Kitchen
How to measure for a glass splashback
A splashback is the easiest panel to measure and the easiest to get wrong, because the things that catch people out are the sockets and the worktop upstand rather than the width.
Before you start
What you are measuring
The dimensions that decide the job
- The width of the run at the worktop and again at the underside of the wall units.
- The height from the worktop to the underside of the units, at both ends.
- The centre of every socket, switch and outlet, from the same two edges.
- Anything that eats into the height: an upstand, a tile trim, a curved worktop edge.
What to have in your hand
- A steel tape measure
- A pencil
- A camera or a phone
- The measuring pack record sheet
The printable measuring pack carries the record sheet these steps fill in, plus a tracing grid for shapes a tape cannot describe.
In this order
The steps, in the order the workshop takes them
Decide where the glass starts and stops
Mark the two ends in pencil on the wall. A splashback can run wall to wall, stop at the edge of the hob, or finish at a return. Every other measurement is taken between those two marks.
Measure the width at the top and at the worktop
Wall units are rarely dead in line with the worktop below them. Measure the run at both levels and order to the smaller figure.
Measure the height at both ends
Worktop to the underside of the units at the left-hand end and again at the right. Worktops are not perfectly level and units are not perfectly aligned; use the smaller of the two.
Locate every socket and switch
Measure to the CENTRE of each one from the same two edges every time, usually the left-hand end and the worktop. Give the size of the plate as well: the plate and the box behind it are different sizes and the cut-out is sized to the box.
Allow for the upstand and the worktop edge
A tile trim, a granite upstand or a curved worktop edge all raise the bottom of the glass. Measure from the surface the glass will actually sit on, and say what that surface is.
Say whether it goes behind the hob
The pane behind a hob takes direct heat, so it is toughened for thermal shock rather than for impact. Tell us the hob type and how close the glass sits to it, and we specify the pane accordingly.
What we work to
The tolerance, and where to start
We cut to plus or minus 2mm, and every order is confirmed with a dimensioned drawing before anything is made. A splashback sits between two surfaces rather than inside a frame, so leave 2mm to 3mm of shadow gap at each end and let the silicone take it up.
The usual specification
6mm toughened
6mm toughened is required behind hobs.
The configurator link below opens with a hob splashback at 900 x 600mm in that specification. It is a starting point the workshop cuts often, not a guess at your opening: change the numbers to the ones you have just measured and the price and the drawing follow.
What costs people a panel
The common mistakes
Measuring to the tiles
If the tiles are coming off, measure the wall that will be there when the glass goes on, not the one that is there now.
Measuring the socket plates
The cut-out is sized to the back box and the plate covers the edge. Measure to the centre of the plate, then tell us the plate size, and let us do the rest.
One pane for a long run
A long pane has to get through the door, round the stairs and onto the wall in one piece. Over about 2.4m we usually split the run, and the joint is planned rather than discovered.
Measuring before the worktop is in
The worktop is the bottom datum. Measured before it lands, the height is a guess.
Forgetting which edges the sockets were measured from
Two edges, written down, every time. A socket measured from the left on one sheet and from the right on another is a panel with a hole in the wrong place.
When you order
What to send us
- The two widths and the two heights, in millimetres.
- A sketch or photograph with every socket marked, and which two edges you measured from.
- Whether the run is one pane or more than one.
- The colour or finish, and whether it goes behind a hob.
Write them on the record sheet as you go: download the three-page measuring pack PDF, or read the same sheets on the measuring pack page.
Next
Settle the rest before you order
Measuring something else? Every product we cut to size has its own guide on the measuring pack page.