Hanging Upper Cabinets

[Mark W Pugh]

OK, I want to build some cabinets that will extend from already in place cabinets and the wall. There is a face frame involved, so gaps can be filled. I will place the unit up as one cabinet, and I want them to go to the ceiling.

My question is: how do you guys deal with wavy walls and shimming when you can't reach over the cabinets? I want solid backs on the cabinets, so reaching through the front is not a current option. French cleats, but then I have to reduce the height of the cabinets in order to hang the cabinets. I'm a rooky, so looking for best options.

Thanks

[scott vroom]

OK, I want to build some cabinets that will extend from already in place cabinets and the wall. There is a face frame involved, so gaps can be filled. I will place the unit up as one cabinet, and I want them to go to the ceiling.

My question is: how do you guys deal with wavy walls and shimming when you can't reach over the cabinets? I want solid backs on the cabinets, so reaching through the front is not a current option. French cleats, but then I have to reduce the height of the cabinets in order to hang the cabinets. I'm a rooky, so looking for best options.

Thanks

You're shoving the cabinets tight against the ceiling with no crown moulding?

[Myk Rian]

You're better off using the french cleats. Cabinets look strange when tucked right up to the ceiling.

[Mark W Pugh]

You're shoving the cabinets tight against the ceiling with no crown moulding?

Not totally up to ceiling, but high enough that I can't reach over to shim.

[scott vroom]

Not totally up to ceiling, but high enough that I can't reach over to shim.

Then I guess you've answered your own question....you're not going to be shimming the tops.

No crown?

[keith micinski]

I must not understand what your proposing to do. It sounds like you are just building a smaller cabinet to go on top of the existing cabinet. If that's the case why would you need to try and make them the exact wall depth of the existing ones? I would make them 11.5 deep instead of twelve and just match the face frames up in the front. It's not like your going to be using these cabinets everyday as they are 8 feet I the air so that half inch lost isn't going to hurt you that much.

[Peter Quinn]

Uh...I just did an install that went floor to ceiling with no crown, scribe to the ceiling and two sides, no way to shim the backs, open fronts on book cases for some of it. Major nightmare. Seriously hard install. Don't do it. Learn to use moldings, stay off the ceiling, stay off the wall, don't interact with the wall! I added packing to the backs to take up most of the space behind the cabs where hanging screws were to be located so the backs didn't cave in, 1/2" backs, scribes on finished ends that are visible. Not an easy retrofit. If I understand and you are adding on to the tops of your uppers, this is tricky to pull off visually with existing cabinets, it adds too much visual weight to the top rail of the existing cabinets. You almost need to add an intermediate step set off by moldings to eat up some of the existing top rail, like a small bed molding into the bottom edge of the new bottom rail.

There is no secret for dealing with wavy walls. You stay off them, add scribes, pack off the wall some known distance, scribe back to the wall, don't paint your self into a corner by designing a cabinet that must be scribed on 3 sides....if your a pro sooner or later some designer will do that for you!