While professionals know how to install cabinets, most DIY’ers need help with the steps and tools required for a high-quality installation.
And, as cabinet installation tools have advanced, so have the techniques.
In this guide, learn:
- Modern tools like cabinet jacks and cabinet claws
- Steps to follow, like installing upper cabinets first
- Tricks to laying out screw holes for studs
While this is a DIY task, hiring a professional is always best if you’re not up to cutting, leveling, and screwing.
Page Contents
How to Install Cabinets
1. Plan the cabinet install start-to-finish
First, you can measure the kitchen once the walls and drywall are installed. While you can attempt measurements from a blueprint, there’s always a surprise in new construction or remodels that could be costly later.
What is the best way to plan your cabinets? Have a cabinet supplier or big-box store take the measurements and design the space. Then they’ll order the boxes and prepare complex items like cabinet filler strips and door swings for you.
But if you are going to plan your cabinets consider the following:
- Choose your cabinets first, so you’ll understand their installation requirements.
- Minimize cabinet filler strips whenever possible.
- Center the base kitchen cabinet under a window (if applicable)
- Keep even spacing around trim and other openings
- Pay attention to finished ends vs. unfinished.
- For islands, keep consistent walking space around the face and sides of the island
- Factor in countertop overhang – especially near doors or openings.
2. Have the right cabinet installation tools
You may not want to spend another $500 on tools after you put $5000 or more in cabinets. But not having the right tools can damage the cabinets (or you). And keeping in mind an average kitchen installation costs around $5000, a small tool budget makes a lot of sense.
The right cabinet installation tools are a must, from claws and jacks to a basic miter saw. Due to the specialty nature of cabinet installation, there are time and quality-improving tools that will make the installation easier.
We’ll reference these tools as we go, and you can decide what you need.
3. Have all your cabinet installation supplies ready
Did you know a few bundles of composite shims will be your best friend when shimming base cabinets?
However, before you start, you’ll need to ensure you have all the cabinet installation supplies on hand and in the correct quantity. Because cabinet installation is custom work, the required tools are not standard, and most big box stores don’t want you to install cabinets independently.
And don’t even think about using drywall screws to attach the cabinets to the wall. Learn what the suitable screws are in our guide to cabinet screws.
4. Finding a reference point to install upper cabinets from
The first cabinet of an installation is always the most important. Choosing the right cabinet or setting the first upper cabinet at the right height can save time and possibly damage the cabinets.
Choosing the right upper cabinet is the first step, then.
This is an easy step if your upper cabinets are all on one wall. For most cabinets, measure up 54″ from the finished floor and make a mark. Why 54″ for hanging upper cabinets? Most base cabinets are 36″ with counters, and an 18″ gap is standard clearance over the counter surface.
However, suppose you are installing upper cabinets on multiple walls, and the floor needs to be level. In that case, you can encounter issues with the upper cabinets not meeting or appearing “off” across disconnected kitchen walls.
How do you find a perfect “plane” for the uppers and lowers? Start with a cabinet installation laser level, typically mounted on a pole, in the middle of the room. Using a tape measure and the 360-degree line, the laser provides a measure every few feet around the entire kitchen. When you find the shortest measurement (the high point), you have a reference point to start from.
Then using this high point, measure up 54″ and reset the laser to that height. And voila, now you have a perfect reference line around the room to hang the upper cabinets.
5. Lighten the load by removing upper cabinet doors
This simple step will reduce weight and prevent dings in the cabinet doors.
Carefully remove the cabinet doors from the cabinets. By doing so, you will have less to lift and have easy access to the face frames or sides during installation.
6. Picking an upper cabinet to start installation
Now this step can be a little more art than science.
And by that, I mean there are a few best practices but no absolute right or wrong way to approach which cabinet goes first in the installation.
Here are a few potential starting points:
- For L-shaped or U-shaped kitchens, start from one of the 90-degree corner cabinets.
- On single-wall cabinets, start with the cabinet against the wall (a must), or if both sides are walls, consider the refrigerator cabinet to set the height.
- Or, start with the refrigerator cabinet, or at least measure its final height to ensure it will fit later.
7. Mark stud locations to attach cabinet screws
One of the most critical parts of cabinet installation is ensuring that cabinets must be screwed firmly into a wood or metal stud. With the combined weight of the cabinet and its contents, the risk of not correctly attaching the cabinet will fail later. Which can lead to damage, injury, or worse.
Using a stud finder, you can locate the center of the studs throughout the kitchen so you can reference them later. There are many high-quality stud finders; most will help you avoid plumbing and live AC wires.
8. Drill pilot holes in back of the first upper cabinet
Once you have your studs located, one of the most important steps is to transpose the stud location to the cabinet correctly.
First, could you mark the back of the cabinet with the stud locations? To make this step easier, butt the cabinet into place against the wall and transpose the stud location to the top of the cabinet.
When the stud location is identified, drill a 3/16″ pilot hole at the top and bottom of the cabinet using a brad point drill bit.
Tip: Be careful not to splinter the cabinet’s inside by using steady but slow pressure.
9. Lifting upper cabinets in place
Not everyone can lift a 75-pound cabinet and hold it in place while screwing the upper cabinet to the wall.
And that’s where a nifty tool called the cabinet jack comes in. A cabinet jack enables the installer to set the cabinet on the jack and then hold the upper cabinet in place using a delicate adjustment lever. Also, when paired with a cabinet claw, you can balance an upper cabinet in place and firmly clamp it to an adjacent cabinet.
Need help lifting? While expensive, a cabinet lift will hoist and hold the upper cabinet into place for you.
10. Installing face frame screws
With the upper cabinet resting on the cabinet jack and the cabinet claw in place, this step will secure each cabinet together.
Why do this? Aside from ensuring the frames are perfectly tight, the added weight distribution from connecting cabinets provides a safety net because the cabinet is attached to the wall AND its neighboring cabinet.
By doing this before you screw the cabinet to the wall, you will have leverage to ensure a smooth fit.
Mos cabinet claws have a bushing for a pilot drill. Drill a hole through the first cabinet face frame and into the second using this bushing. Then using a specialty face frame screw, firmly attach the cabinets.
Ensure you don’t over-torque the screws, as they are strong but can twist off in hardwoods.
11. Screw upper cabinets to the wall
First, ensure the cabinet is level and at the right height, as set earlier. Then, using a proper length cabinet screw (consult your cabinet instructions), insert all screws firmly.
If you have gaps or curves in the sheetrock, a composite shim inserted between the cabinet and the wall will keep everything square.
12. Installing filler strips
When you reach a point of needing to install a filler strip make certain it’s needed and works in alignment with any base cabinets.
Because filler strips can be tricky to install between cabinets or against the wall check out our guide on how to install cabinet filler strips for a full walk thru.
13. How to install cabinets - picking the first base
Like installing the upper cabinets, you’ll need to decide which cabinet to install first. I like to start in a corner or an end wall and work out from there.
But perhaps you have a fridge cabinet, and it will be an anchor for other cabinets. Since a fridge cabinet has limited flexibility to be raised or lowered, it often sets the base cabinet height.
Using common sense and some advanced layout, decide which cabinet fits best in your installation. However, I rarely start with an island cabinet as it is floating and can be installed last.
Finally, make sure you set the height of the first cabinet using the high point “laser level” line.
14. Installing the first base cabinet
Using the highest point as a reference, set the first base cabinet against the wall and use shims to perfectly level left to right and front to back.
After it’s level, screw it to the wall using cabinet screws and composite shims. Remember, the shims will keep the cabinet level and prevent the screws from tilting the face of the cabinet front-to-back.
15. Keeping the base cabinets level during installation
Do you know the most significant risk of a base cabinet installation? Putting them in the right place. Instead, having to re-install the bases if you don’t maintain a perfectly flat surface for solid surface counters.
This happened to me once. And on a job that was a few hundred miles away.
The trick is slowly and methodically ensuring your base cabinets are installed flush, and level is maintained. Because base cabinets can extend many feet apart, a six-foot level is a great tool to have on hand.
16. Clamping, screwing and filler strips
For base cabinets, follow the same steps as for upper cabinets. While cabinet claws are a must for upper cabinets, they also ease lower cabinet installation as base cabinets are heavier to position in place perfectly.
To keep good visual lines, keep filler strips in the base cabinets in the same line as the upper cabinets.
17. Install the island
For kitchens with center islands, now is the time to install them.
First, could you ensure the floor is finished and ready for the island? While there are a few tricks to installing the island, you’ll need to plan for the following:
- Use a hole saw to cut plumbing lines as needed.
- Screw 2x4s to the floor as blocks to screw the island cabinets.
- Ensure you watch for in-floor heating or other utilities on the floor.
18. Double check the cabinets are level
Learning how to install cabinets means becoming friends with a level. And on the base cabinets, there needs to be a 100% level surface cabinet to cabinet. Once the toe kick is installed, the options to level the cabinets are much tougher.
Lastly, double-check the level in all directions before proceeding and make all adjustments now.
19. Installing base cabinet toe kick
And now we’re more than two-thirds through our guide on how to install cabinets.
This should be one of the most accessible trim jobs in the entire kitchen.
The toe kick is a piece of 3-1/2″ wide by anywhere from 1/4-3/4″ thick piece of trim that fits at the base of the cabinet. While the basic steps are to start with the most extended piece and work to the smallest amount, you can follow our complete step-by-step guide to installing toe kicks for all tips and tricks.
20. Install base shoe on cabinets
So this step is optional but hides any imperfections. The base shoe is a 3/4″ trim that matches the cabinets or wood floor and hides small gaps. It also provides a finished look.
While most trimmers will install this with 45-degree angles, you can also cope with the trim for a gap-free look.
21. Install crown molding
Now that you’re warmed up with trimming, at least the toe kick, we can move to the crown molding. Because of the compound angles involved with crown molding, there are a few tool requirements. I recommend, at minimum, a miter saw with a good quality brad nailer to handle the complex cuts required.
For a complete step-by-step guide, check our guide to installing crown molding for tips and tricks, plus a few helpful tools to make compound cuts easier.
22. How to install cabinet end panels
This step may be optional, but some cabinets do not have the end panels attached since they are “universal” until the installer chooses the exposed end.
While not as big of a headache as it seems, follow the directions.
If you need directions, contact cement will work fine for most installations. Using the directions on the can, you can install most end panels in under an hour. But make sure you use a mask for chemical-based contact cement.
23. Hide nail holes and any gaps in face frames
If you’ve ever walked into a kitchen where the installer didn’t hide the nail holes in the trim, you noticed.
So don’t be that installer and use a magic mixture I’ve used for decades: Color Putty . Rub it into the gap or nail hole and wipe away the excess with a shop towel. Nothing else, no waiting or applying finish. All the holes will immediately blend in and disappear.
24. Clean up the cabinets
You’ll have a dusty mess inside the cabinets after drilling pilot holes, plumbing lines, and cutting outlet holes.
Before putting the cabinet doors back on and inserting drawers take a small vacuum and pick up all the wood chips. Follow that up with a damp rag to get all the fine dust.
25. Re-install the doors and drawers
Since you’ve removed doors and drawers to allow easy access to the inside of the cabinet, now is the time to put them back on the cabinets.
Since doors and drawers all appear the same size, one trick is during removal, use painter’s tape on the inside of each entry or drawer and number them according to the cabinet.
Lastly, be careful in this step to avoid dings and dents. From experience hanging a cabinet door is a balance of a cordless drill, a small screw, and a heavy door.
Tip: store your cordless batteries in a lithium fire bag for maximum safety.
26. Install outlet covers
This is almost a guaranteed step in the microwave cabinet. Before installing shelves, ensure the outlets are covered and safe.
Depending on your installation, an outlet box extender may be required to bridge the gap.
27. Install shelving
Now that you have the interior of the cabinets cleaned up and ready to be used, the shelving can be installed.
You can choose a shelf height for the upper and lower cabinets that best suits your needs. And if in doubt, go for centered on the base cabinets and equally spaced on the uppers.
Lastly, cutting a wood stick to the desired shelf pin height will make quick work of installing the pins.
28. Install cabinet door handles or knobs
One of the final steps in this project is to install your knobs or handles. First, determine where to place your cabinet hardware and then use a cabinet jig to make perfectly aligned holes. Finish with a quick knob installation, and you’re on to the last step.
29. Call in counters, plumbing and electrician
With the cabinets ready to be finished, a few trades are left. Make an immediate call to confirm a measurement date for solid surface counters. Wrap-up by calling an electrician for any outlet boxes on the island or a plumber to finish the sink connections.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it hard to install kitchens yourself?
There are two answers to this question. First, hire a professional if you aren’t comfortable drilling, screwing, or cutting wood. However, suppose remodeling is a skill you have or want to learn. In that case, basic cabinet installation is something a DIY’er can tackle but only by following all instructions of the manufactured cabinets you purchase. If you have any doubts, please hire a professional.
When installing cabinets where do you start?
Always start in the corner of a room as that allows you to set a main level point, and install cabinets to the left and right from there.
Do cabinets go in before or after drywall?
Cabinets are always installed after drywall is installed, primed, and preferably painted.
Summary
While a cabinet installation requires many steps, with planning, tools and patience, it might be a job you can do yourself. Any doubts? Hire a professional.
Recommended Reading
- 20 Must Have Cabinet Installation Tools
- How to Install Cabinet Filler Strips
- Best Cabinet Hardware Jigs
- Cabinet Jack and Claw
Cabinet Installation Series
Planning & Tools To Install Cabinets
Guides for Cabinet Installation
Finishing Cabinets With Molding and Hardware
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Eric has been a professional woodworker for over thirty years and has worked in small cabinet shops making everything from kitchen cabinets to hand-made furniture. Now working from a home woodworking shop Eric is sharing his passion for woodworking, tool advice and how-to knowledge from his Minnesota-based woodshop.
