I should have done this days ago

I finally dealt with all the ripped open bags of extra parts from all the assembled cabinets.

I now have a bag of extra nails, wood screws needed to attach the counter tops, the squares and bolts for the rail, and the square washer and nut for the inside of each cabinet.

And I am a lot less worried about having to drive 2 and half hours to get a missing part from IKEA.

details, details, details

I found a post on IKEA FANS titled Fess Up!! Lessons Learned During Installation.
From that post, I learned that you have to put your drawer supports in before you place the base cabinets, especially 30" and 36" cabinets. I also learned that you should go through your IKEA order and find out which cabinets have extra parts. I went through and highlighted the part number and then the whole name when I was done.



















I thought I was done with my 3 drawer cabinets, when I discovered 3 more sets of drawer parts. So I had 9 15" drawer boxes number 30107066 and 3 15" drawer boxes number 4010708. I had already opened and installed a 401 instead of a 301 but it turns out that the supports are all the same, only the drawer part is different.

I discovered that I could break the wrap on the drawer boxes and just lift out the support bars and the bag of parts. This way the drawer parts all stay in their plastic wrap and won't get lost. We are still dealing with getting our hardwood floor in, so the IKEA stuff keeps getting moved and moved again.

TIP - put the drawer supports in before placing base cabinets

I found a post on IKEA FANS titled Fess Up!! Lessons Learned During Installation.
From that post, I learned that you have to put your drawer supports in before you place the base cabinets, especially 30" and 36" cabinets. There is an extra support beam that goes down the middle of the cabinet. You can install it with the cabinet in place, but you won't be able to nail the backing board to that support beam.


I also learned that you should go through your IKEA order and find out which cabinets have extra parts. I went through and highlighted the part number and then the whole name when I was done. I just finished up putting in all of my drawer supports.

who needs instuctions....

ME!

When I started this blog, I found the Ikea Hacks blog and from that I found IKEA FANS site.

If I had not, I would have no idea how to put my kitchen together. I had many different service reps at IKEA direct and not one mentions instructions on how to put this stuff together. I thought the assembly instructions were all I needed. WRONG!

IKEA FANS also has a section of all of IKEA's instruction pages in case you threw out the one you really need.

Also on their site, there are downloaded versions of IKEA's installation posters and pages, plus a video you can watch. click here

putting up the wall cabinets

We determined that keeping the cabinets level would mean a significant drop as the cabinets goes across the wall. About 6 inches total from one end to the other.

We wanted them to start about an inch off the ceiling, so the rail got put up at about 3 and a hlaf inches down. We hooked up the first two cabinets. It seems that they should be shimmed at the bottom but I don't remember seeing that in the instructions. I will have to hit IKEA FAN's site and ask about that.


























We are stacking wall cabinets, a 39" with a 15" on top. This was a mistake, I should have ordered 12" cabinets for the top. We are going to have very little space between the bottom of the cabinets and the counter top. (Maybe it will keep us from storing everything on the counter?)


After the first 39" cabinet went in, a bigger mistake appeared. A double switch for the light over the sink and the garbage disposal are right in the middle of the next cabinet. Why I didn't just measure when my husband put the box in, I will never know.

He starts coming up with solutions. We can use metal conduit and jump to another box that would put the switches on the side of the cabinet. Okay, except that I would lose a chunk of storage space in that important cabinet. What about changing the lower outlet to a double and installing the switches down there. Nice. We would still need to cut out the back of the cabinet to expose the now plated off box, but I wouldn't lose any storage space. We decide to go for that.

He cuts out the old box and then has to run into town to get all the new parts.

Later that day, before he has installed the new box, he says, "What if we just get two 30 inch cabinets and they are just higher on the wall?" That would give us that missing hieght above the counter for 30 inches on either side of the sink. Nicer.

I have to patch the wall where he started to remove the old box, but that is a small price to pay for a better idea.

things are really starting to stack up

All the frames are assembled, yeah!

Our contractor wanted us to put down the base cabinets on the old flooring and then he would only install the new wood floor up to the toe kick. Sometime yesterday, it dawned on us that we would need flooring under the frig at least. I just left a message for my contractor to do the whole floor and then we would do the base cabinets. So I guess it would have been easier on the workers if we hadn't put them all together, but they are the ones that insisted. Once we hang the wall cabinets, the clutter should go down significantly.

We found one of our really large cabinets was damaged when we unpacked it. I have already called and left a message for the after sales guy at IKEA. No return call so far yesterday or today. Sometimes the help on the phone is fantastic and sometime you don't ever get called back. Back on the phone again.

visiting our new IKEA store today

I stopped in once before but just for lunch and no shopping. I wanted to check out a display that would show me my kitchen cabinets so I could make a decision about handles.

There isn't one setup with Tildaholm doors on them.

Oh well, I still had a terrific lunch, again.