Getting a big cabinet into a house?

Mark Rios

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Central CA
Steve Clardy posted his cabs here so I hope this thread is okay here. If not, I imagine it would go over into the Carpentry and Construction forum. Sorry.

I'm making a set of cabinets that will have two, lower, corner cabs with those two-shelf lazy-susan things in them, one on either side of the sink base. The finished cabinet will be 35" x 35" (and 35" high). There is a 90 degree corner on the inside (kitchen area), as opposed to a 45 like in Steve's cab pics. ( BTW, I am in no way comparing my cabs to Steve's :D ).

So, there is an 11" x 11" notch out of the square footprint of the 35" x 35" cabinet. 24" for the cabinet depth and 11" for the return in the other direction. Am I clear enough? You cabinet folks should be able to decipher my poor descriptions.

This kitchen remodel is a pretty big job for me and I've been dreaming (nightmares?) about it. One night it hit me, am I going to be able to get the corner cabs into the house? A 36" door opening only yields about 34 3/4", with the door off. Will this cabinet be able to fit through the front door, perhaps by turning it "around" the corner, if you get my meaning? How do you folks get your big cabinets, with the smallest dimension of >34 1/2", into the house?

Thanks very much for any insight and advice you can provide.
 
Mark,

Your question is one we all have to consider when making a piece for someone...will it fit into their house? I assume you've already looked for, and couldn't find, a larger entrance...sliding patio doors, double french doors, etc.

If I know there's going to be space problems getting a piece into the intended room, there are two things I've had to resort to...

- Make the piece so final 'assembly' can be done once inside the space

- Be prepared to remove and replace molding around doors if removal provides enough additional room

I'd opt for the first option, since the second one can quickly turn into a nightmare when replacing the molding.

Good luck...
- Marty -
 
Heck, I have this problem getting stuff OUT of my workshop :D

Here in Japan, you don't see many large cabs, the hallways, doorways etc are too narrow, and most don't have the space for large cabs. When we do something bigger, it has to be broken up into smaller pieces, can't avoid it.

Cheers!
 
Mark. I use 4" legs, toe kicks.

Build your cabinet, but don't glue, nail the legs on. Screw them on.

Remove before moving into the house. My cab boxes are 34.5 without countertop. After leg removal, my box height is 30.5. It will then go through the door on its side.
I learned this lesson, after finding out a 34.5 box will not go through a 36" door.
 
Thanks for the replies.

All of my carcass pieces, lowers and uppers, have been cut out and I'm building the lowers right now. I'm saving the corner cabs for last. So, I've already got everything designed and cut, except for the length of any shelves.

I see that the technique of using seperate toekick/sub-bases can be an actual, necessary design feature but that will have to be considered in my next project.

In thinking about it some more this morning, it seems that the cab should be able to "roll" around the door jamb, right?

Hey, I just had an idea. I was planning on putting a false 45 degree angle in the inside corner of the cabinet. You know what I mean right? Way in the back of a lazy susan cabinet, the dead space corner; I'm going to take up some of that dead space by adding a false 45 degree corner.

Well, what if it's a real 45 degree corner? Say, 6" in from each corner. That would shorten the hypotenuse right? And still leave plenty of room for the lazy-susan apparatus.

Does this make sense and sound like a workable solution?

Thanks again very much for you input.
 
Kind of obvious but measure across the corners where you plan on snaking it through. See what the dimension is. If it is to big...... well you know.:)

LOL....yeah, you're right, but I wasn't wanting to build it before I knew. :D I think that I'll have to draw it out to scale tonight and see what the dimensions come out to be.


Dang, I hate all that drawing.

Thanks again.
 
I just drew a rough scale model of what I think the shape of your cabinet is as well as a rough scale model of the door opening and, if I am corect, your cabinet will not fit through the door. :( I hope that I am wrong.

Yes, this is the right forum in which to talk about cabinets.
 
I'm by no means an expert, but according to Mr. Sketchup, it looks like you're gonna be awfully close.

Cab Dimensions1 640.jpg

If you do the 45° cut at the back, I think you'll gain the room you need.

Cab Dimensions2 640.jpg
 
I'm by no means an expert, but according to Mr. Sketchup, it looks like you're gonna be awfully close.

View attachment 143

If you do the 45° cut at the back, I think you'll gain the room you need.

View attachment 144

Ahhh.....very good. Thanks Frank and Vaughn.

Vaughn's lower drawing is what I had in mind. I was just outside rushing to get things covered up, it has decided to rain today of course, and doing the rough numbers in my head I agree with you guys that I should be okay if I 45 that back corner. I don't have, nor know how to use, any software that draws it up on the computer (Sketch-Up?) so you folks have saved me big time. Thanks very much.

Vaughn, you've got 27 9/16" from the front, inside corner to the center of the back angle. You're right about the "a" and "b" legs needing to be 9" like you have there and not the 6" like I mentioned. I'd still be to big. Do you agree with my following estimations?

I need to add about 4 1/4" to the front of your line/measurement to allow for the approximately 6" of door jamb and trim,

and second,

I will need to measure to one of the 45 degree corners, instead of the center of the angle, adding approx. 3 1/4" to the back of the measurement. That angle will gain me a little in the front. I can't do that calculation in my head and it will be only a little bit but every bit will help. :eek: :confused: It does indeed look like I'll be able to squeak it through.

BTW, the front door is brand new. I just replaced it over the summer for these people. It's a prehung, highend HD door. They took two weeks picking it out and they are very proud of it so, even though I'll take the door off, they will be very disappointed if I get a scratch anywhere on it, even on the jamb. :rolleyes: ;)

Thanks again guys. Thanks very much.

Woohooooo..................now it needs to stop raining. :rolleyes: :D
 
Mark, here's what Sketchup thinks the dimension from the inside corner to the corner of the 45° section would be:

Cab Dimensions3 640.jpg

Looks like it only adds 3/4".
 
Yes. Cutting the back corner off will work also.
I do this on my 36x36 L susan cabs, 45 degree front.
The reason I do that is, not to get it in a door opening, but to help square it to the walls. Very seldom have I ever found a square corner in a house.
Plus the fact, if some dry waller has filled the corner with 50 pounds of mud:mad: , you can't get a square cab to sit in there.
 
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