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Installing Frameless Upper Cabinets
Question
Forum Responses
- All doors are removed during install.
From contributor B: I use the Blum cabinet hangers, which also hook onto a rail. It's by far the best way to hang frameless cabs because each cabinet can be adjusted for height, depth and tilt. The cabinets need to be made for the hangers, 1/4" ply set in a dado 3/4" in from the back edge. The hangers screw to the cabinet sides so the backs don't need any strength of their own. From contributor C: You might want to invest in a PLS (good and reasonable) laser level to set the rail on the wall. This is not absolutely necessary but it is faster and easier than a level. Doing frameless and not using the hangers is like, well, trying to walk around like those guys with their pants halfway down to their knees. From contributor D: I have used hangers for the past fifteen years but got tired of the track ending between studs where I had to use a molly. I now just use 3/4" back material. If the cabinets end 14" past the stud the back will carry the extended weight. The cabinets might be a little heavier but the trade off is they are absolutely square. I use some temporary spacers or studs set on top of the base cabinets then assemble all the upper cabinets together and screw to the wall. If I need to shim behind I just slide in a shingle. I put screws in as many studs as I can get. A lot of my jobs have over height upper cabinets and the 3/4" back makes me worry less about them coming off the wall. I have a current job in the shop with 64" high uppers. Try hanging a 64" tall corner lazy susan cabinet from two hangers. The 3/4" back is between the two end panels, the same width as the decks and the same height as the cabinet, the decks are cut 19mm less deep. If I have cabinets over a washer/dryer where there aren't any lowers to support them during installation I use suspension fittings and a rail. From contributor E: I install wall cabinets first, before the base units. I made a torsion box beam, (12" wide x 8" high x about 8' long.) I support it on skinny (12' wide) horses I built. The horses are hinged at the top, and a chain about half way down limits the spread. They are made so that, with beam on top, the top of the beam is at about 54" from the floor, typical height for wall cabinets. I can finesse the height of the beam to be right on the laser beam, simply by pushing the horses’ legs closer or farther apart. I then set a whole row of wall cabinets on the beam, screw them together, shim as needed and then screw to the wall. Like contributor D, I have a stiff back to the cabinet. I use 1/2". 3/4 would be even stronger.
From contributor F: If I hung a run of uppers eight ft long, and it was off level, why would that cause door alignment problems? If the face of all the boxes is on the same plane, and the boxes are square, the doors will line up - even if they're on the ceiling. Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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