how to work with uneven walls?

[Mark Sykes]

Hi - i want to put a built in chest of drawers in a closet. The space is recessed and is currently shelves. It seems the distance between the walls varies from 26" to 26 1/2". What is the best way to build the cabinet to deal with the uneven width's and then how would i trim it to make it look even? Thanks for the help.
242827

[Sam Murdoch]

If you are building a cabinet specifically for this space simply build the basic cabinet to the smallest dimension and minus another 1/2" for ease of placement. Then add a face frame and a top that can each be scribed to fit with perhaps a baseboard too. Keep it all back from the face of the walls x 3/4" or so - again for ease of fitting and to avoid other issues trying to flush with existing walls.

[Gregory King]

Mark, adding to Sam's reply, you can prebuild the face frame first with a few strips to represent the stiles and rails. Overlap and tack them[or hot stick glue] together with a brad nailer so that the sides are snug. Using the mock-up measurements,the finished face frame can be built with pocket screws, then added to the box unit. Greg

[Myk Rian]

Are you saying your house was built without square walls?
Never heard of such a thing. :D

[Bill White]

Build to smallest dimension, install, then add scribe molding to cab edges bnding it to variances in the wall. Do it all the time.
Ain't many straight/plumb wall anywhere I've installed.
Bill

[Victor Robinson]

Tear them down and build them square, of course!

[Mike Cutler]

Tear them down and build them square, of course!

And I thought I was the only one that did this.:eek:

Mark
It's pretty much done exactly as others have indicated. Avoid trim with linear lines though, because it will highlight the deviation.
I wish my walls were as close as a 1/2".:(

[Sam Murdoch]

Mark, adding to Sam's reply, you can prebuild the face frame first with a few strips to represent the stiles and rails. Overlap and tack them[or hot stick glue] together with a brad nailer so that the sides are snug. Using the mock-up measurements,the finished face frame can be built with pocket screws, then added to the box unit. Greg

And to elaborate on Greg's answer:

1) build the cabinet.

2) build a fully assembled face frame with the 2 outside stiles being bigger than the final size by 1/2" to 3/4", or more. I find it easier to trim off more material than trying to get a clean cut on an 1/8" (see # 5).

3) attach the face frame to the cabinet (see 3a)- no glue yet - but with biscuits or dominos or if you have none of those fun tools you can use 1/4" x 3/4" (+/-) splines. Run the spline slots in ply sides of your cabinet and in the top and bottom and if you are using panels between the drawers, also a spline slot in at least one of the middle horizontals before assembly of the cabinet. Run the matching slots into the face frame parts before you assemble that too.

3a) Make certain to do a dry run of attaching the face frame to the cabinet before step 4.

4) Set the cabinet permanently into its opening.

5) Now using Greg's technique establish a finished size of your face frame. Transfer the marks to your face frame - cut to size. Maybe back bevel or rabbet the outside edges of the FF so that you can easily sand or block plane into place. Assume you will need a little fitting.

6) Once the FF fits the opening in the proper relationship to the cabinet - add your biscuits, dominos or splines with glue. Tap into place, clamp if you can or pin in a few places as needed.

7) Now do your top.

Using this method or a version you can have all the parts prefinished before setting into the hole. If this is to be a painted cabinet the final fit can appear perfect with a little less perfection by the judicial use of a acrylic painter's caulk.

Of course since this is a drawer cabinet, pocket screws attached from the inside won't show so that is a good system too. In any case do a dry fit of the face frame to cabinet before you set the cabinet in the opening. Best to catch any surprise before it becomes a production to correct.

[Larry Edgerton]

First thing I always do in a situation like that is cuss out the framers. Doesn't really help, but its a tradition with finish guys. So first, cuss the framers....

Then do what Sam said.

Larry

[phil harold]

First thing I always do in a situation like that is cuss out the framers. Doesn't really help, but its a tradition with finish guys. So first, cuss the framers....

Then do what Sam said.

Larry
I cuss the taper
many times I have framed and trimmed the same house
finding someone to put corner bead on with a level is a chore

[Peter Quinn]

I like to cuss out the framer, the taper, the lumber yard, maybe the GC if he is still active and hasn't yet declared bankruptcy and moved on to his next job under a new name.:rolleyes: Difficult business building houses. Once all of the above have ignored me or repudiated my claims, I'll grab a 10# sledge, use a framing square to identify the offending wall, and move it over a bit with a banger block against the bottom plate, thus offending both the framers and tapers simultaneously. I'm pretty sure I could gain at least a 1/4" on most new construction interior walls. Take pictures off the wall behind it first. DAMHIK. Unless the house is plaster. Than I skip yelling at the GC, because he is probably long dead, I skip the sledge for fear of getting into plaster repair, I skip yelling at the tapers for obvious reasons, and I can't yell at the framers, because if the house is old enough to have plaster and lathe, well, those old timers did things right, things were always done better in the old days....they don't build them like they used to.....:rolleyes:.....choking on sarcasm. I live in a 100+ year old house, I know better.

When all my other avenues fail and the sledge won't do it, I'll leave a 1/2" scribe on both edges, make a template for each side using a level to keep it plumb, scribe the template to the walls, transfer the template to the FF, Back bevel at least one edge so you can shift it into place, leave enough clearance on the sides so you can squeeze it in. ETC, largely as described by others. I've seen carpenters in the field build similar closets in place and easily scribe the stiles to fit, tack them on, take measurements, make rails, pull the stiles, put it all together with pocket screws or biscuits, nail and glue on the FF's in place, etc. It all goes well until its time to start hanging inset doors or drawer fronts and the sides aren't parallel, the slides don't want to work and have to be shimmed, the openings aren't too square so the doors have to be scribed...well it seems to go well for them, but for me the built in place thing has always been problematic. I come from the a cabinet makers mind set, you build a nice square box that barely fits the opening, and you beat it into the hole. Carpenters seem more comfortable building things on site piece by piece, finessing each piece to fit the last. Either approach can yield a good job.

[Sam Murdoch]

Mark, there are things I now take for granted but you might not, so here is a bit more info that might be useful.

Using biscuits or dominos for alignment allows you to build both the cabinet and the face frame fully and as two separate operations but if you choose the spline method you need to think ahead (one of the reasons I favor biscuits for this type of work).

So, a note about splining - first of all I prefer the table saw to run my spline slots. Can be done with a shaper or router table but I go with the TS because its an easy and fast set up. This means that you need to have all your parts ready to slot in one operation otherwise you tie up your TS, or waste too much time trying to repeat the set up. DON'T make yourself nuts trying to put the slots in the center of the ply. The most important thing is that you register off the same relative face for each mating piece. Being visibly off center has the advantage of being an instant tell of the inside or outside face of the panels. For this purpose in particular you are not using the spline for anything other than alignment and to provide a holding for the FF to the cabinet. The spline adds no strength and who cares. In this case I would register off the inside faces of all the parts. The reason for this is that you are making the stiles wider than the finished dimension and so the set up to the outside face would be complicated by that. It will be, of course, easier if you can maintain an equal distance from the inside of all the face frame parts to the inside of the ply face but this is not really a deal breaker if you keep your wits about you and properly mark your respective faces. I like to keep everything flush, but that may not be an good option here.

OK 'nuff said. Pocket screws it will be :D.