Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Built-in question

  1. #1

    Built-in question

    Hello Everyone,

    I am in the process of designing built in shelves for my living room. These will be the typical cabinet with doors on the bottom and open bookshelves above. The fireplace sticks out into the room forming two alcoves that these builtins will go in. The mantle wraps around the fireplace and into the alcoves which limits the width of the bookshelf portion of the built-in. The lower cabinet does not have this limit so could be wider to maximize storage space. Since the upper shelves will only be supported by the plywood top of the lower cabinet I am worried if the lower cab is too wide there will not be sufficient support for the upper cab.

    The current design has the upper shelves at ~40 inch wide centered on the lower cab which will be about 46 inch wide. The upper cabinet will need to be attached to the top from below due to clearance issues. Does it seem like there would be any support issue if I use a 3/4 inch thick birch plywood cabinet top with <3 in offset between the sides of the upper cab and the lower cab? Should I take any extra steps to add some reinforcements? reduce the offset?

    Thanks
    Ryan

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Washington State rainforest
    Posts
    122
    I'm no expert here but if it was me, I'd put in partitions in the lower cabinet to provide more support. I'd use that pocket on each end of the lower cabinet to put in a vertical bank of either small square drawers (which I think both look quite good and are very functional) or perhaps wine racks. And just from a design/function standpoint, I find drawers much more functional in lower cabinets than doors. Just an idea.

    Below: The small 8" drawers I'm talking about, from my kitchen. Because they're so small there's no need for drawer slides. Simple plywood box with half overlay front.

    IMG_8174.jpg
    Last edited by Tom Hyde; 02-27-2017 at 3:49 PM.
    Don't ask me how I know that!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    NE OH
    Posts
    2,615
    Why not double up the plywood? I actually prefer the look of a thicker top on cabinets as a design element, and in your case, it would make certain you have enough support for the top section.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    You'll be fine with a 3" offset.

    But why trust me, a stranger off the internet? You can mock it up, and see just how much movement there is from the weight in the upper cabinet. Pull a piece of plywood out of your scrap pile that's more than 46" wide. Put spacers under it at 46" span. Put more spacers on top of it at 40" span. Measure the gap from the "top" to the floor. Stand on the top of those two top spacers. Remeasure than gap. (Okay, you may need a helper.) My guess is that you'll see less than a thirtysecond change in that gap.

  5. #5
    I like the ideas of drawers, and I agree they add functionality that you don't get with cabinets but SWMBO feels differently. One of my early designs had drawers horizontally in addition to the cabinets but that design was nixed. I also proposed splitting the cabinet into 2 sections with 3 doors. That also did not make it the cut because she wants the ability to store longer items.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    3,063
    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    Why not double up the plywood? I actually prefer the look of a thicker top on cabinets as a design element, and in your case, it would make certain you have enough support for the top section.
    +1. 1 1/2" thick plywood will support an incredible amount of weight. I tend to over engineer things, but I might also add a few extra vertical supports in the back of the lower cabinets, breaking what might have been a single plywood back into thirds.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  7. #7
    The front edge of the top needs to match some existing molding which is ~1.25". My plan was to match this with some wood edging and applied molding after the face frames were installed so my original though had been a doubled up top would be too thick. Also when I sketched up my design I was trying to minimize materials and costs. My design called for a vertical nailer in the back, just under the top to attach the cabinet to the wall and a 3" wide horizontal nailer in the front to attach the top to the lower cabinet and face frame
    .
    Given the time and material I am putting into these built-ins it makes sense to use the extra half sheet of plywood and not take chances. Would extending the horizontal nailer all the way to the back (which would give me 1.5" of plywood over the depth of the cabinet with the top) add enough support? Will installing this piece flush to the top of the cabinet sides with pocket screws offer enough extra support or should I glue up the 2 pieces for the top and have these sit on top of the cabinet sides?
    Last edited by Ryan McKenna; 02-28-2017 at 12:43 PM.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •