Measuring a Kitchen Before Ordering Cabinets

Most people measure a kitchen once, along the floor, and order from that single number. Walls in an Austin, TX house are rarely parallel, and the breakdown sitting on kitchen cabinets austin safety in construction show lists the readings a crew takes before a cabinet layout is drawn. A tape across one wall at counter height and again near the ceiling will often disagree by half an inch or more, and the cabinets have to fit the smaller of the two.

Three readings per wall

Every wall gets measured low, at counter height, and high, at the top of where the wall cabinets will sit. The shortest reading wins. A frameless carcass has almost no room to hide a bad number, because the doors sit in a tight reveal and any lean shows at once. A face frame cabinet forgives a little more, since the frame can be scribed to the wall.

Openings and obstacles

Window sills, door casings, the edge of the range hood and any soffit are marked as distances from a fixed corner, not from each other. Chaining measurements from one opening to the next stacks small errors into a big one. In older homes near Hyde Park or Tarrytown, a window that was moved in a past remodel can sit an inch off from where the plan says it is.

Plumbing, vents and outlets

The drain, the supply lines, the gas stub and the range vent decide where a sink base and a drawer stack can go. A sink base needs its back cut out around the pipes, and a plywood box takes that cut cleanly while mdf crumbles at the edge if the saw wanders. Outlets and switches are marked with height as well as position, since a wall cabinet or a backsplash run can cover them.

Appliance widths as built

The refrigerator, dishwasher and range are measured on the unit itself, not the brochure. A refrigerator that needs a quarter inch of side clearance and a few inches of air behind it changes the width of the opening around it. Dishwashers are sized by their cut-out, and the cabinet next to one needs a filler so the door can swing open past the handle.

Why the plan and the room disagree

Drawings show intent. The room shows what the framers, the drywall crew and decades of Texas heat did to it. Clay soils east of the Balcones Fault move foundations slowly, and a floor that was flat when the house went up can be out by an inch across ten feet. A good measure sheet records that slope along with the lengths, so the installer knows where the high point is before the first box is lifted into place.

The finished sheet is a drawing with every wall, opening and fixed object located from one corner, with the shortest reading written at each point. Fillers are sized last, so they take up whatever the room leaves over.