My kitchen remodel

[brianwelch]

I trust both of your opinions but I have to ask why...I'm on the fence but leaning towards not running it under the cabinets after reading your replies.  More curiosity not doubting.

I ran my wood flooring just past the toekick, except under the dishwasher and refrigerator where I took it to the wall...

[jteneyck]

Sorry to see you used construction lumber for the bases.  Plywood, as some recommended, is a far better choice because it doesn't shrink and swell like dimensional lumber.  I hope your lumber was dry, like 6 - 8% dry, or will be by the time you install your cabinets.  If not, your cabinets will tilt downward at the front over time because the backs will be anchored to the wall but the fronts won't be, so as the base shrinks the front tips down.  DAMHIK this.  

Making long runs of cabinets is a poor idea.  They are just too hard to handle.  It's far better to make separate cabinets so you can handle them w/o hurting yourself.  Then make one face frame to cover the whole run.  It will look like one large cabinet.  The doubled sides where each cabinet butts to it's neighbors also makes the assembly much stronger.  

John

[CLETUS]

And it's a hell of a lot easier to hang the uppers first.

[Stwood_]

And it's a hell of a lot easier to hang the uppers first.

I'll disagree with that.

[Large Wooden Badger]

I'll be a voice of dissent, I'm fixing to remodel my kitchen, and had they run the hardwoods under all the cabinets, i wouldn't have to redo the entire kitchen, dining room and living room floors because i'm moving cabinets, island around.

[jteneyck]

And it's a hell of a lot easier to hang the uppers first.

I'll disagree with that.

I've done it both ways.  I thought it was easiest for one person to install the lowers first.  Then you can set the uppers on a box sized to give you the height you want above the counter.  Once the cabinet is on that box you can slide it against the adjacent cabinet, clamp it, and screw it to the wall w/o stress or stain, but you do have to lean over the lower cabinets to do so and it's a long reach to put shims between the wall and cabinet.    


With two people it's probably easier to do the uppers first.  You just screw a ledger to the wall, set the uppers on the ledger, and then screw them to the wall.  But to do that alone is not so simple.  You have to have some kind of third hand to hold the cabinets against the wall while you clamp them together and screw them to the wall.   

Each approach has it's good and bad points.  

John

[CLETUS]

Get a couple of these.

There’s some debate over which method is actually better, but we’re not going to take a position. We would like to point out, though, that the T-Jack System “supports” both schools of thought. The standard T-Jack system adjusts to anywhere from 53' to 84' inches, and for you “lowers-first” types, the T-Jack Mini Brutehas you covered with a range of 15' to 24'.  Whichever way you go, a T-Jack or two will make any solo cabinet installation job faster, almost certainly more accurate, and definitely easier on your back.

https://www.rockler.com/t-jacks-brains-o...stallation

[joe1086]

Just a few random tidbits...

• Design help - we paid a kitchen designer a few hundred bucks for a consult and sketches. She added ideas (cabinet placement, sizes, design, etc.) that I never would have thought of but were glad we included them. 
  
• I french cleated the uppers, made install a snap if you are installing yourself.
  
• Since your kitchen is bare, consider fitting and adjusting cabinets and trim before the finishes are applied. I had everything scribed and fitted before finishing. I even had some complex crown molding assembled in manageable sections so all I had to was slide them in place. I'm competent on making the cabinets but did not have the tools or talent for finishing so I sent them out.
  
• Soft close hardware on the drawers and doors. Go for more drawers than doors where ever it makes sense. There is a lot of wasted space in cabinets that have one or two doors.
  

[Stwood_]

Get a couple of these.




https://www.rockler.com/t-jacks-brains-o...stallation

I made 4 of the short ones, from camper leveling jacks. Added leather pads to the top and bottom.

Probably installed 75? set of cabinets with them.
Super easy to use. Just adjust close to wanted height, set the cab on, clamp temporarily to the next cab, level and attach to the wall.

[Duane N]

Thanks for all of the advice.  The bases are screwed to the subfloor and I think the wood will be dry by the time I get the cabinets made.
   My longest cabinet is the sink base and adjoining cabinet which is 66"...everything else is broken up by a dishwasher, stove and refrigerator.  I do like the idea of adding more drawers than doors...never thought of that.


My upper cabinets are going up to the bead board ceiling..no wasted space above the uppers and I will be installing the bases first then the uppers.  I have an eager neighbor that is going to help me when it comes time to doing the cabinets because his wife wants a new kitchen when I'm done with mine so we'll be helping each other out...I'm the crash test dummy it seems.


I'm in the process of pulling up some of the oak flooring so I can stich in the new and old floor to continue into the kitchen.  It's coming up fairly easy and I've only damaged a few short planks.  I still have 1/2 a box left over when I originally did the floor and bought enough t cover myself...if I run short it's a normally stocked item at Lowes and again the new floor is exactly like the stuff I put in 16 years ago.  

   


Again, thanks for all the input and advice.  It's appreciated.  No matter how trivial something seems to you about suggesting suggest away because it might not be something I've experienced, thought of or done before so every little bit helps.