How to Install Kitchen Cabinets: Finding a Level Reference Point

By Leslie A.M.
RefacingCabinet.com Columnist

Perhaps you aren't planning to store marbles in your kitchen cabinets, but it is still of paramount importance that your cabinets are level. The carnival funhouse look went out ages ago!

Avoid Kitchen Cabinet Repair Down the Road

As you prepare for your kitchen renovations, patch any holes in the walls and sand down any rough spots. Then, locate and mark all of your wall studs. Locating studs is extremely important for wall cabinet installation, as they hold the weight of dishes and canned goods.

Kitchen Tune Up: Is Your Floor Level?

When you have a cleared kitchen ready for your handiwork, put a two-by-four-inch board on the floor against the wall where the new cabinets are going to be installed. Place your level on top of that. As you move the two-by-four across the floor, determine whether your floor is completely level. If not, mark where you find the highest point. The highest point is your "level reference point"--the bottom of your cabinets should run along that point on the wall.

Mark a line across the whole wall as your level reference point--probably not too much higher than your floor. You should be able to fill the space with a shim or two. Then, measure 34.5 inches up from there to determine where the top of your cabinets should be. That line is your "base cabinet reference line."

Stock Kitchen Cabinets Measure Up

From your base cabinet reference line, measure up 19.5 inches. At that point, install one-by-three-inch ledger board where your wall cabinets can temporarily rest while you install them.

Installing kitchen cabinets is easy when you know how to measure correctly.

About The Author

Leslie A.M. Smith is a freelance writer who desperately needs a new kitchen. Until she can afford it, she has her eye on refacing her cabinets.