My talls have a narrow scribe on the sides where they meet the wall. It not only helps make sure they are straight since most walls are not perfectly straight or perpendicular, but it also makes sure you have clearance for doors to open without rubbing the wall. The cabinet doors won't need much, but make sure the freezer door will have enough room to open fully. That's a fairly common oversight.

Thanks Lascatx. Because the alcove is only 18" deep, the doors won't have any clearance problems (the cabinets are 25" deep). Does your narrow scribe die into a crown molding at the top? If so, how does that look?

I'm not sure why a scribe was a bad suggestion? It's normal and recommended for properly fitting cabinets to a wall. But I'm also confused about how 24" deep cabinets go in an 18" deep alcove, so maybe I'm not understanding what the situation is.

The scribe runs right up the side of the cabinet and behind the crown the same as the cabinet boxes. It just looks like part of the cabinet. You really don't notice it. All three places I have scribe are ends of runs that meet walls. I don't have any corners -- just three straight walls and lots of doorways. I just found one spot that I would have cut differently up near the crown, but if I haven't seen it in two plus years, it can't be all that bad.

Keep in mind that your doors also need to clear any trim, such as baseboards, that might wrap around. How are you finishing the sides?

Also keep in mind that if you try to make the fit exact, you will almost certainly wind up with a scratched cabinet and/or freezer. If you are lucky, the scratches will only be in the back part where they don't show, but you could also get the walls of the alcove scratched or dinged. I'd almost rather the scribe be a width that looks intentional than so tiny it looks like it is trying to fill a gap and so nary it is more likely to crack or split. A 3/4" scribe would be the same as the walls and door thickness of most cabinets. It seems like anything less than 1/2" could be hard to deal with.

The cabinets aren't fully recessed into the alcove. Here's a picture of where they're going. They will protrude about 7" from the alcove into the kitchen. When I spoke to the KD about it some time ago, she said they shouldn't need any molding where the wall and the cabinet side meet.

I'm really not sure what to do at this point because the cabinets have been delivered and if I wanted them to make me matching scribe scrip, I'm not sure how it could be shipped (ie. 9 ft x 1/2" cove). The walls are down to the studs. Is it impossible to make the new drywall plumb enough for a tight fit? I really know very little about finish carpentry so I have no idea what's possible and what's asking for the moon.

What if they installed skins to the cabinet sides after installation? These skins would get scribed to the wall surface, instead of just a little strip. They typically are used to finish out cabinet sides, because face frames are 3/16 proud of the side panels. Or, install the cabinet, then drywall up to it. Or, use a casing to go to the cabinet (or any other molding of your choice that is larger than scribe, hence more intentional-looking.)
Casey

Oh Casey, skins would have been the way to go! But I can't do that now because the cabinets are finished on the sides so the face frame is fully flush with side like a piece of furniture. Why didn't I think of that before the cabinets were ordered?!

OK. Now here's the dilemma. As you can see in the picture above there's very little space between the door frames and where the cabinets will begin. I plan on replacing the frames with simpler, narrower ones, but I still don't think I'll have enough room for a piece of molding big enough to look intentional. I have to call the KD tomorrow to find out what they normally do. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks.

Are the doors remaining in place? With that trim around them? I think you may be able to work with that, and I am assuming that your oven cabinet has finished sides, but what are you doing to finish the side of the freezer? Don't you have a panel to cover that? That may give you enough to adjust on the left, but I'm not sure what you will do if the wall on the right is not flush with the side of your cabinet.

Yes, the doors are staying where they are but the trim will be narrower. I had intended on keeping the doors and trim white; the cabinets are quarter sawn white oak so whatever scribe I do will match the cabinets but not the door trim. The freezer is built in (Thermador tower) so what we're really dealing with is two tall cabinets.

As I said before, the kitchen's been demo'd to the studs so the space can be made to accomodate the cabinets exactly but I'm sure you'd still have a slight gap (1/8-3/16") that needs to be dealt with. The KD seemed to think that my GC could make them fit just right. I don't know if she was thinking about feathering with spackle or what. I'll call her tomorrow and see. But the more I think about it the more it seems to me that some kind of trim will be necessary. My GC is pretty creative, so I'll also see what he says tomorrow. Wish I'd talked to Casey in October.

I have that freezer, so I know what it is like -- built-in yes, but not finished on the side. Do you have a panel for the side? That may fill the need of a scribe. If not, you have another issue -- the raw metal side of that thing that is intended to be sitting hidden next to the side of a cabinet while yours will be sticking out in front of the alcove walls. The freezer is not a cabinet -- it is an unfinished appliance. It would be like having your DW sticking out in front of your cabinets. I'm not sure if you are getting that.

Lascatx, thanks for the info but no worries here. The whole cabinet sticks out from the alcove...the freezer will be inside the cabinet, the cabinet side is finished. So, imagine a wall that ends in the middle of the cabinet side. What would be the best way to trim that should there be any gaps? I was thinking that the best solution (now that I can't use Casey's) would be to paint whatever trim I use the same color as the wall so that it just blends in. Anyone think that sounds ok?

put the cabs in , hang & finish the drywall after.

Thanks Antss...that's exactly what my contractor told me he was going to do when I talked to him this morning. It never occurred to me...to bad I didn't see your post before I spoke to him; I'd have looked so clever!

If your wall is not level, I'm not sure it can be flush without a piece of scribe there. The cabinet MUST be plumb. If your wall is not, then they need to use some scribe molding there. We have a 2" gap behind our cabinet. My cabinet company is sending me pieces of wood for this very purpose. Don't worry about it-- it sounds like he is doing it right.

We had quite a morning dealing with floor/wall issues-- I was expecting them (and so was the GC), but it was shocking to see just how much my floor dips.

Oh Danielle, do we know all about dipping floors. When they tried to level our floor, which runs down hill and dips in the middle, it would have raised the floor in the alcove (which sits in the middle on the low end of the kitchen) 4"! Our wall cabinets would not have fit! I nearly fainted. We decided to take out most of the *belly* and let it continue to run downhill. These little *near misses* are making me crazy. Hope you got yours sorted out.