Thanks so much Fori. Their sample cabs also wasted about 2" of empty space behind their drawers so I'll definitely be asking my cab maker to make sure they maximize all the space. I also noticed some of their drawer stacks only had the rail beneath the top drawer too. I wonder why??

Is it a framed vs frameless difference? My cab guy mostly does framed but will do drawers "mostly frameless" when some nut wants max space and all drawers. But he does insist on that top rail I guess because they are really wide units and he thinks they're required for structure.

You might be able to get that extra inch or two in the back of the drawer box with the warning "that part won't be full extension" because of course the glides come in standard sizes.

Hmm? Not sure if it's a framed vs frameless difference - will need to chat with cab maker to find out. Ha ha... I'm gonna be that "some nut" who wants max space and all drawers!!

Ahhh... I always wondered about full extension and deeper drawers. I will be getting 27" counters on one side of the kitchen and 30" on the other so both sides will have non-standard depths. So there's no way to get full extension on deeper drawers, huh?

You can--they just come in increments of (I think) 3". And depending on the brand your guy uses, they might not have the selfclosing in all sizes. I was just thinking that if you used a 28" box on a 27" glide, the back inch wouldn't quite come out. But I'm not sure if they work like that...

The pictures you have shown look like overlay drawers but recessed from the cabinet to the right.

the floor may have been out of level when setting the cabinets and it was necessary to adjust the drawer slides to make the drawers/doors line up and look correct when closed. There are several different reasons this could have happened.

When you look at teh cabinets with the doors and drawers closed are all of them flush with the face frame? This is what you want to see.

Sometimes you have to do a few tweaks when walls and floors are out of square (which they always are) to make the cabinets as astheticially pleasing as they can be when everything is closed.

Not making any excuses for these cabinets because I don't know the whole story.Nothing would have left my shop that way but: how many of you are going to get down and take pics of the cabinets open and measure the slides and such to see that they are 1/4 different than the other if they look fine and flush when closed.

That is why the 35mm door hinges are so .On top of being hidden they are adjustable three ways to get a even reveal all the way around the door.Have you opened all of yours and put a square on them?I think you may be surprised but they all look fine when closed?

You said in the OP "some cabs in MY cab makers showroom". If he is YOUR cab maker you should be able to trust him and ask these question to him in place of an internet forum. He is YOUR CABINETMAKER and it's YOUR MONEY.

Simply ask him.You need to have some good communication with anyone your giving money to and working with.Why can't seemingly intelligent people understand that??

Precision Carpentry: I appreciate that you took the time to reply. If you read my original post, it's not the aesthetics that I'm concerned about. It's the loss of useable drawer space. What I wonder is why the top drawer was installed so that there is a fairly small gap between the slide and the rail while the middle and bottom drawers are installed with a fairly significant gap, which adds up to 1.5" of lost useable drawer height between those two drawers.

I don't know if you intended it, but I found the last sentence in your second post to be quite insulting. Of course I will be consulting my cabinet maker (and I indicated that in my comments above). They are a very busy shop and don't normally deal with residential customers (they deal mostly with builders) so I have to do a lot of my own legwork first then meet with them pretty much at the very end. YES, I could switch to another cab maker who's better set up to meet with clients but I am saving a lot AND getting custom cabinets through this company so I'm sticking with them.

I've found the people on this particular forum to be extremely well-informed and knowledgeable (yourself included). That is why I choose to come here to ask for advice before I get my meeting with my cab maker.

Fori: thanks for the info about drawer slides! I'll look up the increments they have for Blum slides and see if I can get full extension for my non-standard drawers. I'd be willing to give up soft close if I can get full extension!

Whether soft close or full extension does not make much difference in Blum drawer slide length.

With 27" counter, you have to back out 1 1/2" for the counter overhang which takes into account the doors. That leaves 25 1/2". Now you have to factor out the cabinet case. What is the back? 1/2", 3/4", 1"?

Next, is it face frame or frameless. If it's face frame, you're limited to specific slide length because of the back bracket needed to account for the opening between the frame and case side.

My understanding is that drawer slides come in set lengths. I can't tell you what they are, but I can tell you that my cabinetmaker suggested that I add (I think) 3/4" in order to get an extra 2" of drawer.

beachem: right, I've been so focussed on the height of the drawers, I forgot to take into account the things I have to subtract for the depth. I'm getting frameless, full overlay so I assume I just have to subtract 1.5" for counter overhang and 5/8" for the plywood back.

Thanks for sharing that sherri. Another thing to make sure I ask my cab maker. :)

At 27-.625-1.5=24.875. You can get the 24" slides and 24" deep drawers. It needs about .75" allowance behind it so that's going to the max of the storage.

You will have make sure and request it from the cab maker.

Ms K: Did not intent to be insulting. I just see a lot of posts on these boards from people that should be talking and communicating with their contractors that are not and are disappointed in the end because they did not get what was expected..

Blum are excellent slides and all I use .Tandem plus Blumotion slides come in sizes from 9-30" in 3" increments. Go to their website ( http://www.blum.com/us/en/01/30/10/ ) and download the planning tool. It will give you all the info you need.

Many Cabinetmakers, including myself, will use jigs or templates when drilling multiple units so you don't have to measure every single drawer, hinge, etc. I've made jigs/templates for everything from, drawer hardware, hinges and shelf holes. In your picture it could be that someone used the wrong jig holes or just didn't think it would matter when initially setting up. I'm sure your Cabinetmaker would be willing to adjust to meet your request. Any good "custom" Cabinetmaker would as far as I'm concerned. If he's not a custom shop, it may be impossible to adjust. He may charge you for it. If he has jigs set up for assembly, and they are set for as pictured, he would have set up that middle drawer differently. I'm not just referring to the slides, this also would be for attaching the drawer front. It all depends on how he assembles.

The Blum Tandem plus Blumotion slides are IMHO one of, if not the best on the market. It is true that in order to maximize drawer depth (front to back) you may need to add to the depth. I typically used the 560H5500B which are 22" (550mm) slides in order to maximize depth. Technically the drawer ended up being about 21 3/4" long when using these. Total depth for slide is figured by taking the nominal length (550mm in this case) + 3mm. 3mm being the amount the slide is set in front the front edge. For inches divide the metric by 25.4. I found these to be perfect for maximizing depth without needing to adjust depth of cabinet. However, it comes down to how your Cabinetmaker makes his cabinet and the usable depth of your cabinet.

Also, keep in mind that standard depth of cabinet will be around 24" or under. This allows for maximum yield from a 4x8 sheet. If you enlarge over the 24" depth you will probably end up paying a premium due to stepping out of the yield of a sheet.

It's not a sign of mistrust to get some background knowledge before asking all the questions you will have for your cabinetmaker. It's just easier for everyone to communicate when there is some basic understanding of what's what.

My apologies, as usual, for the very delayed replies. Life got in the way of kitchen planning, as always!

beachem: thanks so much for the calculations. I didn't think to allow for a 0.75" space behind the drawers - good to know.

Precision Carpentry: I get where you're coming from and totally agree that communication is so important. Thanks for pointing out the Blum planning tool. I downloaded the Excel file. Just started playing around with plugging in numbers. Really useful!

Simcoe Building Centre: Thanks so much for explaining all that. I can see that it's not necessarily a simple thing to get the same amount of spacing from drawer to drawer. I'll definitely ask my cab maker to do their best to maximize the useable drawer space. I was really glad to see that my cab maker uses Blum slides, so that's one less thing to worry about!

Ahh... that makes sense why 24" is the standard depth. I haven't gotten the exact quote yet for getting my deeper cabinets (one side will have 27" deep counters and the other will have 30" deep).

Fori: Yep, that's exactly why I started this (and all my other threads). I want to be fully informed and know what the cab maker is talking about beforehand. Otherwise, I get flustered and usually make ill-informed decisions which I later regret. When I know and understand what I want, it makes it way easier to make decisions.

In my drawer glide purchasing experience, which is way more than the average bear, I've experienced that Blums come in 2" increments, not 3". They're even. A 24" deep cabinet can take a 22" glide. The drawer box must be the length of the glide because of that hooky thing in the back.

That said.

I can address the differences in space under the drawer glides in a manner that no one has thought of. Ready?

Putting a right side glide in on a center stile (rail? the vertical thing) is harder if you don't do it before the counter top is in. If you have a 2-drawer, side-by-side cabinet, there's no center wall to hook to. I usually lie my cabinets on their back, put in the screw next to the face frame and let them dangle before hooking in the back. Gravity gives me a nice, straight/vertical glide. (Oh, yes, I do use a level before screwing it in.)

Anyway, I was really tired and had the counter top already on. I didn't get that stupid center glide level. Didn't realize it until later, and it was only 1/8" but I can see that like it's a mile. I was so pooped, and it didn't impede the glide of the drawer, that I just slapped on the drawer front. Looks great (but the idea still bugs me) and I really didn't lose any space.

Did I make you pros cringe? You're welcome. I'm here for 'ya.

CEFreeman, I find solace in knowing I’m not alone in my ability to make 1/8” into a mile.