How to Install Kitchen Cabinets Without the Guesswork

Patrick Belding
Co-Founder, BluePrint Cabinets
September 23, 2026

Meet the author

Patrick Belding

Patrick leads the in-person experience at BluePrint Cabinets, helping homeowners and contractors plan their kitchens from the first showroom visit to the final measurements. With years of experience in the cabinet industry, he’s spent hundreds of hours working through real kitchen layouts, solving design challenges, and making sure cabinets fit the way they should in real homes.

Installation Guide 10 min read · Updated September 2026

The boxes are stacked two deep in the garage, the drill is charging, and the old kitchen is stripped to bare wall. Installing cabinets is mostly layout and leveling; the hanging is the fast part. You find the floor’s high point, mark a level line, locate the studs, hang the uppers, then set the bases.

One thing first: installing is not assembling, so build your flat-pack boxes before you start. The steps below are the ones Patrick Belding, who co-founded BluePrint Cabinets, used to install his own kitchen in about two days, in an older home where nothing is square.

TL;DR

Order: level line off the floor’s high point, studs, uppers, then bases.

●Hang uppers before bases, so you are not reaching over base cabinets.
●Check level and plumb, then shim, before the screws go tight.
●Budget one to two days for a 20 to 30 cabinet kitchen; more for plaster or sloping floors.
●BluePrint does not install; we refer independent installers and hand you the design files.

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What to Finish Before Installation Day

Installation goes fast only when the prep is already done. Get these squared away before the first cabinet leaves the garage.

Tools and materials worth having on the bench:

●A drill or impact driver, a stud finder, and a level. A 4′ level is worth borrowing.
●Cabinet screws: usually #8 for joining face frames and a #10 or 2-1/2″ structural screw for driving into studs. Skip brittle drywall screws.
●Wood or composite shims, a couple of bar clamps, and a scrap 1×3 board for a temporary ledger.
●A helper. Hanging an upper on your own is how doors get dinged.

One more thing before you touch the wall. Your cabinets need to be fully built, with doors and drawers fitted, before any of this begins. If yours are still flat, work through the step-by-step assembly guide first, then pull the doors and drawer fronts back off so the boxes are lighter to hang.

Mark your layout on the wall straight from your design drawing so you know exactly where each box lands. A cabinet run is a continuous row of boxes along one wall, and it is far cheaper to catch a missing filler on paper than halfway up the wall.

How to Find the High Point and Mark Level Lines

Floors are never truly flat, and cabinets have to sit dead level anyway. So you work off the highest point of the floor, because every other spot can be shimmed up to meet it. You cannot shim down. Work through it in this order:

1 Find the floor’s high point. Run a level along the floor across the whole run, or rest it on a straight board, and mark where the floor sits highest against the wall. That point is the reference for everything else.

2 Mark the base cabinet line. Measure up 34-1/2″ from the high point, which lands the tops at 36″ once a countertop is on, and draw a level line for the base tops across every wall the bases touch.

3 Mark the upper cabinet line. Uppers usually begin about 18″ above the counter, so draw a second level line 54″ off the high point for the bottom of the wall cabinets. Change the number if your uppers run to the ceiling, but keep the line dead level.

4 Locate and mark the studs. Run the stud finder along both lines and mark every stud in pencil. In an older plaster-and-lath home, confirm with a test screw where a cabinet back will hide the hole, because every box needs at least two screws into solid framing.

Should You Hang Upper Cabinets or Set the Bases First

Hang the uppers first. Here is why, and the one exception:

●Clear the floor first, hang the wall cabinets, then bring the bases in underneath.
●With the bases already set, you would be leaning over a countertop-height row, holding a heavy box overhead while you fish for a stud.
●The exception is a tight galley, or a spot where a tall pantry sets the line. Stand the tall cabinet first and work off it.

How to Hang Wall Cabinets

Uppers go on first, and the job gets far easier when a ledger board carries the weight while you work. Work along the run like this:

1 Screw a temporary ledger board. A straight scrap board fastened into the studs along your upper cabinet line gives each box something to rest on while you drive screws. Patch the small holes later, hidden behind the backsplash.

2 Start in the corner. Lift the corner cabinet, or the left-most upper, onto the ledger and drive a screw partway into the top rail at a stud, so the box hangs but can still shift. Check it level side to side and plumb front to back, then nudge it true.

3 Join the face frame stiles. The face frame is the wood frame across the front of the box, and the stiles are its vertical members. Where two cabinets meet, clamp the stiles flush, drill a pilot hole, and screw them together with #8 screws into the 3/4″ solid birch frame.

4 Drive the screws into the studs. With the run clamped and aligned, drive your #10 or structural screws through the back rail into each marked stud, at least two per cabinet. Recheck level before the final turn, because tightening can pull a box out of true.

5 Shim the run and recheck. Slide a shim behind the box at any stud where the wall bows away, so you screw to solid bearing rather than crushing the cabinet back. Recheck level and plumb across the run, then take the ledger board off.

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How to Set and Shim Base Cabinets

Bases work much like the uppers, except now the floor sets the challenge instead of the wall. You start at the high point, level each box on shims, clamp and join the fronts, then anchor the run to the studs. The sink and corner cabinets get a little extra care at the end.

1 Start at the Corner or the High Point. Set the corner base, or the cabinet nearest the floor’s high point, first. Align its top with your base cabinet line. Everything else levels up from here.

2 Level Each Box With Shims. Slide shims under the base and behind it until the cabinet sits level front to back and side to side, with its top exactly on your line. Tap the shims gently and read the level after each one. A base that rocks now will telegraph into an uneven countertop later.

3 Clamp and Join the Fronts. Clamp neighboring base cabinets at the stiles the way you did the uppers, faces flush, then screw the stiles together. Keep watching that the tops stay on the line as you draw them tight.

4 Anchor to the Wall. Drive screws through the back rail or mounting strip into the studs. Where a base spans a shim gap, add a shim behind the screw so you are not pulling the box backward out of level. Score and snap off the shim ends with a utility knife once everything is fast.

5 Fit the Sink and Corner Cabinets. A sink base has no working center drawer, so it clears the plumbing and usually carries tip-out trays behind false drawer fronts. Set it like any other base, but dry-fit the plumbing rough-in before you screw it home. For a lazy susan corner, check that the doors swing and the carousel spins freely before you lock it in.

How to Scribe Fillers and Finish the Toe Kicks

Almost no wall is straight, so the gap between a cabinet and the wall gets closed with a filler strip, a piece of matching material you trim to fit. Scribing is the trick that makes that gap disappear.

1 Scribe the Filler to the Wall. Hold or clamp the filler in its gap, set a compass or scribe tool to the widest part of the gap, and run it down the wall so the pencil traces the wall’s shape onto the filler. Cut to that line with a jigsaw or a plane, and the filler sits tight against a wavy wall. Scribe molding does the same job on a smaller gap.

2 Add the Toe Kick and End Panels. The toe kick is the recessed board along the floor under the base cabinets. Cut it to length and pin it in place, scribing its bottom edge if the floor dips. Any cabinet side that will show gets a finished end panel, or a skin panel over the raw side, ordered to match your doors.

3 Rehang the Doors and Adjust. Put the doors and drawer fronts back on. Full-overlay doors ride on adjustable concealed hinges, so you can move each door up, down, in, and out with the hinge screws until the gaps, called the reveals, line up across the whole kitchen. Fill any visible screw or pin holes with the color-matched putty that came in the box.

Why Older New Brunswick Kitchens Take Longer to Install

A brand-new, square room installs in a day. An older Fredericton or Saint John home is a different job. Floors slope, walls bow, and plaster hides where the studs really sit.

That is where the shims, the scribing, and the fillers earn their place. Atlantic Canada is hard on the finished result too: moisture and seasonal movement work on any weak material, which is one reason a plywood box that holds its screws matters more here than a brochure lets on.

Budget the extra time, check level obsessively, and do not force a cabinet to fit a bad wall. Trim the filler to the wall instead.

When to Install Cabinets Yourself and When to Hire an Installer

A confident do-it-yourselfer with a level, a helper, and a weekend can hang a normal kitchen. Hand it to a pro when:

●the layout has tricky angles or the walls are badly out of true,
●a tall pantry run needs perfect alignment, or
●you simply want it done fast and right.

BluePrint is a cabinet dealer and does not install. A few things worth knowing:

●We refer independent installers we recommend, and you pay them directly, so you stay in control of the trade you hire.
●New Brunswick does not license contractors or cabinet installers, so vet references and past work yourself before you sign. FCNB’s guide to hiring a home renovation contractor is a useful checklist to work through first.
●Every order includes the 3D design and floor-plan blueprints, and you keep the files to hand your installer so everyone works from one layout.
●Installation is not part of the published cabinet pricing; it is quoted separately, along with countertops and the rest.
●If the project moves an appliance, a vent, or anything structural, confirm clearances with your municipality, since the National Building Code of Canada is a model code each province and city adopts on its own terms.

Frequently Asked Questions

A few questions that come up at the counter when someone is about to hang their own kitchen.

Do I Have to Assemble the Cabinets Before Installing Them?

Yes. The boxes ship flat-packed and need to be built, with doors and drawers fitted, before anything gets hung. Assembly and installation are two separate jobs, and each BluePrint cabinet is made to go together with a drill, a mallet, and wood glue.

What Screws Should I Use to Hang Cabinets?

Use #8 screws to join the face frames and a #10 or 2-1/2″ structural screw to reach the wall studs. Avoid drywall screws, which are brittle and can snap under a loaded cabinet. Two screws into solid framing per box is the floor, and more for a tall or heavy unit.

Can I Install Cabinets on a Wall That is Not Level?

Yes, because you install to a level line rather than to the wall or floor. Find the high point of the floor, mark a dead-level line, and shim each cabinet up to it. That is exactly how cabinets go into older homes where nothing is square.

How Long Does It Take to Install a Kitchen?

A full kitchen of 20 to 30 cabinets is usually a one- to two-day install for a careful do-it-yourselfer with a helper. Plaster walls and sloping floors add time, because the leveling and scribing is where the hours go. Rushing the level check is the fastest route to an uneven countertop.

How Much Does Cabinet Installation Cost?

Installation is quoted separately from the cabinets and depends on the installer and the job. BluePrint publishes cabinet pricing but does not install, so an install figure comes from the independent installer you hire. Since New Brunswick does not license installers, get the scope and price in writing and check references before you agree to the work.

Set Yourself up for a Clean Install

Installing kitchen cabinets rewards patience over muscle. Get the level line right, find your studs, hang the uppers, shim the bases true, and the boxes drop into a straight, solid kitchen. The people who struggle are the ones who chase a crooked wall instead of scribing a filler to it.

Patrick built his own Fredericton kitchen exactly this way, over a couple of days with his wife, before the company existed. If you are still choosing cabinets, or you want to see how the plywood boxes and birch face frames go together before you order, the showroom is the easy next step.