Kitchen drawer slide question

[Jay Yoder]

Good morning all. I have a quick drawer slide question. My kitchen currently has the euro-style 3/4 extension white roller slides and we want to swap out to full extension or overtravel. The face frame cabinets are 24" deep from back to front of faceframe and the drawers with overlay fronts are all built at 20" deep. I find it odd that the drawers are so short? Is this common? I was thinking of going to 22" long full extension slides thinking that it would actually allow the drawer to slide out further. Is my thinking right? In theory, the slide part mounted to the drawer would extend past the drawer back by 2". Is there any issues with this? Thanks for your help in advance!

[Chris Kiely]

Undermount drawer glides have pins on the back of them which click into the back of the drawer to prevent the drawer from tipping over when pulled out. In other words, your drawers have to be the correct depth for the glides.

If your drawers are currently undermount, you should not have a problem switching them to FX. If they are side-mount, you can buy side mount FX glides. However you will not be able to interchange between the two different types.

[Michael Zerance]

That is a typical depth for drawers in a 24" cabinet. I'm not sure why, though. I usually size drawers about 2" less than the overall depth of the cabinet.

What is the thickness of your drawer sides? How much space do you have between the drawer side and the face frame? How deep is the drawer bottom recessed from the bottom of the drawer side?

[Jay Yoder]

The existing slides are the white sidemount euro type. I will completely swap them out to full extension. The drawer sides have a 1/2"+ gap from the outside face to the face frame.

[Michael Zerance]

The existing slides are the white sidemount euro type. I will completely swap them out to full extension. The drawer sides have a 1/2"+ gap from the outside face to the face frame.
If it's 1/2" to 9/16" then a 22" side mount would work fine. I used these on a recent project and was pleased: http://www.cabinetparts.com/p/fulterer-softclose-drawer-slides-glides-FULFR5001ECD22

If you get the 22" slides, that should put the back of the drawer about even with the countertop edge. But since the drawer sits a few inches lower than the countertop, you will be able to see the gap behind the drawer, between the cabinet face and the back of the drawer. I think it would look funny. A 20" slide should put the inside of the back of the drawer about even with the face of cabinet and you would not see down into the cabinet. I would do the 20" slides...plus they are a little less expensive.

[Lee Schierer]

I've swapped out the white Euro slides and others for full extension slides. As long as you have half inch clearance on each side go for it. If they used plastic supports brackets to mount the back of the slide you could have to add structure inside the cabinet.

There is no problem using slides that are longer than the drawer to get more than full opening. You can also use shorter slides though I don't know why you would want to do that.

It is typical of manufactured cabinets to leave lots of room behind drawers. I guess it saves time figuring out the optimum drawer size and stocking various length slides. When I build a cbinet, I like to make the best use of the volume and make the drawers as large as they can be to maximize storage.

[BOB OLINGER]

I'm in the process of installing slides on new drawer boxes as we're nearing completion of our kitchen addition. I highly recommend to log onto the Blum website - there's more than adequate info on doing just what you're doing, including drawer box measurements.

[Chris Kiely]

If you're using Blum glides, your drawer sides will have to be ⅝" thick or less.

If you have ½" between the outside of the drawer box and the gable, you won't be able to use undermount hardware. You will still have to use side mount hardware.

I think the math for Blum undermount is something like this: ID of drawer box plus 40mm = ID of opening.

[Rick Potter]

You can get some of the epoxy guides in full extension. They may even fit in the holes you already have. I used some in my kitchen at the previous house. 15 or more years old and going strong.

I know this is weird, but my new kitchen has 24 1/4 deep cabinets with 24" drawer depth on most drawers, and 23 1/4" deep on top drawers to allow for the nail strip. The little lady wants every bit of space she can get.

[Justin Ludwig]

The white epoxy 3/4 slides are the same width as full extension side mount. 1/2 (+1/32). Look at KV G Slide. They're made in Taiwan but very good product and competitive price. There is a 20" overtravel slide or just get a 22"

20" drawers are built to save material. Mine are actually 19 7/8" deep and cut from 5x5 sheets of BB, unless its for Blum undermount then 12, 15, 18, 21". For 24" deep cabs, I build drawers 22 deep.

Check to see if your drawers are mounted with a rear bracket or mounted to the sides of the cabs. If rear bracket, don't forget to order those too.