Shane Jimerfield Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 Hello, I'm rebuilding my home after a wildfire took out much my town last summer - Talent, OR. I'm going to build the cabinets myself. I've built quite a few over the years, mostly with face frames. I'm gonna make these in the European style - faceless. I'm looking for someone who has experience building this style of cabinets to review my plans in Sketchup. Give the plans a thorough look, and provide any suggestions. I've been gifted a bunch of nice 1/2" ply, which is new for me as well, but from what I've read it seems to be a common material for cabinets. Any takers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 What am I reviewing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 1 hour ago, BillyJack said: What am I reviewing? These are just the base cabinets. The cupboards are simpler and straight forward and I’m feeling pretty good about them. The Bases will be constructed from ½”ply. The drawers and doors will be ¾” ply. I will be using Blum glides and hinges - under mount, soft close for the drawers, and soft close blumotion full overlay for the doors. The sink base will have a tilt tray at the drawer location, and an under mount Blano sink. The counter will be a 3cm quartz top. The kick plates will be constructed separately and the bases will sit on them. The kitchen will have an exposed concrete floor. I can't attach the Sketchup file, so I can send that to anyone who wants to review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 I did upload the model to 3DWarehouse. It's titled, "Shane's Kitchen base cabinets". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 I'm not very knowledable about cabinets, but a.) don't frameless doors require cup-style hinges, and b.) don't cup hinges need 3/4" material to fit? Please, someone relieve my ignorance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Not sure about the hinges but why not make the bases from 3/4 ply? Not an expert by any means but never knowingly seen then made from 1/2”. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 4 hours ago, wtnhighlander said: I'm not very knowledable about cabinets, but a.) don't frameless doors require cup-style hinges, and b.) don't cup hinges need 3/4" material to fit? Please, someone relieve my ignorance! The doors and drawer fronts will be 3/4. It's the carcasses that will be constructed from 1/2". My research shows that 1/2" ply for the carcasses is common. Also when you put two cabinets side by side and screw them together that is 1". So it's pretty solid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 2 hours ago, Coop said: Not sure about the hinges but why not make the bases from 3/4 ply? Not an expert by any means but never knowingly seen then made from 1/2”. Like I said, I was gifted a nice pile of high quality 1/2" ply. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Only trick with 1/2" carcass construction is making sure to ditch the 5/8" screws that are standard with most hardware as they will poke through. Get 1/2" screws. I've made quite a few cabinets with 1/2" carcass construction and there is minimal strength difference that I've noticed but a huge weight benefit. My comments on your pictures is the fridge surround is odd. not sure if the sides are goign to be pull out pantry or not. If not consider making them pull out pantry shelves or it's a lot of wasted space. If it's not enough to do both sides shift things one way or another to make it so that you can get a pull out pantry there. All of the cabinet fronts are nice and clean and the fake drawer front under the sink always bothers me. Unless you are making a tip out storage thing there I'd consider keeping the style consistent and make the doors full height. Under the sink is ugly no matter what, who cares if you open the door and see the sink. 2nd reason it makes plumbing easier. EG below. Is it possible to do a built in oven and a range on top like that? Consider dishwasher locations. Putting in between the sink and oven is a DISASTER in my kitchen. It's always in the way and causes endless friction. Your layout even looks worse than mine to the point that the oven and dishwasher doors would hit each other. You may think this is not a big deal but it could be, it's made worse by having 2 people in the kitchen at once. You may not share the space for meal prep? but that doesn't mean someone won't in the future. I don't know what kind of space constraints you are looking at but I'd shift things around to put it on the other side of the sink. Personally ditch the peninsula and do a island. Again don't know the space.... maybe it's fad but it seems the trend. It also eliminates another inside corner cabinet and could make the kitchen feel more spacious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legenddc Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 If there's no wall against the left side of the fridge you could make that a cabinet for brooms/mops, etc. or include a hidden charging station/key holder, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 #1... why is the frigerator cabinet built this way in the picture. Many lage refrigerators are 36" in width. They are making refrigerator less in depth. #2.... if you like the design of the refrigerator cabinet, why not have a piano hinge and a false door on the left housing can goods or for the special ones shotguns.... #3.... the same on the right. Vtake advantage of the space left after the base and upper and maybe a section with glass and visable spice rack.. #4... no measurements to window to end of pantry, etc... #5... is there a door, wall or hall on the left of the pantry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Oh speaking of the fridge I would highly advise against a tight surround like that. 1. They need some space for air movement to cool. 2. Manufactures change the size of them whit out a thought of any standards so if you make it too tight it's possible you'll never be able to replace the fridge. I'd give it some space to breath both literally and metaphorically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 1 minute ago, Chestnut said: Oh speaking of the fridge I would highly advise against a tight surround like that. 1. They need some space for air movement to cool. 2. Manufactures change the size of them whit out a thought of any standards so if you make it too tight it's possible you'll never be able to replace the fridge. I'd give it some space to breath both literally and metaphorically. there is at least an 1" all the way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 I guess I wasn't clear enough. While I appreciate the feedback regarding the esthetics and space utilization, I'm really looking for feedback on the design of the carcasses. I'll be gluing and using Kreg pocket screw joinery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 8 minutes ago, Shane Jimerfield said: there is at least an 1" all the way around. That's far too tight. a fridge lasts what 10-15 years. Cabinets 30-?. It's highly likely that the fridge size you are designing for won't exist in 10 years when the current one craps out. Then you have to modify the surround or get a smaller fridge and the gap gets huge. The more I think about this the more I see it as a poor idea. trapping the heat is goign to cause the fridge to fail a lot faster as well. Carcass construction is simple do it.... if it's 1/2" ply it's already ahead of the 1/2" particle board that is standard in most cabinets these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 21 minutes ago, BillyJack said: #1... why is the frigerator cabinet built this way in the picture. Many lage refrigerators are 36" in width. They are making refrigerator less in depth. #2.... if you like the design of the refrigerator cabinet, why not have a piano hinge and a false door on the left housing can goods or for the special ones shotguns.... #3.... the same on the right. Vtake advantage of the space left after the base and upper and maybe a section with glass and visable spice rack.. #4... no measurements to window to end of pantry, etc... #5... is there a door, wall or hall on the left of the pantry? There is a walk-in pantry/laundry room to the left of the fridge. The surround on the fridge is really just for looks - with some storage above. The sides of the surround are not really big enough to do anything with, and I like the symmetry, so I don't want to shove the fridge in either direction, and I really want to keep it off the left wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 4 minutes ago, Chestnut said: That's far too tight. a fridge lasts what 10-15 years. Cabinets 30-?. It's highly likely that the fridge size you are designing for won't exist in 10 years when the current one craps out. Then you have to modify the surround or get a smaller fridge and the gap gets huge. The more I think about this the more I see it as a poor idea. trapping the heat is goign to cause the fridge to fail a lot faster as well. Carcass construction is simple do it.... if it's 1/2" ply it's already ahead of the 1/2" particle board that is standard in most cabinets these days. It's not too tight, and more than exceeds the manufacturers recommendation of 3/8" on the sides. It's 38" wide, so many contemporary fridges will fit with sufficient side space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 My only suggestion is to make the surround around the refrigerator to be easily adjustable in the future. In our kitchen, I've cut the cabinet above twice. It now has no bottom shelf, and the doors have been modified both times. If I had left a 4" face board, it would have been a lot easier, and better to still have a cabinet bottom in that one. We've been here 41 years, and on our third refrigerator. No two were exactly the same height, even though width is pretty standard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 22 minutes ago, Tom King said: My only suggestion is to make the surround around the refrigerator to be easily adjustable in the future. In our kitchen, I've cut the cabinet above twice. It now has no bottom shelf, and the doors have been modified both times. If I had left a 4" face board, it would have been a lot easier, and better to still have a cabinet bottom in that one. We've been here 41 years, and on our third refrigerator. No two were exactly the same height, even though width is pretty standard. 41 years ago refrigerators went as tall or as wide. Over the years they have increased. Now I'm noticing refrigerators aren't as deep ... You can't predict the future of appliances. We just bought a new washer and dryer. It barely fit in the room designed in 1999. My daughter just bought her new house at 300k. The washer and dryer wouldn't fir with the doors on the front. Designers haven't made enough changes on laundry rooms yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 I'll pass on this . Too much missing information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 4 hours ago, BillyJack said: I'll pass on this . Too much missing information. OK, what more should I have provided? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Not commenting on appearance or future replacements of the fridge. I do suggest making the surround "loose" enough to easily roll the fridge out for cleaning. Those things suck in horrendous amounts of dust and lint, all of which contribute to early failure. Not to mention water leaks that will just do more damage if the machine is hard to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G Ragatz Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 We have a fridge surround similar to what you show in your drawing. Others have mentioned the possibility that the opening doesn't accommodate a different fridge - a legitimate concern. The only advantage of the surround I've been able to identify is that it keeps stuff from falling off the counter into the space between the counter and the fridge. If I had it to do over, I'd go without the surround. I assume the countertop on the peninsula is wider than the standard 25" in order to allow for seating along the peninsula. I think I'd shorten the cabinets at the right end of the peninsula to make the "knee space" run the entire length of the peninsula. Gives you seating for at least one more person, and that corner cabinet is going to be too deep to be useful anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradpotts Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 Shane I think the design looks good. The only thing that I noticed was that the size of the opening for the drawers seems small. The top drawer opening by the fridge is 4". If you make your drawers the same way that I do, a 4" drawer opening will give you a 3 1/4 drawer. This will give you 2 1/2" of actual drawer depth with under-mount soft close drawer slides. Maybe you are doing something different then I do, if so disregard but maybe something to look into. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted June 16, 2021 Report Share Posted June 16, 2021 No measurements. You haveca corner base cabinet. Those are generally 36x36. The stove os generally 30" you've added stiles to this for detail. Here's a drawing for a set I built. Without the drawing measurements it's nothing more than a picture... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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