Sink base
27 in.
A cornucopia
21
Dishwasher
/2-in. scribe piece
(wall not plumb)
of CABInetS
Single-door
base cabinet
Range
36 in.
custom-made cabinets are still the gold stan-
11
dard on most jobs, but better grades of factory-
/2-in. scribe
piece to fil gap
15 in.
made cabinets are increasingly well made and
cost competitive. That is, you can order fine cab-
inets by mail and expect to receive tight joinery,
Drawer cabinet
matched wood grain, and excellent finishes.
cabinet parts from different sources are uni-
Once you choose a layout that works well, use base cabinets to tie
appliances and work areas together. On your floor plan, note room
formly sized and virtually interchangeable, so
irregularities that could affect layout and instal ation. Using light pencil
you can mix and match thousands of cabinet
lines, mark cabinet and appliance locations onto the walls.
cases, doors, drawers, and hardware types.
360 chapter 13
by side because one likes it hot, the other cold. In Speaking of inside corners, allow enough room
P R O T I P
general, place the refrigerator toward the end of
for cabinet doors to open freely.
a cabinet run, so its big doors can swing free.
Cabinet dimensions. Basically, there are three
When cabinets arrive, inspect
When the appliances are comfortably situated,
types of stock cabinets: base cabinets, wall cabi-
the packaging for signs of abuse
fill in the spaces between with cabinets.
nets, and specialty cabinets.
or breakage—crushed corners or
Try not to fit cabinets too tightly to room
Base cabinets are typically 24 in. deep
torn cardboard—before unwrap-
dimensions. If you’re fitting cabinets into an
and 341⁄
ping them. Make sure the cabi-
2 in. tall so that when a countertop is
older house, it’s safer to undersize cabinet runs
added, the total height will be 36 in. Base
nets and hardware are the styles
slightly—allow 11⁄2 in. of free space at the end of
cabinet widths increase in 3-in. increments, as
you ordered, and cross-check
each bank of cabinets—so you have room to fine-
your order against the shipping
do wall cabinet widths. Single-door base cabinets
tune the installation. You can cover gaps at walls
invoice to be sure all parts are
range from 12 in. to 24 in. wide; double-door
or inside corners with scribed trim pieces.
there. report damaged or miss-
base cabinets run 27 in. to 48 in. wide. Drawer
ing parts immediately.
cabinet basics
cabinets today are basically boxes of ply-
wood, particleboard, or medium-density
fiberboard (MdF) panels that are glued and
screwed together. side panels, bottoms, and
partitions are typically 5⁄8 in. thick; back pan-
els are usually 1⁄4 in. thick. on custom and
semicustom cabinets, you can request thicker
stock, but it will cost more.
cabinet faces are either frameless (the
edges of the panels are the frame, although
they may be veneered or edgebanded) or face
frame (a four-sided wood frame covers the
edges of each box).
Frameless cabinets (also called european
This frameless base cabinet will have a countertop or its substrate attached to the
two plywood webs (stringers) running across its top. The two mounting rails on the
style) have fewer elements and a simpler
back of the cabinet will be screwed to studs, securing the unit.
design, so they are easier to manufacture.
(the cabinets shown in the installation pho-
tos are frameless.) doors and drawers typically kickspaces
scribe pieces
lie flush on the case and overlay the panel
the indentation at the bottom of a base cabi-
cabinet assemblies also include small but
edges. usually, there’s 1⁄8 in. between the
net that provides room for your toes, so you
important filler strips called scribe pieces or
door and the drawer edges.
can belly up to the cabinet while prepping
scribe panels. these typically have a rabbeted
Face-frame cabinets offer more visual vari-
food or doing dishes, is called the kickspace.
back so they can easily be ripped down to fill
ety. you can expose more or less of the frame,
Without a kickspace, you’d need to lean for-
gaps between cabinets or between a cabinet
vary the gaps between drawers and doors, use ward to work at the counter—a sure recipe
and a wall. on a frameless cabinet, a separate
different hinge types, and so on. in general,
for backaches. custom-made cabinets sit on a scribe piece may be attached to a side panel,
designers who want a more ornamental, less
separate rough toekick (also called a plinth or
near its face, whereas on face-frame cabinets,
severe, more traditional look often specify
subbase), which is often assembled on site,
the frame stile (vertical piece) has a rabbeted
face-frame cabinets.
whereas most (but not all) factory-made base
back edge (for scribing). in addition, many
in addition to the elements above, cabi-
cabinets arrive with toekicks built in. toekicks cabinet side panels extend slightly beyond the
net cases have mounting rails (also suspen-
are covered by a kickface, or finish toekick, a
back panels so those side panels can be scribed
sion rails) that you screw through to secure
1⁄8-in. plywood strip with the same finish as
to fit snugly to the wall, as shown in the left
the cabinets to studs. base cabinets also
the cabinets or a vinyl strip; the kickface is
photo on p. 367. custom cabinetmakers often
have stringers—plywood webs across the
better installed after the finish floor.
create a separate scribe panel to dress up the
top—to make boxes more rigid, keep parti-
end cabinet in a run and cover any gaps
tions and sides in place, and provide some-
along the wall.
thing solid to screw the countertop to.
kitchens and baths
361
cabinets vary from 15 in. to 24 in. wide. Tray
units are generally 9 in. to 12 in. wide.
Wall cabinets are 12 in. to 15 in. deep,
with 12 in. being the most common depth.
They vary from 12 in. to 33 in. high. Wall
P R O T I P
cabinet widths generally correspond to base
cabinet widths so cabinet joints line up.
to indicate the cabinet
heights on the walls, use light
Specialty cabinets include tray cabinets,
pencil lines; don’t use cha
lklines
base corner units, corner units with rotating
because they are fuzzy and inex-
shelves, tall refrigerator or utility cabinets,
act, and their vivid color may
and wall-oven cabinets. Specialty accessories
bleed through the finish coats
include spice racks, sliding cutting boards,
of paint.
and tilt-out bins. Specialty cabinet dimensions
vary, not always in predictable increments.
Base sink cabinets range from 36 in. wide (no
drawers on either side) to 84 in., typically in
6-in. increments.
ordering cabinets
After numerous refinements, your kitchen layout
When installing cabinets, start from a high point in the
floor—in this case, at the upper right corner of the photo.
should be tight enough to take it to a home cen-
As you work out from the high point, add shims as
ter and get an estimate on the cabinets. Or you
necessary to level the toekick (or the base of the cabinet)
can go online, where numerous websites will
in two directions.
walk you through measuring and ordering. If
you’ve never ordered cabinets before, it’s smart to
hire a finish carpenter to help figure out exactly
what you need.
Stone countertop
Before ordering cabinets, clean up floor plans
zzzzzz cabinet-Mounting and edge details
Mounting
with laminated edge
and elevations, and survey the kitchen one last
rails
time, noting window, door, and appliance loca-
Setting material
tions, electrical outlets, switches, and lights, and
11/2 in.
3
plumbing stub-outs (protruding pipe ends before
/4-in. plywood
Wall-cabinet
substrate
hookup)—in short, every physical aspect of the
layout line
space. Carefully remeasure the room and note
potential problems such as sloping floors, walls
Stringer
that are wavy or out of plumb, and corners that
aren’t square or that have excessive joint com-
pound that could interfere with installation. Most
Temporary
of these irregularities can be corrected by shim-
support strip
ming cabinets to level and scribing end panels to
Cabinet
cover irregular surfaces, but you need to know
case
about them beforehand.
Base-cabinet
layout line
Instal ing Cabinets
341/2 in.
The key to a successful cabinet installation is
leveling the base and wall cabinets and solidly
Mounting
securing them to wall studs and to the floor. As
rails
noted earlier, carefully measure and assess the
kitchen walls, floor, and corners before you order
the cabinets—and review those measurements
Rough toekick
(aka plinth and subbase)
and conditions again after the cabinets arrive.
The photo sequence that follows shows a custom
Better-grade cabinets have mounting rails on the outside of back panels
cabinet installation, but most of its advice is
so the rails are not visible inside the cabinet case. The edge detail shown
relevant to the IKEA cabinet installation on
in the enlargment is typical. The countertop substrate—here, 3/4-in.
pp. 368–371.
plywood—screws to stringers at the top of the cabinet case. Screw the
cabinet bottom to the rough toekick.
362 chapter 13
laying out cabinets
nails into wall areas that will be covered by cabi-
nets. Whatever works! Use a spirit level to plumb
Using a long level atop a straightedge, locate the
light pencil lines that indicate the stud centers.
high point of the floor. It’s easier to set a base
It’s desirable to screw into as many studs as you
cabinet (or rough toekick) at the floor’s high
can to secure wall cabinets, but screwing into
point and shim up the other cabinets to that level only one stud is acceptable for base cabinets and
than it is to cut down cabinet bases and toekicks. for narrow wall cabinets that don’t reach two studs.
From the floor’s high point, measure up the
height of a base cabinet (usually 341⁄2 in. high)
installing base cabinets
and mark the wall. Use a laser level to transfer
Cabinet installers disagree about whether it’s eas-
the base cabinet mark to other walls, creating a
ier to install base or wall cabinets first. If you
level line around the room, which I’ll call the base hang the wall units first, you won’t need to lean
cabinet layout line.
over the base cabinets as you work. If you install
Marking off elements. Along the base cabinet
the bases first, you can brace the bottom of the
layout line, mark off fixed elements, such as the
wall cabinets off the bases and thereby install the
stove, range hood, and refrigerator. Often, a sink
uppers single-handedly. There isn’t one right
cabinet will center under a window. If upper cab-
answer, but the photos on p. 375 make a case for
inets are to frame a window evenly on both sides, hanging the wall cabinets after installing stone
mark the edges of those cabinets. Once the large
countertops. Above all, be patient. Setting cabi-
elements are marked onto the walls, mark off the nets means endlessly checking and rechecking
widths of the individual cabinets. For frameless
for level, fussing with shims, and so on. So don’t
Leveling cabinet bases and toekicks
cabinets, measure from the outside of the side
takes shims and several spirit levels,
begrudge the time it takes. You can’t hurry love
panels. The frames of face-frame cabinets extend
as well as patience. After leveling
or cabinets.
slightly beyond the side panels, creating slight
each unit in two directions, run a
Setting rough toekicks. If your cabinets have
third level diagonally to the adjacent
gaps between the boxes. Much of the time, the
separate toekicks, install them first, starting at
toekick to make sure all are at the
sides of wall and base cabinet units will line up
same height.
the highest point on the floor—as you did during
vertically because they are the same width.
layout. Make the toekicks as long as possible to
Marking wall cabinets. Use the base cabinet
minimize joints because joints tend to sag and
P R O T I P
layout line to establish the bottoms of wall cabi-
separate under load. Level the toekicks side to
nets, too. Because wall cabinets are normally
side, front to back, and from section to section.
to make
placed 18 in. above the finish countertop, mea-
rough toekicks, rip
Shimming is an inexact science: As a rule of
down 3⁄
sure 191
⁄
4-in. plywood, which is
2 in. up from the base cabinet layout line
thumb, shim under the corners and in the middle
more durable and water-resistant
to position the bottoms of the wall cabinets;
of a span—roughly every 18 in. to 24 in. A 24-in.-
than particleboard should there
shoot a laser level through that mark and lightly
deep base cabinet is typically supported by a
be a leak. don’t use 2x4s because
pencil a second level line around the room, which 20-in.-deep toekick.
they are rarely straight enough to
is the wall cabinet layout line. Over refrigerators
If floors are seriously out of level—say, 1 in. in
use as a subbase for cabinets.
and stoves, the bottoms of the wall cabinets will
8 ft.—construct several ell supports such as the
besides, rough toekicks must be
be higher. If you also are installing full-height
one shown in the right photo on p. 364. Screw
4 in. high, and a modern 2x4
pantry or broom cabinets, make sure their tops
one leg of each ell to the subfloor, level the top of
placed on edge would be just
align with the tops of the wall cabinets; if they
31⁄
the toekick, and then screw the side of the toe-
2 in. high.
don’t, raise or lower the wall cabinets until the
kick to the upright leg of each ell. Ells aren’t hard
tops line up. Next, mark off the width of the wall
cabinets along the wall cabinet layout line.
Indicating scribe locations. Layout marks
should also include scribe locations, where you
InStALL the toekick fIrSt
must install a narrow scribe piece (filler strip) to
cover a gap between cabinets and an appliance or
if finish floors aren’t yet installed and you don’t want the cabinets dinged up by the
a space between an end cabinet and an irregular
flooring installers, then install only the toekick initially, shimming it level and screw-
wall. Where cabinets meet at inside corners, 11⁄2-in.-
ing it to the subfloor. This is especially recommended if you’ll be laying tile floors
or 2-in.-wide scribes are often needed to offset
because mortar and grout are messy. Then flooring installers can run the flooring snug
drawers or doors slightly, so they have room to
to the toekick, covering the shims. When the flooring is complete, simply place the
pull past the cabinet knobs or appliance handles
base cabinets atop the level toekick and screw them down. When constructing the
sticking out from the adjacent bank of cabinets.
toekick, increase its height by the thickness of the finish floor so the top of the toe-
Renovation 4th Edition Page 84