Cabinet Installation in Los Angeles, CA

Kitchen cabinet installation in Los Angeles: what the job covers

A cabinet install is more than hanging boxes. The scope below is what a typical new cabinet installation involves once the order has arrived; your written quote should list each item so you can see what is and is not part of the job.

• Protecting floors, counters you are keeping and the path from the street to the kitchen
• Taking out the existing base and wall cabinets, and noting any damage behind them
• Finding the high point of the floor and marking a level line for the base run
• Locating studs and setting the wall cabinets on a level ledger line
• Shimming, clamping and screwing boxes together so faces line up
• Scribing fillers and end panels to walls that are not plumb
• Cutting openings for plumbing stub-outs and outlets that are already in place
• Hanging doors, fitting drawer fronts, adjusting hinges and mounting pulls

Toe kicks, crown molding and light rail are usually the last pieces on, after the boxes are checked one more time for level and square. Countertop templating comes after that, because a stone fabricator measures off the installed cabinets, not the drawing.

How do good cabinet installers near me work from order to final hinge?

Here is how the process runs when the cabinets come from the Sherman Way showroom and you ask for them to be installed.

1. 1

   Settle the layout and the order

   Box sizes, filler widths and appliance openings are confirmed against the walls before ordering, so the install is not spent fixing a sizing mistake.

2. 2

   Check the delivery

   When the cabinets arrive, every carton is opened and checked against the order for size, finish and damage. A chipped door is far easier to replace before it is hung.

3. 3

   Clear the kitchen

   You empty the old cabinets and arrange for the plumber or electrician to disconnect the sink, dishwasher and range if those trades are involved.

4. 4

   Remove and prep

   Old cabinets come out, the walls are checked for studs, old fasteners and soft spots, and level lines go on the wall.

5. 5

   Set, level and fasten

   Wall cabinets usually go up first so nobody leans over base boxes to reach them, then the base run is shimmed and anchored.

6. 6

   Doors, drawers and hardware

   Doors are hung and adjusted so reveals are even, drawers are aligned and pulls are mounted to a template.

7. 7

   Walk-through

   You open every door and drawer with the installer before the countertop is measured, and any adjustment is noted then.

Cabinet leveling and anchoring for earthquake country

Floors in older San Fernando Valley houses are rarely flat, and a slab that has settled a little can drop a quarter inch or more across a 12-foot wall. Base cabinets are set to the highest point, then shimmed up everywhere else, so the counter on top ends up dead level. Standard base boxes are 34½ inches tall, which puts a finished counter at about 36 inches; the bottom of wall cabinets typically sits around 54 inches off the floor, leaving roughly 18 inches of backsplash.

For more on latches, stone tops and heavy-dish storage, read the guide to an earthquake-ready kitchen.

Cabinet replacement in Los Angeles: what to settle before demolition

Replacing cabinets in the same footprint is the simplest version of the job. The moment the sink moves to an island, the range moves to another wall or a new circuit is needed for an appliance garage, the project picks up plumbing, gas or electrical work.

Have rough-in work finished and inspected before the cabinets go in, and give the trades the final cabinet drawing so drain and supply lines land inside the sink base instead of behind a drawer stack.

RTA cabinet assembly and installation

Ready-to-assemble cabinets ship flat and save money on the box, but someone has to build every one before it can be hung. Assembly adds labor, and the quality of an RTA kitchen depends heavily on how carefully each box is squared and glued.

• Square before you screw. A box assembled even slightly out of square makes doors rub and reveals uneven down the whole run.
• Check the joinery. Cam-lock boxes go together quickly; glued dowel or dado joints are stiffer once dry.
• Assemble near the kitchen. Building boxes in a garage and carrying them in avoids scuffs on finished sides.
• Count hardware early. Missing hinges or shelf pins discovered on install day stop the job.

Pre-assembled boxes skip that step entirely. The trade-offs between the two are laid out on the semi-custom and stock cabinets page.

What changes the kitchen cabinet install cost?

Installation labor is quoted per job because two kitchens with the same number of boxes can take very different amounts of time. These are the factors that usually move the number:

• Box count and tall units: pantry and oven towers are heavier and fussier to plumb than base boxes.
• Removal of the old kitchen: tear-out, disposal and patching behind the old cabinets.
• Floor and wall condition: heavy shimming, scribing and filler work on uneven surfaces.
• Assembly: RTA boxes must be built before they are set.
• Trim package: crown, light rail, finished end panels and decorative legs.
• Access: condos and upstairs units with long carries, elevators or limited parking take longer.
• Hardware: mounting pulls on every door and drawer, and soft-close add-ons.

Why have Adcom install the cabinets you pick?

• The cabinets and the install come from one place. Installation of selected products is offered on request, so sizing questions go back to the same showroom that placed the order.
• Counters, tile and floors are chosen in the same building. Stone counters, wall tile and floor samples are displayed a few steps from the cabinet doors, which keeps the finished kitchen consistent.
• Homes and businesses alike. Cabinet runs for houses, rental units and commercial kitchens are all part of the work.
• Easy to find again. Archived copies of the business website going back to 2015 all list the same Sherman Way storefront, so a question after the install has somewhere to go.

Clients come in from all over the region. Burbank homeowners and Glendale kitchens are a short drive east, Santa Clarita households come down the 5, and the Los Angeles service area page covers the city neighborhoods. Caring for new boxes in hot, dry weather is covered in cabinet care for dry Valley heat.