Questions on ladder base for base kitchen cabinets

[BillG]

I am starting to build the cabinets for our own kitchen, and am using a ladder base for the base cabinets.  Our house is a 200 year old stone farmhouse.  The floors are out of level 1 1/8" in 10' on one side, and about 1/8" out in 10' on the other side of the L.  Both sides slope down from the same high corner.  The top we have ordered is 30mm thick.  I am building 32mm frameless cabinets from 19mm maple veneer plywood, and the base is being made from the same. 

My main question is, how strong do I need to make the ladder base for granite countertops?  Is a single thickness of 19mm adequate?  How close should I space the cross members?  I know I could overbuild this way beyond what is needed, but I have a time crunch, and money is not inexhaustible.  And if anyone with experience has anything to offer in general, I would appreciate any comments about that as well. 

 

[tjbnwi]

The rear stretcher will support the cabinets full length, the front stretcher will do the same. Make sure you have a support below the cabinet sidewalls, only one is necessary where the cabinets join. Intermediates I divide the cabs in half on anything over 18".

Don't set the toe space back more the 3.5" from the edge of the box.

Make the end of run cabinets with full height side panels if the end of the run is exposed.

Tom

 

[Sparktrician]

Concur with Tom, mostly.  I prefer to make the ladder base from PT material due to the higher likelihood of contact with water.  I then cut PVC trim board to use as toekick material.  On exposed sides I step the toekick in by 3", again using PVC trim board to cover the PT ladder base.  I also cut the ladder base side 3/4" short in height on the exposed sides to allow placement of horizontal 1x material to add support for the exposed side since the ladder base doesn't come all the way to the end and support the end panel. 

 

[tjbnwi]

I have no confidence in 1x treated lumber staying straight and not twisting.

Tom

 

[BillG]

Thank you, gentlemen.  I am not too worried about contact with water, as everything is being painted with an acrylic alkyd paint.  I had already planned for a 3.5" toe space, so that works well.  Any shorter and I won't be able to reach the sink with my size 15 feet.  [unsure]  The only exposed end is a floor to ceiling wall oven cabinet.  That is separate from the ladder base, and will be sitting on adjustable feet rated for 400 lbs per foot. It will be no problem to add in supports under the ends of each cabinet. 

 

[Gregor]

I use legs similar to these: height adjustable, water resistant in case and each one can carry 500kg.

Easy to attach and leveling everything is painless.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I like the individual adjustable legs too. A ladder base has to be leveled and secured to the floor. It also blocks access to the space beneath which has potential uses since it can be accessed by popping off the toe kick (which has been snapped onto the leveling legs).

 

[Sparktrician]

I have no confidence in 1x treated lumber staying straight and not twisting.

Tom

I have had no problems, especially when using the same PVC dimensional stock as I use for the toe kicks.  I  do have trouble finding PT lumber that is even close to being straight and true.

 

[Gregor]

One thing adjustable feet on each base cabinet is that you can pull them on an individual basis: unscrew from the ones to the sides and the top, lower the feet, pull out (assemble in reverse).

With a ladder base I would have had to remove the top and everything connected to it, with the feet I was able to replace them one-by-one with scaffolding and the wall behind them got accessible to change a defect pipe in it.

 

[gruz]

we use ladder bases by default with our kitchens. Good suggestions above, I'd add to make the base shallower (1/2"-1") as sometimes where the wall meets the floor either bumps out or is not plasterer so neatly.  This saves time of having to chew out the wall or cut the base. 
Be aware of your plumbing so the base doesn't interfere with drain pipes...
Also, if you're using a toe kick heater, it's easier to cut the base for the venting ahead of time.

 

[BMH]

Good series of video that might helphttp://www.ez-level.com/Videos.html. Never used the product personally

 

[BillG]

Thanks everyone for the responses.  After discussing it with the project manager (aka my wife) we decided to forego the ladder base and go with the leveling feet.  I had not thought about having to paint all the surfaces to make the base a little more water resistant (she is doing the painting!). I found some adjustable legs at Rockler that are rated for 400 lbs per leg.  That should give me way more than I need in the way of support. 

 

[antss]

I'm also a fan of the plastic leveling legs.  That EZ system is more expensive and time consuming. per cabinet.  Its one advantage as I see it is one can level the back legs from the front of the cabinet.  Doesn't outweigh the drawback though.

Those looking for straight pressure treated lumber need to look at KDAT - dried in a kiln.  $$$, but it doesn't noodle or stink or feel clammy like reg. p-treated.

 

[joiner1970]

Make sure you fit the feet right, they should over hang your base a touch so they support the carcase sides.

Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk

 

[BillG]

Make sure you fit the feet right, they should over hang your base a touch so they support the carcase sides.

Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk

This may earn the ire of experienced kitchen cabinet people, but since we wanted base units a little higher than standard, I ran the bottoms of the cabinets out underneath the sides for a little more height and a little more support.  I am also putting the feet as close to the sides as possible.