Discuss How long to assemble these cabinets? on IKEAFANS.com. We're Personalizing the IKEA Experience. How long to assemble these cabinets? - Please limit the posts in this section to questions and answers about assembly and installation issues only..
We are trying to come up with a time frame for our kitchen. My husband is planning on assembling the cabinets on his own. He is moderately handy but no carpenter....about how long should we anticipate it will take?
(There are a few slight variations between the jpeg picture and the plan, but nothing major-)
In general, people have found that it takes about an hour or so to assemble the first box, and then about 20 minutes per box after that. I'd probably also allocate an hour or so for that corner cabinet as it's slightly different in its construction.
Getting a small electric brad nailer will save you tons of time nailing on the backs of the cabinets.
Beyond a brad nailer, an electric screw driver helps out a lot too. 8 cam screws per cabinet minimum plus same number of cam locks to tighten, and 4 screws for the restraint/mounting bracket, means a lot of wrist motion otherwise.
My basic cabinet assembly method, done on an area rug to prevent scratching ...
- open the hardware bag and sort them out.
- both side pieces on the floor, holes facing up. Screw in the cam screws, tap in the wood dowels, and screw on the restraint/mounting bracket in their respective holes for both pieces.
- line up the bottom and top boards, insert the cam locks, and tighten.
- put the entire cabinet face down now, and check for squareness using a L-square.
- put backing board on top and fire away with the brad nailer.
- pop the feet on the bottom, secure if desired, and move it out of the way.
- repeat process with next cabinet.
The corner cabinets differ from this method a bit, but the rest are pretty much the same.
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Morahamy - it took me about a week but I was coming home building them each night after work. I probablly worked 2-4 hours per night and it was a first for me. Here's what I built.
Plus I'm a girl.
You can also check out my blog to see what fun is ahead! Hope you show pictures of your progress.
I would suggest an electric driver of some sort, either cordless drill or screwdriver, and a brad nailer as very valuable tools.
I use a muffin tin to sort out the various bits and pieces. This is the first construction job my kids learned to do, sort things into a muffin tin. They still love that job!
Get a buddy to help build the cabinets.
Getting into the assembly line mode is easy.
Dunno if these have been mentioned:
a. It's easy to get the back on and find your cabinet is not square. Measure the diagonals. Do it TWICE.
b. Be sure you understand how the clutch works on your power screwdriver. You can strip out the cam posts easily and there is no way to fix 'em.
c. Opinions vary but I'd suggest you put the hinges in place while the cabinet walls are still flat. This takes a bit of planning or you'll put them in the wrong holes but it's easier than standing on your head to put them in after they're up.
d. I say do the wall cabinets first but this is not always possible.
e. Assembly can drop to 10 minutes per if you have a buddy you can work with.
f. Try to have fun. Don't force anything. If it's not going together easily, it is most likely a user error.
Pick up free spare parts on your next trip to Ikea. Nothing slows you down more than trying to find a missing part that has disappeared from view.
Build one cabinet first and you can than judge the rest. They really do go together easily.
In the order I found most useful:
1. a cordless electric screw driver (or drill with the torque setting at low) is very useful.
2. A large clean blanket to work on (to prevent scratches).
3. Brad nailer would speed things up, but a hammer isn't all that bad either.
4. misc drill bits, 2-4 small clamps
When aligning/hanging cabinets on the hanging rail, you will probably need a buddy, it's a lot easy with two people. Measure the rail, make it smaller than the cabinet run so the ends don't show. Lag bolt the rail to the various studs. Start at the wall end and start putting up cabinets.
0. Place the two bolts in place, lift cabinet into place, mildly tighten hanging bolts, repeat for next cabinet.
1. Align cabinets, hold with clamps
2. I then screwed the various cabinets together with 1" stainless steel screws (had them handy from some outside work I had been doing).
Do I really need a kitchen?
