leveling new lower cabinets

8 years ago

Hi-I had new engineered hardwood put in a few years back. The installed it so it butts up against the olde cabinets. Then I took out the old cabinets, leaving a hole to the concrete subfloor. It looks like the hardwood is installed on old linoleum. The. I cut 5/8” plywood to fill the hole (still not deep enough) so I got peel and stick linoleum to see if I could get closer and it takes 2, sometimes 3 and then I’m still shimming. Should I be looking for a more solid solution like a 1/4” sheet on top of the plywood instead of the shims and linoleum?

Thanks

Featured Answer

PRO

Joseph Corlett, LLC

8 years ago

"I see no reason to raise new cabinet level with hardwood floor."

Then you've never seen a trapped dishwasher. I have and it's tragic.

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Comments (9)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
8 years ago
Composite shims are much more dimensionally stable than wood shims. It really doesn't matter how you get where you're going, just so you get there.
klem1
8 years ago
I see no reason to raise new cabinet level with hardwood floor. Old cabinets were lower,did that create a problem? I would sit new cabinets on floor same as old cabinets were. Shim as necessary to plumb cabinets. When installation is complete,install molding (shoe mold,1/4tr round,baseboard) of sufficient size to bridge gap between toe kick and hardwood floor. If you feel the cabinets must be level with hardwood,do this. Find average difference between exposed floor and hardwood,rip 3/4 to 1&1/2 wide plywood strips and staple to bottom of cabinets. You will still need the molding between toe kick and hardwood.
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fparking
Original Author
8 years ago
The new cabinets don’t fit in the old footprint and there is a peninsula that will be on top of the wood.
ci_lantro
8 years ago
I would, for sure, do a solid fill in the dishwasher slot because you don't want it sitting in a hole. DW's have to be replaced every so often so having the DW at the level of the finished flooring will make life a lot easier down the road.

Elsewhere, your choice. Solid fill or tack strips of plywood on the bottom of the cabinets to get the bottom to the level of the finished floor.
PRO
Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
8 years ago
What Joe said. Understand that the old cabinets may have been built custom and may be a little taller than the prefab cabinets you're replacing them with. The prefab cabinets are made to fit that dishwasher exactly from the finish floor not from the old rough floor.
fparking
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi - understood I need to bring the cabinets up to hardwood level. I’ve got plywood strips down, but still missing up to a 1/4”. Recommendations for filling the gap? I currently have plywood, linoleum and shims.

I assume if an entire edge is off you can’t just stick 1 or 2 shims under, you should really have a strip of wood to support the whole edge?
ci_lantro
8 years ago
Birch floor underlayment is a smidge under 1/4". I keep an assortment of spacer material around. Like scraps of old wood wall paneling, various thickness, non-corrugated cardboard, thin rip-offs from the tablesaw, playing cards, art mat board scraps (1/8" thick), Formica samples, wood lath, door/ shutter louvers, etc. As well as traditional wedge shaped shims.

I assume if an entire edge is off you can’t just stick 1 or 2 shims under, you should really have a strip of wood to support the whole edge?

Ideally, but I honestly don't think hardly anyone bothers. Probably more important with frameless cabinets but you have framed ones. The cabinets get tied together with trims screws through the edges of the face frames so they gain support from one another, too.

And, if you stop and think, there are a lot of cabinet systems that use the leg levelers where all the support is on three or four points of contact (either four legs or a ledger on the wall and two legs in front.). I used a ledger and front legs on my cabinets.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
8 years ago
fparking:

Use the 3/4" and these, please.