Cabinet installation can make or break your entire kitchen remodel. If you live out near the Neo-Traditional neighborhoods or in an older home around downtown Broken Arrow, you already know our local foundations and walls are not always perfectly square. That makes putting up cabinets a real headache if you do not know what you are getting into. Alpha Kitchen Solutions will break down what you need to know before, during, and after hanging those boxes.
Before You Pick Up a Drill
Planning is very important. Do not just rip your old cabinets off the wall and hope for the best. You need to check your walls for plumb and your floors for level. Around here, shifting clay soils can cause older homes to settle, throwing off wall angles by half an inch or more. If you miss that during prep, your doors will not hang right.
- Order your cabinets only after final field measurements are locked in.
- Locate every stud and mark them clearly on the drywall.
- Clear out the entire room so you have space to stage boxes without tripping over them.
Alpha Kitchen Solutions sees homeowners try to shortcut the layout phase all the time. Draw your level reference lines around the entire perimeter of the kitchen. Trust your laser level, not your eye.
During the Install: DIY or Pro?
Hanging uppers by yourself is a difficult job. If you have a helper, a sturdy T-support prop, and patience, you can tackle the upper and lower boxes. Start with the uppers so you do not reach over your lower cabinets while working. Secure them directly into the wall studs using proper structural screws, never just drywall anchors.
Where you should draw the line and call a professional is scribing end panels to wavy walls, handling heavy pantry towers, or dealing with tricky corner cabinet lazy Susans that require custom filler strips. If your house has plaster walls or severe settling, a professional installer will save you days of frustration and ensure your doors actually close properly.
After the Dust Settles
Once the boxes are screwed together and leveled, you are still not done. Adjusting European hinges takes a gentle touch and a bit of tweaking. Do not tighten everything down and walk away. Open and close every single door and drawer twice.
Check your hardware alignment and make sure your countertops have a solid, level surface to rest on once your fabricator shows up. Wipe down the interiors, vacuum out the sawdust, and step back. Alpha Kitchen Solutions provides cabinet installation services for homes in Broken Arrow, OK.