David F. Eisan wrote:
Hello everyone,

I made the mistake of installing all my cabinets level and true in a kitchen
that is anything but.

The old cabinets were pushed flush with the ceiling and had quarter round
between them and the ceiling. Things rolled around in the old cabinets.

I now have the dilemma of how to fix this random gap between the tops of my
cabinets and the ceiling. In some places the cabinets touch the ceiling and
in other places there is a 3/4" gap. The face frame exposure above the doors
is about 7/8".

Hindsight tells me I should have figured out the difference in level in the
ceiling and made the face frames and side panels large enough to allow for
scribing.

Any ideas how to fill the gap? Somehow I don't think caulk and paint is the
answer. Neither is fixing the ceiling an option.

I am trying to think of some sort of trim design/style that I can put up
there to fix things that won't look all stupid being made of various widths.
I was thinking of making some sort of trim starting with a min height of
1/2" where the cabinets are flush, expanding to 1-1/4" at the worst gap. Add
to this the fact that I deliberately made the face frame sides proud of the
side panels, and that issue needs to be dealt with (mitre, mitre, mitre,
another mitre, mitre, mitre, another mitre....).

I am thinking 1/2" trim with maybe a 3/8" quarter round with bead on both
sides to mimic the doors. In order to do this with speed. I would prepaint
the trim, scribe it and hang it with 23g pins

To make matters worse, time is seriously of the essence. I take possession
of my new house in a little over three weeks and I really need to get this
done ASAP!

Finishing the kitchen is one of the many jobs that needed to be done last
month .

HELP!

David



I used to sell kitchen cabinets, and in my experience talking to
installers, your gaps are not unusual. AAMOF, it was pretty much the
same in my house when we redid the kitchen a year or so ago. Generally,
just a thin, flat molding is used around the tops of the cabinets, If
you try to get too fancy, you will accentuate the problem by drawing
attention to it.

Here is the good news and the bad news: The bad news is no matter what
you do, YOU will always notice this problem. The good news is that as
long as you cover up the gaps unobtrusively, no one else will.