Having installed kitchen cabinets for the last 15 years, it has almost become an automatic process for me when building and installing cabinets. In fact, I forgot what it was like to install my first set of new kitchen cabinets. I was amazed at how many DIYers were leaving posts on my blog and asking how to secure the cabinets.

One of the common mistakes that was occurring was that the installer was connecting the sides of the cabinet to each other, rather than connecting them to the front frame. While this is not a problem with frameless cabinets, it becomes a problem with frame cabinets due to the “border” overlapping the sides of the cabinets. Why are frameless cabinets installed differently? Let’s talk about how cabinets are built first.

Traditional front-frame cabinets have a slot that the side panels fit into to create a stronger, stronger cabinet. Since this slot is not on the very edge of the cabinet, the front frame usually overlaps the sides of the cabinet by 3/16 “or somewhere around the distance. Cabinets together without using a spacer in the middle.

Since kitchen cabinets are attached to the wall first and get most of their support from there, you only need to secure the front frames together to create strong horizontal support. By trying to secure the sides to each other, you can create one of two problems: The sides will bow and weaken the cabinet, or they will create some gap in the front frame. While this is more of an aesthetic issue, it can be easily avoided by securing the cabinets to each other through the front frame and not through the sides.

This also applies to the base cabinets, which will have the same characteristics as the wall cabinets mentioned above. For frameless cabinets, they actually gain strength by securing the sides of the cabinets to each other. Without a face frame to tie everything together, they rely on support from the back and sides. Since they do not have the edge on the sides, they can be firmly attached to each other.

So if you plan to install your own kitchen cabinets, it is important to consider what type of cabinets you are installing (frameless or framed) and to use the proper technique to ensure a strong bond and adequate support.