How should I approach building a built in kitchen
sandiegodiyer
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I, a homeowner, am planning a kitchen with a built in look and a defining edge around the cabinet with soffit above it. What would be the best approach to build out this kitchen? Should I build the ceiling soffit first then install the cabinet, then lastly add the brown edge?
Note the cabinets come with adjustable legs
what considerations should I keep in mind to build a good finished product?
Replies
Layout the measurements on paper.
Make sure the measurements are 110% correct.
Build and finish soffit.
Explain what this brown edge is.
No electric or plumbing?
The brown edge is a 2 in wooden trim (2in x 1x x whatever length needed) that I would attach to the top of the cabinet
Plumbing and electrical will be handled by my gc, he has done that before. Just the cabinet is a bit different from what he normally does
SD,
What does the gc say, he’s on the job. Anyone worth their salt should be guiding this project, no?
We here have no picture, no drawing …….
At any rate, best of luck.
@calvin Sorry for some reason the pictures wasn't properly added. I just added them to the original post. The GC thinks he can do build the soffit and plumbing for it, and Ikea will be installing the cabinet. I just want to get any good learnings from someone with experience building this type of kitchen so I can incorporate the learnings into my construction as I will be pretty hand on and involved with the project
SD,
With those cabinets, as close to a perfect soffit is a good idea. That brown trim pc at the top would do 2 things. Allow the cab installer to scribe fit to the soffit if necessary and call attention to any waviness.
“Caulk and paint make for what a carpenter ain’t.”
Your kitchen is a beautiful thing! Please come back with the rest of the story.
@calvin from your experience, how challenging is it to build out a kitchen like this and have it look good like the 3d rendering. How difficult is it to build those perfectly straight line/walls?
I will definitely come back to update after it is done
SD
I would say it isn’t easy to do this job.
If it was easy, anybody could do it.
In a remodel you are building in what might not be a perfect space to begin with. I’m not saying it can’t be done, just might be more difficult. If you’ve got a good carpenter doing the job and these cabinets are quality, you should stand a fighting chance.
Love the design! In a perfect world, you'd frame and drywall your soffit, then install your cabinets, followed by the brown accent strip/ceiling. As calvin suggests, the brown strip could serve as a scribe piece between the cabinets and soffit.
However, we all know that the perfect world doesn't exist, and if that soffit isn't absolutely spot-on level and the depth of the soffit relative to the depth of the cabinets isn't 100%, you're going to call a lot more attention to that fact with the brown accent strip. It looks like you intend to have the vertical face of the brown strip flush and in the same plane as the soffit drywall above, right? That makes things even more challenging. I can't tell if there's a reveal gap between the bottom of the soffit face and the top of the brown strip face, but that can help a little.
A few approaches that could work, depending on the exact look you're going for.
1) Frame out a rough soffit above the cabinetry and brown trim, but don't yet drywall. Keep the soffit about 1/2" or so higher than where it needs to be if you were going to drywall it before installing cabinets, just to give you a little wiggle room. Err on the side of having the framing be a little shallower than the final depth, since you can shim it out if needed once cabinets and brown trim are installed.
Install the cabinetry and brown trim, getting it as close to perfect for when the drywall goes in. Then shim out the face of the rough soffit framing as necessary so that the face of the framing is about 5/8" back from the face of the brown trim (so that the drywall and mud end up flush with the brown trim).
Have your drywaller use something like Trim-Tex's tearaway L bead or a J bead (google it if you need a visual) on the bottom of the drywall to butt up tight to where it meets the top of the brown trim. That will give you a nice clean, defined edge to the drywall and allow you to finish it after the cabinetry has already been installed (rather than having to do corner bead before cabinets go up).
2) An alternative, if you aren't as concerned about having the brown trim flush with the face of the soffit is to build and drywall the soffit and then have the face of the brown trim lap over the bottom of the soffit so that the face of the brown trim stands proud of the face of the soffit (and the drywall to the left of the fridge) by about 3/4" (think of this as sort of a raised baseboard).
It's not quite as elegant and clean as having the drywall and brown trim in the same plane, but it'll be a heck of a lot easier. You'll still want to make sure that your framing and drywall to the left of the fridge is pretty straight and plumb, otherwise you'll see the gap between the back of the proud brown trim and the face of the drywall, but you won't see any gap on where the brown trip laps over the face of the soffit.
3) This is a little bit more out there (but I think in keeping with the feel of the design); this is what I would do if it was my kitchen. Use approach #2 above, but have the brown strip project a bit further out from the face of the drywall (maybe 1-1/2 to 2"), allowing you to create a gap/cove between the back of the brown trim and the face of the drywall. Put an LED strip in the cove to wash up onto the ceiling. Whether you carry the LED strip down the two sides as well or just have the brown trim be solid there is a style choice you can make.
Lastly, I know you didn't ask this, but have you considered using the same brown material for your toe kick under the cabinets to mirror what is above the cabinets? I think that could look sharp and will also help with the fact that white toe kicks never seem to stay pristine white for long.
Good luck with your remodel!
Thank you so much for your indepth suggestion @seeMdbub. I will discuss all 3 options with my builder on this.
in regard to the toe kick, you have a sharp eye, that is a flaw in the design rendering, I have already corrected that in my later revisions.
What does the gc say, he’s on the job. Anyone worth their salt should be guiding this project, no?
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I don't see any problem at all, it looks fairly typical to me. In south Florida, that soffit is standard practice in almost all houses. We've been doing it so long that now it's out of style. The first thing we do on must remodels is tear the soffits out. If your builder can't do a simple job like that or is trying to convince you it's complicated you might need a new builder.