How To Pull Cabinets Away From Wall To Clean

Download Article

Download Commodity

Removing kitchen cabinets is an essential office of a kitchen renovation. The adept matter is that cabinets fastened to the wall can ordinarily be taken off without any damage, meaning you lot tin can reuse the cabinets if you want to. First, prepare the room by removing all your dishes, pots, and pans from the cabinets. Then, plow off the water and the power to your kitchen. Remove the trim, detach the cabinets, and disconnect them from the walls one at a time. With some patience, y'all can remove these cabinets easily without hiring a professional.

1. 1

   Empty all your cabinets. Plates, silverware, pots, pans, and annihilation else stored in your cabinets must go before you start the job. These could pause during the removal process if they aren't stored abroad safely. They volition also add extra weight to the cabinets and make them much harder to remove. ^[ane]

   • Don't just put these items off to the side. Move them into a different room entirely so they won't go far the mode.
   • Cover these items with a sheet if you lot're doing a lot of construction in your dwelling house. This prevents dust and debris from getting on your belongings.

2. two

   Turn off the h2o to the sink. Base cabinets are usually continued to the countertop, meaning you lot'll have to remove the counter. The start footstep in removing the countertop is pulling out the sink, so turn your sink'southward water supply off to prevent floods.^[2]

   • Expect under the sink for a shut-off valve. This is a metallic knob on the side of the pipe leading to your sink. Turn this knob clockwise until it stops to turn off the h2o supply.
   • Always double check that the water is off. Plough on your kitchen sink and make sure no water flows out. Turn the valve further if water withal flows from the sink.

   Ad

3. 3

   Cut off the electricity to the room. While removing the counters, y'all'll be working around electrical outlets and may take to motility some wires out of the fashion. Keep yourself safe by turning off the electricity to this surface area. Go to the billow box in your home. Open it and find the circuit breaker that controls your kitchen electricity. If it was installed properly, the breakers should be labeled. Turn the fuse that powers your kitchen to the "Off" position.^[3]

   • Breaker boxes are usually in the basement or laundry area.
   • If the billow for your kitchen isn't labeled and yous don't need power in the balance of your house, plough off the main billow to turn off the electricity for the whole abode. This breaker is a double-broad switch on the top of the service console.
   • If your kitchen is one-time, you may discover hidden wires and outlets during this task. If y'all come across wires, cover them with rubber plugs. You can find these at a local hardware store.

4. 4

   Cover the countertops if you lot're keeping them. If y'all program on keeping your countertop and reusing it with your new cabinets, brand sure it's protected. Put a thick sheet over information technology to proceed grit and debris off information technology. Also, lay a flat piece of wood on top of the blanket to protect the counter from dents if you lot drop a tool.^[4]

   • If y'all're not reusing your countertop, then no need to protect it. Let it get muddied and damaged while yous work.

5. v

   Remove any trim or molding on the cabinets. Decorative trim and molding is unremarkably loosely-fastened with staples or modest nails and should come up off hands. Use either a crowbar or the claw of a hammer to remove these. Insert the blade in between the trim and chiffonier. If the space is tight, give the crowbar a few taps with a hammer to drive in into the fissure. Then pry until the trim comes off.^{[5] [6]}

   • Check the wall and base of operations cabinets for trim. Sometimes this wraps around corners and can be difficult to spot.
   • Trim and molding can't be reused, and then don't worry about dissentious these pieces. They sometimes crevice while you pry them off.
   • If you plan on reusing the cabinets, exist careful when prying the trim off. You could dent or scratch the wood.
   • Wearable gloves when handling the trim to avoid splinters or staples.

   Advertising

1. 1

   Identify support blocks under the wall cabinet y'all're working on. These forbid the chiffonier from crashing to the flooring if your hand slips while you remove it. Mensurate the distance between the countertop and the bottom of the chiffonier. Then cutting iv pieces of lumber to that length and identify 1 under each corner of the cabinet you're removing.^[vii]

   • For the lumber size, use something thick plenty to support the weight of the cabinets. Blocks measuring two in × iv in (5.i cm × 10.2 cm) or 4 in × iv in (10 cm × 10 cm) should do the trick.
   • These supports are hands removable, so simply movement them from chiffonier to cabinet every bit y'all work.
   • These supports are only meant to hold the cabinet momentarily while you regain your grip. They aren't stable enough for you to rest the unabridged weight of the cabinet on it.

2. 2

   Remove the cabinet doors. The doors are connected to the cabinet with screws through their hinges. Open the door and find the hinges. Then use a screwdriver or drill to remove all the screws fastening the door to the cabinet. The door will then come up off easily.^[8]

   • Hold on to the door when you lot remove the final screw. If information technology falls, it could damage your countertop or country on your foot.
   • If you don't plan on reusing the cabinets, then there's no need to be gentle. On most cabinets, if you open the doors too far and push, they'll simply break off. Relieve time by using this method if you're getting rid of the cabinets anyway.
   • If you programme on reusing the cabinets, save the door hinges and screws you remove. Place them in a plastic bag or container to go on all the pieces together.
   • Wear goggles and gloves if you use a ability drill to avoid injuries.

3. three

   Accept out the shelves. These shelves volition go in the way when removing the chiffonier, then take out all shelves before y'all start. Different cabinets accept different mechanisms for securing their shelves. In almost cases, the shelves residue on top of plugs in the cabinet wall. In this case, just lift the shelves off these supports and guide them out of the cabinet.^[9]

   • If the shelves are screwed in place, and then find all the support screws belongings the shelf down. Use your screwdriver or drill and remove all the screws. Remember to hold on to the shelf when you lot remove the final screw and so it doesn't fall out.
   • Yous'll demand the plugs and screws you remove hither if you desire to reuse the cabinets. Keep track of all the pieces past storing them in a plastic bag or container.

4. 4

   Remove the screws holding the cabinets together. Cabinets are sometimes screwed together after they're installed. Look within the cabinets and see if at that place are i or more screws in the sides. These hold the cabinets together. If you see these screws, remove them earlier detaching the cabinets from the wall.^{[10] [11]}

   • Screws attaching cabinets are usually placed around the door hinge, and so look hither first.^[12] However installers don't always follow directions, so at that place may be screws in different locations. Use a flashlight and feel around with your hand to locate any remaining screws.

5. 5

   Unscrew the chiffonier from the wall. The cabinet should be attached to the wall with drywall screws through the back. Look for a row of screws within the cabinet running across the top. This is the most mutual place where cabinets are attached. Employ either your power drill running in reverse or your screwdriver and take out each screw. If using a screwdriver, remember to plough screws counterclockwise to remove them.^{[thirteen] [fourteen]}

   • Also wait on the lesser of the cabinet, as extra screws are sometimes hither equally well.
   • If you have a partner, have them concur onto the chiffonier while yous unscrew it to forbid the cabinet from falling to the ground.

6. 6

   Lift the chiffonier off the wall and move information technology out of the way. When all the screws are removed, the cabinets should simply slide off the wall. Hold onto the cabinet tightly and begin pulling it towards you. When you've gotten it out, motility it somewhere out of the way.^{[15] [16]}

   • Be set up for a sudden drop when the chiffonier comes off the wall because you'll then be holding its full weight. Brace yourself so you don't become injured or drop the cabinet.

7. 7

   Repeat the same procedure for each wall cabinet. If yous have several wall cabinets, follow the aforementioned steps carefully for each one. Remove each cabinet one past one and put it in a safe place where no 1 will trip on it.

   • You may exist tempted to start working faster or less advisedly as y'all remove more than cabinets. Resist this temptation, because a wrong move could result in an injury.

   Advert

1. ane

   Pull out the cabinet drawers. Base cabinets usually have drawers instead of shelves. Empty the drawers before removing them. There are several types of drawers. Free-rolling drawers should come out easily. Commencement pull the drawer all the style out until it stops, then lift up. This should pull the cabinet out of its socket, allowing you to slide the drawer completely out.^[17]

   • Unfasten drawers that use a dissimilar machinery by unscrewing the brackets or pressing a release tab on the side.
   • Keep any brackets or support pieces you remove if you plan on reusing the cabinets and drawers.
   • Identify the old drawers out of the way so y'all don't trip on them while you work.

2. 2

   Remove the kitchen sink . Removing base of operations cabinets requires more demolition than removing wall cabinets. The offset stride is removing the kitchen sink. Showtime by unhooking all the pipes leading to the sink. Then cut through the caulking and unscrew the sink from the countertop. Finally, lift it out and motility it out of the style.^[eighteen]

   • Double check once more that the h2o is turned off before doing any work on the sink. Whatever mistake can event in a flood if the water is on.
   • Wear gloves to avoid getting cut if the sink has jagged edges.
   • If you're getting a new sink, don't worry most damaging the sink. If you're reusing the sink, then be careful and avoid harm while you remove it.

3. iii

   Elevator off the countertop . Base cabinets are commonly connected to the countertop, so remove this earlier moving on. Wait inside the base of operations cabinets and see if there are screws drilled through the pinnacle. These screws connect the cabinets to the counter. Take out each one to free the countertop. Test the countertop subsequently to run across if it lifts easily. If it feels stuck, you missed a spiral.^[xix]

   • A kitchen counter may have a layer of caulk connecting it to the wall. If your counter has this, cut through the caulk with a razor blade to free it. Wearable gloves to avoid cutting yourself.
   • Exist careful if you plan on reusing your countertop. Remove it gently and avoid knocking it into anything when y'all conduct information technology out of the room.

4. iv

   Unfasten whatsoever screws belongings the cabinets together. It's less common for base cabinets to be screwed together than wall cabinets, but it's still possible. Look within the cabinets forth the sides and encounter if there are any screws connecting the cabinets. Remove them if you see them.^[20]

   • If you endeavour to pull the cabinets out later on and they seem stuck together, yous may take missed a screw. Finish working and look once again. If you pull the cabinets out while they're still attached, y'all'll rip a hole in the wood.

5. 5

   Remove the screws connecting the chiffonier to the wall. Look in the back of the base cabinet and find the row of screws fastening it to the wall. Remove all of these screws.^[21]

   • Screws can exist difficult to spot in the back of your cabinets. Stick your head inside if you have to, and use a flashlight to locate them all. Fifty-fifty if yous miss only one, you won't be able to remove the cabinets.

6. 6

   Slide the cabinet abroad from the wall. At present that the cabinet is gratuitous, work it out of position. There may still exist caulking property the cabinet in identify, so pull hard to get the cabinet abroad from the wall. Elevate the cabinet into a new location when it's costless from the wall.^[22]

   • Yous might have to lift the base cabinets out of position. Sometimes they sit in a compartment on the floor and have to exist lifted out.
   • If the cabinet won't budge, yous may have missed a screw in the wall. End your piece of work and check again, removing any screws you left behind.

7. 7

   Repeat the same process for each base cabinet. You may have several base cabinets to remove. Follow these steps to safely remove each one, and remember to put the loose cabinets in a safe place where no one volition trip on them.

   • Go on working advisedly equally you proceed. Go on your gloves and goggles on, and concord the cabinets tightly then you don't drop them on your foot.

   Advertisement

Enquire a Question

200 characters left

Include your e-mail address to get a bulletin when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Video

• Remember to wear any necessary safety equipment to avoid injury. Clothing goggles when using power tools and wear gloves when handling the cabinets.

Advertising

Things Yous'll Need

• Screwdriver
• Hammer
• Ability drill
• Crowbar/pry bar
• Flashlight
• Dust sheet or towel
• Gloves
• Goggles
• Lumber for support beams
• Flat piece of wood to protect the countertop
• Razer blade or knife

Well-nigh This Commodity

Thank you to all authors for creating a page that has been read 45,589 times.

Did this article help you lot?

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Kitchen-Cabinets

Posted by: longfusent.blogspot.com

Share this post