Fitted cabinet construction

[TheTiddles]

I'm soon to start on a fitted unit for our spare beroom, it's going to run the entire length of the room (9') be about 14" deep and floor to ceiling, the ceiling being the 40 degrees or so slope of the garage roof starting about 2' up the wall, not that the dimensions are critical to the question which is...

Given that I'm using faceframe constuction, what's the best way to construct the back units?

Option 1 - is the cheapest, sheet uprights bolted to wall, floor and ceiling so the shelves are sitting between them, so the wall is visible through the back and the chipboard floor is underneath the bottom shelf, sounds ugly.

Option 2 - Make each cupboard like a kitchen unit with a structural base and sides, a thin back then join them together and to the wall before fitting the frame on the front.

The bottom edge will have a skirting board on it and the new carpet will fit up to that, the face frame will be beech probaly 2" wide and 1" thick is enough?

Presumably these are the only two options unless there are any other ideas?

Aidan

 

[cambournepete]

Great question - I need to do the same, so also interested in answers.
Current thought is your option 1 as it's easier and reasonably effective.
With the doors shut you wont see the wall anyway...

Re the doors - how are you planning to construct them, and why not sliding doors?

 

[petermillard]

Not sure I understand about the slope of the ceiling (seems to start kind of low…) but either option will work, though option1 will only work well if the back wall is dead flat - otherwise you have to scribe the shelves and uprights to fit the contours of the wall (which is a lot of work in a floor-to-ceiling unit), use a ton of caulk, or just accept the the back of the units will be a bit 'gappy'. You'll also have to do more of the construction and fitting onsite with this approach.

I think option 2 is your best bet. I usually make these as separate cabinets with a back to them, on adjustable feet (kitchen cabinet style) so they're easy to true up. I try to keep the base of the cabs at the same height as the existing skirting; end units are screwed to the walls and the in-between units are screwed to each other - I don't usually fix to the back wall as once it's screwed at the ends it's not moving anywhere - though you need to remember to allow a bit of wiggle room lengthwise for out of true walls.

Face frame can be glued and pinned to the cabs if it's a paint finish, dominoes (or something else) if it's stained or waxed, and obviously scribed to the walls and ceiling. Plinth or skirting hides the feet.

Another option is to build a platform at skirting height, then secure the separate cabinets to that - it does away with the adjustable feet, but if it's floor-to-ceiling it shouldn't matter.

Lots of ways to skin a cat, but #2 on adjustable feet is how I prefer to do it in the mostly Victorian houses I work in; the bulk of the construction is done in the workshop, so the fitting is much quicker - less disruption for the customer, and easier for me too

HTH, Pete

 

[Chems]

I wouldn't do option 1 as nothing will fit if the floors and walls aren't 100% square. Better off to do it how kitchens are made.

 

[TheTiddles]

Interesting, I hadn't thought of the need to compensate for the floor, walls and ceiling yes, but floor no. It's a new build so the floor is probably flat but I'll check, the flat platform is an idea though, I could use http://www.screwfix.com/prods/36145...t-Fittings/Kitchen-Plinth-Feet-Set-Pack-of-40 to put down a flat base then put the uprights on it, might be overkill though, I like it!

Aidan

 

[BradNaylor]

These sort of jobs are my bread and butter, and agree totally with Peter.

Make individual cabinets like a kitchen and level them on plastic legs. For a bedroom I would use 100mm legs as 150mm looks a little high IMO.

Cheers
Brad

 

[ajmoran]

I'll pile in on option 2, only adding that you may want to consider a 15/18mm back rather than a thinner back. Reason being that you can fix a thicker back to the sides easily with your choice of screws/pockets/biscuits/dominos rather than grooving to hold a thin panel. A thick back also gives you more options for the interior fit out (e.g. use it to support shelves).

Cheers
Andrew

 

[misterfish]

It's a new build so the floor is probably flat but I'll check
Aidan

Do check - even new houses where things seem flat often slope a bit, a few mm here and there are not obvious until you start checking with levels and straight edges. The first new house we bought had an obvious slope in part of one of the bedroom floors. We got it checked and were told that it was within specification.

Misterfish

 

[jasonB]

I'd go for making it as a set of carcases and then fitting a FF to it.

Quite often on builtins I make a base from 38x63 CLS, one length back & front and a short one front to back under each vertical. This can then be shimmed level before fixing to the floor. Its also easier to slide large carcases about on a base like this than trying to move on adj legs. If you do go with adj legs you can get shorter (100mm) ones which may suit your skirting height better.

Jason

 

[CNC Paul]

Aiden

I use a slighty different construction method because I hate those plastic legs. My carcase sides and back panel start at floor level, I usually screw the backs onto the sides, if your finish is polished you might find that 6mm veneered back is nearly the cost of 18mm so keep it all the same thickness.
I have front and back rails between the sides with a loose base, this is very handy for leveling with packers/wedges or metal adjustable legs.

The front frames are aligned with domino/biscuits and fixed with pocket screws. The skirting is fixes from the inside which helps if the job is polished as you have no fixings showing.

I am not sure what you mean by the slope ?

 

[xy mosian]

A long time since I did anything like this this, and always went with some variation on the pre-built cabinet option. I often wondered if anything nasty was happening between the outside of the cabinet and the inside of the house wall, in the cavities.

xy

 

[matt]

I'd go for making it as a set of carcases and then fitting a FF to it.

Quite often on builtins I make a base from 38x63 CLS, one length back & front and a short one front to back under each vertical. This can then be shimmed level before fixing to the floor. Its also easier to slide large carcases about on a base like this than trying to move on adj legs. If you do go with adj legs you can get shorter (100mm) ones which may suit your skirting height better.

Jason

Another vote for this approach having also built directly in to a wall space in the past too. You can fit adjustable legs to the plinth instead of using shims but the former is more about convenience rather than being any more effective.

 

[TheTiddles]

Aiden

I use a slighty different construction method because I hate those plastic legs. My carcase sides and back panel start at floor level, I usually screw the backs onto the sides, if your finish is polished you might find that 6mm veneered back is nearly the cost of 18mm so keep it all the same thickness.
I have front and back rails between the sides with a loose base, this is very handy for leveling with packers/wedges or metal adjustable legs.

The front frames are aligned with domino/biscuits and fixed with pocket screws. The skirting is fixes from the inside which helps if the job is polished as you have no fixings showing.

I am not sure what you mean by the slope ?

Thanks everyone, looks like two, three or four carcase units then. I don't have a biscuit jointer (I use a cutter in the router which won't do on this job) and obviously not a domino so it's pocket screws and more screws for me here, still the finish has to be spot on as it's in my house. I've used acrylic eggshell on MDF before and was pretty happy with that so I'm thinking the same again with lightly stained (chestnutty) beech for the frame and doors. The doors will be pre-veneered beech MDF with a hardwood lipping which I'm getting fairly adept at doing these days, a rough calculation says there will be 4 each a quarter sheet which is handy.

Paul, the images you show are exactly it, only the slope starts about 2' off the floor as it's a room above the garage, my garage, let me say that again MY garage... still getting used to that!

The plastic legs look good, once the units are in and secured they are presumbaly only in compression so they don't have any wobble if you've done it properly I guess?

I also like the thick back, dust back grooves in MDF are rubbish, I was going to add a hardwood slip to take the groove if I had to but a thick piece with yet more screws sounds easier.

The "false" bottom on the cabinets is a good idea too, I'd thought of that as a usefull way to acess the floor if necessary and as a nice safe place to keep things.

The overall look we're thinking of at the moment is something like the vertical wall being brought out 18" and the face frame appearing to be just attached to a flat wall and the cupbpards are inside that, not sure about it when I say it like that :?

Once again the collective knowledge of the forum is appreciated

Aidan

 

[9fingers]

Aidan,

You are welcome to borrow my biscuit jointer (Bosch blue one) if you want to. I'm not planning to use it for a while now.

Let me know.

Cheers

Bob

 

[jasonB]

You can also use a straight 4mm bit for the parts the router slot cutter won't do.

Jason

 

[Chems]

You can have mine an all now I have a domino.

 

[TheTiddles]

Aidan,

You are welcome to borrow my biscuit jointer (Bosch blue one) if you want to. I'm not planning to use it for a while now.

Let me know.

Cheers

Bob

Oh you're a gent, truly you are! I'll let you know when I get into it, thanks

Aidan

 

[wizer]

the garage, my garage, let me say that again MY garage... still getting used to that!

What on earth is wrong with you man? Garage? Garage? What's one of those? Garages are for storing Junk....

:roll:

 

[Dave S]

A b it late on this, but just to say that I built wardrobes using the carcase method following advice on here from Jason and others. Face frame biscuited on. I found it fairly straightforward and would do the same again with one difference:

I used adjustable legs and found it very difficult to adjust the rear legs reaching under the wardrobe - the gap was tight and the wardrobe was heavy! It was also awkward lifting the unit up onto the legs due to the weight.

Another time I will use a plinth of cls as Jason described.

cheers
Dave

 

[wizer]

I forgot to say, this was the first big woodworking project I did. The Hook, you might say. It was a long low unit for the conservatory. I built it in three units with double doors and 18mm throughout. The top was 25mm Ply with 6mm veneered top, trimmed with solid beech. The cabinet was painted with Dulux Trade Eggshell. I was dead chuffed with it, probably my best work to date.