On Friday, December 4, 2015 at 12:11:13 AM UTC-6, -MIKE- wrote:

You have some good instruction from others, so just consider this another "look". Strictly my opinions. Remember, my business is built on speed, dash and accuracy. I give my clients what they want, but in my business I rarely have a "sky's the limit" customer, so all methods are adjusted accordingly.

French cleats are a great concept an I've made and used them, but I
would never try them for more than a few cabinets.

I hate permanent cleats, and interlocking/French/San Diego style cleats even more. Not worth the time, effort or tomfoolery needed to put them into operation.


The big downfall of the a cleat hanging system is the inability to shim.
If you needed to shim the cabinet out from the wall at the top, it
would raise the cabinet due to the bevel in the cleat. In order for the
cabinet to come out, it has to also go up on the bevel.

Since I have yet to meet a wall that was perfectly straight and plumb,
that leaves me with the singular option of somehow shimming the cleat
perfectly straight.
In the time in takes me to do all this accommodation for a cleat system,
I'd have the cabinets hung. :-)

Maybe...

This is what I do, YMMV. I rarely ever run into a nice straight wall, or a wall that is properly framed, or one that hasn't had the framing layout modified to accommodate plumbing, electric, venting, etc.

So I do this: I push all the bottom cabs together and measure to make sure they won't need any modifications or extras to determine the final layout of the uppers. When I am satisfied with my measurements, I lay out the cabinets on the wall where they will be hung, and pop lines that are level and plumb according to the correct measurements.

Then I cover the areas to be covered with 1/2" plywood, all cuts about 3/8" short. Glue the ply with PL400, and screw to any available studs or other framing members. I only do this to the uppers, so it doesn't take long. Then I screw 12" pieces of 2X4 between the adjoining carcasses lined up on the previously mentioned chalk line as a removable cleat.

While I certainly get a great deal of the hanging screws into wall stud, if I miss (or if it is intended) I get a good bite into plywood. I put a string line across the face of the cabinets, and shim accordingly after I get a couple of screws in to hold the cabs in place. With the short cleats, I can shim the cabinet stiles to make a perfect joint then screw them together, and have hard backing (the plywood) to put large shims in to hold them in place.

To clarify, I don't actually use shims, and don't like those either for most work. A shim only supports that little area it immediately touches and can distend or warp the shimmed project later on. It takes me seconds to go outside and cut myself a handful of wedges from a clean 2X4. My typical wedges are about 12 to 16 inches long, and from 3/8" or 1/4" to 0". I slide those behind the abutting carcasses to get both sides braced at the same time, and secure the faces. I shoot a brad through the cabinets in either side of the bottoms to hold the wedge/shim in place. Remove the 12" cleats one at a time and shim the backs of the cabinets (if needed) against the plywood backing. LONG wedges make the cabinet install really solid and even with 42" cabinets will almost completely stop all flex. Buzz off all the wedges with the oscillator.

If you are attaching a tile/marble backsplash directly onto the sheetrock, your tiles will fit neatly under the backs of the cabinets. If you are going to mount a backer boards, you can run that up to the bottom of the cabinet and set your tile on top of that finishing under the cabinets. If it is backer for tile that is going to have a post form top, then I run the backer board behind the backs of the base cabs by about 2 inches to make a better looking finish detail.

It sounds like more work than it is. I have experimented with a lot of different methods and technologies and this works best for me. And even if it is a bit more time up front, you can dial in the wedges so well that even the nastiest walls can have nearly perfectly straight cabs on them. Any by hanging them this way, I eliminate "those doors that don't line up right because the walls are so twisted" and have found that lining doors is almost eliminated.

If I have the luxury (and money in the project to redo all the sheetrock, I do as Karly has shown and block out the whole wall so every screw is a winner. But after that it is long wedge and stringline time for me when hanging.

Robert