a straight edge on the floor and squint under it.  I wonder if there is any risk putting too much weight on one tile & cracking it - I presume if they are well laid should be OK?



			
				Lisa_Perry75 said:
			
		

> Can you not put a layer of polystyrene on the floor? So that compresses accordingly like clearseal advises for their tanks?



Maybe?  Tthat's what I was thinking of with the felt or underlay or something.  After all, with a nice english fitted carpet I'd be fine.

Here is a shot of the stand under construction, to give you a better idea.  Since then I filled the screw holes, added front piece and sanded - its ready for the first coat of paint but I want to figure this out first.






If I'd just bought a Juewel stand what would I have on the base of that - don' they have feet?

Thank you everyone,

Ray


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## bugs (26 Feb 2008)

Yes, Juwel tanks have feet.

Ultimately you'll have two situations to contend with. The overall level - left to right and front to back, and then the unevenness of the tiles themselves.

I think I'd place the stand with tank in situ, put an inch of water in the tank, and see how real the problem is. You may find it only needs a single thin wedge under one back foot to be spot on. At the other end of the scale, you could find both potential problems at play and you're fitting adjustable legs and scribing in a tiny plinth plate on the fascia.

(Going back to felt pads... If the floor is level and you have six feet, then I think you could get away with a felt pad under every foot to simply soak up the unevenness of the tiles alone. My previous thought was thinking more along the lines of pads under only some of the feet. That, I think, would be a mistake.)


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## Lisa_Perry75 (26 Feb 2008)

Juwel says you need to put it on a level surface. But yes they do have little plastic feet (the rekord range at least).


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## Ray (27 Feb 2008)

Thanks all, I think you are right Bugs, I'll try it and see.  I'm sure the floor is flat apart from the uneven nature of the tiles so I will get a piece of 90x45 carpet underlay ready (I think that will even out the bumps?) and some shims to try before I resort to retro-ftting a plinth.

My new headache is getting a gloss finish I like without brushstrokes or dust...


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## bugs (27 Feb 2008)

Time to build a temporary spray booth...


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## Ray (27 Feb 2008)

bugs said:
			
		

> Time to build a temporary spray booth...



Go on, throw me a line - what should it look like?  I'm guessing it has to be plastic sheeting allowing me to do one side at a time?


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## bugs (27 Feb 2008)

Yep, in it's most basic form it's just a plastic sheeting tent. If you can make it large enough to get inside with the item to be sprayed then you can do more than one side at a time. Alternatively, try and make it is such a way that you can rotate the booth around the item being sprayed.

My one experience painting MDF taught me not to underestimate how absorbent it is. The first coat can make or break the finish. I used a brush so suffered the inevitable brush strokes as the MDF sucked up all the moisture in the paint before the brush strokes had a chance to merge together. Even then I was using a dedicated MDF undercoat! 

Spraying should be better, although I would read up well on spraying MDF and hire or buy a proper spray gun and compressor.

It is possible to get a good finish with a brush if you sand the initial coats to ensure you have a nice smooth base on to which to paint the top coats.


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## Ray (3 Mar 2008)

bugs said:
			
		

> My one experience painting MDF taught me not to underestimate how absorbent it is. The first coat can make or break the finish. I used a brush so suffered the inevitable brush strokes as the MDF sucked up all the moisture in the paint before the brush strokes had a chance to merge together. Even then I was using a dedicated MDF undercoat!



Strangely no issues in this regard - I tested a general purpose oil based primer on offcuts, not specifically for MDF but it mentions "fibreboard" in the list of suitable things to use it on.  I did 3 coats and than sanded it utterly flat using an orbital sander - went right down to 400 grit and it looks and feels perfectly flat.  Its slowing me down though - it stinks like crazy and is only good down to 7 degrees so I have to wait for a nice day to do a coat outside.


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