Six Problems to Avoid When Installing Cabinets

Installing kitchen cabinets can come with some challenges. Over the years of my work as a Denver-area carpenter, I have learned how to avoid common cabinet installation problems. Here are the top six problems, and how to prevent them.

1. Changing the dimensions of the cabinets: If you are remodeling a space and are replacing cabinets, the simple task of swapping out the same sizes in the same layout is pretty easy. A 30" wide base cabinet paired with a 36" sink base…as an exact replacement for an existing 30" base and 36" sink is nearly a complete guarantee for success. One problem that remodelers face is looking for something different, bigger or better. With these tasks, change is the norm, and that is where it starts to get complicated.

2. Too much (or lack of) precision in the plan: When a new layout is thought up, the "plan" may involve moving walls, relocating plumbing, electrical service, etc. Cabinets come in "stock" sizes and most folks go this route as opposed to 100% custom from a specialty builder. Combining pairs or sets of cabinets to "fill" the wall-to-wall space can usually be done with the stock sizes. Swapping a 15" drawer unit for an 18" drawer unit may allow you to get your overall widths down to the very inch.

3. Installing cabinets on sloped surfaces: In older homes, most floors are never perfectly level. (Even some new homes fall in this group.) Installing cabinets on sloped surfaces is not recommended, since they look really bad and the doors may not swing properly. The normal installation method is to find the highest point in the layout and start there…it is much easier to shim up a cabinet, rather than lower a high spot in the floor. When the tops of all of the cabinets are in the same plane the counter tops will sit flat level and true. In the case of some natural stone counter tops, this will prevent cracks or breaks from forming over "high" points. In most homes these height differences are minor and can easily be "shimmed". A number of years ago I worked in a kitchen where 6" of slope was encountered over an 8 foot run. Needless to say it was challenging.

4. Gaps between the counter top and the wall: While not so much of an issue with the actual installation of the cabinets, the lack of "square" poses more problems with counter tops, especially with molded laminates that have integral backsplashes. A run out along an obtuse corner may leave large gaps between a molded backsplash and the wall. Here working with tile or slabs that are custom "scribed" to fit the space will make these visual errors disappear. The cabinet "trim" may be beveled to look "square" even though the space is not. Bigger errors in room shape require more finesse in fitting the parts together. When properly done the eye never picks up on this "out-of-square" problem

5. Walls that are not flat: Similar to a floor not being level, wall unevenness can be corrected with shims. Here the goal is to have all of the cabinet faces lying in the same plane. This provides the clean look, that showcase's a great install. The use of various height and depth cabinets can help mask these type of errors.

6. Hanging a cabinet on drywall: Hanging a wall cabinet with a pair of drywall screws set only in the drywall will work for a few minutes or until the first set of dishes are installed. Then the whole shebang will come crashing down. If a "strip to studs" remodel is taking place, the simple task of adding "blocking" between the studs will allow for solid screw placement every time. If this is not in your plan, heavy duty toggle bolts combined with some screws hitting studs will keep your cabinets on the wall. Another way to help in this department is having all the cabinets attached to each other. Here the adjacent bigger neighbors can share the load of a "skinny cabinet" that does not hit a stud.

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