How to Install Kitchen Cabinets

The kitchen is one area of the home where we can install many cabinets. This can be on the wall or below the kitchen counter or even on the island counter. These cabinets serve as great storage spaces for your food, utensils and other cookware.

Cabinets need to be installed the right way in order to enhance the beauty of the entire kitchen area. Installation can be done by homeowners themselves who are fond of do-it-yourself projects. But for those not confident of their skills, the task can be left to professionals to ensure that the cabinets are installed straight and flush with each other.

If you’re replacing an old cabinet, you have to remove carefully the existing one to avoid damage. Take off the doors first followed by the drawers and other removable shelves.

For new base and wall cabinets, you need to get their measurements first and then using a pencil and level, draw lines to mark the dimensions on the area where you will install the cabinet. This way, you will have a guide especially when leveling the cabinet. For the base cabinets, the ideal height from the floor’s high point should be 34 ½ inches. From the top of the base cabinets, measure another 19 ½ inches going up and mark a straight line across the wall. This should be the bottom part of the wall cabinets.

Next, find the wall studs using a stud finer and mark their locations with a pencil. Mark the area approximately 6 inches below the pencil mark of the wall cabinets’ bottom part. Then draw a straight line to show the center of the studs. From there, you can then attach a temporary support rail measuring 1x3 to the wall using screws.

At this point, you can start installing the kitchen cabinets on the wall one at a time. You can secure them to the wall by drilling pilot holes through the back part of the cabinet or through the support rail into the wall studs. Long screws that can penetrate deeply the studs should be used. As you do this, check always that the cabinet is level and plumb.

Proceed with the adjacent cabinet and fasten them using a clamp. Make sure to flush the faces of the cabinet with each other and check that the height is level. There should be no ridges.

Install the base cabinets next starting with the end or corner cabinet. Use shims to ensure that they’re all level and installed at the floor’s high point. Check the level on both sides as well as the front and back before screwing the cabinets to the wall studs. You can add a filler strip if necessary for clearance to the cabinet doors and drawers.

When joining cabinets together, use a clamp and as you go, always check that the upper part of the base cabinets are aligned with those of the wall cabinets. Drill through the back of the cabinet and shims using screws to keep it in place. Finally, add whatever finishing touches you desire. And that’s it, you can make full use of your kitchen cabinets.