Wich Drawer Slides?

[Charles McKinley]

Hi All,

I want to convert the pantry from shelves to drawers. The drawer would be 24" deep and 21" wide. It would not have to be full extension. Would you recommend bottom or side mount slides? If I use side mount I will have to put in a space as the sides of the pantry are thin particle board. I intend to lease the existing shelves in place regardless of the type used.

Thanks All,

[glenn bradley]

I'll assume the 24" deep is front to back and we're talking about a pullout about 3 - 4" top to bottom like you would put pantry items into. I've done a few of these and always use side mounted glides. When considering full extension or not you need to visualize what will go into the pullout. The folks that requested 3/4 glides saw the full extensions I did for someone else recently and had me retro-fit theirs. Just a thought.

P.s. Bottom / center mounts will not support a lot of uneven weight very gracefully. I have used them under sinks where the total load is some dish towels and the dish washing products, only. Oh, other thoughts; 1/2 BB ply for the carcase, 1/4" melamine covered hardboard for bottoms, false fronts if desired. Just my .02

[luc gendron]

Hello Charles,

I'm worried about what you state as '' thin particle board''. I've installed at least 500 sets of drawer slides in my career and 5/8'' particle board is sufficient to carry a good load. Any thinner and I would be worried. As for spacer, you need only worry about clearing the hinges (assuming we are talking european hinges) and also assuming you have no face frame. As for leaving the shelves in place, do you mean these shelves will become the pull out ones? If so you will need to trim accordingly (spelling?). Hope this helps!

[Dave Falkenstein]

I would use side mount slides, and I would mount them with brackets on the existing shelves in the back and face frame in the front. I have installed lots of these sliding shelves, including in my own home and cabin. My wife loads the shelves with lots of heavy pots and pans or Corningware, and I have not had any failures in a couple of years. Here's a source if you want to buy the shelves and slides as a package:

http://www.shelvesthatslide.com/

If you prefer building the shelves and want to buy the slides, these same folks sell the hardware seperately:

http://shelvesthatslide.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=STS&Category_Code=h

Be sure to order the "Universal Slide Mounting "L" Bracket" if you want to mount the sliders onto the existing shelves, which is a super easy way to install them. Check out the "Do it Yourself" instructions. I have purchased from these people several times, and had nothing but excellent results. There is some lead time if you want them to make the shelves, since every order is custom-built.

[Jim Becker]

I made the "mistake" of using bottom/center mounts for a number of drawers in my kitchen renovation a few years ago and wouldn't recommend them generally. They work, but I find them too sloppy.

[Charles McKinley]

Thank you,

The L brackets with side mount slides look like just the ticket.

Thanks for the construction suggestion for the pull outs.

[Lars Thomas]

I would go full extension if you can . . . This is where I get mine. Good Service and fair prices. http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/index.html


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