Kitchen renovation

[Frank Martin]

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of refacing my kitchen and also would like to replace the shelves in the pantry with slide out drawers. The cabinet is face frame and I will need to build out from the inside the box (about 1 inch on each side) so that the drawer slides do not hit the face frame member. The current cabinet box is made of melamine covered particle board and the current shelves are dadoed into the box. I was planning to cut out the current shelves, build out where I will install drawer slides using hardwood strips, however not sure how I should attach these hardwood filler pieces on which I will be installing the drawer slides. Given the cabinet box is particleboard, is there a preferred screw type for this application, realizing ultimately these hardwood strips will carry the weight of the drawer and its contents? Alternatively, can you think of a different/better way to accomplish this task?

Thanks and happy holidays!

[Jim Koepke]

I would consider putting a support frame inside the particleboard. Some one by pine or other wood.

jim

[Mark Roderick]

Yes, there are special screws you can use for the particle board.

But these drawers are not going to carry a huge amount of weight, and the weight they do carry will be perpendicular to the sides. You might not even need the special screws.

[Gary Blum]

If you like the current spacing of the shelves and don't care about adjustability, you could buy some angle brackets made for attaching slides to the floor of cabinets. I believe both Blum and Grass make these. Baer Supply sells the Grass. It is item #GF6196W. I think you can order online.

If you want adjustable shelves, I would make 4 standards of 4/4 wood. I like to use poplar or soft maple so the screws can be moved to different holes using just a hand screwdriver. Just mark the standards at whatever spacing you want, and drill with a 5mm drill. Then you can use Euro screws to fasten the slides to the standards. Fasten the slides to the standards first, then set them in the cabinet and screw them in place. It helps to have the holes for fastening already drilled and countersunk if necessaary. Then just make your drawers 1" less in width.

Kind Regards,
Gary Blum