Expert Tips for Flawless Cabinet Installation on Uneven Walls

[@EricGebhard]

Very good topic and nicely explained. Getting the rails installed correctly is the most important step when it comes to installing an IKEA kitchen. That means making sure they are level and just as import, flat.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Well said!

[@NOELTM]

I live in a 160 year old home, no part of the walls are flat, ie left to right needs shimming and also the bottom of the wall is further forward than the top, so the walls lean back. I found it important not only to do what you have shown here for the horizontal axis but also to check the vertical axis too. I ended up removing the white plastic spacer blocks on some of the base cabinets as they pushed the cabinet out to far vertically, keeping in mind the rail is already 6mm shimmed out for the horizontal adjustment! For the shims I bought a bag of "window frame spacers" or "glazing spacers" which are recycled plastic spacers of various thickness going from 1mm to 6mm. They are each coloured differently so you can easily identify the thicknesses when trying the shim to see the effect it has on the rail alignment and you can combine them to any thickness. I took note of the screws you mentioned here and in other videos, and used smt similar from a company called SPAX. Thank you for making these videos. I have found your tips and guidance/advice to be really helpful as I continue to make my IKEA kitchen.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thanks, Noel. I appreciate your valued input. I always remove the white plastic spacer for all base cabinets and the high cabinets too. The fact that Ikea even add those for the lower cabinets tells me that they indeed live in a perfect square world 😁

[@keska01]

@@kitchensbyrannes interesting topic! but you would only remove the white spacers for the top cabinets if they make the top cabinets stick out too much? Do you have a video where you show how you check if the top cabinets are perfectly 'leveled" vertically and horizontally?

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Nope, no video on that. There's only so many ways to hold a level 😀

[@keska01]

😄

[@martycochrane3717]

This was amazing, thankyou. One thing I wondered though was, when you installed the counter top after this I'm assuming at both ends you had quite a gap to the wall. From the video it looked like about a fingers width. What strategies do you use to cover up this gap?

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thanks 😊 For that I have no strategy since I'm not installing the countertop 🤣 The client wanted laminate and the installer actually did a decent job. A lot of scribing 😱

[@martycochrane3717]

Thank you for the reply. I fear I have a lot of scribing to do too 😅

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Just do it 😂

[@maradonasssssss]

If you have a 5 meter kitchen how would you check that the wall is even? Do you use a longer steel to check the wall? Cause if you use a 2.5 meter rail to check a long wall it's very hard to make straight cabinets from end to start

[@kitchensbyrannes]

You still use the rail for checking. Just do it in increments and let the rail slide across..it should remain flat on the wall as you move it along.

[@maradonasssssss]

@kitchensbyrannes did it. It's a must to straighten the wall before you hung the cabs

[@parasher212]

Thanks for replying to my comment. I thought I had deleted it. Yes. I am unable to remove the skirting board, so I cut 1.5 cms of the bottom part of side panels and secured it with a piece of melamine as backing of 15 cms. to retain the strength of the cabinet and kept rest of mdf backing in the groove. It worked out to be OK.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Great 👍 Feel free to share what you did with fellow DIYs. Your solution to this common problem may be useful to others. kitchensbyrannes.com/share/

[@Michael_Courtney]

Thank you for your very informative videos. I recently had a problem with a pantry cabinet cover panel. I haven't seen any videos that address it. Basically...you can scribe to the wall. Fine. but what if the floor and ceiling aren't straight? You can take measurements at the front/back.....if the ceiling floor slopes consistently..but if not...tricky!

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thanks 🙏 Panels. Yes, I haven't made a real informative video on those yet. Here's a few pointers. I never run the panel to the ceiling. Only to the top of the cabinet. If I run a panel to the floor, I never cut it at the floor. Panels are made from either MDF or particle board an both will ruin if water gets to a end that has been cut. If the floor is uneven and the panels isn't following the floor, so be it. I know that some installers seal the cut and caulk along the floor, but I don't. I don't trust it will last.

[@shirravanzwieten2315]

Another great video! We have a peninsula similar to this starting with the lazy Susan corner cabinet. Did you add the MDF strip behind the short section in the corner cabinet? Or just attach the back panel through the solid back of the corner cabinet and the next cabinet?

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thanks, again 🙏 There are no strips needed on this cabinet if the back panel sits on the right side of the corner.

[@BALLOOROOM]

Everything goes easy if the walls and floor are made level, always interesting to see techniques to achieve that. What is the brand/model of that stud finder you're using - I like it!

[@NOELTM]

I use a 40 x 40 x 20 mm strong Neodymium Magnet - easily available from the major online stores, slide it over the wall and it will find the fasteners under the plaster, it does not need batteries and is relatively cheap. Keep it away from your watch though - these are strong magnets!

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thanks for the tip. I tried that....it works but too time consuming for me.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thank you for your comment. This is the one I use: amzn.to/3KxSFEB (affiliate link).

[@BALLOOROOM]

@@kitchensbyrannes Thank you. Have you done a video on installing LILLVIKEN water trap? It does cause a bit of confusion for us UK customers resulting in some brutal reviews because of leaks. Is it supposed to be solvent welded? We normally use a plastic compression fitting with a kind of o ring that slides over the waste pipe. Thanks again for your quality videos.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

You're welcome. No, no video on Lillviken. If I install a sink, which is not happening often, I'm not doing the plumbing bit. Not insured for such activities ☺️🙏

[@keska01]

such a great video again! I also wondered: will the quartz not be lifted by those metal rails and screws reducing the contact with the cabinet ?

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thanks. No. The quartz countertop will rest on the metal rails going across and then be secured with silicone from below.

[@keska01]

@@kitchensbyrannes I was wondering how strong these metal rails could be 😳 But I’m sure ikea has done lots of research one this 😜

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Don't count on that 🤣 Ikea has a bracket (Fixa) for that purpose.

[@MotoBuilder]

Great video. What do you think about plastic shims? I have them in thicknesses from 1-5 mm, and they have cutouts for screws

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Hey, thanks for checking out the video! Plastic shims are absolutely perfect, especially if you have some already. Go for it!

[@michaelm7250]

That is an awesome stud finder. Where do you get it in Canada?

[@kitchensbyrannes]

I'm not sure where I bought mine, I've seen the stud finder at Canadian Tire.

[@martycurtis7090]

Thanks for doing all these videos to show us non pro's "how to", they've been super helpful. Question: how would you deal with a long bank of base cabinets on an uneven wall (in two places actually) that meets a corner that is >90

[@kitchensbyrannes]

You're welcome, Marty. Thanks again for thinking about my older days and supporting my retirement fund. In your kitchen, I would start by ensuring that the long line of base cabinets is straight and then deal with the corner issue. The 38x38 corner isn't great for that, so I would prefer the 47" long corner, as the filler in the corner will take care of the corner opening up. If you have the 38x38.....You will have to add shims when hanging the rail on the short side of the L-shape. But do it in steps. Long line first with the corner as the first, then start building the short leg out and adjust the rail with shims as you move along. I hope it makes sense.

[@edgar9651]

Before I put the rail up, I put screws in the left and right corner and then I pulled a string between those screws. With that I could clearly see and measure the size of the necessary shims. In my case the whole wall was uneven by up to maybe 7mm.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thank you for your input. That will only work if the wall is concave. If your wall have a bump between the two endpoints, the string sits on it.

[@edgar9651]

@@kitchensbyrannes It works, but a little different. The screws are not fully screwed into the wall. That allows me to pull a string which might be 10mm away from the wall on one side, then barely touch the wall somewhere in the middle, and on the other side it's maybe another 5mm. IMHO the advantage is that I have the full width covered with one string - even if it is multiple times longer than the rail.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Ah, I see. If course 😄

[@maradonasssssss]

I will do this as i have a length of 5 meters, any advice? I already have the rail up but it is uneven. Should i leave the strinf 5 cm for example from the wall and make sure the rail is 4cm from the string at all places?​@edgar9651

[@sybaseguru]

Hope your electrical wires to sockets are not going down - you just went thru one at the far end.

[@kitchensbyrannes]

Thank you for your concern. I'm not sure what you mean, but if you suggest that I put a screw in a wire, I can assure you that it didn't happen.