Hanging The Cabinets
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Not
much to say, really,
although
that's never stopped me before. Spent the weekend hanging the
wall
cabinets. Should be simple -- and it is, in theory -- except for the
build out. That and the lack of attachment point on the
bottom of each
cabinet. Ikea's system it so attach a metal hanging rail to the wall,
then attach each cabinet to that. Any problems with square or level
are compensated for by the two degrees of freedom provided by the
attachment mechanism. Plumb is another story as without a
lower
attachment point it's not really feasible to jam a shim and screw the
box to the wall. This, I would say, is a flaw in Ikea's
design
philosophy.
Warning:
Technical
details to follow. You've been warned.
There's more going on
than just plumb problems. Remember
these are hanging about 3 inches (the width of 2 2x4's) off
the wall to start because of that nook or riser (or call it what you
will) in the corner. Across the bottom I have one 2x4 flat
against the
wall, like the upper setup then another 2x4, flat and cut to size,
along the bottom. The shims you see are for minor corrections
in my
cutting (or maybe it's the saw. Heh).
That takes care of plumb. What I noticed as I did the run is
that each
new cabinet was a tick higher than it's neighbor. I checked
the
hanging rail via a laser level and two bubble levels and it's spot
on.
A line shot across the top of each cabinet showed they were each level,
just at a
different levels. I think the problem is
or was that it's very
difficult to get these things square when assembling. Oh
sure, with in a
32nd of an inch, but that's enough when compounded across several boxes.
Ikea's solution, I believe, is to correct everything by shifting and
twisting when hanging. There's about a 1/4 inch of wiggle
room at each
attachment point (there's two per cabinet). I took the three
middle
boxes, matched them up as close as I could and clamped, then screwed
them together. Then the guy on the right then the two on the
left.
It's very, very close to perfect. Once the doors are on no
one will
notice any imperfections (these are frame-less cabinets so the doors
cover the entire box).
I put Bean in the larger cabinets to test the strength (she's about 30
lbs) and did a few pull ups and while there's creaks
and groans, no catastrophic failures or movement.
Anyway,
below is my
progress thus far. Enjoy.
The
First Pancake
And
Another
Three
Almost
Done
A
Fine Job
The
Masterpiece Takes Shape
Bean Testing Structural
Integrity
Flirting with Disaster
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