Wall cabinets are usually installed with their bottom edges 54 in. from the floor, or 18 in. above a countertop (see the illustration on the facing page). Mark a level line for the wall cabinets with a soft pencil, so that it can be erased or easily covered with paint. If there is a kitchen soffit make sure the cabinets are secured to the walls, with their tops fitting snugly against the soffit.
Before hanging wall cabinets, remove the doors and shelves to make the cabinets lighter. Just as with base cabinets, start in a corner and install every unit level and plumb. Use a T-support or something similar to hold a cabinet in place until it is attached to the wall (see the photo at left). Wall cabinets should be set directly above corresponding base cabinets. Drive screws at both the top and the bottom of wall cabinets and into the studs or backing blocks placed in the wall frame.
If there is no backing in the walls, make sure that the screws for the wall cabinets go directly into studs. Kitchen cabinets filled with dishes can be heavy. A friend called me recently and asked me to come by to see whether I could tell her why one of the kitchen cabinets in her new house was sagging. It turns out the installer missed the studs when screwing the cabinet to the wall. To make sure that doesn’t happen, find the location of studs, then transfer those locations to the inside of each cabinet.
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