The Built in Cabinet Install for a Friend

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine asked if I could help with replacing a lot of their cabinets due to water damage.  I agreed and the process was started.  It is good that I work for a cabinet company and run the sample shop.  That made the cabinet parts easy.  There were three parts to this project: the bathroom, built in hall cupboards, and a laundry room.

The easiest was the bathroom install.  It was a standard cabinet off the shelf.  We their current cabinet was 31” tall and I replaced it with a 33.5” tall cabinet.  So the mirror had to move up and the wall soap dispenser had to be removed.  Other than that pretty easy install.  It was nice installing some of our cabinets for firsthand experience.

The built in was all custom cabinetry. The heights and widths were fine but the depth was 20”, not standard.  This is where the sample shop came in handy.  I removed all the toe kicks from the units so I could change the height.  I also was able to cut the back side of all the cabinets to 20”.  That was the easy part of the install.  When I measured for size, I measured the back of the cut out to the floor.  The back was higher than the front.  The right side was lower than the left and the left wall was out of plumb by 3/8”.  Needless to say there was some pushing and shoving and beating until the pieces were in place.  I am also glad for fillers and moulding.  It was definitely used.

The laundry room unit was two standard kitchen bases.  Sounds easy until the dryer ductwork went behind the cabinets and the plumbing went through the cabinets.  It was a lot of cutting and at times was nerve racking.  It went in well until I installed the door and drawer next to the wall. They hit the door frame.  I had to move the entire unit over one inch.  Thank goodness for fillers.  Overall they were happy with the outcome and I was happy it was done.

Here are some lessons learned.  Tools are heavy and I don’t like carrying them around.  I am glad my son won the Triton competition because that is the most modular table saw and workbench I have (on loan from my son).  I am realizing the value of battery operated.  I could have avoided hauling around my air compressor if I had battery operated nail guns and they do exist.  If I was in the business it would be something I would be looking at.  Nothing is ever plumb or square and moulding helps out.  I am sure there are tricks that I don’t know about but the job was completed and I am glad that I was able to do it.  Not sure if I will do it again soon and it will not every become a career.