Measurements prior to cabinet installation

Annie5

Two walls in the kitchen are off at least 1/4" to 1/2" short of the plan done by the cabinet shop (one may be off more, as I could only measure at the floor by myself). They are not "open" walls with any leeway. So I guess the sheetrock needs to come down and the situation corrected? I have been having work done at intervals over a period of years (small house burned) without a contractor, but I can't do much myself. The walls were changed in the remodeling and were to be exactly according to the drawing, with measurements specified. Or maybe the problem came later, when I told a worker to be sure there was adequate bracing for the cabinets - he may not have measured carefully. Any advice you can give me about how to proceed in dealing with this will be greatly appreciated.

Bob Mariani

without seeing the layout to understand you possible solutions it will be difficult for anyone to help. If these cabinets go between two walls and this measurement is 1/2" to 1/4" off you may need to order smaller cabinets. but if you are using faceframe cabinets then these cabinets can be cut down (the face frame part) easily to make up this small difference. These cabinets have 1/4" overlapped face which can be trimmed.

Ron6519

It would help if you mentioned what type of cabinets were going into this space. Framed or frameless? Did you get custom sized cabinets for this space or were they the typical cabinets from a kitchen company like Kraftsmaid? What is the specific cabinet size layout?
Ron

Annie5

Thank you both for responding. The cabinets are already purchased and they will be between two walls. They are not custom, but the cabinet shop did the design to fit exactly in the space. I will need to check on whether they have a face frame, as I got them some times ago and don't recall specifics.

oh'mike

I suggest that you call the cabinet shop and tell them your concerns. Often the cabinet layout has a "filler" to allow for just this problem.

Call them before you get to worried. If all else fails-come on back,like Bob said ,"there are ways to trim the face frames."

Good luck,-MIKE-

Ron6519

The cabinet company should have advised you to not order the cabinets until the walls were up. To guess at a theoretical space that has no wiggle room is incredibly poor judgement. Why couldn't the people who did the job follow directions and job specifications? Why aren't they solving this problem?
You need to get all the job details before anyone can advise you what options you have. The most important is the exact cabinet layout you ordered and the type of cabinets they are.
Ron

Annie5

The walls should have been exact, as the workers had the info, but this remodeling has taken place gradually over a period of years after a fire, so I cannot back up a lot on it.

The cabinets are Bertch Legacy Clairmont. The only cabinet I have at the house is the lavatory cabinet, but it's the same as used in the kitchen. On that, the face is out from the cabinet by 1/4" on each side. However, one door is 1/4" from the edge and the other door is only 1/8" from the edge (is this usual?).

I am understanding that because the walls are plumb and square enough, and the measurement across doesn't vary by more than 5/16" over a 6' span, that they can be trimmed to fit, if a carpenter is well qualified.

I do still have a couple questions. Is the trimming always done on the face? If so, there is going to be an unfinished edge, right? These are painted cabinets (simple lines - contemporary). So... the cabinets will have to be repainted?

Someone asked why the back couldn't be taken off and the shelves cut down, to make refinishing unnecessary. Wouldn't this weaken the cabinet?

Input will be appreciated!!

One additional thought: I just recalled seeing plywood put up prior to sheetrocking. Thought it was for backing cabinets, but they can just as well go on studs, right? So if there is plywood there, would it be simpler to take the sheetrock off one wall and remove the plywood? (The celing is currently not sheetrocked, so lighting can be installed.)

Green Giant

Annie, do you have any pictures taken during the construction phase of the kitchen walls? If so, check to see if the plywood was put along the back wall or the side walls also? When the plywood backing is used, its to give more support to screw the cabinets into. This is helpful in older homes that may have brick/cinder block walls without much to grab onto when screwing in the cabinets. If all the walls are framed with studs, you should just secure the cabinets to the studs. If you have the cabinets in the house, open the boxes and put the cabinets in their location. If it was a good designer, there will be a filler strip between the all and the cabinet closest to it. This helps account for uneven walls(you can scribe the filler to fit wall contour) as well as a spacer so the cabinet door can open without the door and/or the door hardware hitting the wall all the time.

IF you had different guys working on the framing and sheet rock, it may have been done to the plans. However, adding the plywood for support may have been an added thought later on, or overlooked when calculating where the studs need to go.

Annie5

Thank you for the information! I am going to have to check further about what is there.

7echo

Does this bank of cabinets include a dishwasher? Often, there is a filler piece of 2" or more to accommodate a dishwasher. This pc. might can be trimmed to make up the difference.

Annie5

Yes, there is a dishwasher, so I will need to check that. Thank you for this information.

pyper

I've got Legacy cabinets with face frames and there's nearly 1/2 inch of air between each pair. When they put in our cabinets the guy used a belt sander on the edge of one frame to make it fit. You don't need to refinish them because the unfinished edge goes up tight onto another edge and you can never see it. Just make sure whoever puts the cabinets in is aware of the issue and has experience doing that kind of thing to them.

I think most framers would consider 1/2 inch short to be "pretty good". One thing I've learned working with contractors, at least around here, is the only way you can get things done precisely is to be there when they do the work and veryify all the measurements. This is especially true when it comes to remodels. They use the plan as a guide or a suggestion. They may have adjusted the wall 1/2 inch to make it line up with an existing joist or some other construction detail.

The only exception seems to be electricians.

Annie5

I think you are right about having to double check, or at least, that has been my experience too (and sometimes, I've still been ignored, as though I were invisible, maybe some because I'm female). That is why I feel I need to understand what's happening, even though I can'lt do it myself.

pyper

Yeah.

I just realized you have that other thread too. It seems like you could take 1/4" off the back corner of each of the corner cabinets. Then the cabinets could go in square and the countertops sit on them square, but need to be reduced at the back corner.

I understand the idea of removing the sheetrock behind the cabinets too (it's just the base cabinets you're worried about. I wouldn't have thought of that, but it would work. I wouldn't do it if I was wanting to isolate (acoustically) the kitchen from whatever is on the other side of that wall though.