Here are some things to think about when you're hanging your own kitchen cabinets. Hang your upper cabinets first, so the lower cabinets won't be in the way. Snap a level chalk line to align the countertops. Use shim shingles to level them, then use drywall screws to secure your cabinets to the wall studs.
Here's a helpful tip for how to install a pre-hung door. First, fit door into place, making sure it's plumb using a level- on the hinge side. Then, nail through the casing and remove the factory clips. Shim the door along the hinge side and secure the jamb. Install the finish moldings and you're done.
Tim Berky is installing the Merillat cherry cabinets in the remodeled kitchen in Rowley, Massachusetts. Bob remarks that redoing the floors and bringing them to level makes the installation much easier. Berky adds that the new cabinets will be level to within 1/8 inch. Bob reviews the cabinet features, including the track system and compression closing device that prevents pinched fingers. The drawers are dovetailed wood with solid cherry faces. The cabinet boxes are pressboard that is gusseted for strength at the corners. Berky is installing the base wall cabinets with cabinet screws that have a broader head for a better hold. He has premarked all of the studs before drilling so that he will get a solid seat for the screws. Berky roughs in the cabinet, shims it, checks for level, then screws the cabinet into the wall and through the adjoining face frame before trimming off the shim. Berky finishes the installation by dressing out the toe kick with a cherry-stained board that he glues and nails in place. Bob looks at the glass-front upper cabinets and the island that is made to look like an Italian-style table with floating legs and rails. Berky secures the legs to the floor to avoid movement or damage.
Hanging the master bathroom door continues. After roughing the door into place, Ryley checks to make sure it is centered and temporarily secures it using plywood blocks. Next he checks the margin around the perimeter of the door to make sure each side is even. Shims are added to each side to create a solid wood backing between the jamb and the studs that frame the door opening. Final adjustments are made with the door closed; the last shim is installed at the striker plate before the door is permanently secured to the framing.
Eddie Lambert of Coconut Grove Glass installs the mirror panels that will serve as the back and side walls for the built-in bar in the Miami condo. He first applies Miro Mastic, an adhesive created specifically for mirrors, that will not bleed through or damage the silvering on the mirror. With the larger pieces across the back, Lamber applies the mastic directly to the wall. For the small side pieces that will brace the glass shelf that sits on top, Lambert applies the mastic to the back of the mirror. Using suction cup handles, Lambert puts the pieces in place, then applies pressure while they set. The glass shelves are sandwiched between two pieces of mirror affixed to the wall, so there are no fasteners to break the illusion of enlarged space created by the mirrors. Lambert is able to apply the mirror sections directly on top of the backsplash because Formica is a relatively soft material. If it were tile, a shim would be used to act as a cushion.
Bob talks with Howard Brickman of Brickman Consulting about how to fix squeaky floors. Brickman first he checks the moisture level in the joists to make sure it is in a normal range. Changes in moisture content cause wood to shrink and swell, which contributes to making floors squeak. Brickman reviews some of the cross-bracing that has been put in place to help make the floor stiffer. Having floorboards that run at an angle rather than perpendicular to the joists gives the floor more strength. Brickman explains how to fix a squeak, by first determining where the squeak is located, either between the sub-floor and the top of the joist or between the wood floor and the top of the subfloor. Brickman thinks the problem is between the wood floor and the sub-loor based on the sound of the noise. Screws are driven from the basement into the the sub-floor, pulling the wood floor and sub-floor above down and pressing them close together. A 2x4 is drilled into the top of the joist and the bottom of the subfloor to reduce the squeak by pulling the subfloor down tight to the joist. Brickman then discusses the use of shim shingles and construction adhesive to reduce squeaky floor noise when they are driven home between the joist and the subfloor.
Homeowner and contractor Nick Beasley walks Bob through the progress to date in the master and kids bath, including leveling the floors, building partition walls, and installing cementitious board for the wall and floor tiles. Beasley explains how they discovered inadequate framing for the windows when they removed the wallboard on the exterior wall. They reframed the wall with a header, making it structurally sound, and prepared to install matching windows. Beasley shows how to open up the building wrap and prepare a watertight window installation. He begins by cutting the building wrap down the middle, to the two bottom corners, then across the top. He staples the paper back and trims the excess away. He then uses Pella's waterproof self-adhesive tape along the bottom sill and up six inches on each side. He doubles up the bottom pieces and lets the exterior section extend 1/2 inch so that water will flow to the exterior and away from the house. He explains that it's important to work from the bottom up when waterproofing a window so that any water that gets in will run down and away, not getting caught behind any flap as it runs. Beasley opens up the nailing flange and roughs in the window before checking it for level and plumb. They shim the window at the bottom, middle, and top before checking again for level and plumb, and nailing it into place. They finish the installation with low-expansion insulation foam to fill the voids around the window. Beasley stresses that it's important to use low-expansion foam so that it won't expand too much and push te window out of plumb or cause difficulty for window operation. Cordell Burton is then back with Bob to review the Pella Architect Series windows the Beasleys selected for their 1895 home. These two-over-one wood interior and aluminum-clad exterior windows are Energy Star rated for high efficiency and feature replica-style hardware. They are constructed of double-pane low-e glass and are argon-filled for maximum energy efficiency.
You may have completed your job, but... build all walls using the same length studs. After standing the walls up, shim them up to the correct elevation. You could also just leave the wall sitting with the bottom plate out of level, & shim on the top of the walls.
side) widens about 1/2 inch from bottom to top. What kind of shim material should I use behind the jamb (including the top screw this gap, but I am interested in the best material to use for a shim behind the jamb. I will also use a bathroom caulk to seal the
Currently I'm planning on using the following as a support shim; a 1/4" by 1-1/8" by 18" long piece of acrylic plastic with a hole drilled through it for the top jamb screw behind