Cabinetry Installation Schedules... You've Got To Be Flexible

In my last post, I told you a little about a Kitchen Cabinet Installation
my partner and I just started in Rialto, California. I told you about
some challenges we encountered... but I didn't reveal how we overcame
them.

Well, I planned on giving this insight along with an update on the job but...
As eluded to in this post's title, you have to be flexible when it comes to
cabinetry installation schedules. (Or any construction schedule for that matter).

I was on my way to the jobsite when... I received a call from my partner, Ovidio.
(Yeah, that's kind of a strange name... my partner is originally from Cuba. He's
a real great guy and a lot of fun to work with! Even though his English is great, we
have great laughs whenever he comes up with a pronunciation of a word that's not
quite right... Think Ricky Ricardo and you get the idea!)

Anyway, Ovidio called me to let me know we had to abandon our plans to continue
the installation (for the day). It seems some other trade needed to be in "Our" = )
space. That being the case, he decided to postpone the installation and bang out
some more work in the shop.

Now that you know "the skinny"... Let's talk about how we overcame the issue I
presented in my last post. You'll recall that the wall-to-wall dimension shrunk by
almost an inch from what was on our original plan and what we built the cabinetry to.

We leave an "ear" on our face-frames whenever possible. By that I mean that our face-frame
is wider than the cabinet box it is attached to. We typically leave 1/4" protruding on
any cabinet which will attach to another and 1/2" on any face-frame which will terminate
to a wall. This "ear" (or overhang, or protrusion, or whatever makes sense to you) gives
two benefits...

First, it allows you to trim them down in order to shrink the overall width of the installed cabinetry... and Second, it allows you to "scribe" the Stiles tight to the untrue walls.

We thought about trying to take the entire inch needed in this manner but decided not to.
Some of the Stiles would have been left too skinny. The cabinetry would have fit... but it
wouldn't have looked right.

Instead, we took a more primitive route. In the left corner, where the wall-angle was
way off 90 degrees, the cabinet box was tight to the corner but the face-frame was still
a litle more than 5/8" away from the wall. We decided to cut the offending drywall out
of that area which allowed the cabinet to shift left the thickness of the drywall (5/8").

We gained the remaining distance by cutting off about 3/8" off the Stile which abutts the
right wall. With these two procedures, we got back what we needed.

Well, gotta run back to the jobsite again... Keep on the lookout for more updates as time allows!

Take care,

Kevin

P.S. I've started a Kitchen Cabinetry Installation: Photo Series on a Secret Webpage. It
was especially designed for subscribers of my Free Mini-Course. If you're interested in
Building Cabinets, go to: http://www.thecabinetguyonline.com and grab the Mini-Course
for yourself!