How to Install Base Cabinets 🔨 _ The Home Depot with @This Old House

If you're installing cabinets for a kitchen renovation , it's usually a good idea to hang the upper cabinets on the wall .

First , it makes the installation a little easier because the lower cabinets won't be in your way .

Once you're ready to install the base cabinets , you'll need to determine if you're going to install them directly on the finished floor .

So we do not have down the finished floor yet .

Just the sub floor .

Can you install your cabinets on the sub ?

I can ?

Yes , because we know what the thickness of the floor is and I've ripped .

The sleepers are the same thickness as the floor .

Ok .

So we'll set the counter on that and the flooring installer can but right up against the cabinet beautiful .

Every floor is a little uneven with low spots and high spots .

And it's important that the base cabinets are installed perfectly level , but we need to establish the high point of the floor .

Once we establish the high point of the floor , we have two options .

We can either shim the cabinets up to that point or we can cut the bottom and scribe them to the floor .

I presume shimming is a lot easier than .

So I , uh , took the level and I actually went all the way around the floor and determined that the high spots right there .

So , if you want , I guess we've got to transfer the height of our cabinets up from this spot .

Ok .

Cabinets are 34 a half .

High measure up 34 a half .

Now , we're on a level line around the room .

Now , the first cabinet I want to install is this sink base cabinet right here and we want to make sure that it's centered over the window .

So we have a center line right here on the wall and we have a reference line on the cabinet .

We've drilled a hole for our sewer line and the nice thing about this sink base cabinet , it doesn't come with the back .

So we don't have to scrub around all the pipes .

So you can see how low the floor is just over here .

So this is gonna have to be shifted up a little bit .

Right .

And I've got mine up .

I'm right at the line a little more .

Right .

One more .

That's it .

Attach the cabinets to the studs in the wall using screws that are at least 2.5 inches long .

Add shims to fill any gaps between the cabinet and the wall .

So we'll fill that gap and then tighten the crook .

Mhm Check if the cabinet is level from front to back and add more shims under the front edge if necessary .

Ok .

That's it for that cabinet .

If the height that you need to shim the cabinets is more than say , three quarters of an inch , you'll need to install filler strips , cut the strips a little shorter than necessary and shim them to the correct height .

Yeah .

Break off the excess shins and we're ready to put the cabinet back on .

You may also find that it's easier to attach several base cabinets together first and then install them as one unit .

Just make sure that the cabinets are even with one another and add shims between the cabinets if necessary .

So we can drag it closer to the wall .

Repeat the process for the remaining base cabinets , screwing them together through the face frames if possible .

Oh , my goodness .

Well , Brandon , what do you think Tommy is starting to look like a kitchen ?

It sure is .

Cabinets are the most important part of any kitchen renovation .

If you lay them out carefully and install them properly , you'll have a solid foundation for your brand new kitchen .