Kitchen Cabinet Question

[Bob]

I am in the final design phase of my new kitchen cabinet design and am just about ready to start cutting some wood.

In looking at my drawings I noticed that I may have a potential issue that I could really use anyones advice on.

I have a built-in refrigerator cabinet that goes from floor to ceiling (96"). If I built this cabinet, then tried to get it into position, I dont think I would be able to stand it up (since I have 96" ceilings). No way to lean it up.

Also, I have an oven cabinet, full height, that would probably would be able to stand up since it is not full height due to the toe kick but not quite sure (need to do some trig to be certain).

The other thing I was noticing is that since the full height cabinets are referenced from the floor, it seems that I may have an issue aligning the wall cabinets that adjoin the full heights cabs since they are referenced from the ceiling. Ultimately, the top rail on the frames of the wall cabinets and the full height cabinets must align.

So, my ultimate question is how have you dealt with full height cabinets like this. I cant really build them in place because they are being finished off-site.

Thanks for any advise.

[Todd Fatheree]

I've thought about doing this in my house. My current wall cabinets are the

30" variety and I figured on making 42" if I ever get around to making them. I always figured that, if nothing else, to accomodate variation in the ceiling that the wall cabinets would be placed nominally an inch or so below the ceiling with the resulting gap hidden by a molding. As for your refrigerator cabinet, I hope I would have gotten to your question before I built a 96" cabinet and then brought in the house and then started wondering how to stand it up. Assuming the cabinet is 24" deep, the tallest cabinet you could make and still be able to stand up is a bit over 92" (which makes the diagonal 96"). I honestly don't know what the pros do, but I wonder if yours could be made in two pieces and later joined in a clever way as to disguise the joint.

todd

[Unisaw A100]

Leave you toe boards loose.

Do a site survey and determine where the high spots are on the floor and low spots are at the ceiling. Build accordingly.

UA100

[Swingman]

For a myriad of reasons, and unless they are built-in, "full height" cabinets are never full height. Normally you build them so they will tip up, and trim out the top.

They can be taller if you are sliding them onto a standard 4 1/2" ladder frame for a toe kick, but you will still need to trim out the top due to floors and ceilings never being parallel.

Always reference a known point, NEVER a floor or ceiling.

Standard way to do this is to use a level and draw a reference line on the walls around the perimeter of the kitchen, above the 34 1/2" line.

[J. Clarke]

Have you considered building in knocked down form and assembling it on site?

[RemodGuy]

Fridge cabinet isn't a cabinet. One full height panel for each side. Deep upper cabinet between them above the fridge. I do about 15 kitchens a year. Only way I've ever seen it done. Oven cabinet must be intwo pieces. cut it off at top of the toe kick. Set the toe kick in place and lift cabinet onto it after it is upright. Lot's of tricky measuring involved here, but that's the way to do it Good Luck

[Mike]

Refer cabinets are usually built in pieces, two side panels and upper cabinet sandwiched between. If it is a big subzero then there will be no room for an upper cabinet, just a finished panel and crown with the framing behind to keep the refer from tipping over. An oven cabinet or pantry may also be stacked and a finished end applied if necessary. Another thing to check is tight doorways or sharp bends into the kitchen.

In general cabinets must be referenced from a single point. Usually the high point of the floor. Remember to leave a scribe space at the ceiling to allow for irregularities. Crown my work here.

mike

[John Flatley]

We had kitchen cabinets installed Thursday. There were two floor to ceiling cabinets installed, one on each side of the refrigerator. There is a bridge wall cabinet to connect the two 'floor-to-ceiling' cabinets.

A base (toe-kick) was set in place, the one-piece cabinet placed on top, leveled and plumbed and mounted to the wall. The bridge cabinet was installed next, then the second 'floor-to-ceiling' cabinet. Trim molding covers the remaining approximate 3/4-inch between the base+cabinet and the ceiling.

good luck with your installation,

Jack

(deleted remaining text)