Where cabinets meet sloped floor

How to properly disguise the gap that appears during installation. August 25, 2003

Question
The hardboard subfloor in a remodel kitchen slopes approximately 3/8" over 6'. Cabinets are shimmed up 1/2" at the high point of the floor to allow for under-counter appliance installation. This leaves 7/8" gap to subfloor at the low point, keeping the cabinets level.

Any suggestions on how to complete the install without leaving a gap between the finished tile floor and the bottom of the cabinets?

Forum Responses
(Cabinet and Millwork Installation Forum)
Is there not a kick that can be scribed in to hide this gap? Or are you talking about end gables that go right to the floor? I usually try to scribe away from the low point in order to avoid large shims or problems with end gables that go down to the floor. The thing you have to watch for is the height for the dishwasher - check the specs. You can usually be 1/4" under height there with the new machines. Please explain problem in more detail.


From the original questioner:
There is a toekick to fit along the floorline. It measures 4" in height, which is exactly the height of the set back kickboard on the cabinet fronts. If I scribe the toekick, how do I hide/account for the difference between the toekick height and the kickboard height?

In this kitchen, there is a shallow (20" deep) cabinet at the end of a run, adjacent to a door (shallow so that it does not interfere with the door space - old home). This allows a partial side view of the adjoining 24" deep cabinet, including the base, which will expose the profile of the toekick and any gap between the top of the toekick and the bottom of the cabinet front.


In just about all the installs I've been involved with, this detail would be handled by nailing a scribe molding to the bottom of the finish toe board.

The finish toe board is installed tight to the top, and the scribe molding covers the gap (see drawing below). Any reason this wouldn't work in your situation?



From the original questioner:
Thanks for your help. This should work well. I will still have to turn the finish toe board and scribe moulding a 90 degree corner back toward the wall to meet the shallower cabinet. The scribe moulding should be easy to miter. The toekick is 1/8" thick thermofoil, which will be a bit tougher.

I install toe kick skin prior to tile installation. Tiler gouts to my skin end of problem.

The above post is right. Just skin with 1/4" finished plywood or whatever the cabinet face is made of. You can still do a proper job of installing the bases with shims wherever as you need them. Fast and fairly simple works.

You can also use tile base cut from tile instead of the moulding and made it 3-4" high. I just did a job using a rubber base to cover to tile.
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