Cabinet installation questions

[Jeff Monson]

Looking for some advice on installing some kitchen cabinets I recently finished. The longest run of cabinets is 10' 6", I know this wall is out of square by just over 1". The corner where I plan to start is 95", on the end of the run the wall is 96". I plan on installing uppers 1st, is it best to measure off the floor to reference the cabinet bottom and try to hide the variance with the crown molding? or measure off the ceiling and shim the lowers to match. These uppers are full length that go all the way to the ceiling -2" for the crown. BTW

I've never dealt with that much variance in wall height, need some help.

[Mike Cutler]

Jeff

I'm currently in the same boat, but I'd love to be as close as you are;). My floors also slope away from the walls.
My plan is that everything is referenced from where the face of the lower cabinets end up 36" off the floor and level. The uppers, also full height, will be trimmed and scribed to match the ceiling.

[Jason Roehl]

Is the floor level, or is the ceiling level, or neither?

Personally, I think full-height cabinets are a mistake in this situation. The farther the cabinets are from the ceiling, the less they will show the discrepancy. Having full-height upper cabinets will only highlight the height difference.

If the run is 10'6", you might be able to fudge the cabinets out-of-level by 0.5", then fudge the crown to hide the rest, just make sure you leave room between the top of the doors and the crown, even at the "short" end, or it will be really noticeable.

If the floor is that far out of level, then it's your "lucky" day. Shim the lowers to accommodate the floor (make the lowers level), then use a toe-kick trim to cover the shims. Then install the uppers just low enough off the ceiling to allow for the crown molding.

[James Baker SD]

[QUOTE=Jason Roehl;1843112]Is the floor level, or is the ceiling level, or neither?

If the run is 10'6", you might be able to fudge the cabinets out-of-level by 0.5", then fudge the crown to hide the rest, just make sure you leave room between the top of the doors and the crown, even at the "short" end, or it will be really noticeable.


Ah, that explains why the cabinets in my kitchen (there when I moved in) have 4" rails on the top. My ceiling is so out of level, it is unbelievable.

[John A langley]

Jeff. I've run into this several times. If the ceiling is out of level, more than likely the floor is out of level too. I would find the high point of the floor. I'm going to assume your base cabinets are 34-1/2" not counting tops. The next I'd do is locate your appliances. The appliances need 34-1/2 give or take 1/4". I'd establish their height and work back towards your high part of the floor, scribing some off of the bases. On the uppers, ideal distance between counter top and uppers is 18". You can drop your uppers about one inch and most counter appliances will still work well. Hopefulle you have a tall top rail on your uppers. Mine are usually 3-1/2". Now take a flat one by, put a cove on an edge and hold it 1 to 1-1/4" above the doors. You should put this piece in level. And make it an appropriate height that the crown will cover it. Now apply your crown molding. If your crown is a straight run and you don't have any returns on it, take a power plane or hand plane and back bevel the crown where it hits the wall and you can fudge it down a little on the high side of the ceiling. Also if you have a high top edge that hits the ceiling you can take a little off the crown and get it a little higher on the low side. This is called making chicken salad out of chicken droppings. PM me if you need more explanation.

[Jeff Monson]

Jeff. I've run into this several times. If the ceiling is out of level, more than likely the floor is out of level too. I would find the high point of the floor. I'm going to assume your base cabinets are 34-1/2" not counting tops. The next I'd do is locate your appliances. The appliances need 34-1/2 give or take 1/4". I'd establish their height and work back towards your high part of the floor, scribing some off of the bases. On the uppers, ideal distance between counter top and uppers is 18". You can drop your uppers about one inch and most counter appliances will still work well. Hopefulle you have a tall top rail on your uppers. Mine are usually 3-1/2". Now take a flat one by, put a cove on an edge and hold it 1 to 1-1/4" above the doors. You should put this piece in level. And make it an appropriate height that the crown will cover it. Now apply your crown molding. If your crown is a straight run and you don't have any returns on it, take a power plane or hand plane and back bevel the crown where it hits the wall and you can fudge it down a little on the high side of the ceiling. Also if you have a high top edge that hits the ceiling you can take a little off the crown and get it a little higher on the low side. This is called making chicken salad out of chicken droppings. PM me if you need more explanation.

Very nice John, makes 100% sense. Love the part about the chickens, I seem to make alot of salad. Thanks