Installing Your New Kitchen.

What you need to know Part 2.

Installing:

Luckily in your case all is well and you’re ready to get started.  The first critical step is to determine the high point of the room and then the high point along any connected run of cabinetry. If you are installing cabinets in different areas of the kitchen then it would be important to find the highest point in the kitchen, but if you are installing just a galley, “L” or “U” configuration, then just finding the high point of the cabinet run is all you’d need to do.The high point refers to the shortest distanced measured from the floor to the ceiling. This is important because you will be installing your cabinet’s level and you’d want to work so you would shim the bases and not scribe them. One is way more work than the other. I’d also like to note that there are some circles of installers that believe that starting from the low point and scribing all their base cabinets is the way to do it. Needless to say I don’t subscribe to that method.

There are a few ways to do this and it depends on what tools you have made available for your install. You could easily do it with a well tuned 4’ spirit level by picking an arbitrary point in a corner about 48” from the floor and then marking a level line around the room. You could also use what is referred to as a water level. This is a tube filled with water and works on the principle that water seeks it own level. This is a step up from the spirit level though it does require the correct setup to work properly.  The easiest way would be to use a laser level and a Self Leveling Laser at that.  Simply by setting the laser up and turning it on will produce a level pulsating line across the surface of any wall it comes in contact with. All you need do is measure the distances from the laser line to the floor to determine your high point.

At that point with your laser still running, measure up from the floor 34-1/2” and make a mark. Now at this point you have two options; the first is to use the mark you just made to relocate the laser line to by adjusting the laser itself or the second which is to measure the distance from the mark to the laser line and use it as an offset to “snap” a line around the room. This refers to using a chalk box or line which contains a colored chalk and a string line that produces a “line” when extended, held taut and snapped.

The option you use depends on what type of laser you have. Since the laser I have sits on a tripod with no vertical adjustment, I’ve always used the offset method. An additional reason to use the offset method and snap a line is so if you accidental disturb the laser you don’t have to go through resetting it.  The line gives you a permanent mark.  This line will now define where to align the top of the base cabinets. I like to snap this line with blue chalk. From this line make another offset line measuring up 19-1/2”, this will become the location for the bottom of the upper wall cabinets. The standard dimension for the bottom of upper wall cabinets is 54”. The standard dimension from the countertop to the bottom of the upper cabinets is 18”. Since most countertop products are between 1-1/4” and 1-1/2”, once your countertops are installed you would have ~18”.  I like to snap this line in red. Using two colors will help you quickly identify which line is what, but you can just as well use one color.  Once you have all the horizontal lines laid out you will need to layout some vertical ones. This refers to location the studs in the wall. It’s a good that just has to be done. You can use a stud finder or a simple 10 penny nail to locate them.

This is where the fun starts. There are two schools of thought on how to install cabinets. One states that you install the uppers first and then the bases, the other states you install the bases first and then the uppers. The rationale for bases first is that they can aid you in installing the uppers. . . I have found over the years that installing bases first just seemed to get in the way when I was installing uppers so I’m of the camp that installs uppers first and that’s the way the rest of this article will go.

What I do now is attach a 4” piece of ¾” plywood to the wall with its top edge aligned to the red chalk line. I screw it into the wall studs along the wall at least at 32” intervals. What this does is provide support for the upper wall cabinets when you place them until you are able to secure them. Once you have the plywood attached you can begin to install the upper cabinets starting with the corner. The photo above shows both the plywood support and the first angle wall upper cabinet in place. What approach you take in the corner depends on how “square” your wall corner is. Square refers to how close to 90° the corner is. If its 90° it referred to as being square. You can simply check this with a framing square.  In the case above the wall was pretty square so I opted to attach the corner cabinet by itself. If the corner is not square or badly out of square I would have attached a cabinet to each side of the corner and then install them as a unit as the photo to the right shows. This would help “fair” out the wall.

When attaching your cabinets to the wall you should avoid using typical drywall screws (the black ones). They are not design to support loaded cabinets hanging from the walls. Many cabinet manufacturers link Kraftmaid ™and American Woodmark ™supply screws with their cabinetry. They are sometimes stapled to the inside of the cabinets so check for them. It’s always the best option to use the manufacturer’s screws if they are supplied. Above are some typical screws you can use. The first is a washer head screw, the center is a stainless steel screw and the last is an auger tip screw. The first and last screws are supplied by the manufacture. The S.S. screw is my screw of choice when screws are not supplied. The three rings are called “finish washers” and they go on the screw before you drive it. This not only gives the screw a “finished look” but helps spread the load on the screw head by increasing its area.

Where you actually screw your cabinets will depend on a few factors. First being if they are face framed or if they are euro style. Second is whether or not they have a hanging rail. A hanging rail is typically a 2” x ¾ solid or plywood strip that’s installed at the top inside and sometimes at the top and bottom inside of the wall cabinets. Cabinets with hanging rails should be installed using them. Face frame cabinets have a recessed area above and below the cabinet; you should try and screw them there.

Euro style cabinets have no recess so you have no choice be to screw them on the inside of the box and through their hanging rail if they have one. I like to screw them about 2” from both the top and bottom of the case. I use either the washer head screws of the SS with a finish washer.  

When it comes to adjoining cabinets together, it will depend on whether they are face frame or Euro style. Joining  either type together requires good clamps and Pony™ makes a good clamp for clamping face frames together, there shown in the picture to the rightt, they have the orange handles. They have come down in price lately as well. You can also use just about any clamp as long as you protect the frames edges.

Screwing into faces frames made form oak, maple or hickory can be a challenge even for a seasoned pro, they sometimes require screws about 3” long. These woods are quite hard and will cause the heads of just about any screws used to sheer right off leaving a mess behind to deal with if not done properly.   Pre-drilling with the correct sized counter bore and sink is imperative. Using wax to aid the screw is also a must do. I like to use 2-1/2” #8 S.S. square drive auger tipped screws for this.

Clamping and screwing Euro style cabinets takes a slightly different tact. The clamps by Pony™ won’t work on “frame less” cabinets because of their design so you’d need a more “standard type” clamp. Bessey™ makes an excellent clamp called “K-Body” and are well worth their investment not only for kitchens but anything you need to clamp. The Bessey™ K-body is shown in the picture to the right. Once again you can use other type clamps, but just be sure to protect the carcasses when using them.
Screwing is also a bit different in the sense that you screw the carcasses together through their sides. This means you will need a screw that is about 1-1/4” long as not to come through the other side of the cabinet.  This also assumes you have boxes that are made from ¾” material. If your boxes are made from a thinner material you will need a shorter screw. Another method for joining these type cabinets is to use what are called “sex screws or bolts” they have male and female ends, hence the name. You drill a hole through both cabinets and then insert the bolt and tighten it. The only problem I’ve found with them is that their hard to find in a style and length that works. So I just stick with the screws and the one’s I like are either #6, #8 or #9 yellow colored star drive in the appropriate length.

I like to screw the boxes together behind the hinge and in-between the shelve pin holes, this hides them fairly well. Don’t make the mistake of screw through the pin hole as this will not provide a good hold. If you were to use sex bolts thought, you could use them through the shelve pin hole. The picture to the right shows the hinge plate dropped to reveal the screw behind it.

Previous Atricle: Ordering Your Kitchen. . .