Do I need a carpenter or a handyman to install three upper cabinets?

6 years ago

Can anyone make any recommendations for assembling and installing cabinets? We're doing a very minor remodel, including installing three new upper cabinets. I don't think it will take more than a few hours to install three upper cabinets, but I'm trying to get a sense of how much that will cost and whether a handyman can do the work, rather than someone who's a full-blown carpenter. Keep in mind, I am very handy and could potentially do some of the work myself (for example, I can definitely take down the existing cabinets before the pro shows up). Any thoughts or tips?

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Jennifer K

6 years ago

I just installed a run of Ikea uppers in my sewing room. It was time-consuming but straightforward. When I do my laundry-room it will go much more quickly. Other systems may be less DIY friendly.

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Comments (8)

User
6 years ago
How many levels, clamps, and shims do you own?
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rantontoo
6 years ago
What kind of assembling? It is my understanding that most rta cabs are meant to be diy. Can you handle the assembly also?

You will have to ask the handyman you are considering whether hanging cabs is in his/her skill set. There is skill involved with that unless you are ok with a hack job. My handyman hung cabs in my whole kitchen, and he is meticulous.
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As the owner of a kitchen with no uppers at all, my answer to the OP is that upper cabinets they won't be making a comeback because they've never gone anywhere -- except for those of us who don't care for them. I have open shelving, open plateracks and open space. We had uppers in the previous kitchen and I couldn't wait to get rid of them. Now I don't need to climb to get anything and I don't have doors opening into my face. No dust or grease collects on anything that's out because I use it and therefore I wash it. OTOH, I don't have any "displays," gimcracks, or cats. Many here find animals walking around on kitchen counters to be normal and endearing but I don't. Basically, I don't see a need for the tone of dismissiveness about kitchens without uppers -- as if it's some elite plot that "normal" people wouldn't be involved in. It isn't useful or informed. All of us have opinions, naturally. Trends come and go. But if someone was to air views about all the look-alike white kitchens, or how ridiculous it was for someone to put a crystal chandelier in a gas-stove kitchen because it would get greasy, or snipe at less than perfectly matched counters and backsplashes, it wouldn't be any more helpful than this thread is. My mother had a great saying about overdone houses (or kitchens for that matter). She used to say "you never want your house to look like your life began the day you met your decorator." And, since Mom is gone (may she rest in peace) and since many of us aren't in a position to hire a decorator (though nice if you can) let me rephrase for modern times: You don't want your kitchen to look like the last magazines, website or blog you read. Or the last picture you saw on GW. Or, maybe you do.
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Keep working on him. I am more convinced than ever that that is the direction I am heading. I even got a price on new windows yesterday. I may put a few uppers on the range wall but I have not made up my mind. My DH was all about having more and more storage with no real plan for what we would put in there. When I actually looked around, I realized that most of the stuff in the upper cabinets on the sink wall were going to be living somewhere else in the new kitchen. I think the little things I have done that have improved our house have helped my DH trust me a little more. We took down the wall between the kitchen and family room after much complaining from him about "taking down a perfectly good wall". Now, we cannot imagine our house without it. I bought a 36'' Liebherr and DH said "Have I told you how much I love the fridge?". I told him no just to hear him say it again. He sees how much bigger the kitchen is without the giant monster fridge. Just keep throwing some great looking inspiration pictures his way. My DH has come a long way. Best of luck.
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Sorry about that -- wrong link. Duh! The corrected link is below. I also meant to say in my earlier message that I love your choices. They do all have silver in them, so I think they will look lovely together. The reason I suggested the other glass knob is that it's something that you would have seen in same era as your other knob choices (I think). But your glass knob is nice too! joyce Here is a link that might be useful: Traditional Glass Knob
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It's so interesting to read this (but I truly am sorry for your plight) because I JUST had a conversation with some good friends about this. I'm thinking of redoing the cabinets in my kitchen. My friends and I have shared trades people - they recommended a wonderful man who is a cabinet maker but also makes these exquisite clear vertical grain cedar screen doors. $$$, but so top quality. After I saw theirs, I had him make one for me and, oh my, he is a perfectionist - furniture quality screen door that closes gently, no slamming required. He took it home to microplane it a few times to get it exact. Wonderful finish. He and I talked about my kitchen cabinets and after the gorgeous screen door, I told my friends I was thinking of hiring him to do the kitchen. "Oh no, he is a nut case." They think he's really over the top on the perfectionism and would NEVER be able to finish a kitchen - nothing would ever be perfect enough. They suggested a cabinet maker who did my bathroom cabinets and on my recommendation built a window seat for them. Gorgeous things all. But I then hired him to redo a second bathroom and he totally flaked out; had some kind of nervous breakdown or something??? So he's out. Then we started talking about all the men who build cabinets that we've known over the years, all of whom seem to be (unstable or something). One other committed suicide. Is it the exacting work? Is it work that draws a certain personality? I don't know and I mean no offense to those who have perfectly lovely spouses, relatives and friends who are cabinet makers who are not like these men we've experienced. But it made me so curious why we've had these high percentages of guys making cabinets who either start out with problems or end up with them. Now your guy. I hope you get some resolution and that if he really is sick, he gets well soon.
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suzanne_sl
6 years ago
The tricky part on uppers, well, there's more than one tricky part. The first is that they are positioned up over your head! You have to figure out how you're going to get them to hold still long enough to screw them to the wall. A ledger board is common, but there are other solutions.

As a rule your wall isn't straight and flat. If someone just puts them up against the wall and screws* them in they can "rack" them. Essentially this means they can twist the joints because they made the squared up cabinet conform to a not-square wall. You'd think people whose job it is to put up cabinets would know how to avoid this, but we see it here regularly. This is where Sophie's shims come in. [Our 1st kitchen had a major wall bow because the crown on one stud was bowed towards the kitchen while the rest were bowed to the next room.]

Those 3 cabinets have to be absolutely flat across the fronts of the whole run. At the same time they have to be level from left to right and top to bottom, so in 3 dimensions as well as with each other. Enter Sophie's levels. There are all sorts of good videos online about how-to.

DH and I decided that no one cared as much as we did how well this was done, so we did it ourselves, twice now. We are not fast, but we're perfectionists. if you do look for someone else to do it for you, I'd pay the extra to hire the guy with the training. That could be a college or union trained carpenter, but it could be someone else. You'd have to evaluate the person's expertise and commitment to doing an excellent job. The guy who'll do it for $50 in under an hour? Keep on walking.

*If your installer shows up with nails or dry wall screws for installation, show him the door!
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wdccruise
6 years ago
If your wall is flat and contains wood studs* it's pretty easy to install Ikea wall cabinets. You start by attaching a horizontal rail -- which is the width of all three cabinets -- to the studs. You then assemble and hang each cabinet on the rail. The rail assures that all cabinets are the same height and are flush with one another. Because the cabinets hang on the rail, one person can install them if he can lift them. The most time-consuming part? Assembling the cabinets.

*If the studs are metal, wood blocking will have to be added for the rail.
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Lyndee Lee
6 years ago
If you are handy and have the tools, installing cabinets is not particularly difficult. You will need some way to hold the cabinets in place while you are working which is probably a ledger board and a helper. If there are already cabinets in place, you will be able to mark the studs when you remove them.

While price can be an indicator of quality, an expensive installer is probably not necessary if you are replacing some existing cabinets and not trying to install around a corner or on multiple walls. Training does not prove competence and many very competent people have no formal training, just common sense and lots of experience.
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ci_lantro
6 years ago
If you're 'very handy' you should be able to assemble the cabinets yourself.

If the three cabinets are going to be hung next to one another, you can attach the cabinets to each other before hanging. And use a French cleat to hang them. Or a Z-Bar hanging system. Easier to shim the cleat or z-bar to plumb as you install it vs. shimming cabinets individually.

https://sawdustgirl.com/how-to-hang-a-cabinet-using-a-french-cleat/

Warning: if you use the cleat or Z-Bar, there will be a gap behind the cabinets the thickness of the hanging system. If the ends of the cabinets are exposed, then the gap will be visible so have a plan on how to deal with that.
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dan1888
6 years ago
Watch some vids.
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Do I need a carpenter or a handyman to install three upper cabinets?

Jennifer K

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