I recently purchased a house that I had to be completely gut and remodel. I am currently installing kitchen cabinets. I’m having an issue, I’m not sure what to do.

I installed the cabinets as level and plum as possible. Due to this, and other circumstances, I had to leave space between the walls and the back of the cabinets, using shims and screws to keep them in place. I’ve come to the last cabinet which is to the left of the dishwasher and here is my dilemma.



1) Do I leave a gap behind the cabinet like this:



2.) Do I put it to the wall like this so there is no gap?



Obviously, I would much rather go with option 2 so that I don’t have a big eye sore, but this gives me a couple more fun issues to deal with…

1.) With the End Cabinet, the distance from the wall to the front of the cabinet is about a 1/2” shorter than the sink cabinet.





I have countertop people coming this wednesday to measure for their install. Is this going to mess them up or will this be no issue because they can cut the “granite” in a way to where it won’t matter (angle/lip)?

2.) This also is giving me trouble with the placement of the dishwasher… The Dishwasher sticks out on one side and is flush on the other due to issue #1. I have to angle the dishwasher to give the appearance of “flushness”. I also cannot get the space between the dishwasher and the cabinets even on both sides no matter what I do. Is this space usually uneven and nobody really notices? Am I being too picky? If not, How do I get this space even?



I GREATLY appreciate ANY help you guys can offer. I'm kind of frozen here. I fear either option is going to screw me.

 

Welcome to the forums!

You want all your base cabinets to be in a straight line and level from one end to the other. The cabinet manufacture sells trim molding with the same finish as the cabinets. You'd use the trim to hide the gap at the wall.

 

What kind of counter are you getting, is it 3cm granite or is there an overhang (built up front)?

The cabinet face frames need to be in a straight line, no matter how the gap behind the cabinets look. Ideally you will have an 1-3/4" counter overhang at the front, and it will remain constant and even throughout the kitchen.
I use an 8' level to check the tops are level and ensure the fronts are straight.
Some cabinets are a little out of square, but there's no reason you shouldn't be able to get the dishwasher opening square.
A few tips for leveling:
- For the dishwasher opening: build a 24-1/16" wide (square) face frame and clamp it in place as though it's a cabinet. This will help keep the cabinets in place while shimming and maintain your opening width.
- It's easier to shim all the bases if you remove the toekicks and replace them later.

 

Thank you guys! I really appreciate your help!

To answer your question. I ordered a granite “like” countertop that was a bit cheaper. LG HI-Macs Solid Surface. There is an overhang. I’m not sure how much though. I would imagine 1”-2”.

Reading your reply, I am going to have to get the “face frames” lined up straight. For this big of a space these shims just aren’t cutting it for behind the cabs. I measured it out and if I can somehow get a strip of wood that is .625 thick and run it behind the top base cabinets and screw into the wall through that... the faces should be pretty damn straight. I’m hoping from there I can then fix the end cab to match and everything will fall into place.

I will definitely be building that frame for the dishwasher as well. I wish I would have thought of that before.

and here I thought the base cabs would be easier than the top ones.

Thanks you guys! You’re life savers!

 

HI-Macs Solid Surface is similar to Corian. The guys I work with can't even tell the two apart, the material must be marked. I like it.

The counter lip is built up to appear 1.5" thick. The counter installers will glue 3/4" strips of wood to the top of your cabinets, raising the counter to compensate for the build-up.
Corian or HI-Macs cannot have a plywood underlayment.