Is one of your cabinet units damaged from heat, moisture and mold, or is swollen and smells really bad that you cant stand the sight of it in the kitchen?
Can you actually pull out the single unit from the cabinetry whilst the rest of the carcass are in great shape? Or would you have to replace the entire cabinetry to get the job done?
Here’s How To Replace A Single Kitchen Cabinet
You can replace a single kitchen cabinet with a custom made one built exactly to it’s dimension. To replace the cabinet, unscrew all the nails that hold it in place at the countertop, adjacent cabinets (face frames) and sometimes at the base.
How To Remove An Upper Cabinet
Empty the cabinet
If you are replacing a kitchen cabinet, chances are that there are items inside of it already. Remove every item in the cabinet and keep them in a suitable place or find another cabinet to stock them inside.
Unscrew the face frame
Cabinets are typically fastened to one another using their frames. A screw is driven between the two face frames (that touch each other) in order to hold the cabinets in place and close any visible gap that can drop the aesthetic value of the kitchen.
For any middle cabinet, its face frame will be screwed on both sides.
Before you’ll be able to detach a specific cabinet, you’ll have to unscrew the screw nails that hold the face frames together. Do so using a power screwdriver as it gets the job done in under seconds.
Unscrew the nails that hold the cabinet against the wall
The main support for an upper cabinet is usually the nails (driven into the back of the cabinet and to the wall) which holds it firmly against the wall.
You’ll have to unscrew these screws before you’ll be able to detach the cabinets from the wall. Do so using the power screwdriver as it is faster.
Remove the cabinet
When you’re done removing the screws, you’ll have a loose cabinet and it’s only a matter of taking it out of position and dropping it to the ground.
So a quick note.
If you have a cabinet lightning installed on the base of the upper cabinet, you might want to take time and remove it first. If a heat shield is in place too, remove that as well.
How To Remove A Base Cabinet
So let’s say the cabinet you want to remove happens to be a base cabinet and not an upper. So how do you go about it? Because obviously, base cabinets have a countertop that sits on them which makes things kind of complicated.
But really, detaching the cabinet from the countertop is quite easy as you would see in a second.
Remove drawers and doors
First things first, you must to put aside anything that can cause an obstruction and make the removal process a pain in the neck.
This means that you have to remove the cabinet drawers and the door too.
Removing the drawers is quite easy and no one even needs a tutorial on that, except when you’re dealing with a pull out drawer that has the rail fastened to the cabinet, in which case, you’ll have to unfasten the screws that hold it in place.
For the door, you’ll have to take a look at the hinge. Look at the screws that attach the hinge to the cabinet door, as well as the carcass, and make sure to unscrew them. The door should come right off.
Detach the cabinet from the countertop
Typically, the top of the base cabinet is fastened to the countertops with screws.
Take a peek inside the cabinet and you should easily locate these screws. Unfasten them to detach the cabinet from the countertop so there’s nothing holding it at the top when you try to slide it out at the end of the process.
If your countertop isn’t fastened to your cabinet using screws, find out the specific way in which it fixes onto the cabinet and use the appropriate technique to detach the cabinet. You can ask the installer of your cabinet concerning that.
Remove the wood holding the cabinet firm with adjacent cabinets
Depending on the installer of your cabinet, you might have little strips of wood keeping adjacent cabinets in place, and a narrow strip from a board to cover the space created by the strips, or, you can have the two face frame of the cabinets screwed together.
Whichever way, find out from a mere inspection of the cabinet and make sure to detach all the necessary screws before attempting to pull out the cabinet.
Remove the back screw
Next after detaching the face frame screws or the wood strips, is taking our attention to the screws located at the back that holds the cabinet firmly against the wall. Unscrew these too using a power screw and we’re almost done.
Slide the cabinet right out
When you’re done unscrewing all the screws, you’re finally ready to slide out the cabinet from the cabinet system. Go carefully with this process to avoid causing damage to your flooring or even the countertop.
Installing a Replacement cabinet
For the replacement cabinet, it is advised to ask any reputable company or small shop to design and construct a custom cabinet with the exact dimension and construction of the former cabinet for you, so it fits perfectly into the system when it’s time to install.
Trying to purchase ready-made cabinets might not work because cabinets come in different designs, and what’s available at the store may not necessarily match the rest of the cabinets you have at home.
But if you can find a ready-to-assemble cabinet of the same size and dimension as well as the same type of finishing, don’t hesitate to go for it.
When giving a woodworker, or a professional company the task of making a custom cabinet for you, make sure to invite them over so they take a good look at the cabinet and note down it’s design and construction, so you have an exact replica of what you detach previously!