Measuring Framed Cabinets
There are two dimensions that you must have to order your shelves, the cabinet width and the cabinet depth
Cabinet Width
The dimension you need is the clear opening of the cabinet. This is the distance from face frame to face frame minus any reduction for the hinges or door overlap. It is also important to make sure your door opens at least 90 degrees so the shelf can clear them when you slide it out. The size of the lower shelf is often smaller than the upper shelf as the hinge will not interfere with the upper shelf. We will make the actual shelf 1″ smaller than the dimension you give us to allow for the sliding hardware which uses 1/2″ on each side. Always refer to the clear cabinet opening when ordering shelves not the finished shelf size, we will make the adjustment. Please measure carefully, we make our shelves in increments of 1/16″. Always measure your cabinet twice using an accurate tape measure.
Cabinet Depth
The sliding shelves are available in depths from 10″ up to 26″ in 2″ increments. The basic sliding shelves are 1/4″ larger than the 2″ increment and the rest of our shelves are 1/4″ smaller. For example a 22″ basic shelf is 22 1/4″ deep while a 22″ shelf of any other style is 21 3/4″ deep. Shelves deeper than 22″ are mounted on 22″ drawer slides. The safest way to measure depth is from the back of the cabinet face frame to the back wall of the cabinet. Watch out for electrical wires, pipes or anything that may reduce the available depth.
Mounting style
There are four basic mounting styles, side mount, rear sockets, half shelf and full shelf or base mounted
Full Shelf
Full shelf or base mounting is the simplest method of installing pull out shelves. When you choose the full shelf option the slide hardware will have four L brackets attached, two on each slide. These L brackets allow you to attach the sliding shelf hardware directly to the cabinet base for the bottom shelf or on to an existing full depth fixed or adjustable shelf. The full shelf installation is not only the easiest way to install pull out shelves, it is also one of the strongest installations available.
Half Shelf
Note: Half shelf installation does not work the same with Full Extension Slides.
Many base kitchen and bathroom cabinets have a short “half” shelf for the upper shelf. This shelf is usually about 10″ to 12″ deep. Now you can install a full depth sliding shelf where your half shelf is. If you choose the half shelf option we will send the drawer slides with an L bracket attached near the rear of each slide. This L bracket can be screwed to the existing half shelf. The front of the slides can be attached to the cabinet face frame, they can be side mounted or they can be mounted to the back of the face frame using 3/4″ wood blocks. If you order full extension slides the front must use side build up or spacers as they can not be attached to the edge of the face frame.
Rear Sockets
Rear socket mounting can only be done with 3/4 extension slides. Full extension slides will not work with rear sockets. Rear sockets are plastic brackets which the drawer slide slips into for attaching the slide to the cabinet back wall. We do not recommend rear mount sockets for high load shelves in Arizona and other areas that are hot, arid and hard on plastic. The front of the slides can be attached to the cabinet face frame, they can be side mounted or they can be mounted to the back of the face frame using 3/4″ wood blocks. The rear sockects will not work with shelves over 22″ deep unless special slides are ordered.
Side Mount
As the name implies side mounting uses your cabinet sidewalls to mount your sliding shelves. Side mounting usually requires more work than the full shelf installation but it is the most space efficient. If your cabinet has a large difference between the opening size and the inside dimension side mounting may not be the right choice. As the distance from the sidewall increases so does the leverage on the mounting screws. Make sure you check your sidewall thickness before placing any screws. Side mounting can be done with spacers or you can provide wood strips to build up the space as needed. The standard spacers are available in 1/8″, 3/8″ and 1/2″. There is a Euro spacer that measures 1″ and can be used on framed or frameless cabinets with a 32mm hole system. On tall cabinets such as pantries, wood strips mounted vertically can provide excellent support, even with large build up areas. The advantages to the vertical wood strips are much of the load is transferred to the cabinet base and the shelves can be mounted at whatever height needed. Make sure to measure the cabinet in several locations, up and down and front and back. If the cabinet size varies you will need to adapt the shelf size paying attention to what size build up or spacers you will be using.
