How to Install Kitchen Base Cabinets

Installing new kitchen cabinets can enhance your kitchen, increase the value of your home and help your kitchen to function better. Base cabinets are the basis of your kitchen. They are the foundation to your counters and sinks and what people see when they enter your kitchen. Buying premade, prefinished cabinets takes most of the work out of it. All you need to do is set them, relying on the cabinet maker to do the rest.

Things You'll Need

• Premade, prefinished cabinets
• Drill
• Screwdriver or drill bit for securing screws
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Stud finder
• Wood screws
• Carpenter's level
• Wood shims
• Vinyl molding
• Countertop
• Countertop hardware

Instructions

1. Locate the studs in the walls. Most studs are 16 inches apart. When you find one, the next one should be 16 inches away. Determine if your floor is level. If not, mark the highest point of the floor. Most cabinets are 34 inches high. From the highest point of the floor, mark 34 inches high. This is where the top of your cabinets will be. With a long straight edge, draw a line all the way across the wall where the cabinets will sit.

2. Move one cabinet into a corner. Using wood shims, raise the cabinet until it is level with the line drawn across the wall. Drill a hole inside the cabinet through the stud in the wall. Place a screw in the hole and secure the cabinet to the wall stud.

3. Place the next cabinet against the existing cabinet, shimming it to the correct level. Secure the second cabinet in the same manner as the first. Continue this process until all cabinets are secured to the wall.

4. Install vinyl molding to the bottom of the cabinets in order to cover up the gaps between cabinets.

5. Locate the doors and door hardware that came with your cabinets. Install the doors according to the manufacturer's instructions.

6. Install the countertop from the inside of the cabinets by securing it with brackets and screws.

Resources

• Installing Base Cabinets