Installing Kitchen Cabinets Question

[cjkoch]

Hello,

I'm a relatively competent DIY'er, but I've never tackled a kitchen until now. Measured and order the cabinets & counters, and they've all come in. As soon as I'm done with the 1100 sq ft of hardwood, I'm tackling the kitchen... :)

I need to demo and move a wall about 20" for the new cabinets to fit - the fact that it's a plumbing wall wasn't apparent until after we'd bought the cabinets, but that's another story... :) On the newly moved wall, is there any reason that I have to hang drywall? I was thinking about sheathing with 3/4" plywood, mostly to make finding studs a non-issue when I install the upper cabinets - and I hate hanging drywall... Fire protection?

Also, the cabinets we bought (Aristokraft, upper cabinets are 36" ) have no hang rails inside or outside. The backs are 3/8 or 1/2 particle board, but don't inspire confidence that they'll hold the cabinet weight. I was thinking about using 2.5" cabinet screws w/ washers, but that still doesn't give me a warm'n'fuzzy. Install a 1x4 hang rail inside the cabinets?

Thanks in advance!

-C

[tim1198]

You don't have to hang sheetrock if you don't want to. It's probably cheaper to hang sheetrock than plywood, but that's personal preference.

To hang your upper cabinets, you can rip a 1x3 at an angle (30 deg or

45 deg) for your hanging bar. Attach half of it to the wall and the other half to the back of your cabinet. when you put your cabinets on top of the hanging bar, it will lock it self in because you ripped it at an angle. That keeps the cabinet from sliding down the wall. Then you can attach the cab to the wall through the back nad into the studs. If you can't visualize this, pick up any kitchen cabinet building book and they'll have something drawn out for you.

Good Luck.

[e-mail] wrote:

[Mark]

I wouldn't count on a screw in 3/4" plywood to hold secure enough to hold a loaded cabinet. If you have the wall open. put some nailers between the studs if you aren't comfortable with being able to hit the studs.

I've used the 1x3 hanging strip as the other poster suggests, but that was more because I was hanging the cabinets with out an extra set of hands - once the peice was on the wall and on the cabinet it was simple to drop the cabinet over the 'bevel' and it stayed in place. I was only hanging 2 cabinets so it worked, but I think on a longer string it might be difficult to keep everything as straight and plum as you would want. With the standard hanging method you'd use shims to keep things lined up and straight.

As for the lack of hanging rails - the cabinets should have some hanging instructions, or the manufacturer web site might have some tips for hanging. Follow them. The manufacture should know what is best for their products.

[koupimmac]

Hello, please give a click to my kitchen presented at

go to Fotogalerie - hlasov=E1n=ED and there it is the one with a pink girl standing at the bottom - rigt. Thanks. It is just a game. John.