Well... I don't use a rotary laser level either. Here's why. Say you are making a run of uppers that is about 15 feet long (just for purposes of il lustration). You shoot your laser line and find the ceiling (or the bottom of a valance) is 1/2" off in the length of your run. If you cabinets fini sh (or finish with crown) to the bottom of a valance or the to the ceiling, you will have a 1/2" gap. What do you do? If you follow the line your ca binets won't finish with the same reveal to the bottom of the ceiling/valan ce. If you are putting crown on the upper stile, and you want it to appear correct, you are screwed.
But think about it. Cabinets are judged in their appearance. That means in build quality, finish and installation. If you take nice cabinets and fol low your level line because you are right and the ceiling is wrong, you hav e screwed the pooch. So I look at it this way; in 15 feet, you are off .03
3 inches a foot, or .1 inches across a 36" cabinet. That's not even 1/8"! W ho would notice? Across 15 feet with a ugly trim or hang job, everyone wou ld.Even if that non level line was out a full > about 3/8" short. Glue the ply with PL400, and screw to any
You got it. And if I find that a valance is used for a chase that holds el ectrical and sometimes plumbing, maybe even A/C that the people don't want to pay to relocate, I might be going back in with 30" uppers. In that case , it is even fast as I cut my plywood into 12" strips that go top and botto m, no full coverage needed. I have found that the strips don't make me hap py on 42" uppers, but are plenty for 30"s.
Yes. Folks are used to looking at that detail, so no complaints yet.
Absolutely no doubt. When you have a solid 2x4, you wrestle to get it perf ectly on the line, and any small imperfection can be reflected in your hang ing. Also, the weight of a larger cabinet (say a 36X42) is heavy enough to cause undo friction when trying to manipulate the cabinets to line them up . The whole bottom of the cabinet is binding on the 2X4, and it makes it h arder than it needs to be.
But the real reason is the shorter ledge pieces make it so that I can get m y long wedges across the back sides of two abutting cabinets at the same ti me. That makes screwing those stiles together a snap as both cabinets are adjusted exactly the same amount.
I shoot a screw into the top of the cabinets and let them rest on the cleat /ledger block that is centered on the carcass. Since the block is only 12" , I can move the cabinets back and forth, a bit out of plumb (out of square cabinet or a warped stile) as needed very easily. I line the top by eye a nd shim as needed back and forth and drive the screws home. I get a hand f ull of shims an my squeeze clamps and go to work.
I clamp the stiles together when I have them perfectly aligned top and bott om in relation to the adjoining cabinet. If the wall is really off, I shim some at this time. After all stiles are clamped, out comes the string lin e. I shim with my extra long wedges to get them straight. At this point, they install is feeling pretty sturdy, and it is just clamps and screws, bu t the good fit makes it feel strong. I then drive my screws in to secure t he lowers, and add as many shims as I need to get the straight. After that , you will see if you need to adjust the tops of your uppers and can loosen screws and add shims (according to your string line you moved to the top) or make sure all screws are driven up if you are happy. I shoot brads thro ugh all the shims/wedges and buzz them off.
The short pieces of 2X4 make manipulations and adjustments a breeze as you can always adjust your long wedges because you can reach them easily, but t he ledge keeps the cabinet in place. I pull off the 2X4 pieces last, and i f I see a gap I don't like behind the cabinet, I put a wedge in it. On most cabinets, I put a long wedge/shim where the ledger was just out of habit, just for good measure.
I think you should be able to do chin ups off your upper cabinets when inst alled properly, and the use if a bunch of long wedges, good screws, and pro per installation techniques make them that way. I have gone into houses wh ere I installed cabinets years ago and the stiles are still tight, (yes, th e stiles have 3" screws in them, too) but the cabinets still feel really so lid and look great after years of being loaded up and used by a family.
1 1/2". I am also known to use the same wedges, maybe longer when installi ng base units over a poor floor. I check the fit down the sides of the car cass before I commit to a permanent install, and do what I need to do to el iminate any rocking, or fill any voids. I set up a string line to make sur e I am getting them straight and level (or out of level a bit as above) and shim if needed to lift or straighten. I glue those shim/wedges down to th e concrete with PL400. I do the same along the fronts under the toe space before I put the kicks on. You can make a really inexpensive cabinet feel rock steady if you check out your contact points on the concrete and fill a s needed. If you don't, they will sag or move later and let the joined sti les create a gap, so I always fill anything that is over 1/16". If it is o nly 1/16", maybe a tiny bit larger, I fill the gap with PL400. When it hit s 1/8", it gets a shim and some PL400.Good luck! Glad to be of some help, Mike. Let me know if I was unclear an ywhere or if there are any other questions.
Robert