Question
Regarding shimming - does anyone have any tips to increase speed and consistency? We do base units, remodels, toes attached. I need tips for out of square conditions – a consistent method of identifying problems in walls and floors and the best way to adjust.
Forum Responses
(Cabinet and Millwork Installation Forum)
From contributor A:
Every situation is different in remodels. When first going to the site it’s always good to have a level, framing square, and a 6’ to 8’ straight edge, and if you have a laser it a good thing to use. You should use all of the above to get an idea of what you are dealing with before construction. If a wall has a bad bow in it, have the contractor fix it. If that is not possible you might have to adjust the depths of the units to accommodate the bow. Say you have an 8’ wide wall with a bow in the center that pokes out 1”. Two things can happen here depending on the situation.
Let’s say you have base units 24” deep going on the wall. First, determine if there is any reason to make the units shallower. Do they have to line up with something - if you shim the cabinets off the wall to make a straight line, will it mess anything up? If not, shim the units off the wall and make sure you have plenty of scribe on the back of your counter top to cover the bow in the wall. If there is a finished end make sure to let that end go past the back of the unit so it can be scribed to the wall.
If you have two walls that intersect and they are not at 90 degrees, use your framing square off of the back wall to determine where the back corner of the unit will be on the back wall. This way you can see exactly how much end scribe you will need. On frameless cabinets usually 1” will do the trick. Again, every situation is different.
Floors:
Check the floor to see how level it is either using a level or the straight edge to see if there are any bad humps or dips. Or if you have a laser but a benchmark on the wall and measure down to see the variations. In this example I’m going on the assumption the countertop has to be held at a specific height.
Say you have a floor that drops 1” down over 8’- you will now have to shim up the units at the drop and make sure that your base mold is tall enough to scribe to the floor. If the floor rises up 1” you can manufacture the units with 1” less in height in the base so you don’t have to cut units down in the field. And once again you will have to shim up the other units and make sure your base mold is tall enough to scribe.
Bases:
Attached bases are more time consuming and difficult to deal with. In very rare cases you can pre-shim the floor and set the units on them. Usually you have to do one at a time. It is always a good idea to make a shim package, with all kinds of thicknesses, to send to the field. Again, if you put a bench mark on the wall you can see ahead of time how much you will have to shim. Detached bases for long runs of cabinets are faster and easier to deal with. Say you have 4 boxes on a 8’ run. Make one long base for all. Just throw down the base, put a level on it and shim it. Screw it to the back wall if you can and use liquid nails to set your units on the base. Once the units are screwed together and to the back wall and the liquid nails dry, it won’t go anywhere.
