I've got a rental property that's about 100 years old and in need of a new kitchen. I'm thinking about building base and wall cabinets out of poplar and painting them. I remember seeing an episode of 'This Old House' years ago where Norm built all the cabinets (3 or 4 in a row) as one, long unit. If I remember correctly, it looked pretty easy as compared to building individual units.
Does anyone know a website where I might see an example of this build process?
Thanks!
That method was used pretty widely till at least the late
70's. It nothing new, just longer pieces and bigger boxes.I would stay with "stndard" sizes for a lot of different reasons, but doors would be the # 1 reason.
Smaller units(24,30,36,42) are just easier to deal with.
Fine Woodworker has done several "special editions" on kitches... I seen the method you are referring to use in more than one article.
wklkj wrote:
..... Norm built all the cabinets (3 or 4 in a
Thats' two questions:
Built in place? or Built as single unit?
I did my kitchen cabs as compound modules that is, one big 8' box. 8' is the practical limit because of the availability of plywood. It's really not any different than smaller modules. It's just a bigger box with interior partitions. The module is built square and then shimmed plumb upon installation.
If you meant build in place, don't do it. It's a nightmare to keep things square.
-Steve
Still a very common method of building kitchen cabinets, particularly in new construction, and particularly in corners/angles where two runs of shop built cabinets meet.
Pro's include that it is indeed much easier to do for the most part, and unleveled and non-square floors/walls can be taken into account at the source.
Con's include the fact that you must wait until the space is available to build, and generally speaking a well constructed, shop built cabinet will make for a stronger installation, and one that can be more easily dismantled should the need arise.
Industry standard's that you need to take into account to maintain the re-sale value of a home and to insure compatibility with appliances, like dishwashers:
For an unfinished (no substrate/counter top) Base cabinet: 34 1/2" high x
24" deep x "W" wide, where W is variable to fill space/needs as below.For the factory made type, Base cabinet widths, "W" above, generally start at 12" and advance in 3" increments ... maximum width (usually sink base cabinets) vary with manufacturer.
Wall cabinets are "standard" at 12" deep, widths varying according door sizes. "Standard" height is 30" in a house with 8' ceilings, but most are taller these days.
Non standard wall cabinet depth and heights are much more common than in base cabinets.
You generally want +/- 18" between the countertop and the bottom of the wall cabinet, and the counter tops (with substrate) are generally 1 1/2" thick, so factor that in when designing.
Just about any book on "built-in" cabinets will have a section on built-in kitchens with the above information generally provided.
DAGS
I build the boxes out of plywood and install them. Then I add popular face frames and plywood doors. Quick and easy.
On Apr 16, 3:59 pm, "Swingman" wrote: [politely snipped very informative post for brevity]
Do you run your gabels of the base cabinets to the floor, with a cut- out for the kick? Or do you install and level the kick first before putting on your base cabinets? Orrrrr, do you use feet? I have been looking at those adjustable ones, but the kick-plate clips look like a PITA.
By the way, I find I get better yields from raw stock when building smaller cabinets, beside the obvious plus side of being able to carry them.
...yup... looking to build a few again. Wood is in my blood.
Yes, the cabinets are complete units from top to bottom. The kicks indentations are cut out from the cabinet sides and then closed in with a vertical kick plate in most places. Some times hidden drawers with a kick plate appearance are installed under the base cabinet floor.
See above answer.
See top answer. No feet.
Yeah, the huge cabinets will tend to leave you with some left over odd sized pieces, although I did 2 kitchens back in the 90's that had 12' single run cabinets that were not wasteful at all.
I used to do it that way. Then I changed my method..and a lot of the local guys are now doing it this way...again. I took a kitchen out one time, 1976, and took a really close look on (whoever) did that...1976... holy cow, has it been 30 years???????
The separate kick approach has too many advantages for me to NOT do it that way. The worst the floors and walls are, the better this method shines. I'm sure you have seen this done before. Besides, it is a great way to get rid of scrap. (Big deal to me, as I pay $225 per 6-yard dumpster on average every 6-8 weeks... good thing that property is still zoned as farm.)
If any of you are interested, I will draw up a sequence of 3D drawings, if need be twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one is.
If I'm preaching to the converted, by all means tell me to STFU as I am not looking for something to do. But if this will help any of you, I will put in the time.
Also, it makes for a great sales-pitch.
r
See Leon's post ... we've teamed up on the last two.
If the side of a cabinet run is exposed, how do you treat the interface between the separate kick and the bottoms?
-Steve
Thats' two questions:
Built in place? or Built as single unit?
I did my kitchen cabs as compound modules that is, one big 8' box. 8' is the practical limit because of the availability of plywood. It's really not any different than smaller modules. It's just a bigger box with interior partitions. The module is built square and then shimmed plumb upon installation.
If you meant build in place, don't do it. It's a nightmare to keep things square.
-Steve
I did a complete kitchen for SWMBO, did one section built in place, the other section was individual cabinets. Not a great deal of differance, keeping everything square, on the first set, was not a nightmare, but you had to keep it in your mind always. The big thing was moving parts from kitchen to shop, and back again. IF you can set up shop in the kitchen, you might think about building in place. If not go with individual units.
Thank you, Arlo.
Good question. I hope these piccies explain it better:
Thay do.
Thanks,
Steve
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