How to Hang Wall Cabinets the Easy Way
How to Hang Wall Cabinets. After reading this blog you will know how to hang wall cabinets. Also noted is an easy way to transfer stub location to the back of the cabinet. This post is my experience with hanging these cabinets, my opinions, and all materials purchased 100% by me.
The Back Story…
This laundry room, like many of the other rooms on the first floor have not been touched since the house was built in the early 2000’s. My home is builder basic, at best. No extras anywhere to be found. Which means, in the laundry room, there isn’t any storage above the washer and dryer (not even those terrible wire shelves that damage the walls). I got tired of looking at stuff everywhere and decided now was the time for everything to have a home, behind closed doors. Putting cabinets above the washing machine was the perfect solution.
Here is a before picture, it’s a real treat.
Adding cabinets in a laundry room allows for storage maximization while also hiding the things you don’t want to look at (like a dozen hand soaps). Initially, I was going to have professionals install this small row of cabinets. That is until I received the professional quote. Two words: sticker shock. The professional install of the cabinets that did not include trim/moldings was quoted at $1,800.
No thanks. I’ll do it my self!
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Cabinet Selection.
To keep costs down, unfinished stock cabinets at HomeDepot are perfect. Of course they will need to be sanded, primed, and painted, but they are totally worth the price!
This space is 86.5″ across. I went with two 30″ cabinets and two 12″ cabinets.
If you’re interested in learning how to paint unfinished cabinets that last, check out this post here.
Unfinished Stock Cabinets.
A little more about unfinished stock cabinets…
These unfinished stock cabinets are good quality (solid wood doors) and came already assembled and easy to install. An adjustable shelf in each unit allows you to customize the shelving fit based on your needs. These cabinets were smooth-ish, but really needed some sanding before priming and painting for a nice smooth finish. After a little prep and paint these unfinished cabinets were ready to hang.
Supplies Used to Hang Wall Cabinets
- Cabinets
- #10 x 2.5 washer-headed cabinet screws
- drill bits: 1/8 , 3/32 , 3/16, 1/4
- Counter sink drill bit
- wood shims
- 1″ wood screws
- Scrap 2×4
- Painters Tape
- Tooth Paste (yup!)
- Dry Erase Marker
- Phillips head screw driver
- Tape measure
- Caulk Gun
- Drill
- Level
- stud Finder
- Clamps
- Step ladder
- Cabinet Bumpers
- Painters tape
How to Hang Wall Cabinets
1. Remove Doors and Shelves.
Before starting to hang wall cabinets, remove all doors, drawers, and shelves. This makes installation easier as these extra parts are not in the way. Doing this also makes the unit lighter and easier to lift.
Set aside doors in a safe location so they don’t get nicked or scuffed. Put hardware in labeled plastic baggies or cups and keep safe, you will not want to lose these!
*I painted all the doors and fronts before installation to make things easier.
2. Prep the Space for Cabinet Install.
Prep your area by washing the walls, removing any gross things that have accumulated over time. This is a good time to paint the ceiling and walls so you don’t have to work around the cabinets later on.
Plan out where on the wall the cabinets will go. Here, use your level and straight edge to mark how high you want the bottom of the cabinet to be attached. In a laundry room, keep in mind other shelves, clothes rods, washer lids that need to open, or other obstacles.
To help visualize the cabinet height and placement, use painters tape to mark the walls.
3. Find Studs and Plan Lay Out.
Using a stud finder mark where all studs are so you know where to secure cabinets. Spoiler alert, finding studs may be more difficult than you may think. There are things like electrical wires, pipes, and vents to watch out for.
As you can see in my picture, there are many “studs” that my stud finder pick-up on. This is because the simple stud finder I have cannot differentiate between wood, metal, or PVC pipe. After some thought I realized there is a bathroom above the laundry room. Therefore, those extra long “studs” were likely the pipes and drains. There were most definitely water lines above the utility sink, and of course the dryer venting was noted.
So…. how did I determine the studs?
Determining Stud Location.
I chose areas that were likely studs and crossed my fingers that my educated guess was correct. The starting point for me was marking all the areas that the stud finder pick-up on. Then, I moved onto where the electrical outlet was. Electrical boxes are usually placed to the the left or right of a stud. I marked that stud with an X.
X= definitely a stud I will be using for attachment.
Keep in mind, studs should be evenly spaced per the code in your area. I noted that a my studs are right around 16″ apart and my stud finder confirmed that. I chose the studs to secure cabinets to based on areas that were 16″ apart from each other (starting with the electrical box). Lastly, reconfirming the location with positive identification from the stud finder.
Avoid any “stud” that was wider than what a 2×4 is (because that is risky, is there a pipe or vent there instead?). Also, each corner of the room will have studs to use as well. Keep that in mind when planning layout of cabinets.
Tips For Marking on Walls.
You could mark directly on the wall with a marker or pen of any sort. However, if you want to easily make changes, I recommend using a dry erase marker as they don’t damage walls and wash off with water.
Laying down painters tape before marking the spots also prevents damage to walls.
Layout Planning.
Once studs are identified and marked, decide on the cabinet layout that allows for secure cabinet installation.
For this project: This space is 86.5″ across. I went with two 30″ cabinets and two 12″ cabinets (a 24″ cabinet didn’t match the door layout of the 30″ cabinets). This left a space of 2.5″ to be filled. I chose the layout of the cabinets and filler placement based on where I would be able to secure cabinets to studs.
Typically, the filler pieces would be on the outside edges and not in the middle as done here. However, without the 2″ filler in the middle, I would not have reached a stud for one of the 12″ cabinets. If the 12″ cabinets were moved to the ends, the 30″ cabinets would not have reached enough studs. This configuration with the 2″ filler piece in the middle, a 12″ cabinet on each side of the filler, along with a 30″ cabinet in each corner provided the needed support and security to each cabinet. Personally, I would have loved for the filler strip to be on the edges, but alas safety first.
4. Attach Brace.
To help install cabinets that are level and straight while also lessening the load use a brace. This is simple to do, secure a 2″x4″ x (length of cabinet area) piece of wood to the wall where the bottom of the cabinet will go. Make sure this scrape wood(brace) is level and secured to studs.
This is very helpful in holding the cabinet on the wall while you secure it.
5. Transferring Stud Location to Back of Cabinets.
After a brace is secured to the wall using studs, it’s time to transfer stud location marks to the backs of cabinets. You could use a measurement based method (google or youtube for more details) that I found intimidating. Or use this easy, measurement free, toothpaste method. I go into more detail on the toothpaste method in this post, here.
6. Drill Pilot Holes into Cabinet Back.
Drill Pilot holes into the cabinets where the toothpaste indicated there will be a stud. Use a drill bit 1/32 smaller than the screw size for pilot holes. Wipe tooth paste off of the cabinet and remove tooth past painters tape from the wall.
Once clean, start all screws in the pilot holes so that you are not struggling to get screws in while balancing a cabinet and yourself on a step ladder. Here, 5, 2.5″ cabinet screws were attached in each stud location (10 screws total in the 30″ cabinets and 5 screws in each 12″ cabinet).
Overkill? Maybe. Secure? Definitely.
*Security was later tested when I used the hung cabinets to help support me as I re-hung the doors. Who needs to go digging in the garage for a ladder a 11 pm when you can shimmy up the washer, perch on the lid / wall/ cabinet… living on the edge over here.
**Don’t be like me, go get the step ladder.
7. Hang Wall Cabinet 1-4.
First Cabinet.
Once screws are placed, the cabinets are ready for hanging. Starting in the left corner of the laundry room attach the first cabinet ensuring it is level and all screws are tight. Making sure the first cabinet is precisely level is important in making sure the rest of the install is level.
Also, you may need to shim walls or between cabinets if you have bowing. Surprisingly the back wall did not have bowing issues, the side did…. More on that later.
Second cabinet.
Once the second cabinet is balanced on the brace, check that the cabinet is level with the first cabinet, plumb, and secure into stud. Clamp the two cabinets together. I like these easy release clamps linked here.
To secure cabinets together drill pilot holes into cabinet frames about 1.5″ from the outer edge. Then use a countersink bit to make a nice place for the screw head to hide in and sit flush with the frame. Using 1″-1.25″ screws, fasten cabinets together. Once completely secured together (3 screws per cabinet) release the clamps.
Third cabinet.
Typically, here is where you would repeat the last two steps for remaining cabinets. But, remember, to hit all the studs needed, I had to leave the center of the wall for the filler strip.
The third cabinet I put in was much like the first. Only this time starting in the left corner. Using a long level, make sure the right corner cabinet and the other two attached cabinets are level and plumb wit one another.
Repeat the first and second cabinet install instructions for the third and fourth.
8. Filling the Gaps.
Once all cabinets are hung, and secured to one another (1 and 2; 3 and 4). Use a cabinet fill strip for any wide gaps (usually on the sides, mine is in the middle). Cut the filler strip to size (2″ for these dimensions) and attach using screws that can be hidden in the cabinet frame.
Backer rod can be used for smaller gaps. Press backer rod into any small area before caulking. If you forego backer rod you will be pumping endless amounts of caulk into the bowed space and it will likely goop down the bottom making a huge mess.
9. Final Touches.
Once all cabinets are secured remove the brace. Then re-attach all of the cabinet doors with their hardware. Now is a good time to adjust all the doors so they are aligned properly. Refer to the manufacturers instructions on hinge adjustments. There are many helpful videos on YouTube too!
At this time you could patch and paint any holes in the wall from the brace or scuffs. Personally, I am not as I will be tiling a backsplash for this space.
Now the cabinet install is complete! All that heavy lifting was worth it. Now you have extra storage, beautiful cabinets, and you didn’t spend a small fortune. Did I mention that I was quoted $1,800 for the same cabinet project that was completed for about $450. Amazing I know!
How to Hang Wall Cabinets Tips.
- Get a second set of hands if possible; here is a project where I happily accepted some help.
- Use the brace! Even with two people (one lifting and one operating the drills) the brace made leveling the cabinets that much easier.
- Remove washer and dryer if possible. I did not for this install and while I regret it, I did not feel comfortable touching the gas lines. The utility sink was not very deep so it didn’t pose much of a problem.
- Drill pilot holes, you do NOT want to crack the cabinet after all that work.
Projects in the Laundry Room Makeover List:
- Hang wall cabinets
- Cabinet trim
- Attaching hardware to the cabinet doors
- Painting trim
- Painting the doors
- Tiling backsplash
- Tiling floor
- Vacuum closet
If you haven’t already, check out this post that outlines inexpensive bathroom updates.