DIY help: Hanging cabinets

SourChipmunk

SourChipmunk

SourChipmunk

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This Saturday I will be hanging new cabinets in one of my bedrooms. I'm wondering if any experienced persons here can give valuable time saving tips and tricks for this.

There are 4 cabinets, 12" h, 12" d, 27" w. They will be mounted on the wall approx 1/2" from the ceiling.

I know I have to locate wall studs to screw them in, and they will have to be nice and level. Once I locate the wall studs, how do I mark the inside of the cabinets with the appropriate location?

I was thinking about hanging a board on the wall temporarily on the lower side of the cabinets to stabilise them and keep them even while I hang them. Is this good practise?

Any tips appreciated. :)
 
Measure, measure, measure. That will be the key to getting it right :)

What type of wall is it, what sort of fixings are you going to use and what sort of thing are you putting in the cabinets? These questions matter :)
 
You may find you cant get a secure fixing if the studs run at funny angles etc or havnt been used frequently. So you may end up having to fix a big piece of timber to the wall then fixing that where you can and then fixing the cabinet to that. If its the normal type of cabinet that sits on a little clip then i would suggest leaving a little more than 1/2" as it would be very awkward otherwise.

You will of course need a stud locator, make sure you get a half decent one and not the first one you see as the cheaper ones do intend to be absolute pants unfortunately
 
I didn't get a chance to reply to your questions after I posted it, unfortunately. But thank you for the pointers!

I was able to locate the wall studs and marked them off (first driving a nail in to make sure the sensor wasn't lying to me). We then mounted a 1x3 board on the wall just under the cabinet location and made sure it was level.

To mark the cabinets, we measured the distance from the edge of the cabinet to the stud location and transferred that measurement to the back of the cabinet. We then drilled holes in the back so they could be found on the inside.

Next, we placed the cabinet in position (very easy to hold in place with the board underneath!) and loosely mounted it to the studs using 2-1/2" wood screws. In this position, we were able to adjust it for levelness and plumb, then tightenend the screws completely.

We continued this process for the remaining 3 cabinets, securing each pair together to keep the faces flush.

Things I learned:

1) When dealing with cabinets, take the doors off (common sense). They add weight and get in the way.

2) When dealing with smallish cabinets, use an extension on the screwdriver bit. On my little 12" cabinets, the power driver didn't fit too well inside the cabinet and made it much more difficult to drive in the screws. A 12" extension would have been perfect.
 
For future reference you can also screw in a straight piece of 2x1 first of all which you can then use to align the top edges of your cabinets with (you won't see the holes once the cabinets are fitted) or along the bottom if you don't mind making good the wall afterwards, and this may help with load-bearing too if you decide to keep it in place. For example, kitchen cabinets usually have some sort of trim around the front edges so an extra piece of wood along the back often doesn't look out of place.

As Doplh said though, the alternative is to be fastidious about measuring...
 
Raist said:
2nd paragraph above. ;)

Indeed, though, measuring and remeasuring are critical. Old rule of thumb - measure twice, cut once.
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Sorry, you said "board", I thought you meant you were hanging them on board and then onto the wall - you can use marine ply to do this and spread the load better on stud walls.
 
Gavin said:
You will of course need a stud locator, make sure you get a half decent one and not the first one you see as the cheaper ones do intend to be absolute pants unfortunately
Click to expand...

Or use a hammer & listen carefully ;)
 
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