Installing Kitchen Cabinets
You will be amazed how the person ahead of you installed these items. It is better to be safe than sorry and TURN OFF EVERYTHING. Clearing the Area Part 1. When replacing the existing cabinets, the first thing you will need to do is clear the room. You need to remove everything in and around the cabinets. This includes clearing the floor area, the wall area and the countertops. Carefully remove the appliances from the room. Keep them in another room for safety while installing kitchen cabinets. Remember they are heavy so be careful. Next, remove the sink. There will be plumbing connections and screw clips under the edges. Unscrew the clips and pry the sink loose. Set it aside for later.
Then you need to remove the countertops. Hopefully, they can be unscrewed from the bottom and pried off. Stuff a rag into the drain pipe to reduce any aromas from the sewer system, but not all the way in as it will be removed later Now it’s time for the old cabinets to be removed. Start with the base. Look for any screws you can find. Remove them. Then look for screws between the cabinets. Remove them. Start prying everything apart and carefully remove the base cabinets. Try to keep damage to the walls at a minimum. Next it is time to remove the upper cabinets. Hopefully you are working with someone as these cabinets WILL “break loose” and fall on you. I use a 2x4 cut slightly longer than the distance from the bottom of the cabinet to the floor. It has a 1x4 nailed or screwed to the side of the top edge. It will look like a giant T-square. This tool will help steady and support the cabinet while you and a helper set it down. At this point start cleaning up so that you can determine exactly what surprises you must over come. Are the walls straight and square? Part 2. An easy way to find this out is to attach 6 wood blocks to the wall. Put one block in each of the four corners and one each at opposite sides halfway between the floor and the ceiling. Place string between all six blocks (like a giant spider web). There will be seven points where the strings should just touch. The string is going to stick out from the wall. Measure the distance between the wall and each of the seven different points on the strings. All the measurements should be very close to the same reading. If not, there is some leveling to be done. How much the wall is out determines how extensive the work will be. If the wall is not level, the cabinets will be misaligned causing the cabinets to not be square and they will twist. The doors will not close properly and items may “roll out onto the floor”. So, make sure the walls are level. Marking Studs Now that the walls are level, let’s mark where the studs are. There are many different stud finders on the market. I’ve used everything from an ice pick to stabb the wall to find the stud to tapping on the wall to hear the different sounds the wall makes when there is solid material behind a specific point.
The latest, and I think the best, are the electronic stud finders that can identify the thickness of the wall and any additional items behind the wall.
Start at one end of the room and carefully mark the studs. I like to place a vertical line on each side of the stud. Then draw a horizontal line between those lines to show that something solid is there. It is also a good idea to locate the studs above and below your initial starting point. Studs sometime do not go all the way to the floor or all the way to the ceiling. Use a pencil and NOT an ink marker to draw with. The ink markers alway bleed through the paint. Hanging Upper Cabinets Now that all the prep work is complete, let’s start installing kitchen cabinets. The upper cabinets go in first. There are two thoughts here. The first one is to hang the cabinets on the wall one at a time and hope they fit together okay.
The second, and the better of the two, is to assemble them on the floor so that they line up and are square to each other. Then lift the assembly in place using a cabinet lift.
I have seen a method where ledger board is installed on the wall and a board, with a matching board with an angle cut, is attached to the back of the cabinets. This method just hangs in place until everything is screwed to the wall. Another method is to attach a temporary board to the wall at what will be the bottom of the upper cabinets. Hoist the cabinets in place using this board to hold the cabinets in place. Use a wedge board to hold the top of the cabinets in place on the wall while you secure the cabinets to the wall. Then remove the support boards. There are pros and cons to each method for installing kitchen cabinets.
When installing kitchen cabinets, make sure you position them exactly where you want the final reference point to be. For example, right at the edge of a window or door usually squarely in the corner.
Mounting Lower Cabinets Bolt all the cabinet bases together like you did the upper cabinets. Make sure to line all the cabinets up top and bottom. Clamp the faces of the cabinets together using c-clamps and protection pads to not damage the surfaces. I like to use two drill bits, a small one to go through one of the frames and into the second frame BUT not all the way through. Then drill a larger clearance hole through the first frame up to the second frame. This way the screws will pull the cabinets tight while installing kitchen cabinets. Do not use dry wall screws. Cabinet screws have a flat head with what appears to be a built in washer. Assemble everything on a flat floor. I found an interesting tool for installing kitchen cabinets for the last cabinet install at at my local professional tool rental place. It was called a face-frame clamp. It is made from aluminum with built in felt pads and a drill guide hole. Shim the back of the cabinets to keep everything square. Use a long level to make sure everything is straight. Then mount the cabinets. Finishing Up Before you install the countertops, make sure everything is straight, square and plumb. Then install the countertops. Finish up with the light fixtures, the sink, trim molding, paint. You get the picture. The very last item is to remove the paper protecting the floor. Enjoy your new kitchen!
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