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Trim Specialties Inc |
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Cabinet Installation page 3 |
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European cabinets will install in a slightly different manor. As they do not have a toe kick area already attached this must be added on in one of two ways. Some cabinet companies will send a short plywood box that is mounted to the floor and the cabinet is placed on top of it. It will be long enough to go under several cabinets and should be marked for a certain location. This box is installed to the floor by first shimming where needed to make it level and then screwing it to the wall and floor. This can take a little time but once it is done you have a nice level platform to set the cabinets on. The other way to add the toe kick on these cabinets is with a set of plastic legs that attach to the bottom of the cabinet. These cabinets will have a flange installed on all four corners of the bottom that the legs snap into. The legs have a threaded area in the middle and you can adjust the height of the cabinet by screwing them in or out. I will snap the legs in and adjust them so they are all the same height and will give me the approximate height I need for the cabinets. You have to be careful with these cabinets as the legs will want come loose if you try to roll it over onto its bottom. It is better to have some help picking it up and setting it on its bottom.
Once the toe kick is in place the cabinets will install in the same basic way as the face frame cabinets. The cabinet doors on these cabinets are usually a quick release style that snaps off and leaves the mounting plate attached to the cabinet. The boxes should be made of ¾-inch material to give the box more rigidity and with the door removed I will attach the cabinets together by locating a 1-¼ -inch flat head screw in the small space between the hinge mounting plate and the front edge of the box. That way when the door is back in place the main body of the hinge will hide the screw head when the door is open. I, once again, install three screws along the front between the cabinets, one behind each of the hinges, and one near the top in the drawer space. If it is a cabinet with one large door and no drawer space at the top I will locate the screws behind the upper and lower hinges and the last one centered. Sometimes the cabinet manufacturer will include small adhesive tabs colored to match the inside of the cabinet to cover the screw heads. If these covers are provided I will wait until all the cabinets are installed before using them so I know the cabinets are in their final location. I will add screws to the insides at the top and bottom along the back to keep the cabinets together all along the sides.
If the cabinets are sitting on the pre-leveled base they should go together fairly well. If they have the adjustable legs they will have to be leveled and evened up with each other as I go. This is made easier with the adjustable legs but it is sometimes quite a reach to get to those rear ones. Some manufacturers will drill a hole through the bottom of the cabinet in line with the center of each leg then I can insert a screwdriver in through the hole and adjust the leg from inside the cabinet. After all the base cabinets are installed I will remove the shims one at a time after drawing a reference line on the shim along the toe kick so it goes back at the same position. Then I put some yellow glue on the top and bottom of the shim just inside the reference line. I then slide it back to its original position and trim the excess shim off. The glue will keep the shim in place. Regardless of whether I am using face frame or European cabinets I won’t screw any of the base cabinets to the wall until I have attached all the cabinets along one wall together first. Then I can put a straight edge horizontally along the face of the cabinets to see if they are straight. The European boxes will force them to be straight but the face frame boxes can go in or out as they follow the wall. I will then locate all the wall studs and place a shim any place there is a gap between the wall and the cabinet. I will slide these shims in or out until the front of the cabinets are straight. Once everything is shimmed level and straight I will put a 3-inch screw through the back of the cabinet and the shim into each wall stud.
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