On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 17:56:31 GMT, ".HMFIC@1369" My
wrote:

Thanks! I still consider that the gap would allow trim and "possibly" make
it "fancier" looking or may not. I'm more of a nut's and bolts type and the
cleats, well for no real reason seem like "possibly more work I assume
though the Cleats must be flush, level straight and true to the Wall and
Cabinet. before mounting the cabinets. The one problem I see right now is
that I can only get 18 inch length's of metal cleats. Having 5 or 10'
lengths for the Wall would save me a great deal of work making sure it's
true. I saw an episode on Bob Villa's a while back where his cabinets had
what looked to be two long cleats running across the length of the wall
making it just like racking the cabinets in... Instead of having to do every
18 inches or so.....

Not sure what kind of woodworking equipment you've got, but you can
make your own cleats out of hardwood but cutting a mitered corner
along the edge of a piece of timber on your table saw... Then you
don't have to worry about what lengths are sold commerically. My only
caveat here is that I've always felt that the main value of cleats is
that they will support a heavy object in a wall with too few studs by
evenly distributing the wieght over several points, thereby reducing
the wieght that each screw is required to support. If you have the
option to attach your cabinets to directly to the studs, I can't see a
compelling reason to use cleats.

If you're considering just using the commerically available cleats for
convieniance's sake, there are several models of laser levels on the
market, and some of them are pretty inexpensive, though you can expect
to do a little work getting them set up. I've got a $20 version for
hanging pictures, and it actually works ok, provided you take the time
to make sure it is adjusted properly. While it isn't very classy, it
would work just fine for installing cleats.





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