Installing kitchen cabinets with super out-of-square right angle walls

Question

I have super out of square walls where I need to install kitchen cabinets. The walls are out by over 1-5/8" in 16'. How do I overcome this problem without running the cabinets out the distance from the wall at the end of the run? It is a typical L shaped layout, design, lazy susan in corner. This is more than I have encountered in the past? Thanks

Answer 1

Pick the longest run and use that wall as your straight wall. I wish I knew if the angle was less than 90 degrees or more than 90 degrees.

If your walls are out of square less than 90 degrees the only problem you will have with the wall cabinets is you may need a small fill strip where you butt cabinets on short "L" up against the long wall.

Base Cabinets install next. Again run longest wall first. Basically you can use the same type filler strip for the off angle on the base cabinets. Just run the filler through the table saw with the slight angle you need to make it fit.

Your biggest problem comes with the counter top. An out of square counter top can be handled by making a template out of 1/4" luan underlayment. Make sure you have the 1" overhang around the sides and front of all the base cabinets. The templates should be scribed to fit up to the wall even though it's out of square. If you are using a laminate countertop such as Formica, you will need to have them make a square edge top - a "post form top" may not work very well. If it is granite, or stone materials they will make it to your template.

Just make sure the flooring you put down in the kitchen does not have grout lines, simulated lines that will run along the base cabinets or even close to them. Choose a floor that has no lines if possible. Any kind of lines are going to show just how far out of line your cabinets really are, - other than that it's not that big of a deal.

Answer 2

If the angle is greater than 90 degrees wall to wall you would mount the cabinets to the back wall and add a spacer to the front with like facing wood the same as the cabinet.  If less than 90 degrees wall to wall you will need to add spacer to the back side prior to mounting the cabinets to make it 90 degrees.

Answer 3

Well if I understand this correctly, in an L shaped kitchen the cabinets go along both wall and meet in one corner.  So  whichever wall is out of square doesn't matter,  you will attach the cabinets to each wall as you normally wood. The only place that you will have a gap is at the corner wall and that could be fixed with a molding piece perhaps.  If it is the case that you have a bow in one of those wall that adds up to 1 5/8" in the 16' wall, you got big problems.  ie, either rip out drywall down to studs and even out, or add drywall and patch and float more drywall in at the open end.  Remember, you can hide a lot more behind the cabinets that you can with the countertop.  This will have to be virtually perfect.  good luck.

Answer 4

Out of square from wall to wall, or out of square from wall to floor?

If this is a case of out of square wall to floor, then you set the cabinets and use trim to cover the gap where the cabinet meets the wall (provided you cannot scribe the back of the cabinet to match the wall).

If this is a case of the walls not being square to each other, are the walls straight?  Curved?  If they are straight, and simply not at a 90 degree angle, then the simplest approach is to adjust the angle in the corner.  For example, if you are doing an L shaped cabinet install...and the "L" is greater than 90 degrees, then you simply need to add a piece of trim between the cabinets that run alongside one wall, and the cabinets that run along the other wall.  The counter top will also need to be adjusted here.  Order a top longer than you need on the cabinets where you will adjust the angle, and cut it back at the needed angle to make it work.  Being a woodworker for years, I'd also install connectors to align and tighten the two counter tops together.

If the "L" is smaller than a 90 degree angle, then the cabinets will simply gap at the backside, from one wall to the other, and the top will need to be adjusted, to match the angle.

If the walls are square to the floor, but curved, I would set the cabinets square, and scribe the top(s) to match the walls.

Have Fun

Answer 5

You have a couple of choices depending on how elegant you want this job to be. You can hide most of it with full backsplashes and use shims to level, plumb and fer it out properly.

Or you can shoot down a second sheetrock wall behind the whole thing floor to ceiling and shim that out to a perfect 90. Now you have it right but you are going to be off by about half or more an inch in the back. But it'll look perfect.

It all depends on how much time, effort, money, frustration and cuss words you want to throw at that sloppy sheetrock job you started out with.