How to Install Kitchen Cabinets - Tips on Installing Kitchen Cabinets

One of the most popular upgrades to homes these days are those made to the kitchen. We spend a great deal of time in the kitchen, it is a focal point of the family. And think about when you entertain - the party always seems to end up in the kitchen!

In my opinion, a kitchen can stand an update after 15 years or so. Sometimes it's huge, others it's just certain aspects. Either way, you will get an updated look and has you smiling every time you enjoy your new surroundings.

Some of the simple upgrades could be to change our your appliances or painting kitchen cabinets. Those on a more grand grand scale of changes would be new floors, lighting, installing granite, texturing the walls, but here we will focus on one of the most popular upgrades, installing new kitchen cabinets.

Starting with the corner cabinet we start hanging the kitchen cabinets with Joe. Here we learn the best techiques for locating the studs. We also see where to drill in the cabinets themselves for best support. We drill the support holes at an angle for the mounting screws. It's critically important that the mounting screws go into the studs, as the amount of weight we ask a set of cabinets to hold can be several hundred pounds.

Here we actually hang the corner cabinet, which is the starting point for the whole project. Getting it at the proper height and having it properly leveled is key to our success.

This shows how we attach the cabinets that adjoin the corner cabinet that we started with. In particular, a device called a cabinet claw is used not only to hold the cabinets in place but to act as a drill guide to aid in securing one cabinet to the next.

This simplifies the job of aligning and securing the cabinets greatly. While a normal clamp may help, the addition of the drill guide makes sure that the cabinets are secure and aligned properly while the drilling is taking place.

To summarize the set of videos:

- Make sure you have laid out the plan, and have measured where each of the cabinets will go.

- Mark the wall with the layout of the cabinets.

- Precisely locate the studs for the mounting holes in the cabinets.

- Drill the mounting holes at an angle in the cabinet backs, lining them up with the stud locations.

- Secure the cabinet in place with a mounting shim, and mount the corner cabinet; be sure that it's level in all directions.

- Using a cabinet claw to align the cabinets and holes, drill the holes for the next cabinet, and put in the mounting screws.

- Repeat this process for each of the cabinet units.

The simple steps shown in these videos can get you well on your way to starting your own remodeling effort on your kitchen. While installing kitchen cabinets is a big project, as you can see it can be broken down into manageable steps that many home handymen (or women) can tackle successfully.

When we updated our kitchen 8 years ago, it was recommended that we also stain our cabinets to give a more rich look. That wasn't in our budget so we left them as they were. We also kept our existing tile flooring. Yet when visitors first saw our "new" kitchen, it was the cabinets and flooring that they thought were redone!

The lesson here is to follow your plan and not be swayed by an outsiders view or a contractors suggestion if that is not what you really want. Five years later, we still have people over who have the same reaction on the floor and cabinets, not realizing that the granite, backsplash, lighting and a coat of paint was what was done.

Good luck with your home project!