Building A Base For Wall Cabinets

This is a relatively simple process and only requires a few tools.

Building a base for wall cabinets.

Wall cabinets typically have one or more shelves not including the bottom of the cabinet and may or may not have doors. The two units are very similar in construction with three major differences. Overlaps on the sides let you fine tune the cabinet width during installation. Wall cabinets and base cabinets are constructed differently but there is no reason a wall cabinet can t be used as a base.

The best material for building cabinets is plywood 3 4 inch plywood for the box sides top bottom and shelves. Base cabinets have extra space at the bottom known as toe kick space as well as being between 24 and 30 inches deep. Upper cabinets are shallower from front to back do not have bases and typically are built with a solid top versus the open cleat construction found in most lower cabinets. The sample base and wall cabinets shown below have these features to make building them as simple as possible.

Many people choose to do this as extra storage in a hallway a window seat in a child s room or in a bedroom in lieu of a chest of drawers. Build a separate base it s important to use dead straight wood for bases so it ll be flat for setting the cabinets. Learn how to build base cabinets for your next diy project including creating plans for your own custom cabinets. Making base cabinets out of upper cabinets or wall cabinets is a fairly simple procedure.

A wall cabinet in its most basic form is little more than a plywood box that is securely mounted on the wall. The lower cabinets which rest below your countertops are base cabinets while those that are at eye level are wall cabinets. You may not notice it at first glance but each type of cabinet has its own unique properties. The 3 4 plywood case eliminates panel jointing planing and glue ups.

Make sure to read the general how to build cabinets post here so you can see the different types of cabinets pros and cons of each a general overview of cabinet parts and general assembly. Begin with the right cabinet dimensions. Once your cabinets are installed finish off the base front with a strip of 1 4 in. Face frames cover plywood edges.