"wklkj" wrote in message
I've got a rental property that's about 100 years old and in need of a
new kitchen. I'm thinking about building base and wall cabinets out
of poplar and painting them. I remember seeing an episode of 'This
Old House' years ago where Norm built all the cabinets (3 or 4 in a
row) as one, long unit. If I remember correctly, it looked pretty
easy as compared to building individual units.

Still a very common method of building kitchen cabinets, particularly in new
construction, and particularly in corners/angles where two runs of shop
built cabinets meet.

Pro's include that it is indeed much easier to do for the most part, and
unleveled and non-square floors/walls can be taken into account at the
source.

Con's include the fact that you must wait until the space is available to
build, and generally speaking a well constructed, shop built cabinet will
make for a stronger installation, and one that can be more easily dismantled
should the need arise.

Industry standard's that you need to take into account to maintain the
re-sale value of a home and to insure compatibility with appliances, like
dishwashers:

For an unfinished (no substrate/counter top) Base cabinet: 34 1/2" high x
24" deep x "W" wide, where W is variable to fill space/needs as below.

For the factory made type, Base cabinet widths, "W" above, generally start
at 12" and advance in 3" increments ... maximum width (usually sink base
cabinets) vary with manufacturer.

Wall cabinets are "standard" at 12" deep, widths varying according door
sizes. "Standard" height is 30" in a house with 8' ceilings, but most are
taller these days.

Non standard wall cabinet depth and heights are much more common than in
base cabinets.

You generally want +/- 18" between the countertop and the bottom of the wall
cabinet, and the counter tops (with substrate) are generally 1 1/2" thick,
so factor that in when designing.

Just about any book on "built-in" cabinets will have a section on built-in
kitchens with the above information generally provided.

DAGS

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Last update: 2/20/07