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Help! Uneven Ceiling Cabinet Gaps

3 years ago

Hello! I'm really needing some help. I just don't know what to do about this. We had ordered some Allen & Roth upgraded cabinets. However, When our cabinet person put them in... We realized our ceilings were not even. Which I'm sure none of them are... But, we weren't prepared for this. Now I don't know what to do. It looks terrible. Once the doors are put on there will only be 1/2 in to a quarter of an inch from the top of the cabinet door to the top of the cabinet. Not enough room to put molding. What do you suggest? We have an extra kick board. Which could be cut and put in up there. But, we'll probably still look crooked. We could have our cabinet guy take down the cabinet and put them back in lower... We are so new at this we don't know what the best thing to do would be. Thanks for your help! There is 19" between the bottom of the wall cabinets and the top of the base cabinet. But it will be 18" once the countertop is put in.

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Comments (5)

anj_p
3 years ago
our upper cabs in our new built house have crown. the crown is not the same width to account for this exact issue but I honestly didn't even notice until we had been here for a couple years. get a small crown and voila. problem solved. although the top of our cabinets are definitely lower than yours...our crown is 2-3".
Sara S
3 years ago
Do you have the paint color of your cabinets? Were you planning on having crown molding on your walls and around cabinets, or just your cabinets?

If you have access to the paint color, you could make/get made tiny wedge pieces to fill the gap just above the face frames. And still do molding on the walls and sides of the cabinets.

I think the cleanest option would be to get new doors, so that you have room for crown everywhere. If you chose doors that only overlap the top face-frame by maybe 1/4” and you give 1/4” clearance, that would give you space for a 1” min crown even where the cabinet is tight, and it would grow to just under 2” where there’s the most gap.

You could also lower your cabinets by an inch to make the variation in the crown width less noticeable.
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We did a crown molding and flat trim combo to fill the gap. It's a little less overwhelming than all crown. I don't have a great picture, but you can see it below. We got the idea from a friend's kitchen that had a full 4" of the flat trim before their smaller crown started. It turned out that it was a good thing we planned on the flat trim because our ceiling level varied considerably and the flexibility in the height of the flat trim disguises a multitude of sins.
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Cleats are attached to the ceiling for the molding to be fastened to, and nailers to the tops of the cabinets. If you omited the nailers on the cabinets they can be screwed in place from inside the cabinets. You may need some bar clamps to hold the wood in position as you run screws from inside the cabinet through the top and into the wood. You can try and hold it tightly in position, but watch out if you drive a screw into your hand. I anchor cleats to the joists if they line up correctly rarely seem to though. :-) Molly anchors are also suitable if coupled with some glue (I like a polyurethane here) as long as you use a nail gun to set the nails. The moly bolts tend to work loose if you use a regular hammer from the repeated blows when driving the nails. The single sharp blow from a nail gun will not disturb things as much. If you need to use apile of molly bolts a setting tool works much better than the screw expansion built into them. The tool grabs the screw and pulls on it as you work a trigger.
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Comments (13)
@chispa is dead on - these guys are amateurs and hacks. I circled in yellow something you didn't point out. They can't even seem to get an outside miter correct. And no, slamming caulk in that joint is NOT an appropriate fix. The best, most stable and professional way to have made this miter would be: - cut to the appropriate angles - which are almost never 45 degrees - use the touch up stick on the raw inner edges of the miter cut - glue and pin nail the joint - immediately wipe off any excess glue that seeps out the joint Here's what an outside miter should look like - this is my own kitchen install - done by me, a DIYer. This is in an 83 year old home. I also routed and miter returned my own window stool (i.e., sill). I've never done this before. But this is how a miter should look. I don't post to brag, but rather to point out that your professionals are anything but . . . . An no, the gap between your ceiling and upper is not "faint". There are lots of ways to deal with an uneven ceiling. At a minimum, scribing the upper trim should have been done. A skilled finish carpenter and cabinet installer needs to use very little, if any caulk. Here's the challenge, I don't believe these guys have the necessary skill set. They clearly have no pride in their work. I wouldn't accept this shoddy work on a $500 job let alone one that's $50K.
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Comments (18)
Cut a few small openings in the drywall big enough to get fingers in there so you can gently rock drywall to make it lose so it drops down to make it flush with the molding, Patch the holes. Before you cut holes, remove the trim from the recessed light, its looks like being close enough, and stick a flat bar between the housing and drywall and see if it can be done that way, if yes drop it down and put the trim back and if needed touch it up. In most cases, this is a very quick fix. Good luck
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Donald
3 years ago
Without molding or another way to make them all flush with the ceiling, I’d have them rehung a tiny bit lower. That way every cabinet will have a shadow at the top and you won’t be able to differentiate which shadow is bigger. On the other hand...you are mid project so the only thing you notice is what’s wrong, once it is finished I kind of doubt it’ll even be an issue. If this was my kitchen, as long as the uppers are level with each other I’d leave it as is and finish the project as I planned.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
" You can pin-nail small cove molding to the ceiling to cover the gap."

The cove would have to be 3/4" to cover the largest gap, however, on the cabinet with no gap, since there is only 1/2" to 1/4" between the door top to the cabinet top, the door top is now striking the molding. Even if you drop all the doors to flush with the cabinet bottoms, you're still gonna hit.

Drop the cabinets, float the ceiling to level, and reinstall the cabinets, or push backer rod into the gap and pump it full of white latex caulk. Kinda hillbilly, but it's cheap, easy, and not at eye level.
B. Christensen
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you all for your suggestions. My contractor's coming tomorrow so I will let him know what you all have suggested. I don't have the paint color but I could easily get it matched. I think I will have him drop it down some and see how that looks first. And then get some crown molding if needed. Thank you all!

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