whynotbuildit Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Thinking about the pain of leveling several cabinets in a long run, I previously posted asking about making one long cabinet. This led me to a new option I hadn't seen which is apparently pretty common in cabinet shops today: building separate toe kicks. The more I think about this method, the more I like it. I think building the kicks separate from the cabinet will make the build faster, because the cuts and the joints will be simpler than cut out toe kicks. It has the ease of installation of a single cabinet, because you only shim the long toe kick one time, instead of leveling each individual cabinet. What do you guys think? Here is a google search with a bunch of links, followed by a video of someone making the toe kicks in this way. I couldn't find a lot of videos, but I did find a lot of posts on other forums, and I thought it was something we should discuss here, because I like all of the analysis on this forum.https://www.google.com/#q=separate+toe+kicks&* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheperd80 Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 This is how everyone in my neck of the woods does it. Its much easier imo. And then you can add a toe skin to the front which can be scribed to the floor for a nice fit. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 I use plastic leveling legs and the face just snaps to the legs. They can be expensive unless you buy them in quantity. I spread them out to avoid doubling them up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pd711 Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Been building toe ladders for years. So much easier for install. Plus you use up a lot of scrap making them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Anderson Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 I've built several runs of cabinets that way. It is much easier to shim and level a ladder than individual cabinets. In particular, in my garage when I built my workbench cabs, slab runs downhill about 1.5 inches over 14 feet. I was able to do a 2x6 toe-kick ladder that was scribed to the floor and then covered by 1/4" ply to give it a finished look. Also had to contend with out of plumb walls too. So this isn't uncommon, and does solve a lot of plumb/square issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Separate toe kick sounds interesting. Attaching the toe skin would be easy enough. How would you finish the end of a cabinet like in the pics below? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Field applied end panels. Same kind of thing bar backs get when assembled of separate boxes. Need to make sure the face runs past enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Or inset the finished end about 1/4" . That's about what the pine cabinets end looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pd711 Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 13 hours ago, freedhardwoods said: How would you finish the end of a cabinet like in the pics below? We inset the kick 1/2" at the finished ends. The cabinet has it's own finished end and then we run a finished skin around the toe ladder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 9 hours ago, pdacey08 said: We inset the kick 1/2" at the finished ends. The cabinet has it's own finished end and then we run a finished skin around the toe ladder. I'd really like to see some pics if you have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 I've done it both ways, and don't find there is much of a time difference to add up to anything. If the floor is WAY out of level, building a separate base is absolutely the way to go. Otherwise, set the base cabinet backs to a line on the wall with a spacer under the back corner, and shim the fronts to level. If the floor is not too bad, that's the faster way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pd711 Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 14 hours ago, freedhardwoods said: I'd really like to see some pics if you have them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedhardwoods Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 Thanks for the pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pd711 Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 no problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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