Installing cabinets

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Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Question for the cabinet installers:

My GC wants the cabinets in before flooring, which I agree with.

Flooring will be 3/8" engineered wood flooring.

How do you folks lift the cabinets, or shim them? 3/8" Hardwood strips, with a some leveling shims underneath the cabinet bottom edges? Shims directly on the LP sub floor?? What about the tiled areas like the bathrooms, how much lift there or nothing?
 

sandfarm

Joe
User
You can use hardwood on all cabinet floor contact surfaces. You can also use plywood to cover the whole floor under the cabinet exactly where the cabinet will set
Only the outside (fronts and exposed ends) edges need to be flush.

Joe
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
Question for the cabinet installers:

My GC wants the cabinets in before flooring, which I agree with.

I guess it's a choice you make. I do it the other way. There again, I still varnish my floors with oil based varnish and not water borne. I like the convenience and no odor of the water based on some things but for durability on a floor I have found it doesn't match the oil varnish.

If you get close with 3/8 ply or something similar, the shimming to level/plumb with a laser is a breeze.

At some point on this project I am doing at home, I have decided I just want to get this done. Delays on deliveries, workers with headaches, and even inventory differences make progress illusive at times.

Lots of photos to upload but it sounds like the Gallery might go the way of the Concorde??
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
Morning, IMHO, being an installer I want the flooring in before the cabinets, reason is in the future if there is a cabinet change it avoids the nightmare of trying to repair,
For shimming, find a bundle of under coursing shingles, I will look also, you can use good cedar shakes they just cost more. NOTE!!!!!! ALSO IMPORTANT by NOT flooring under cabinets you run a very good chance of real problems installing your dishwasher or any other under counter appliance. Map your walls for stud locations. Hang your walls first, 54" to the bottom of the cabinets FROM THE FINISHED FLOOR, so 54 3/8" in your case. Are you hanging them yourself?

In fact if you would please call me, way way easier than all this typing? 973 945 6686
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
I do this all the time. With 3/8" flooring I just set the cabinets and level normally. There would be no need to raise the cabinets for the flooring and or for the appliances. Flooring above the thickness of 3/8" then you have to raise the cabinets, when I do I usually rip strips of poplar to the appropriate thickness and attach to the bottom of each cabinet and then set accordingly. I hope this helps, and good luck
IMG_0626.JPGIMG_0581.JPG
 
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Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
You can use hardwood on all cabinet floor contact surfaces. You can also use plywood to cover the whole floor under the cabinet exactly where the cabinet will set
Only the outside (fronts and exposed ends) edges need to be flush.

Joe

Thanks Joe,

I was stressing about this as I have not done it before. 3/8 ply sounds like a great idea!!!
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
I do this all the time. With 3/8" flooring I just set the cabinets and level normally. There would be no need to raise the cabinets for the flooring and or for the appliances. Flooring above the thickness of 3/8" then you have to raise the cabinets, when I do I usually rip strips of poplar to the appropriate thickness and attach to the bottom of each cabinet and then set accordingly. I hope this helps, and good luck
View attachment 29356View attachment 29357
Thanks that sure will make things easy. I will ask the GC, see what he says.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I installed my new kitchen last year on the finished floor. We moved several equipment locations so the floor had to be patched since the old cabinets went to the sub-floor. On one fairly long run, we ran enough 3/4 oak flooring to get under the cabinet and then stopped and put a few pieces where the sides of the cabinet would go to the subfloor. That got the cabinets up to the right level but didn't waste a lot of flooring.

I would not want to fit the floor around the cabinets but you could. I would put it in first and just not put it unnecessarily under the cabinets. That will save a bunch of cutting and may not use any more flooring.

I also installed the lowers first and used home made cabinet jacks that use pipe clamps to install the uppers. Went well.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
On kitchen cabs I usually use levelling feet (to which the toe kick is attached).

I find this is so much faster and easier than what you're planning to do.

That said, when I don't use them, I build the toe kick base and level that by shimming, then screwing a piece of wood to the inside of the frame that touches the floor, then remove the shims. Once you've got that base established, it makes the going a lot easier. In your case, just make it 3/8" higher.

The only problem I see with installing before floors, is you'll need a shoe moulding.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
On kitchen cabs I usually use levelling feet (to which the toe kick is attached).

I find this is so much faster and easier than what you're planning to do.

That said, when I don't use them, I build the toe kick base and level that by shimming, then screwing a piece of wood to the inside of the frame that touches the floor, then remove the shims. Once you've got that base established, it makes the going a lot easier. In your case, just make it 3/8" higher.

The only problem I see with installing before floors, is you'll need a shoe moulding.

Yep I will do a shoe molding. GC now wants 1/2” off floor in kitchen and 3/4” in bathrooms. I will just add strips to the cabinet bottoms.
 

FredP

Fred
Corporate Member
I really wouldn't care how the builder wants it. I would tell him how it's going to be. As others have said, if you ever decide to change things around you'll be glad the flooring is already there. A patch will always show.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
I really wouldn't care how the builder wants it. I would tell him how it's going to be. As others have said, if you ever decide to change things around you'll be glad the flooring is already there. A patch will always show.

This is the second house he is building for me, hands-on guy. The first house he did his own thing as I was working. This time I am on site all the time and I must say that every time I asked him to do things my way it would have turned out better if I just left him alone. We are in the Sandhills and before final landscaping there is sand all over the place. Once the floors are in, he wants no one and no traffic on them. His rationale for lifting the cabinets is to allow replacing them if needed in future as well as the correct height.
 

Ecr1

Chuck
Senior User
I have to agree not flooring under the cabs is a bad idea. Most of my customers will not have
shoe mold they want more of a furniture feel. so that means scribed to the floor. As far as protecting the floor there are several roll flooring protection products, such as ram board. I have been installed a lot of cabs on finished floors with flooring protection with no problems.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
I have to agree not flooring under the cabs is a bad idea. Most of my customers will not have
shoe mold they want more of a furniture feel. so that means scribed to the floor. As far as protecting the floor there are several roll flooring protection products, such as ram board. I have been installed a lot of cabs on finished floors with flooring protection with no problems.

I’ll post pictures when done. I’m probably not familiar with the term “shoe mold”
I built these custom, once the flooring is in, then I scribe a board against all the toes. Then follows furniture grade molding looking almost like bracket feet which goes around all the cabinets. Those are on the finished floors.
 

chris_goris

Chris
Senior User
I’ll post pictures when done. I’m probably not familiar with the term “shoe mold”
I built these custom, once the flooring is in, then I scribe a board against all the toes. Then follows furniture grade molding looking almost like bracket feet which goes around all the cabinets. Those are on the finished floors.

Shoe mould is similar to quarter round (many "finish" carpenters today use quarter round in place of it, SMH) but true shoe moulding is taller than wide and has a round at the top but actually has a vertical straight section. I think the typical measurements are 5/8 x 1 tall with a a 5/8 R on the top. Shoe moulding should NEVER be used at the base of cabinets IMO, its architecturally wrong as it was originally intended for floor to baseboard gap coverage. Cabinets should have NO gaps at the floor if properly installed.
 
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Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
I agree with Chris re: shoe moulding. To each his own but I think they look bad, trap dirt and water. I've done them both ways, but like the cleaner look.

I think it bears repeating that using levelling feet as opposed to a made up base saves a boat load of time. Toe kick installation is literally a "snap" adjust height to what ever you want. Run the flooring up to 1/2" or so of the feet & the toe kick board is secured to the legs over top of flooring.

I don't see the need to run flooring under cabs, but I do think flooring should be run under ranges, dishwashers and refrigerators. Leaving the flooring till last avoids any danger of damaging the flooring.

Bottom line do what the GC is asking. Fastest way to alienate a tradesman is tell them how to do their job.

But I think you already know that. ;)
 
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danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
I don't see the need to run flooring under cabs, but I do think flooring should be run under ranges, dishwashers and refrigerators. Leaving the flooring till last avoids any danger of damaging the flooring.

Bottom line do what the GC is asking. Fastest way to alienate a tradesman is tell them how to do their job.

Not for me. Indecision and redos gets the first position. Telling me exactly what you want makes my job easier .. then stand back.
 

matt roberts

New User
matt
We re-did our kitchen a year ago and went from tile to hardwood. The previous owners had put the cabinets directly on the subfloor and then tiled. I swapped the dishwasher before we started the remodel and had to use two floor jacks to raise the counter up just enough to slide the dishwasher in as it was ever so slightly larger than the old one. When we remodeled we ran the hardwood everywhere, put in the cabinets, and then finished the hardwoods so that any scratches etc. that happened during the install were not an issue. Your case is different not needing the flooring finished but I have to agree with the other posters that flooring everywhere saves a lot of potential headaches in the future.
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
The previous home I built had hardwood floors. The flooring company wanted floating, would not issue a warranty if the cabinets were on the floor. We also did a sealed crawl with a dehumidifier. After 8 years until I sold that floor still looked like the first day after it was put in.
 
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