Carpentry and Woodworking - Removing shelf from kitchen cabinets

Hi. My kitchen cabinets were not designed well. The shelves are not adjustable and there is not enough space between the bottom of the cabinet and the first shelf. We are trying to remove the first shelf that runs the length of the cabinet which is about 4 feet long. We were doing fine until we realized that the shelf is nailed into the board that shows between the cabinet doors when they are closed. (I am not sure what the name of this strip of wood is.) Without totally demolishing my cabinets and marring the face of the cabinets, how can we get this shelf out?

I am sure to you professionals this sounds like a dumb question, but to two people who don't have a clue we are stumped. My husband says what I want is impossible, but I informed him that if it is possible you guys are the ones with the answers!!

Thanks in advance.

I would guess that the center mullion is not the only location that the shelf is nailed. But if you've got all of it out with the exception of the front nails, you should be able to lift the shelf up and pry the shelf back until it comes off the nail in front.

If that's not possible, then you might need to get a tiny hacksaw and cut the nails. If you can pry the mullion away from the shelf at all, a tool like this one: http://www.doityourself.com/store/6243711.htm would probably cut the nails, enabling you to work on getting the rest of the shelf out.

It's very possible that the entire shelf is dadoed, glued and stapled into the sides of the cabinet.

And if they are glued, dadoed (whatever that means), and stapled in, then my options are almost nil I am guessing?

We can run a knife between the shelf and the back side of the cabinet, but not between the sides of the shelf and the side of the cabinet. That must be where it is stuck.

Thanks.

A dado is like a slot that another piece of wood fits into. I'm willing to bet that the shelf is either glued and nailed to the sides, or the sides are slipped into a dado. In either case, you'll likely destroy the shelf getting it out. Of course, if you plan on putting in a new shelf, that's not a problem, provided you don't mind being able to see where the old shelf once was.

I would guess that if this is the case, you might have to saw the shelf in two pieces to get it out. To install a new shelf, you might need to glue and screw a 1x2 at the height you desire so that a new shelf can simply set on top of it. If you'd like to have an adjustable shelf, you can purchase some metal shelf track and screw it vertically to the inside of the cabinet near each corner. Then you can place a new shelf wherever you like.