Replies

1. 
   Dave45 | Jun 15, 2006 04:24pm | #1

   Some may call it cheating, but I make the cabinet a little short then use scribe molding to hide the gaps on each side.

   You'll also want to measure the opening at the back wall - and at the front of the cabinet.  Those side walls may - or may not - be perpendicular to the back wall.

2. 
   DougF | Jun 15, 2006 04:28pm | #2

   The trim piece(s) reflect the standard solution to installing a cabinet.  Leaving a sufficient margin prevents the inevitable problems of forcing a piece and damaging the wall as well as the cabinet face frame finish. 

    

3. 
   TerryGabriel | Jun 15, 2006 04:35pm | #3

   Since you are backing in between two walls, you really have no choice but to use a little molding to hide the cracks. One wall, scribing is obviously the choice. your situ is tough and you can get a piece to match the top of your base to keep the lines in the room consistent.

4. 
   mudman | Jun 15, 2006 04:56pm | #4

   You do not have to use mouldings if you dont whant to. Here is the easiest way to do it. Leave enough overhang on one side to scribe as normal. Install that one first and work across. The last cabinet's face frame should be 1 or 2 inches short of the wall. You will fill this in with a piece that is 3" wide. Here is where it gets complicated and I may not explain myself well, but I'll try. find the widest space between the face frame and wall and measure it, lets say it is 2". Now you have to lay the scribe piece over the face frame and, it parallel to the edge of the face frame, I tape a straight piece of wood to act as a fence, set the scribe to the correct width and scribe as usual. Cut the piece on the line with a 45 deg back cut and if you allowed the trim piece to over hang the correct amount the trim should fit perfectly.

   Instead of using a seperate trim piece I prefer to leave the last stile off the cabinet and make it two inches too wide. I then carry out the above operation and attatch the stile for a no trim instalation. Again, I know it is hard to picture the above operation, but it is explaned in numerous books and if you practice once in the shop you will figure it out.

   Pardon my spelling,

   Mike

   Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.

1. 
   scott57 | Jun 15, 2006 05:27pm | #5

   Thanks for all of the suggestions.

   Mike, I think I understand what you are saying but i'm not sure i am up to that.  I may play around with it and see if I can work that out.  I guess I like the idea of the trim pieces for an easier install on this project.

   Scott

1. 
   BG | Jun 15, 2006 08:10pm | #6

   Scott57,

   Why don't you just take two pieces of scrap and scribe each wall independently....then apply the scrap to the face frame.  A careful placement of the scrap to the face frame should not be too difficult?...just cut away. 

1. 
   scott57 | Jun 15, 2006 08:47pm | #7

   BG,

   So I would make the face frame to the widest measurement between the walls, then scribe each side on a seperate piece, then take that to the face frame and scribe the face frame?

   Scott

1. 
   DaveRicheson | Jun 15, 2006 11:43pm | #8

   About the same as your method.

   Make the two outside  frames  1/2" wider than the widest part of the opening. Slide the unit in untill it touches the face of both walls.  Scribe the walls and pull the unit back out. Now make a template from the wall scribe marks to the edges using a piece of stiff poster board. Tape the tempalates to each face and cut to stiles as needed.

    

   Dave

2. 
   BG | Jun 16, 2006 12:27am | #9

   Scott57,
   Yes, that is what I'd do...maybe a 2-4 degree backcut incase the walls are screwy...the worst that can happen still leaves the other methods as a backup. Also, a cool method for scribing was suggested on one of these threads about two weeks ago....shove a pencil through a bearing and roll the bearing up the wall..

   Edited 6/15/2006 5:31 pm ET by BG

3. 
   scott57 | Jun 16, 2006 04:56pm | #10

   good point. I can always try to scribe and if I mess that up, I can go with the molding.

   Thanks guys for all of the suggestions,

   Scott

5. 
   notDusty | Jun 16, 2006 05:52pm | #11

   Hi Scott ,

                   To scribe or not to scribe , if this was a piece of built in furniture or your life's masterpiece work then scribing would be expected . For ordinary household type of cabinetry and such , industry standard is to leave the face shy and use scribe moldings . But you certainly can scribe if you want to .

   When the walls look fairly straight to me I generally subtract about a 1/4" off the width of the face , then use scibe molding to match the style and specie . Also on a wall to wall cabinet I typically leave 1/2" scribe on each end , meaning the face runs past the box on each end , this will help when the corner is out of square as well .

    When wall to wall in some cases   depending on the room and location it can be next to impossible to fit the box between the walls or mark it and remove it and have room to actually do the scribing when you make it too tight .

   Have you checked the walls to see how bad they are ? Could be fairly straight and if that's the case cut the face exactly the width and as has been suggested relieve the back on a slight angle . If the fit is close then acrylic latex caulking the color of the walls will make the cabinet look as though it grew there .

   You can use a level as a straight edge and check the condition of the wall . You may want to follow suit on how the rest of the cabinets in the house were done to match .

                      good  luck                dusty

1. 
   scott57 | Jun 16, 2006 06:40pm | #12

   Dusty,

   good point.  it is just a bath vanity!  the walls aren't too bad but bad enough that caulk won't work.  for scribe molding, do you just use a flat piece of molding (1/4 thick, 3/4 wide) or something like quarter round?  I was planning on just using standard 3" baseboards without quarter round in the room, so I did not know if using quarter round where the cabinet meets the walls would look funny.

   Thanks

   Scott

1. 
   notDusty | Jun 16, 2006 08:38pm | #13

   Scott ,   Yes , I almost always use 1/4 " X 13/16 or the thickness of your face stock , perhaps ease one edge with a small bullnose 1/8" or 1/4" radius works fine .

                             dusty

6. 
   UnclePablo | Jun 16, 2006 11:06pm | #14

   Hey Scott,

   A lot of good advice here. For future reference, you may want to break that vanity up into two or three separate cabinets. We did a run of vanities for an apartment complex this way. The first one was built in one piece. We had to remove the medicine cabinet, door casing, towel bars and even light switches to get that one in. Could you imagine moving it in and out to complete the scribe?!?!! (Why this occurred in the first place is another story). The revised arrangement was a generous section in the middle for the sink and plumbing access. Two narrow cabinets on either side for drawers.  We typically leave a 1/4" over hang on face frames from cabinet to cabinet and as much as 3/4" overhang to scribe to walls. Sometimes a separate filler piece would be used to fit between cabinet and wall. Easier at times to scribe a small piece when its not attached to a cabinet. Lastly, separate pieces are easier to carry and maneuver.

   Good Luck,

   -Paul

1. 
   scott57 | Jun 16, 2006 11:58pm | #15

   Paul,

   that's another good thought.  I made it up of 3 boxes - a double door cabinet, three drawers, then another double door cabinet, but then i was going to cover all of them with 1 face frame.  I guess I could make three seperate face frames, scribe the outside cabinets first then install the center drawer cabinet and screw them together.  So I could either have three cabinets to join together or have molding covering the gaps on the ends.  Which would look better? 

   Thanks,

   Scott

1. 
   UnclePablo | Jun 17, 2006 01:29am | #16

   Scott,

   Typically, the separate cabinets would have their own face frames. These then get screwed together at install. Careful wood selection and some fine tuning and they will look seamless when completed. Also, for the most part, your attention is more focused on detailing in the doors, drawers and hardware. Not necessarily on the frame around(behind) them.

   -Paul

7. 
   DougU | Jun 17, 2006 03:18am | #17

   Scott

   Another suggestion is to make your face frame leaving one of your end styles loose.

   Scribe the attached style when you install the cabinet and then scribe the loose style to fit, then attach.

   I don't like seeing trim to hide a gap, always looks like the guy didn't know how to install the cabinet correctly.

   Doug