I haven’t had too much practice fixing much of anything that requires power tools. However, I’m pretty athletic and anticipate that if a cabinet tries to act up, I’ll scare it back into shape or yell at it. But I don’t want to be totally reactive on this project.
The cabinet I want to trim is the cabinet that is against the refrigerator and the part that houses the dishwasher. There appears to be about an inch of the side of the cabinet that protrudes past the counter top. What’s my best method of attack for gaining that extra inch?
Thank you!
Corey
I don’t know much about it either, can you take that piece completely off? And if you can maybe replace it with a small trim. Or is it actually supporting the cabinet? I don’t know but I hope that maybe I sparked a little something in your imagination to get it to work out for you.
gram
Without looking at it, it is difficult to tell, but I’ll give it a stab. There some commerically manufactured cabinets that can be trimmed. For the most part, base cabinets, for example drawer base cabinets, can not really be trimmed down 1" without major modifications. There is a about a quarter inch on either side of the face frame that can be trimmed with a portable power planer. At least on some cabinets. For the most part, the only parts that be trimmed with minimal effort are filler pieces and blind end pieces. Filler pieces really are simply blocks of wood, the same length of the face frame and usually 3" wide. They can be trimmed so two cabinets can joined together regardless of placement. The other thing that can be trimmed is the blind end panel. This may be at the end of your run of cabinets. A end panel is like a filler piece, but also has a panel like the side of a cabinet. Is there is a three inch or so piece like that between the dishwasher and refrigerator? If so it may be trimmable. You would need to support the end of the countertop with a 2×4 or something from the top to the floor about 34 1/2" Then figure out how the end panel is attached. Sometimes capenters nail a block to the wall, then nail the endpanel to the block with brads. Sometimes there is a screw holding the panel on the countertop. Sometimes there is block on the floor and the panel is nailed to that. But the end panel can sometimes be trimmed. If you can get the pane off, assuming that is what it is, it can be trimmed by using a table saw. Trim the edge that on dishwasher side. That is a whole bunch of if’s, but can’t be sure without looking at it.
Good luck
Take yourself a jigsaw, but be sure to leave about 1/8th of an inch, and remove 7/8th inches, that should give you enough room to slide in your household goods. If you still need a little more room, then a good rasp will take off the extra that you need.
Good luck in your venture!
your cabinet probly has a filler ,to accept the frig and or dishwasher remove filler and cut accordingly