How to Hang Kitchen Cabinets

If you want to hang your RTA Kitchen Cabinets with right joints, flush frames and perfectly aligned doors, this guide is just for you.

Since decades, homemakers used to hire professionals to install their kitchen cabinets. But considering the advanced and simplified designs of kitchen cabinets accessible in the marketplace, it’s no longer a difficult task to do it yourself. The main goal is collecting all pieces of cabinets and placing them together to make useful furniture. You need minimal apparatus and no skills to hang the kitchen cabinet at your desired space.

STEP 1 – Planning Ahead:

Before hanging the cabinet, lay a wood floor to protect your flooring. This is even more important if you have sheet flooring as it gets damaged easily.

Use a 4-foot level, a straight 2×4 and a framing square to check if walls and corners are plumb, square and straight. There should be no bubbles, dips and angles on the wall. If there are any, deal with them ahead of installation.

Install electricity lines behind the cabinet space. If you have refrigerator, dishwasher or other electronic appliances having lines through the space, make sure to hide the wires in the wall behind the cabinet.

STEP 2 – Mark the Reference Lines:

Use a level to mark two points on the wall above 48 inches from the floor. Draw a straight line joining the points using a chalk. Measure the height of the line from a few points to find the high point. The shortest measurement on the line will remain our high point. Highlight this point with a cross mark.

STEP 3 – Mark the High Point:

Measure the height of your base cabinet right beneath the high point mark. This point should remain 34 inches above the floor. From this point, draw a straight layout line along the walls. This line will indicate the top of the base cabinet. Draw a line 18 inches above the layout line indicating the bottom edge of the upper cabinet.

STEP 4 – Join the Upper Cabinets:

Here you will need a pair of extra hands. Ask someone to assist you in positioning the upper cabinet. But before that, remove doors, drawers and shelves to get rid of the extra weight from the cabinet. Label the removed parts to avoid confusion while putting them back in place.

Now, set a 1×3 cleat beneath the layout line. Drive 2-inch screws through the cleat and studs. Repeat this for all lines on the wall. Place all upper cabinets by each other and join them using 2-inch screws.

STEP 5 – Hang the Upper Cabinets:

Put the corner cabinet on the floor and mark its positions on the wall. Now, drill pilot holes on the wall matching with the edges of the corner cabinet. Seek help of someone to lift the cabinet up on the wall and hold it on the cleat. Make sure the cabinet is plumb with the wall. Now drive four 2.5 inches holes on the wall, two on the upper corners of the cabinet and two at the bottom corners. Remove the cleats and fix the cabinet with screws.

After that, lift other cabinets and hold them on the cleats. Align all cabinets together with no space remaining between them. Fix all cabinets using screws.

STEP 6 – Install Corner Base Cabinet:

Place the Base End Corner Cabinet on the floor and put shims under it till the back edge meets the layout line. Mark the hole-points on the wall using a pencil or chalk. Now turn the cabinet and drill holes on the marked positions. Put the cabinet back in its desired position and fix it with screws. Use shims to level the cabinet with the layout line.

STEP 7 – Install Remaining Base Cabinets:

Place next base cabinet along the already installed cabinet and use shims to plumb them with each other. Now mark the points to drill holes on the wall. Remove the cabinet from its place and drill 2.5 inches holes. Now put the cabinet back in its position and clamp it together with already installed cabinet. Fix the cabinet with wall using screws.

Repeat this step for all remaining base cabinets. Fill the gaps with shims or trim. Remove the extra material from the cabinets using a utility knife.

STEP 8 – Reinstall Doors, Frames and Shelves:

Once the cabinet bodies are on their appropriate locations, start placing the removed doors, frames and shelves in the place. Since we have marked the removed items in Step 4, finding which part goes where should not be a difficult task. Fix each part at its actual location.

With this, your Kitchen Cabinets are installed at your desired location. It’s quite easy and should not take more than a few hours. Follow this guide step-by-step or Read This DIY Guide if you face any trouble. How was your experience and how do your cabinets look after installation, share with us in the comment box below.

How to Create Beautiful Patterns with Carpet Squares

The biggest reason why people prefer carpet squares over carpets is because the former one allows better designing and more creativity. While carpets come with standards patterns and designs, having no or very little option to customize, carpet squares leave creativity in your hand. You may create patters that you like and you may install them the way you want.

While installing carpet squares at your floor, make sure you have your creative mind with you. This is because carpet squares are more than just a way to protect your floor or fill the empty space. They have the power to make your floor look elegant. Considering this, you need to be extra careful while buying as well as installing carpet squares if you wish to give your floor the extra bit of elegance.

Here are a few basic patterns that you may create using your carpet squares. Be creative, and you will get more options to try.

The Center:

Always start the installation process from the center of your floor. This is because chances are very high that the squares won’t fit with the size of your floor. In such case, trimming the border squares will not disturb your pattern.

Place the most beautiful square at the center. To determine the center of your floor, read this post. The center tile should have a specific design looking different from other squares on your floor. However, if you wish to make the entire floor identical, you may place a simple square at the center.

Runners:

Make a walkway or runway at the center of your floor. This can be done by placing squares of same color in a straight line, with rest of the floor having distinct patterns. The runway should be placed where you have high foot traffic. Choose dark squares on the runner to avoid stains and reduce cleaning frequency.

Checkerboard:

Pick carpet squares of two different colors and place them alternatively. This will create a checkerboard pattern on the floor that works perfectly all the time. If you wish to make larger checkerboards, you may create a pattern of 4×4 squares.

Plaid:

If you wish to install a plaid pattern, you have to be careful while purchasing wholesale carpet tiles. This is because plaid pattern requires carpet tiles of 4 different patterns. Creativity remains at zenith with plaid pattern as it’s hard to achieve but may give your floor a trendy look.

Stripes:

Stripe pattern can be created in two different ways – by installing single color tiles in a row or by installing alternative color tiles one after another. This is one of the most basic patterns but still looks quite good.

Patchwork:

Certainly the most versatile and colorful pattern is patchwork design that has no two tiles of same color or design. Again, this theme requires you to be careful while shopping for carpet tiles since you have to buy squares with completely different colors and patterns. Be creative with your ideas and choose colors that complement each other.

Borders:

The easiest way to install border tiles is using same-colored tiles touching the walls. You may show some creativity by installing different patterns here, but having identical tiles by all four walls looks better than anything else.

So these are few carpet square patterns you may try. If you have some better ideas, feel free to mention in the comment box.

What is Engineered Hardwood?

Engineered Hardwood uses one of several processes to build the wood so it has a natural wood appearance yet has the advantages of engineered, or manufactured wood. These advantages are:

• Dimensional Stability – All natural wood has a tendency to swell and shrink as a reaction to seasonal changes in ambient humidity. This varies by species; for example, white oak is more dimensionally stable than red oak is. Engineered wood is less susceptible to this tendency than almost all natural woods.
• Warping, Cupping, Twisting – While well-dried wood has some resistance to additional shape changes, extreme humidity or water damage can still cause these reactions. Engineered wood resists these.
• Economical – Because engineered hardwood uses less of the expensive hardwood per square foot of coverage, it costs less than solid hardwood of the same species.
• Environment – If one oak tree can provide 400 square feet of hardwood flooring, the same tree could provide 1200 – 1600 square feet of engineered wood flooring, conserving our hardwood trees.

How Is Engineered Hardwood Made?

Thin layers of less-attractive wood are glued together, with adjoining layers running their grain pattern at 90 degrees from the layers surrounding it, giving dimensional stability that solid wood lacks. The top layer, also known as the wear layer or lamella, uses a layer of hardwood for appearance. The thickness of the lamella is an important factor in the expected longevity of the floor.

How is Engineered Hardwood Flooring Installed?

Engineered hardwood flooring, like solid hardwood flooring, is produced with tongue and groove edges. Solid hardwood must be installed over a wooden subfloor, where engineered flooring (excepting the newer Click Lock style) can be glued down directly to dry concrete or stapled to a wooden subfloor. It can be installed over existing wood flooring, tile, or vinyl.

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Top Ten Tips for Buying Custom Bathroom Cabinets

Adding a bit of furniture in the bathroom design is the popular trend these days. But wait, when I say furniture, it’s not about a sofa or chairs, it’s about Custom Bathroom Cabinets and storage boxes. Bathroom cabinets have become an inseparable part of every bathroom because they are elegant, functional and multi-purpose.

So if you are someone planning to add that “furniture touch” in your bathroom, here are 10 tips that will assist you in finding the perfect Discount Bathroom Cabinets.

1. What sort of bathroom cabinets do you want?

The term “bathroom cabinet” may sound simple, but in the real world it presents thousands of options to pick from. One such type is a simple cabinet with partitions that does nothing but store your belongings. Another is a cabinet with drawers that is more functional in keeping your belongings safe. The most popular and my favorite is the Custom Bathroom Cabinets with mirrored front that eliminates your need to have a separate storage box and bathroom mirror.

2. Find the Location:

Most important thing is to find the location you want the cabinet to be installed before you even start thinking of buying your bathroom cabinets.  Where you will install it and how much space you want it to cover are two of the most important questions to ask. Evaluating the location also assists you in determining the size and shape of the cabinet.

3. Access to power supply:

If you plan to buy a simple cabinet or storage box, skip this step. But if your plan is buying a bathroom cabinet with a socket or lighting, you surely need a power supply option around. In such case, jump to the point #2 and reevaluate the location.

4. Finishing Matters:

Would you like your bathroom cabinet to look different from the other walls in your bathroom? If not, then consider finishing before buying the cabinet. The cabinet you buy must match with the colors, textures and patterns of your bathroom.

When it comes to styles, cabinets with a wooden touch are always a better match in your bathroom. Oak or Maple greatly complement traditional styled bathrooms, while sleek-finished chrome or white gloss cabinets are an ideal pair for a contemporary setting.

5. Let the Design speak!

There are a 1,000 color options in Discount Bathroom Cabinets, and a 1,001 designs. So when it comes to picking the perfect cabinet for your bathroom, let the design speak to you. Make a list of your options, location, bathroom design and budget. Then start hunting for something that suits all of these specifications.

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